LSARA IS YOU AND ME!
PROUD RESIDENTS OF LAC STE. ANNE COUNTY WHO CARE WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTY!
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.
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.
The FOIP REQUESTS that LSARA put forward a few months ago, the two we shared with you at our public meetings, have not been completed. In the spirit of working together, we allowed LSAC Administration an additional 30 days to complete the request. That deadline was also not met.
In addition, information we requested from both FOIP requests was potentially not going to be made available by LSAC.
So why would LSARA try to fund raise just under $16,000 as requested by LSAC, to obtain this information?
We provided all the FOIP correspondence to the Privacy Commissioner. A Senior Advisor was assigned to try to facilitate the requests. There has been some correspondence and we believe the requests will be forthcoming! LSARA will keep the Ratepayers Informed!
The FOIP requests were also submitted during the last councils term. New council may be more open to providing the information.
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".
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.
With our Facebook and Blog Posts we generate Thousands of Views per Post and that shows that YOU the RATEPAYERS CARE!
We are a not for profit organization and can tell you we have spent many of our 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 YOU, THE RATEPAYERS would like to see happen and how we would like to grow rather than a "watchdog". With the election NOW COMPLETED, we hope to be able to work with Council and Administration. Really have some talking AND listening sessions where the Ratepayers are heard.
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:
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.
Please email us at lsaracares@gmail.com or fill out our Request form on this Blog and we will add you to our growing list of supporters of LSARA.
What Have We Done?
LSARA recently held Candidates Forums for our LSAC Election. We provided public forums for all of the candidates, incumbents and the folks that were new to running. Unfortunately some of the Candidates chose not to attend. Our idea was that we would 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 voted, and vote you did! With record numbers vying as Candidates for 6 seats and Voters going to the poles, LSAC can feel proud of the turnout and outcome.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.
The FOIP REQUESTS that LSARA put forward a few months ago, the two we shared with you at our public meetings, have not been completed. In the spirit of working together, we allowed LSAC Administration an additional 30 days to complete the request. That deadline was also not met.
In addition, information we requested from both FOIP requests was potentially not going to be made available by LSAC.
LSARA believes the items we requested are not only Public Information that should not have been subject to FOIP Legislation, but we also believe a great deal of the Information we requested was made available by LSAC, to Farmer and Associates for their recent review they conducted.
So why would LSARA try to fund raise just under $16,000 as requested by LSAC, to obtain this information?
We provided all the FOIP correspondence to the Privacy Commissioner. A Senior Advisor was assigned to try to facilitate the requests. There has been some correspondence and we believe the requests will be forthcoming! LSARA will keep the Ratepayers Informed!
The FOIP requests were also submitted during the last councils term. New council may be more open to providing the information.
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.
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.
When we started LSARA we were kind of scratching our heads as we struggled to understand why some were reluctant to join our organization. That reluctance has changed with our perseverance and acceptance!
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.
When we started LSARA we were kind of scratching our heads as we struggled to understand why some were reluctant to join our organization. That reluctance has changed with our perseverance and acceptance!
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.
With our Facebook and Blog Posts we generate Thousands of Views per Post and that shows that YOU the RATEPAYERS CARE!
We are a not for profit organization and can tell you we have spent many of our 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 YOU, THE RATEPAYERS would like to see happen and how we would like to grow rather than a "watchdog". With the election NOW COMPLETED, we hope to be able to work with Council and Administration. Really have some talking AND listening sessions where the Ratepayers are heard.
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
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.
Please email us at lsaracares@gmail.com or fill out our Request form on this Blog and we will add you to our growing list of supporters of LSARA.
0 comments:
Post a Comment