Author: Prudence Sharpe, Citizen Journalist

It’s only 8:45 AM and Saanich Councillor Vicki Sanders is already poised to rush off to her third appointment of the day, immediately after her interview with Saanich Voice Online. Growing up with her father, businessman Stan V Wright, Councillor Sanders learned from example to embrace hard work and community service. Apparently inexhaustible, Sanders works tirelessly on many committees, far too numerous to mention.  Currently campaigning for re-election as a Saanich Councillor and as a CRD Director, for Sanders, strong ethics and giving back are givens.

While issues such as safety, transportation, and housing clamour for her attention, none of these are on her mind this morning. This morning, Councillor Sanders wants to talk about accessible, responsive government.

Why?

“Without a responsive government and without open and transparent process, the rest of the issues won’t fall into place,” says Sanders “Well – they might fall into place –but it won’t please the residents. And within that transparency is included the official community plan and local area plans; those have to be respected because they were developed with input from local residents, and the residents must decide if there is to be variance from those plans … Residents must have access to the process of government.”

The Councillor acknowledges that, in Saanich, Council does its best to get it right, and they do a very good job of it, but also points out that, “it’s always possible to do better.” Sanders recalls the ‘90s, when a resident’s visit to the Municipal Hall often started with feeling unwelcome and ended with feeling confused. “People shouldn’t be bewildered by government. They should be able to find out who to talk to about an issue, and get the answers they want. And the staff needs to understand that it’s not threatening when people come asking for information. They just want to know what’s going on.”

Key to a transparent responsive government, Sanders declares, is thorough, accurate Minutes. Generally, Minutes at Saanich Council meetings are not verbatim, but all the information is recorded, and Minutes do list who makes the Motions and who votes against them. When difficult Motions are involved the Minutes are recorded verbatim, so councillors have an accurate record of what has happened. “Sometimes you find that what you thought was said was never actually said. When you go back and search through the Minutes you find we were all on the same page, but no one actually said the words. At those times, you need to know what was said, not what was meant.”

Minutes serve another critical role in preserving a transparent government, and Councillor Sanders is quick to point it out. “It always concerns me when it comes to the interpretation of the Minutes. If your Minutes are incomplete, how can you know how to interpret them? Minutes are like a score card for the voters. If you haven’t been a part of the audience to see how people came to vote the way they do – if your Minutes are scanty – how can you understand them? Unless they record everything, you can read them and mistakenly assume that something is a bad thing just because you don’t have all the information.”

All of this information is available on-line, of course, and, Sanders notes, “This is where the responsive part comes in. Staff must be friendly, open, and helpful. Residents should feel they can get the information they want. I’m a strong advocate for that.”  Occasionally information can be sensitive, but Sanders adds that while there is a formal process in place for going in camera, it seldom happens.

“Good communication is key,” Sanders declares. “Residents feel comfortable with government and government feels comfortable with residents and nobody feels threatened. A citizen should not have to put up a struggle or face challenges just to get information. In my six years on council I’ve been able to assist in keeping things open and I will continue trying to keep government open and transparent. It’s often just a matter of making a few changes in procedure.”

If anyone would know about that, it’s Vicki Sanders. Over the years, she’s had her finger in just about every pie on Council, prodding people to make little changes here and there to make it easier for the public to find out what’s going on. And if she’s re-elected on November 19th she has no plans for changing. After all, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?