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| Mayor's Inaugural Address |
Mayor Finall's December 1st, 2008 Inaugural Address:
Good afternoon and welcome everyone. To begin, thank you to His Honour Judge Neal for conducting the swearing in ceremony and to Canon Penelope Black for leading the Invocation.
Today is an auspicious day for Council. We have been assembled here together by the community of North Saanich - a community where an impressive 51 percent of voters participated in the electoral process - a community that is very much engaged. Therefore, congratulations to all the members of our new Council for their success in the election - I look forward to working with you all through this term.
On behalf of Council, I would like to extend our appreciation to all North Saanich municipal staff for their efforts in preparing for a demanding election process, with particular mention of Bruce Williams, our Chief Electoral Officer and Charlene Nash, the Deputy Electoral Officer. I know Council appreciates the efforts of staff to assist us in orientation and transition to our full duties.
I am pleased to be working with such a talented group of Councillors who share in the commitment to our community as a whole. With a willingness to engage with our residents in a collaborative manner to deal with difficult issues, we can together make constructive decisions that focus on the community vision for North Saanich.
The high voter turnout gives me confidence that as Mayor and Council we have a strong mandate to take that vision into the future.
Early in this term I will be meeting with Council to identify key issues, policies to deal with those issues and priorities in terms of timing. This will assist both Council and Staff to work effectively toward clear goals and objectives.
As all of us are aware, we are fortunate to have recently completed our new Official Community Plan, which had intensive engagement with the residents and was unanimously adopted by the previous Council. The purpose of that Plan is "to guide and direct [Councils'] decision-making on all aspects of land use and development within the District of North Saanich."
The overriding community vision for that plan, and the foundation or cornerstone of the principles of OCP direction on land use is to: "Retain the present rural, agricultural and marine character of the community."
Other orders of business include:
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The effective completion of the North Saanich Agricultural Area Plan, and other constructive initiatives to encourage the increase of food growing in North Saanich; |
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Implementation of recommendations of the Marine Task Force, with consultation with stakeholders including shorefront property owners; |
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Early review of the burning bylaw to reflect the needs of this rural/residential community; |
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And continuing the initiatives of the previous Council to look at policies for secondary suites. |
Also, the recent news that the University of Victoria is planning the closure of Dunsmuir Lodge is a concern to this Council. Dunsmuir is a valued asset to the District and a significant local employer. We will contact the University to request that we establish ongoing liaison with respect to the future planning for the facility. It will be important that our Council is kept informed of any developments.
Other priorities include an early meeting with Mayors Larry Cross of Sidney and Jack Mar of Central Saanich, to establish a collegial relationship for moving common issues forward. An example is discussions with the provincial government regarding traffice concerns on Pat Bay Highway. In dealing with senior levels of government it is very important that we have a cohesive approach.
In conclusion, my thanks to all of you who were able to attend today.
To the community of North Saanich, we the new Council will uphold the Community Charter and the key responsibilities you have entrusted upon us as elected officials, and that is "to consider the well-being and interests of the municipality and its community."
This will guide us forward as a Council now and into the future.
Thank you.
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