November 9 I swore an Oath of Office with the Honourable Judge Flewelling and officially became the Regional Director for Area C, Discovery Islands and Mainland Inlets. November 11 I was honoured to represent the Strathcona Regional District at Quadra Legion’s poignant and well-attended Remembrance Day ceremony.
There’s a learning curve to this role: SRD Chair Mark Baker (Mayor of Sayward) told me to expect the learning to take at least a year before I feel comfortable and confident I know what’s going on. Connecting with the community is great learning: I’m jumping in and meeting with various island groups, hearing how I can support their projects and initiatives. If your group would like to meet with me, let’s connect, my contact info is at the bottom of this email.
TIMELY and IMPORTANT
The Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) for Area C is a pretty big deal and islander input is currently invited. Begun in 2019, the ICSP is intended to establish community values to “articulate priority projects, policies, and programs that should be implemented to move towards vision and goals”. It’s a foundational document which will be referenced in future area planning such as Official Community Plans and Land-use Bylaws.
There’s a deadline for ICSP feedback: November 30. If you’ve got feelings about how Quadra and the Outer Islands move into the future be sure to have your voice heard. The November 11 Discovery Islander has the ICSP ‘Plan on a Page’ and a feedback form. It’s also online here. I found opening the Plan on a Page and Survey in separate tabs made the survey more manageable. Thank you for engaging!
Gratitude to the islanders who joined the SRD’s Task Force, volunteering time and thoughtful expertise helping the consultants to craft this Community Sustainability Plan.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
On Wednesday November 23 I’m chairing my first Public Hearing, the Quadra Links application. On November 30 there are two Public Hearings scheduled, the ‘Ramos’ and ‘Currie’ applications. Both evenings begin at 7pm. The links have details about cut-off times and where to email submissions to become part of the public record if you would prefer not to attend and speak in person.
Perhaps you are wondering why Public Hearings aren’t advertised in the Discovery Islander? The DI is a longstanding publication which reaches most mailboxes on Quadra as well as Read & Stuart Islands. I’ve learned that the Discovery Islander does not meet the public notice requirements according to BC’s Community Charter and SRD Bylaw 466, because the DI is published every other week and not weekly.
TRANSPARENCY is a key tenet of local government. Board meetings are ‘televised’ live on the Strathcona Regional District YouTube channel and are available for viewing anytime. Meeting agendas are posted several days before the meeting, find upcoming agendas and minutes of previous meetings here.
Transparency extends to Director communication: official email communication is subject to Freedom of Information requests. You are welcome to email through my official SRD email address, rmawhinney@srd.ca or robynmawhinney@gmail.com.
If phone or text is your preference my Director’s line is 250.203.2468. Communication Caveat: weekdays are when I’ll respond… unless there’s added exclamation points to denote immediate importance.
Until next time,
Robyn Mawhinney
PS: As a candidate I asked if folks would like Election Day reminders and added them to an email list. I’m choosing to use the same email list to share my Director’s Report. If this is something you don’t want in your inbox, please unsubscribe below, I won’t be offended.