Putting Down Roots: Collaboration for Change Mayor Graham Letto, President Presentation to Ministers...
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Transcript of Putting Down Roots: Collaboration for Change Mayor Graham Letto, President Presentation to Ministers...
Putting Down Roots:Collaboration for Change
Mayor Graham Letto, PresidentPresentation to Ministers of Local
GovernmentJuly 8, 2009, St. John’s, NL
Overview of Presentation
• Common Issues & Shared Solutions
• MNL Organizational Overview
• Provincial Context & Current Situation
• Building Capacity - Strengthening the Roots– Community Cooperation Resource Centre– Sustainability Self-Assessment– Rural-Urban Interaction Research– Local Action for Developing Regions– Economic Crisis Response Toolkit
Common Issues &Shared Solutions
• Duty to Consult with Aboriginal Communities
• Adaptation to Climate Change
• Rural Municipal Sustainability
• Working Relationship with Provincial/Territorial Governments
–C-SPO
Organizational Overview
• Established in 1951• 276 paid memberships (98%)• 2009 budget: $1,215,050• Headquarters building, 460 Torbay Road• Seven regional Directors, two caucus
Directors, Vice President, President• Seven staff• www.municipalitiesnl.com
Ongoing Activities
• Advocacy• Membership
Services• Events• Research• Facilitation• Communications• Consultation
Provincial Context
• First municipal government in 1888
• Next in 1941
• Majority occurred in early 1960s
• Little grassroots push for democracy– Means of accessing/influencing spending from
St. John’s/Ottawa
• Single tier system
• Basic services outside urban areas
Current Situation
• 633 communities, 281 municipalities
– 519,000 population
• 75% of municipalities have population under 1,000
– 50% under 500
• 74% of municipalities have 1 staff or fewer
• 50% of councils did NOT have an election in 2005
• Service expectations expanding
• Service requirements increasing
Current Situation
• Current revenue tools are limited
• Tax base– Assessments increasing, but fewer tax payers
– Concentration of commercial/industrial tax base
• Pressure for “competitive” taxes
• Enforcement and collection difficulties
• Lack of professional advice– Planning, engineering, administration
Community Cooperation Resource Centre
• President’s Task Force on Municipal Sustainability• Support through the provision of:
– information and awareness;– research; and,– facilitation and advisory services
• Dedicated staff• Participation increase: 53% (2003) to 74% (2007)• Joint councils increased from 8 to 16• Most annual milestones exceeded within 9 months• Regional cooperation “on the agenda”
Sustainability Self-Assessment
• Begin to address planning gap• First step in broader ICSP process• Facilitated process• Broad definition
– Governance, environment, finances, service delivery, infrastructure, economy, regional cooperation
• Five staff, 20 weeks, 255 municipalities
• Public reports
Rural-Urban Interaction: Understanding and Managing Functional Regions
• MNL, Memorial University, University of Kentucky, and Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation
• Better understand the linkages between and within regions
• Identify and map (GIS) “functional” regions, create Economic Capacity Index
• Assess governance mechanisms, identify gaps, investigate alternatives
Local Action for Developing Regions• 10 years• 91% satisfaction• Highlighted by OECD• Workshops• Study Tours• Ascent newsletter• Website• Development Guides
Development Guides
• Practical tools integrated into existing work
• Focus on economic development and:– Municipal Taxation– Infrastructure– Shared Municipal Services– Land-use planning– Major projects
• Each guide will have:– Background and
rationale– Step-by-step planning
tools– Templates and sample
documents– Funding source
suggestions– Partner suggestions
Economic Crisis Response
• A program of support to help municipalities manage crisis
• Toolkit– Before crisis– Immediate response– Short-term response– Continual response
• Workshops• Examples