Backroom Briefing Q: Could Peterborough Set Pace As First Municipality To Adopt "Gender-Based Budgeting"?

 Q: Could Peterborough set the pace as the first municipality to adopt “Gender-Based Budgeting?” –Betsy McGregor

Goyette: Betsy is the federal Liberal candidate for the Peterborough Riding and a compassionate supporter and coach of Special Olympic athletes. Her question follows on an International Women’s Day article published at Mykawartha.com by the Peterborough & County Older Women’s Network, of which she was an author.   

The concept of gender-based budgeting is both innovative and challenging. The movement gained some traction in Australia in 1984 before it was shut down there in 1996. Advanced by feminists and progressives interested in gender equality, it has had occasional implementation elsewhere. The idea is that the process used to develop a budget is made to include an assessment of the impact of that budget—primarily its expenditures—on women and girls.

For example, do the expenditures set out in the City of Peterborough operating budget favour men and boys over women and girls? When the City spends tax dollars on the West 49 Skateboard Park on McDonnell Street, is that a disproportionate or unfair benefit for boys? When it spends tax dollars on parent and tot programs at the Sport and Wellness Centre, is that a disproportionate or unfair benefit for women?

Budgets are more than just the allocation of dollars to priorities; they are expressions of values. And values are never neutral. Nor are budget makers or elected decision makers. Budget making is an art as well as a science, and there is no doubt that imperfect budgets embody the imperfection of unintended bias. There is also no doubt that a budgetary lens on gender bias would serve as a tool for advocacy for women’s rights and the promotion of gender equality.

The central challenge for Peterborough is not how the City would go about viewing its budget through a gender equality lens—we could create a model for that—but how we would accommodate all the other deserving lenses at the same time, such as expenditures by neighbourhood, by age, by income, by population density, by accessibility, by ethnicity, by disability, by health or environmental impact, and on and on. That splintered house of mirrors would so blur the budgetary vision as to render it sightless.

It seems to me that the answer lies not in the creation of a better budget device, but in the promotion of a better budget lobby. Organize and advocate. Show up when budgets are being developed. Reveal the wrong. Describe a better end state. Make it real and personal. Be seen, be heard, be passionate and be compelling. Make your case to those who are elected to be the guardians of community values. In the end, social change has more cultural grip when it is motivated by reason and emotion rather than compelled by technique.

People issues are best resolved by people pressure.

---------------

David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

Backroom Briefing Q: What Kind Of Social Issues Do You Deal With At City Hall?

Q: We’ve had high unemployment and prices keep going up. What kind of social issues do you deal with through the Mayor’s Office? –Rennie Marshall

Goyette: Rennie—the person who asked this question—was a candidate for City Councillor in Monaghan Ward in the 2010 municipal election. She is an inveterate political groupie and informed City Hall watcher.  (A Cityhallic?)

Municipal government and its association with the delivery of social services has long been a moving target.

 In Ontario, the first framework for local self government came about as a result of The Municipal Corporations Act of 1849, better known as The Baldwin Act. At the time, cities and towns had a limited role in providing social services that was focused on the funding of charities.  The modern welfare state in Ontario really got underway in the late 19^th Century with the Great Reform government of Oliver Mowat, at a time when poverty was associated with a moral failing that was remedied by “Houses of Industry and Refuge”—the original poorhouses—or jail.  

Toronto hired its first “Relief Officer” in 1893. Compassion for First World War disabled soldiers and their families led to the introduction of a number of social services such as Mother’s Allowance and the first public pensions, as did the Great Depression that gave rise to a variety of employment related benefits. Civil and human rights movements have propelled the modern municipal agenda that now includes social assistance, housing, hostels, employment, counselling, child care, wage subsidy, nursing and homemaking—the bulk of which are mandatory and cost-shared between the City and the province.

When people ask what issues we deal with in the Mayor’s office, my answer is all of them. Our role in the field of social services is to provide cooperative leadership in setting an agenda, choosing priorities, finding the balance between compassion and fiscal responsibility, reviewing reports and agendas, liaising with staff, preparing reports and motions, advocating with other levels of government, communicating the City’s plans and programs, and carrying out constituent relations.  

It’s this last category of social service that Rennie likely has in mind. People communicate with the Mayor every day, and some of them do so in person and unannounced. On their arrival at the Office—which they often see as a place of last resort—they are sometimes confused, resigned or despondent. Some recent examples we have dealt with involve personal issues of homelessness, food, inability to pay bills, family violence, child custody, depression, addiction and banishment from agencies. (There are also the angry, like the person who mailed his parking ticket payment to the Mayor in a large, heavy envelope containing 80 carefully and individually wrapped loonies.)

It may come in different forms, but it’s all social service.

---------------

David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

PtboPics: Democracy Rally At Confederation Park

[UPDATED: As per reader comment, it wasn't an Occupy Ptbo event] This afternoon, a democracy rally was held across from City Hall at Confederation Park. Here's pics...

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook. 

Backroom Briefing Q: Will Athletic Facilities Really Help Drive Population Growth?

Q: The Mayor has been quoted as saying that there could be more population growth if the community had more “athletic facilities.” I believe that there is just such a link. Could you expand on this thinking? —Bill O’Byrne

Goyette: Bill is a regular and welcome visitor to our office, and the Chair of Sport Kawartha—an impressive organization with more than 30 sports group/associate members that launched in April of 2010 with a mandate to value, improve, recognize and promote sport participation in the region. You can see the savvy in the man: He quotes the Mayor and then seeks confirmation as a method of promotion. I like it.

The Mayor was responding in February to a report on the City’s growth. He said that we might consider building new sports facilities and other infrastructure to attract young families to the City.

The question has to do with the reasons people move to a new location. These can be divided into two categories: One is a set of “push” factors at the point of origin that trigger movement, such as a lack of economic or educational opportunity; personal issues such as divorce, retirement or a preference for independence; and cultural discomfort such as religious or political conflict or persecution. Another is a set of “pull” factors at the point of destination that attract movement, such as jobs, education, the presence of family or community, climate, and a host of personal perceptions of benign conditions. These are all tied to the stages and cycles of life, as well as psychological outlook. For many, the grass can easily look greener on the other side.  

The research indicates that because of “distance decay,” people are more likely to move to places that are closer to them rather than further away. It also indicates that you are more likely to adopt a new hometown if you already know it. That means that people who move to Peterborough are statistically more likely to have come from somewhere nearby, and have been here before. The arrival here of people from the GTA and those who have prior cottage or rural experience would seem to bear this out.

Do athletic facilities rank highly as a drawing card for these newcomers? Not on their own, and not to the degree of other factors such as a new job. While they are probably more important in retention rather than attraction, they are undoubtedly part of the bundling of community benefits—the “infrastructure” that the Mayor referred to—that inform smart economic and tourism promotion. There is consensus that we have an entrenched deficit of sports facilities in the region, and the remedy for that, which is well underway, stands on its own merits as an issue of the quality of community life.  

------------

David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

Backroom Briefing Q: Are There Party Politics At City Hall?

Q: Are there party politics at Peterborough City Hall? —Whitney, Peterborough

Goyette: Yes and no, but don’t give up on me just yet.

Officially, party politics do not exist at City Hall. There is no formal organization of Liberals, Greens, Conservatives, New Democrats, Communists, or any other political party that directs the work or the decision making of the elected Councillors. This is not to say that there are not well established municipal political parties elsewhere. They are a common feature of political life in Rome, Stockholm, Tokyo, Berlin and London.

In Canada, they have a foothold in Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec, and we have seen parties and caucuses formed in cities such as Surrey, Richmond, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Even Toronto has played around the edges of formal partisanship with the Responsible Government Group. I want to suggest that the greater the regional polarization among provincial or federal parties, the greater the likelihood of municipal partisanship. 

Most Ontario politicians do not see the need for new municipal political parties, because it could weaken their own riding association or supporter base. Worse, it could result in a popular local politician rising to challenge the provincial leadership outside of the control of the traditional political parties. There is a quaint notion that little local issues do not rise to the standard of weighty provincial or federal issues, and therefore do not merit the discipline of political partisanship.

Those opposed to municipal parties also argue that City Hall is a place that, unlike an opposition party with its duty to oppose, has a duty to find consensus, and that the creation of consensus would be undermined by partisanship. On the other side of the argument, political parties are seen to give voters real choices; help replace “personality voting” with more substantive “issue voting;” permit a healthy electoral debate about vision rather than potholes; and increase voter turnout.

Locally, partisanship is like the reality that dares not speak its name. Some Peterborough City Councillors belong to political parties; all have political leanings. Some attend and speak at partisan electoral events and conventions; some rely on party election workers and fundraisers. But voting patterns at City Council are not expressly partisan. Instead, they are based on a combination of influences such as staff advice, personal values, assumed or expressed constituency preference, electoral implications, alliances with other Councillors or applicants, self perceptions as team players or mavericks, and the play between intellectual principle and emotional immediacy.  

As I see it, municipal political parties are not on the local horizon and there is no desire to see political partisanship come out from under the covers.

Councillors understand that if you want decisions that best represent community opinion, you are more likely to find them based on a consideration of the merits of each individual issue, coupled with the creation of one-time alliances, than you are through predetermined partisanship. Not only that, but partisans sink or swim with the party, which can make for some very short careers.

-----------

David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. For more on his Backroom Briefing column, click here. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.

Backroom Briefing Q: What Is The Working Relationship Between The City & MPP Jeff Leal's Office Like?

Note: This is the 4th column of David Goyette's "Backroom Briefing" for PTBOCanada. For more info on it, click here.

--------------------------

Q: David, Jeff and I would be interested in having your take on the working relationship between our offices. —Pat Melanson, Executive Assistant to Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal.

Goyette: For many decades, provincial governments have been enamoured with a description of municipal governments as “creatures of the provinces.” This phrase is technically accurate, in that cities like Peterborough are created by the Province of Ontario and are its constitutional responsibility: as a rule, the City’s functions, finance and governance all depend on provincial authorization.

However, the “creatures” reference has occasionally taken on an imperial and even paternalistic aren’t you a cute and fuzzy little creature tone, as if to offer to municipalities the constitutional caution that we the province brought you into this world and we the province can take you out.   

Jeff Leal and his staff are different. MPP Leal had 18 years of experience as a Peterborough City Councillor. He’s seen both sides of the intergovernmental divide and his consistently respectful and collegial approach to City Hall is a terrific local asset. In other places, including a number where I have worked, some heavy duty barriers to the provincial-municipal relationship can easily get in the way: political partisanship; assumptions of superiority; competition for media; and exclusivity in scheduling. This is one aspect of life where competition does not produce superior results.  

Here’s how the Office of the Mayor and the Office of the MPP typically work together:

*We are in contact with each other weekly.

*We share notice and details on emerging provincial and municipal issues.

*We share information on prospective investment/job creation opportunities.

*We receive assistance in terms of gaining access to and promoting causes with provincial Ministers.

*We receive notice and briefing on provincial funding announcements.

*We undertake high level event management such as the visit of the Prime Minister and the Premier for last fall’s airport opening.

*We direct and refer constituents to each other’s offices for assistance.

*We make arrangements for joint announcements, including those that take place in the Council Chamber.

Because we are relatively few in number and we share in the experience of life in a fishbowl, there is a camaraderie that binds all politicians and political staff. Without doubt, we have the most fascinating conversations with each other, encompassing not only public policy, but political personality, political strategy, and the risk and reward of decision making.

To be certain, the MPP does the business of the Province and the Mayor and Council do the business of the City. The fact that there are more factors that bring the two together than drive them apart is a testimony to a shared desire for the best in public service. 

----------------

David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. For more on his Backroom Briefing column, click here. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.

The Phillips Report: Peterborough’s Unemployment Rollercoaster

The recent unemployment statistic for the Peterborough area was welcomed news.  The area’s unemployment rates for December had dropped to 7.3%—the lowest level in 27 months. As is typical of the public reaction to such good news, there is little discussion of it. It is like it was meant to be.

When the news of a much higher rate of unemployment in the area hit the streets, it was difficult not to end up in a discussion with someone—anyone—about who was to blame for it. Now that there is good news, no one has been asking who should get the credit. So goes Canadian culture.

In the end, punishment or reward is not the real issue.  The real issue is how to maintain a low level of unemployment. History, however, has some lessons that can help us deal with unemployment—if we’re willing to learn from its lessons.

The general, historical pattern of unemployment in this area is that the unemployment rate falls between May and November each year. The bad news is that it rises between November and May. That means that in the Spring, we will likely be getting news that unemployment is up again. 

An indicator of the health of the local economy will be, in part, the degree to which unemployment increases between now and May. If it goes back to a level over 10%, as it was in 2010, the economy will, once again, not be doing well. Any level under 10%, the news is good—in relative terms.

The volatility of unemployment is a problem in itself. If there were ways for us to creatively develop what economists call "countercyclical" activities that would reduce the swings in unemployment over a year, the stability that would come with it could, in itself, promote economic growth.

It seems rather obvious that the May-to-November decrease and November-to-May increase pattern has systemic roots. That is, there is something about economic activity in the area, as a whole, that leads to these results. The seasonality of a lot of activities related to the weather—from construction to tourism—clearly has an impact. 

However, with dismally poor performance in productivity across Canada—including our area—there must be something we can do to treat the historical pattern as an opportunity to provide a meaningful experience for the larger group of unemployed in the November-to-May period. This would have the potential to improve their productivity and future employment prospects.

There are a number of activities that could be developed to address the lethargy of the November-to-May phenomena. To address how to do this, however, requires that we consider activities that are non-traditional, in one degree or another. 

For instance, providing incentives for businesses and other organizations to offer employment opportunities— even if they were in short-term contracts that could possibly lead to full-time employment—could contribute positively to the Winter/Spring malaise. This could be addressed by any, or all, levels of government, and perhaps even by private- and public-sector organizations in their planning of activities over a year.

There could be, with some creative program timing and content, education and training opportunities offered locally that would cater to those who most often experience unemployment during this period. This kind of programming could improve their prospects for future, long-term employment, make them more productive when they are employed, and could be taken as credit toward recognized certificates, diplomas, or degrees.  This would require some non-traditional scheduling, programming, and methods for delivering educational and training opportunities that fit the realities of the local unemployment cycle.

I am not aware of there being concerted effort—across all sectors—to address economic realities of the employment cycle in the area. However, with a collective willingness—socially, politically, and organizationally—we can address this issue and turn the unemployment rollercoaster into a smoother, more pleasant ride.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Tom Phillips Ph. D. Phillips is Economist & Sustainability Director - Greater Ptbo Innovation Cluster.]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.

Backroom Briefing Q: Is The City Of Peterborough Going To Start Using Social Media In More Active Ways?

Note: This is the 3rd column of David Goyette's "Backroom Briefing" for PTBOCanada. For more info on it, click here.

------------

Q: I would love to know if the City is going to update its social media policy and start using social media in more active ways—especially as part of their City communication plan. Is it?  –Alana Callan

Goyette: Good question. Let’s begin with the assumption that social media—communication among online communities enabled by electronic tools and protocols—is here to stay. Online and cellular communication has already changed the way that people consume, relate to and share information. This website is an example of that. About 8 million Canadians have Twitter® accounts. There are a prescient few who foresee growing user fatigue, but the digital cat seems well out of the bag.  

Governments are not typically early adapters of technologies, and that caution is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when taxpayer money is at stake. On the other hand, the wider public sector has so much to gain in relating to its communities via social media that its employment seems obvious. Consider the advantages to government in dealing with its constituencies: wider and faster reach; interactivity and engagement; new marketing and survey possibilities; program and event promotion; staff collaboration; new payment options; and all with greater frequency and speed at less cost. Add to that the spin virtues of openness, transparency, going green and enhancing customer service and you have a genuine catalyst for change.

On the political front, the Obama campaign of 2007/2008 was a turning point in the value verification of social media. The 2010 Bennett mayoralty campaign employed online innovations such as a virtual campaign office, Twitter®, video messaging, monthly opinion surveys and accessible scheduling. It's important to remember, of course, that if you are going to reach out to the world, the world is going to reach back in ways that may not be to your liking. The promotion of engaged communities always has its price.

By any measure, the City of Peterborough has an excellent website. Eight corporate Facebook® and/or Twitter® accounts are held by City departments or agencies, including the Mayor. The City is now in the process of reviewing its social media policy, and it has to be said that this is more complex than it might first appear. First, it requires a cultural shift involving a more relaxed view of the sharing of information and tolerance for varied opinion. Second, care has to be taken with matters of content, confidentiality, privacy, personal information, record keeping, liability, intellectual property, online/offline integration, compensation and employee conduct outside of the workplace. I have many of these same issues to deal with in writing this column.

Nonetheless, there is no denying the benefits of a form of Local Government 2.0 that one day might have you contacting your public transit operator to check out bus schedules on the go; being engaged in a City-sponsored survey on current issues or budgets; contributing to an online public meeting; or updating a street by street data portrait or photo file. It’s a brave new digital world.

---------------

David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. For more on his Backroom Briefing column, click here. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.

Backroom Briefing Q: Is It On Purpose That The Mayor Seems To Show Up At Every Event Where The Media Is?

Note: This is the 2nd column of David Goyette's "Backroom Briefing" for PTBOCanada. For more info on it, click here.

----------------

Q. It may just be me, but the Mayor seems to show up at almost every event where the media is present. Is this on purpose? How does it work? –Steve, East City

Goyette:  Politicians trade in a different currency than the rest of us, and self promotion is a part of it. While everyone enjoys basking in the glow that comes from the acclaim of others, most people in political life view this as a job requirement. This has a great deal to do with the reasons that people get into politics in the first place, but that's a topic for another day. 

In the political trade, there are many opportunities for self-promotion by politicians as a result of relations with an individual constituent; the neighbourhood or community or group; the associations, advocates and lobbyists; the political party or leader; and the media. Although relations with these individuals and groups wears a legitimate face of public service, they will be supplemented by a desire to secure the personal recognition that translates into public acclaim, status within the political community of which the politician is a part and electoral votes. This should come as no surprise. It is the system we have created for politicians, and they respond and compete accordingly.

When it comes to political self promotion, the bigger the group the better the prospects. With its ability to reach an entire voting community, the media is the preferred target. It must also be said that the media is more than just a target for politicians; the media targets them as well in order to generate the news that translates into advertising and revenues. Practical politics is all about this kind of symbiosis.

Here are some of the mechanics of making this work in a political office. While there are far more opportunities for a parliamentary politician serving in government than in opposition, the principles are the same. We call the activity “scheduling” and there are two types of events to be considered: those that are invitations from others—by far the most common—and those that we create ourselves.

In the case of the former, the invitations to attend an event are collected and reviewed by staff at a weekly scheduling meeting. Recommendations are put to the politician on a weekly basis, typically a Thursday or Friday, in order to prepare for the following week.  The politician decides and staff work is assigned accordingly. That work might include the preparation of briefing notes, speeches, visual presentations, proclamations, certificates, letters, mementos or thank you cards; the securing of a lectern, a sound system, screens, lighting and backdrops or props; security; and transportation. 

The promotional events that we create for ourselves are fewer in number and might include a newsletter or “householder,” event sponsorship, paid advertising, or a major speech delivered to an audience on a day before an important debate or vote. Technology has played a big role in extending the reach of these events. In Peterborough, Councillors now have $1,000 to spend on these activities as they see fit.

-------------------

David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. For more on his Backroom Briefing column, click here. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

Backroom Briefing Q: Is It True City Hall Used To Serve As Home To Mayor Of Peterborough?

Note: This is the debut of David Goyette's "Backroom Briefing" for PTBOCanada. For more info on it, click here.

-------------

Q: I think it would be cool if the Mayor lived in City Hall kind of like the White House. Are there still living conditions on the top level and is it true it was once used to house a Mayor of Peterborough? —Pete Dalliday

Goyette: It may be that you have your tongue firmly planted in your cheek, but the issue is a good one. When Peterborough City Hall opened in October of 1951, with Ottawa Mayor Charlotte Whitton and Peterborough (England) Mayor Chamberlain officiating, there was an apartment on the third floor for the building’s stationary engineer and his family, who also functioned as a caretaker and had a wonderful habit of keeping detailed weather reports. As it happens, he was a relative of local drummer boy and jazz aficionado Verne Hope. The apartment is now reused for other purposes, as are the former courts and the Justice of the Peace offices.

There is no Canadian tradition of cities providing housing for Mayors. MPs and MPPs receive housing allowances to pay for apartments when they are away from their constituencies, and there is a time honoured practice of the overnight “coucher” by senior politicians dealing with emergencies or deadlines. There have been a handful of occasions when I nodded off with a team of political types in an overnighter to get something important ready for the next morning.

Americans do it differently, and a good example is Gracie Mansion at East End Avenue and 88^th on the East River in Manhattan, which is the official residence of the Mayor of New York. I spent some cherished time there with former Mayor Ed Koch -- one of my favourite people -- who actually eschewed the Mansion as a residence in favour of a more comfortable and downscale apartment in Greenwich Village.

In the early 80s, we mulled over the idea with Toronto Mayor Eggleton of designating Spadina House as the Mayor’s residence -- a stately pile on the escarpment that was willed to the City and had become vacant, and whose big time neighbours included Casa Loma and “Arwold” -- the former Eaton estate. The potential downside turned out to be too large and it was dropped. The house reopened in 2010 as a City museum.

Would a taxpayer funded Mayor’s residence work here? Can’t see it. We are a community that wants to keep our politicians’ feet on the ground, and there is a very healthy cultural attitude that reminds all elected officials not to get too big for your britches. 

------------------

David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. For more on his Backroom Briefing column, click here. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.