Neepawa Town Council amends media policy & funding for fair
- Details
- Published on Thursday, May 21, 2015
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner
A few adjustments were approved on Tuesday, May. 19, to the Town of Neepawa’s municipal budget. The changes will not impact the tax rate for property owners and will simply see some existing allocated funding shifted.
The $5,000 that had been previously set aside by Council for the proposed Land of Plenty Festival has been given to the Neepawa and District Chamber of Commerce for its preparations on the Neepawa Fair. The funding is contingent on a promise from the Chamber that any profits generated be placed in a general account to use for any future fair events.
Town Council also approved examining a new partnership with the Neepawa Natives and the annual Sports Dinner. The junior ‘A’ hockey club had requested that council reconsider its decision to cut the level of annual funding given to the team. During budget deliberations, the amount set aside was slashed from $10,000 to $5,000.
Instead of returning the grant to its previous amount, council has brought forward the option of splitting the net profits generated from the annual sports dinner, usually held in the fall, with the team. The deal is contingent on both sides agreeing to a working and volunteer arrangement for the preparation and organization of the event.
Media relations policy
Neepawa Town Council has approved a revised media relations policy. Council said that the point of the document is to ensure that the organization speaks with one voice and presents clear and concise information to the public or media.
As part of the policy, the mayor and chief administrative officer (CAO) shall be council’s official spokespersons on all matters. They shall also be responsible for issuing media releases as approved by the Council for the Town of Neepawa. Such releases are to be prepared following consultation with applicable staff and their respective departments.
The CAO may nominate other staff to act as spokespersons for the municipality when necessary to provide accurate and factual information. The CAO will also be tasked with documenting media enquiries/responses and media releases. Such information is to be placed on file for verification purposes.
As well, municipal councillors may, in certain instances, be spokespersons on matters or events within their scope of authority. However, as outlined in the Council Members Code of Conduct, members must have respect for the decision making process of Council and uphold any and all decisions of council, even if doing so is in opposition to personal views. As the policy was presented on Tuesday, May. 19, it states that once a decision has been made, or a direction has been given by the majority of council, no individual member of council may speak to the press or the public, in contradiction of, or in opposition to a decision or direction of council.
Periodic census policy
The Town of Neepawa intends to bring forward a resolution to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities connected to the creation of a new census option. Currently there is no legislated authority to conduct a municipal census in Manitoba, although there is a general census conducted by the federal government every five years.
Council believes that the national census is not a consistent indicator of community growth and diversity, and that municipal censuses would allow for collection of important demographic data to assist in the planning and provision of community services. The thought is that it’ll also allow municipalities experiencing high levels of population growth to capitalize on increased provincial grant funding involving population per capita formulae.
The resolution will be forwarded to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) 2015 Mid-Western June District meetings for further debate. It is then anticipated that AMM will begin the lobby process to establish legislation supportive of enabling municipalities to perform their own census in the Province of Manitoba.
