As part of the city’s mid-term governance review, city councillors are considering ways to increase public engagement and transparency regarding the budget process.
Mid-Term Governance Review White Papers from city staff are proposing six changes, including establishing a finance and audit committee that would start the budget process months earlier than it is now.
If there is a finance committee, Jenny Gullen with People for a Better Ottawa said they want to ensure it be structured to allow for public input into the budget process from the beginning.
She said they want to avoid a situation where hundreds of public delegations get five minutes to address council at the end of the budget process.
“That’s not a particularly meaningful engagement,” said Gullen.
PBO is hosting a forum at First United Church on Saturday morning to discuss the proposed changes in the governance review and to get feedback from the public.
Will Murray said this is a great opportunity for people who are not normally plugged into municipal government to get engaged.
“What’s being offered this Saturday is a crash course on how your municipal government works,” he said. “This is a rare opportunity because things are in transition now and you can understand how things work, how things are going to be working and how you can play a role in that.”
