District of Sparwood - Planning Department

Council

While the majority of people (81%) knew that the public is welcome to attend Council meetings and that they are broadcast after the meeting on Wednesday (72%), more than half (59%) did not know when the meeting occurred with only a quarter of people watching the broadcast on Channel 10. There were several comments that the quality of recording makes watching difficult, especially the audio.

Only 29% would watch the broadcast online, which follows the pattern of low internet use by respondents (based on low website usage from the first section, few online survey responses and a lot of comments referring to no internet or computer). Just over a third of people (38%) knew that detailed minutes of the Council meetings were published. Of those who didn’t know 23% signed up for the Council Facts newsletter. General comments on council include:

Council should do its best to keep expenses down also taxes
I really think as a whole there needs to be a lot more accountability for the actions of the council and mayor for their decisions and actions.
We are fortunate to have those people [DoS workers] and fortunate to have a council who truly cares.
The District Administration and elected mayor and council do a great job.
They don’t seem to make people feel welcome at council meetings in fact they treat some quite disdainfully like they are imposing on them. Especially if they are questioning things council is doing.