Dear editor:

One of the shortcomings of our departing Niagara-on-the-Lake town council is the way they abandoned the citizens’ advisory committees that helped previous councils look at issues. Smart people know that they don’t have all the answers, and that it makes sense to look to others for ideas and recommendations.

In our Oct. 26 municipal election, only one candidate for lord mayor, Vaughn Goettler, has promised to bring back advisory committees. This is forward-looking; I served on the NOTL urban design committee that was attacked (refer to town council meeting of July 25, 2023) and eventually dismantled.

I think our councillors could have made better decisions about design and development if more of them had paid attention to our views instead of stifling us. 

The most successful organizations in the world rely on arms-length advisors. Committees don’t make the decisions, but their members have skills, expertise and insights that can help town staff and councillors make better decisions. They add value at minimal or no cost to taxpayers.

This is something candidate Erwin Wiens doesn’t appear to understand and Andrea Kaiser only recently acknowledged and said she would look at. They claim to want to listen but give the sense that citizens’ opinions just get in the way. 

To be fair, those who prefer to ignore or oppose the idea of citizens’ advisory committees often say they can rely on the expertise of town staff to make sensible development decisions. This can be true, up to a point.

But staff experts don’t have a monopoly on good advice. Public opinion, often based on years of experience, matters too. The sorry record of unhappy decisions favoring over-scale development, needless concessions to developers, and stagnation of other issues, suggests that second opinions would often come in handy for our town. 

My personal experience is telling. At one point in the lead-up to the decision to allow a massive hotel at the Parliament Oak school site, I was invited to meet with deputy mayor Erwin Wiens. 

It was not impressive. Despite committee members being carefully vetted, he deemed me “not an expert” — only staff could provide expertise. He also dismissed my offer to review the urban design committee terms of reference.

I know many canvassers can vouch that I’m not the only NOTL resident who feels that he or she hasn’t been listened to by the current town and regional councils. 

This needs to change. Of the 28 committees that existed at the time of our last election four years ago, only eight remain. I’m glad Vaughn Goettler has committed to bringing back advisory committees. We have remarkable resident talent from which to draw.

At a time when Niagara-on-the-Lake is under unprecedented pressure for more development and tourism, we need all the advice we can get. 

Chrys Kaloudis
NOTL