The initiative will give residents the ability to regularly meet and engage their councillors on a ward-specific level, addressing local issues and helping establish city priorities.

Francis said that by mid April, city administration will have drafted a report that defines a mandate for the neighbourhood advisory councils -”A charter, if you will.”

This was one of the more promising planks in Francis’ re-election campaign platform.  These councils will give residents a much-needed voice at city hall and a new way to engage in molding our collective futures.  Hopefully the finished product will also give these ‘advisory councils’ some teeth.  With the recent completion of the ABC Governance Review reducing the number of citizen positions on committees and boards (my oft-applied for Planning Advisory Committee, now rebranded Planning Standing Committee has gone from 8 citizen members down to 3 - not much hope for me now), the move towards these neighbourhood councils kind of makes up for that transgression. 

Also mentioned during the meeting were ways in which council could better communicate with the general public;