The City of Lloydminster is advancing efforts to recognize some of its long-standing volunteer committee members.
The city is looking to recognize those who have served extended periods on their committees.
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“This policy came from some discussions about some members who have served seven, nine and 10 years on committees,” said Tracy Simpson, executive manager of community development services, City of Lloydminster. “There’s not a lot of fanfare or opportunity to recognize them as they exit these boards.”
She said the recognition would be for council-appointed committees.
“This would be targeted only for council-appointed committees and not for community groups in general,” she said. “Just for the ones we control and manage, as well as the ones we appoint people to.”
The nine committees the policy would apply to are the Community Services Advisory Committee, Downtown Area Redevelopment Committee, Economic Development Advisory Committee, Lloydminster and District Health Advisory Committee, Lloydminster Public Library Board, Municipal Police Committee, Public Art Advisory Committee, Social Policy Framework Committee and the Vic Juba Community Theatre Board.
Coun. Michele Charles Gustafson was happy to see the policy, saying it’s an important one to have.
“This is really important, I think,” she said. “In communities you often find people who will join committees, sometimes with the twist of an arm, and then find they’re really passionate about it and then stick. Those ones that stick are important because they carry the legacy of whatever the committee is — the history, what’s worked, what hasn’t worked. Some type of recognition is warranted.
“Recognition is important.”
Coun. Michael Diachuk echoed the sentiment, speaking to the policy’s importance.
“I like the policy. I think it’s important to say thank you and, in particular, recognize the community members who want to stand up and be a part of the community,” he said.
When it comes to keeping track of time spent on boards, that would fall to the city.
“The city would keep track,” said Simpson. “Because we appoint them through council motions, we can easily keep a detailed log of terms and years of service.”
Coun. David Lopez expressed some concern about adding additional work to the city’s plate.
“Why aren’t we working on the things we don’t have done instead of starting new ones?” he asked.
Simpson said they already keep track of the number of people on committees, citing it as a low-time-commitment effort. She added boards are likely doing this informally already.
“I would say a lot of the chairs and/or staff who sit on some of these committees are probably doing this informally already,” she said.
City manager Dion Pollard agreed it would not be a significant time investment for the city.
“I think the purpose of the policy is we found a gap in recognizing the people who put time into our community,” he said. “I don’t think time allotment was a big concern. We didn’t see it as a big time commitment to do this.
“As Tracy said, we’re probably doing a lot of it already.”
Simpson outlined how the policy would roll out.
“The way we saw it rolling out, upon approval of the policy we would start the recognition program,” she said. “If you were currently sitting on a board and in the next few years hit one of these milestones, you would still be eligible. We’re not resetting people’s clocks, but we’re only starting recognition that is triggered following the approval of the policy.”
She also outlined what it would cost the city over the next three years.
“Over the next three years, we would have 10 total people hitting one of the three recognitions,” said Simpson. “So it would be a total of $800 over the next three years.”
Coun. Jim Taylor said he wasn’t in favour of giving gifts or formal recognition, drawing on his experience serving on boards and speaking with others who do the same.
“I don’t sit on boards to get recognition or to get a gift,” he said. “I just don’t want people to think that if they can sit on a board and maybe not contribute — even if they do sit there for any length of time — that they’re just going to get a nice gift to be there.”
He did speak to the importance of recognizing those who gave their all to the committees they served on.
“I do feel like at the end of a term, it’s too bad that this can’t be retroactive,” he said. “I also feel that if I’m sitting on a board or chairing a board, I would have the opportunity to recognize someone who has contributed wholeheartedly to that committee while they’re there.”
The issue of gifts appeared to be quickly resolved as Diachuk had a suggestion that sat better with council.
“The other option may be to donate to a charity of your choice,” he said. “I’ve got enough shirts and pens, and if I had $50, sure, I’ll donate it to the men’s shelter or wherever else.”
Council accepted the policy at the Feb. 23 regular council meeting.
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