 What contributes to effective local government decision-making? Councils and boards are collective bodies that work together to make decisions. In order to make effective decisions, locally elected officials need to consider The rules for decision-making The community's needs and interests The local government's long-term plans Staff information and advice There are rules for local government decision-making The community charter and the local government act are the two key pieces of legislation that local governments must work with it when making decisions Legislation and rules that apply to decision-making include Bylaws and resolutions Meeting procedure rules And ethical conduct policy and conflict of interest legislation Being a political representative, yes, you should say what it is you want to say But when you're in the position of chair or a position of leadership That sometimes takes a back seat to making sure that good order and good processes are followed Because it's those processes and expressing respect to those participants in the meeting That's how you create the best kind of foundation for a good decision As an elected official, you'll have numerous opportunities to receive feedback and input from community members at public consultations, council and board meetings Community forums and other public events Generally, local governments make decisions in areas such as land use and their boundaries Sewage treatment and recreation services These areas are all within local government jurisdiction Other areas such as health, immigration and fishing and hunting May fall under the jurisdiction of other levels of government Local governments can work with other levels of government for action in these areas What you want to do is make sure that you understand the context of the situation Or the decision that needs to be made So that you can make connections with the people who are probably most affected by any given decision I think it's the first time that you have to deal with some sort of an urgent situation Or a really important issue where you start to find the commonality And you come together and you realize that as much as you might hold divergent politics You might have different ideas about the state of the world When you're dealing with an issue with the water system or the sewer system Or the fire department, and it's right there in your community And you get to work together It's really that sense of common cause I think the first time you experience that, you start to respect each other As members of the same community It's having that patience to listen You don't necessarily have to agree But it is good to try to understand where that person is coming from It's a lot of our job to make sure that we can conduct conflict in a way that's respectful and orderly Because that's the essence of democracy A good decision making process is one that involves all of the voices at the table There are a number of other plans and reports that will provide guidance to your council or board's collaborative decisions The annual report considers previous, current and future year activities and priorities for the local government The official community plan provides the longer term vision for the community And provides the basis for planning and land use management The local government's long term financial and strategic plans will also need to be considered Once elected officials make decisions, it's the staff's job to implement those decisions Elected officials aren't expected to know or understand all of the requirements of an issue or concern It's local government staff's job to provide help and support to understand what they need to know So in terms of good decision making, I think it all starts with good information So it's making sure that when a topic comes up you end up making sure that there's enough time for staff to prepare appropriate notes Briefing notes and information so that it can be debated well