Governance Review

Introduction:

The Town of Cobourg is committed to building a Town Hall that works through openness and transparency, where elected officials and municipal staff work towards the best interests of the Town as a whole and where positive relationships are built with the public, community organizations and other stakeholders. The Town of Cobourg governance structure and systems should enable and support these goals.

The Town of Cobourg, through the Legislative Services Division and Municipal Clerk is currently conducting a review of its governance by-laws and policies. As part of this review, Council is seeking resident input regarding what is working well and where improvements could be made, particularly on transparency, accountability and how residents are able to participate in municipal decision making.

How to Participate:

• Review the Clerk's Presentation on the governance review process and recommendations
  from the April 24, 2023 Committee of the Whole meeting
• Submit your answers to the survey
• Provide additional comments or insights in the forum
• Attend the public Open House on May 17th at 6:30pm in the Council Chambers, Victoria Hall, 55 King Street West
• Attend the Public Meeting on June 19th at 5:00pm in Council Chambers

The survey is intended to take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, and will be available until May 29, 2023. All responses will be kept confidential, only overall results without individual identifying information will be shared.

Please note, the Town of Cobourg has opened the Survey and Forum to all members of the public. Therefore, comments left in the forum, from those who do not have a registered Engage Cobourg account will require an email and screenname to be provided.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact the Clerks office at clerk@cobourg.ca

Background Information:

In 2021, Council received an Organizational Review conducted by KPMG which was designed to provide a comprehensive review on the Town’s corporate structure, service delivery and staff resourcing. The final report had several recommendations that were approved by Council for implementation through a Staff report from the Chief Administrative Officer. One of those recommendations contained within the report was that the Town may want to re-evaluate the current use of the Council Coordinator role for governance in favor of a standing committee structure. KPMG noted that the use of a Council Coordinator structure does not appear to reflect best/common practice for Ontario municipalities.

The goal of the governance review and any proposed amendments is to update the current Procedure by-law and other governance related policies and by-laws to streamline processes and improve the efficiency of the business of Town Council and its Committees and Boards. The review will also provide commentary on the existing advisory committees and their Council reporting structure and ways that the Legislative Services Division believes that Council can improve efficiencies.

Project Update: June 13, 2023

The Town of Cobourg will be hosting a Public Meeting regarding the Governance Review on Monday, June 19, 2023.

At the Public Meeting, Council will review all comments submitted through the Community Engagement process, including those received at the Open House. Council will then provide staff and the Governance Review Working Group with direction to continue with the next steps of the Governance Review process.

Attend the Public Meeting:
Monday, June 19, 2023
5:00pm
Council Chambers, Victoria Hall, 55 King Street West, Cobourg