Want something in the city budget? You need to ask for it

At first glance, it looked liked an audience of about 20 gathered one evening last week at the Rideauview Community Centre to discuss the City of Ottawa's budget until you realized more the half the group was city or councillors' staff, media and at least one lobbyist.

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And of those who were there, many were the usual suspects who show up to everything. Indeed, councillors Scott Moffatt, George Darouze and Mike Qaqish knew most of them by name.

It was the same at many other budget input sessions across the city, with residents almost outnumbered by city staff.

Why such scant interest in how the city spends more than $3 billion of our money?

Indifference? Lack of comprehension? Blue Jays game?

Perhaps a smattering of all of the above.

Community safety issues drew crowd

Usually, people come to public meetings when a specific issue will directly and negatively affect them or their neighbourhood.

Cumberland Coun. Stephen Blais who was approached by just three residents during the east-end councillors' "budget drop-in" at Place d'Orleans one Saturday last month pointed out that the public meetings to discuss the initial changes to how the city billed for stormwater were packed with upset property owners.

The largest group to date at a budget consultation was at the one held by councillors Jean Cloutier, Diane Deans and Riley Brockington,with Mayor Jim Watson in attendance,for residents of the urban south end.

One possible reason for the bigger turnout of about 40 residents was the concern about community safety. A number of people asked about more police presence in areas where violence been an issue. Sadly, the city's 14th homicide of the year was committed while that budget consultation was occurring.

Watson responded to their concern with the information that 25 new officers were being added to the police force. (While this is true, it's not at all certain where the new officers will be deployed, or how community policing will be affected.)

Are consultations too vague to be useful?

One impediment to getting people out to the budget consultations is surely the perception that these meetings are just pro forma, that you can't really change anything in the budget because it's either too large a project such as the cycling infrastructure one woman in the rural area asked about or the mayor tells you it's not a problem.

But maybe the answer to budget consultations is not to throw open the door to any suggestion.

That invitation is akin to your Grade 3 teacher telling you to draw something anything! The one talented drawer in your class gets to work, while the rest of us just sit there staring blankly at our papers.

The "budget" is a huge, vague concept. But most of us have opinions on specific issues and subjects. Or at least we can get our heads around them.

Urban councillorsto hold meeting Thursday

So this year, the five urban councillors Tobi Nussbaum, MathieuFleury, David Chernushenko, Catherine McKenney and Jeff Leiper are trying something different.

They are convening a meeting at city hall on Thursday evening on three specific issues they've heard about in their wards: the low-income transit pass; increased funding for social agencies (often referred to as "community partners"); and safer mobility (or pedestrian and cyclist safety).

About 100 people have already registered to attend. Experts from each of these fields have also been invited to share information and their own stories, and participants will be asked to discuss the issues in break-out groups.

The expectation is that people who come out to this session will have thoughts about these particular subjects.

They'll be asked what they think is a reasonable amount to spend. For example, councillors are looking for support to add $500,000 to the base-line budget for social service agencies, many of which are reporting to be struggling with increased demand for their help.

And residents will be asked what they are willing to give up in exchange another service? Adding more money to the budget?

Public support could give political authority

Although Thursday's unique consultation process is likely to result in more tangible budget requests, it in no way means there will be more money in the budget for these initiatives.

But if a strong show of public support for increased spending on these issues actually materializes, it gives these councillors the political authority to fight for the funding during the budget process.

More to the point, public opinion could sway the mayor to include funding for these initiatives in the draft budget. It's already worked in the case of the low-income transit pass: Watson announced last week the pass is a go.

Because in the final analysis, no matter what happens at individual consultations, councillors have to convince 13 of their colleagues that spending money on their line item is worth voting for.And no one is more important to convince than the one elected official who actually writes the budget.