Some old things are new again for the Town of Cochrane.
Mayor Peter Politis has announced the reinstatement of a Recreation Services Board and an Economic Development Board. He originally began them seven years ago, but they were eliminated by council in the term he was on the sidelines.
Board members have more power than an advisory committee. Politis says they act like an extension of council. He uses the rec board as an example.
“The group has the power to, in this case, generate the revenues and then to reallocate the revenues into recreation,” he outlines
The boards go before council only once a year. Politis says they come up with an annual plan for activity and revenue generation, then are given the authority to proceed.
“The component of the mandate that we’re actually addressing here is to empower the community to be actively involved in driving community affairs by providing modern vehicles that allow for the actual decision making, direct oversight and engage planning services, so it’s unique.”
For more detail and how the rec board differs from the economic development board, here’s an audio link to our complete interview with the mayor.