Elliot Lake’s 22-point draft Strategic Plan was unveiled to the public this week during 4 two-hour drop-in sessions held at the public library. Two staff members and two members of the consulting firm were present to answer questions and receive input from the public.
I attended three of the four sessions and exit-interviewed residents after the first session. I frequently heard the word “vague” or other similar descriptions. The plan contains very few specifics and no measurable goals.
Some background
On Jan. 9, the council voted unanimously to contract the services of Tim L. Dobbie Consulting Ltd. to facilitate the updating process and conduct public consultation at a cost of $30,000 plus HST. The last time Elliot Lake’s plan was updated was 2014.
Veteran Councillor Norman Mann, a member of the council in 2014, spoke well of the process Dobbie led them through. The council voted unanimously to move ahead.
And Dobbie knows strategic planning well. Prior to establishing his consulting firm, Dobbie was the City Manager (equivalent to a CAO) of Burlington, ON for 12 years.
In camera training
On May 1, the council began their training with Dobbie and voted to take their training into a closed session. The Municipal Act allows for training in closed sessions but only for training, not for discussion of the specifics of a new strategic plan.
For transparency, the Municipal Act requires discussions specific to planning to be conducted in an open session.
On May 15, the council voted again to go into a closed session to receive further training.
The training could have been conducted in an open session and the video archived. If that had been done, all the stakeholders could have had the same understanding of how this process should work.
The lack of common understanding leaves residents unclear. What should the draft plan contain at this point? Should we point out the vagueness, lack of measurables, and gaps in the draft Strategic Plan? If we do, are we “just finding fault.” But if we don’t, will the final product simply remain as it is now?
Fast forward to June
On June 19, Dobbie presented a PowerPoint presentation at an open council meeting. The slides contained the output of a “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats” (SWOT) analysis of Elliot Lake.
The Ontario Municipal Councillor’s Guide says, “A first step to developing a strategic plan is to identify the current state of your community. This can be accomplished with what is commonly known as a “Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis.
“A successful SWOT analysis should engage the entire community, including municipal leaders, council, senior management, support staff, stakeholders, residents, local boards, the business community, and rural and urban interests,” the guide says.
When was the SWOT analysis done? Why was the entire community not engaged?
Where are we now?
The draft Strategic Plan unveiled last week is very different from the SWOT analysis presented June 19.
The council would serve Elliot Lakers well by following their draft Strategic Plan Item 15 and "actively engage with local stakeholders in an open and transparent way to identify opportunities to collaborate that allow all parties to leverage their respective strengths to support community growth.”
Considering the high level of contracted expertise and how much the public was shut out of the process, it is troubling to see so little substance at this point.
A Town Hall meeting would be welcome.
The plan is here.