April 18, 2016 - Minutes

Date:

Monday, April 18, 2016

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie, Chair
Councillor Chak Au
Councillor Derek Dang
Councillor Carol Day
Councillor Ken Johnston
Councillor Alexa Loo
Councillor Linda McPhail
Councillor Harold Steves

Absent:

Councillor Bill McNulty

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee held on April 4, 2016 and the minutes of the special meeting of the General Purposes Committee held on April 11, 2016, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

COUNCIL/SCHOOL BOARD LIAISON COMMITTEE
Councillor Linda McPhail

1.

SWIS (settlement workers in schools) ADVOCACY
(File No. 01-0005-01) (REDMS No. 4983328)

Councillor McPhail reported that (i) the Richmond School District serviced at least 3,000 clients annually through the SWIS program and (ii) the Richmond School Board asked the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to re-examine funding for the program. It was clarified that 4.2 FTE positions were lost due to decreased IRCC funding.

It was moved and seconded

That a letter be sent to the Federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship in support of increased and ongoing funding for the Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) Program, as described in the attached materials provided through the Council School Board Liaison Committee.

CARRIED

COMMUNITY SERVICES DIVISION

2.

Canada 150 Community Celebration Funding Program
(File Ref. No. 11-7000-01) (REDMS No. 4947473 v. 3)

Discussion ensued with regards to the application process and intake procedures for the Canada 150 Community Celebration Grant Program.

In response to queries from Committee, Jane Fernyhough, Director, Arts, Culture and Heritage Services clarified that (i) the Federal Community Fund for Canada’s 150 requires a matching grant contribution (ii) Richmond’s Canada 150 Community Celebration Grant Program will provide up to $10,000 per grant, which could be used to leverage a matching grant from the Federal program for Richmond community groups (iii) funding will be divided between two grant application intake opportunities, from Richmond’s total  program fund of $150,000 and (iv) staff will develop a communication plan to encourage smaller community groups to apply.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the Community Celebration Grant Program and the criteria, as outlined in the staff report titled “Canada 150 Community Celebration Grant Program” dated March 31, 2016 from the Director, Arts, Culture and Heritage Services be approved; and

(2)

That $150,000 from the Council Community Initiatives Fund be allocated to fund this program.

CARRIED

FINANCE AND CORPORATE SERVICES DIVISION

3.

Corporate operational service level review UPDATE
(File Ref. 01-0300-35-001) (REDMS No. 4934687 v. 6)

In response to queries’ from Committee, Cecilia Achiam, Director, Administration and Compliance, acknowledged that information will be added to blank portions of the progress report when available. A number of key processes evaluated included multiple departments.

George Duncan, Chief Administrative Officer, offered comments regarding the status of management succession planning efforts.

It was moved and seconded

That the report titled “Corporate Operational Service Level Review Update” from the Director, Administration and Compliance, be received for information.

CARRIED

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:14 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Monday, April 19, 2016.

_________________________________

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Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Chair

Amanda Welby
Acting Legislative Services Coordinator