The warden of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough says councillors are transparent, despite what members of a citizens group say.
Councillors heard a presentation from members of the Guysborough Communities Coalition Wednesday, who requested councillors hold a town hall-style meeting.
Alexander Bridge, a spokesperson for the group, says it all started with fracking, but tax rates and clear cutting were also mentioned as important issues that didn’t have enough public feedback.
Vernon Pitts, the warden of Guysborough, says he wanted to send the request to municipal officials for review, but group members wanted an answer at the meeting; a motion was put on the floor, but there was no seconder, so it didn’t make it to a vote.
Bridge tells The Hawk they want more from their municipal representatives.
“We were concerned that council was not acting on behalf of the constituents in the municipality,” he says. “There needed to be dialogue, there needed to be transparency, there needed to be a way for us to talk to our council members without having to just send an email.”
Pitts says they always communicate with their citizens.
“Council has been holding meetings regularly, individual councillors within their own districts,” he says. “By all means, council should be doing that, but councillors have the opinion that we, as a body, should not be going around the municipality holding open houses.”
Pitts says councillors are willing to meet individually with citizens and groups, but business is generally done in council chambers and during strategic planning.
Bridge says they want to work with other local municipal officials to determine their options.
Photo credit: Adam Rodgers (@AdamRodgersNS)