Dear Editor,
Re: “What makes for effective consultation debated,” News, Feb. 14.
The councillors should be allowed to attend open houses. How else would they get a sense of what the public is experiencing? Although I can see how a councillor expressing his/her opinion at an open house could be construed as undue influence; asking questions to make sense of the issue at hand seems to me to be more a sign of engagement.
The councillors are also residents, but their experiences in the city are likely to be sheltered by their power. Not many builders would dare build a mega mansion right next to a councillor’s home and not follow every bylaw rule in to a T.
Yes, the process of public consultation for the second set of proposed changes around mega homes is “tedious.” It would have been easier to get a clear overview of the changes if the staff had been asked to present the information to the public rather than explain each proposed change individually to each resident who has a question.
A presentation mode followed by questions from the public would also help avoid instances of mis-interpretations and be a more efficient use of staff time.
Niti Sharma
Richmond
