Confusion continues over role of community engagement task force
NANAIMO — During their second appearance before Nanaimo City Council in as many months, community engagement task force members had to defend their very existence.
“Supporting the task force in its ongoing work will allow the initiative to grow and improve as it progresses, which benefits citizens, leadership and the community as a whole,” task force member Bill Manners said Monday night.
He and Erin Hemmins were back in front of Council after their last presentation, on Jan. 8, ended with confused Council members asking the task force to re-collect and re-package all the work they’d done for one final report. At the time, they anticipated running three more public engagement sessions and believed they still had a significant amount of work to do.
The task force returned with the recommendation the City continue supporting the task force with an $18,000 budget and staff assistance to facilitate their three originally planned public engagement meetings.