St. Stephen’s new council’s first priority will be creating more opportunities for public involvement in council decisions, says newly elected Mayor Steve Backman.
The municipality’s new council was sworn in Tuesday evening.
Backman said council wants to continue previous initiatives like the “coffee and conversation” sessions, in which the municipality sets up quarterly ward meetings for residents to drop in and speak with councillors collectively.
He added that council is looking to set up one-on-one meetings with councillors on a regular schedule.
“We’ll start with ways for people to make their voices heard, but then we are also going to [introduce] procedures for accountability and follow-up, so those things get addressed as well,” he said.
Other priorities Backman wants to focus on at the beginning of his term include public safety, homelessness, infrastructure improvements, recreation, tourism and finance.
Backman said the council will continue the public safety committee that was introduced by its predecessors to address some of the safety concerns around the municipality’s homeless shelter, Neighbourhood Works.
He added that council will also form other committees to address homelessness in the community, but said they will have a better idea of what those will look like once council officially meets.
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For recreation, tourism and finance, Backman said council wants to bring back a tourism committee to find ways the municipality can liven up the town’s tourism and recreation alongside residents to attract more people to St. Stephen.
“The St. Stephen Tourism Action committee would start to bring people together and look at potential collaborations with other communities to build tourism in the region,” he explained.
For rural residents, Backman said his priority will be to push for changes to amalgamation bylaws to make them more “rural friendly.”
He explained that with bylaws that, for example, prevent outbuildings from being higher than the main property, these types of rules become regulatory impediments for residents looking to build structures like barns.
Backman said the municipality will start by holding consultations with its rural members and come up with a plan they can present to the provincial government.
New council made up mostly of newcomers
This is Backman’s first term as mayor, and like him, five out of six council members are serving for the first time.
Only incumbent Coun. Wade Greenlaw is returning to the chamber.
Incumbent councillors Brian Cornish, Marg Harding and David Hyslop ran again, but lost their seats to newcomers, while incumbents Emily Rodas and Joyce Wright decided not to re-offer.
The new faces on council are Ward 1 councillors Chandra Best and Justin Wesselink, and Ward 2 councillors Mark Porter, Bernadette Cunningham and Steven Morgan.
St. Stephen’s new council will have its first official meeting on June 10.
