What are the benefits of public participation?
Public participation is not simply a nice or necessary thing to do; it actually results in better outcomes and better governance. When done in a meaningful way, public participation will result in two significant benefits:
- Government will make better and more easily implementable decisions that reflect public interests and values and are better understood by the public.
- Communities develop long-term capacity to solve and manage challenging issues, often overcoming longstanding differences and misunderstandings.
We Want to Hear From You: Help Us Improve the Community
Who Are We?
LSARA is a condensed version of our registered society name "Lac Ste Anne and Communities Ratepayers Association" We are a dedicated group of volunteers that identified a need to present issues in the County of Lac Ste Anne as we understand them. We believe it is in all our best interests to ensure all Ratepayers and other potentially affected community members know the Hot Topic items, understand them and can effectively respond to them.
What Have We Done?
We have lobbied council and Administration, our local MLA as well as Municipal Government . We have held regular meetings with our executive and additional meetings with our directors at large. LSARA has also hosted several meetings in the communities and this Spring our first Annual meeting. We always begin our public meetings by reviewing our Associations Objective which states" The association will be a positive and credible advocate of Lac Ste Anne Communities and will, by coordinated input, oversee that elected county officials are held to terms and conditions of provincial laws and regulations. It will continuously strive to work for the betterment of all Ratepayers".Why Should We (You and I) Care?
Our name is synonymous (closely associated) with our approach in how we work together as one with no boundaries. Our Association, YOUR Association, has representation in one form or another, from all 7 Divisions in this County. We also have members that have an interest due to property ownership or business. One thing we can't tell you is how many hours our executive has put in along with many of our directors to ensure that important information, things that have the ability to impact you, are brought forward.The next "Hot Topic" on our agenda is the 2017 election. Some candidates have declared themselves at the County office already while others have advised LSARA of their intent and have yet to file. We are currently working on providing public forums with all of the candidates. Our idea is that we will work together with organizations in the communities to provide these forums with a moderator to provide you with the opportunity to make a informed decision when you cast your vote!
LSARA has been and will continue to, with your support, provide you with information, you choose how you react and go forward with it. Everything we have posted is based on fact. If it is our opinion, we clearly indicate so.
We are kind of scratching our heads right now as we struggle to understand why some of you are reluctant to join our organization. We are not a vigilante group. We are all residents of the county, hard working, tax paying citizens just like you trying to provide a voice.
We are a not for profit organization and can tell you we have spent many of own funds while conducting petitions, information gathering, attending meetings to name a few areas. We aren't asking you to pay us.
What we are asking is for you to support us with your purchase of a $10 membership. These funds are used to pay for meeting venues, stationary, postage etc.
We have heard there is a fear of Association to the group, afraid of some sort of penalization by the County. We have not and will not share our Membership list. We do live in a democratic society where people can join Associations without fear of reprisal.
We have many people who provide us information and we protect our sources as we verify prior to posting therefore eliminating any incrimination. We have also heard that some feel all we point out and report on is the negative. If we have some positives, we would be happy to share them with everyone! You see, we would like to exist for an entirely different reason than why we do.
We would like to be a type of citizens advisory, tell council and Administration the things we'd like to see happen and how we would like to grow rather than a "watchdog". With the election coming in October, we hope to be able to work with council and Administration. Really have some talking AND listening sessions where the Ratepayers are heard.
Recently in Sturgeon County, the Council and Administration made some moves to begin the process for the construction of a new Administration Building, much the same as Lac Ste Anne. The biggest difference was the Ratepayers joined together in a 'call to arms' and over 200 people flooded council chambers and let them know this was not what they, the people who would ultimately be responsible to fund the building, wanted. The council and Administration did not force their Ratepayers into petitions, plebiscites and FOIP actions. They listened. That's all we want is to be heard. Open communication, transparency, fiscal responsibility and leadership!
Now the ask. There may be a time in the very near future where LSARA needs to put out that 'call to arms' . Will you hear that call? Will you join us to ensure the future of our County for our children and grandchildren? $10 per person or $20 per family residing in the same household annually. For the cost of a few cups of coffee, you can make the world of difference for YOUR Association.
LSARA has thousands that follow our Facebook posts Lac Ste Anne Ratepayers Association and our associated blog at http://lsaracares@blogspot.ca You can email us at lsaracares@gmail.com We are working very hard and would appreciate your support and feedback.
Please, like, share and see first our Facebook page to keep up with the latest news. Please also consider joining our group. We would really appreciate it. Thank you to all those who have joined and those who do follow, like and share. You make protecting our way of life in this County worth it.
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