Proposed new health and wellbeing service proposed for Gabriola!
The Alternative Approval Process closes 4 pm February 20th. If you’re OPPOSED to this new service you must register your opposition by sending an elector form by email or fax (the email/number is on the form), or drop-off to the RDN office by 4 pm Tuesday Feb 20th. You can find the form and background information here: https://www.getinvolved.rdn.ca/gabriola-island-health-and-wellbeing-service-aap
As of January 19th, the AAP designed to gauge support for the creation of a new Health and Wellbeing Service, to hire a Health and Wellbeing Coordinator for Gabriola is under way. In an AAP, individuals who are in favour of the new service don’t need to take any action. Those who are opposed to the new service need to let the RDN know by filling out an elector response form with an original signature and sending it to the RDN, who must receive it before 4 pm on Tuesday Feb 20 2024 (postmarks don’t count). Forms can be dropped off in person, emailed, or mailed [NOTE that due to the holiday on Monday Feb 19th mail is no longer an option to ensure your form is received in time]. The form, a definition of who is eligible to vote, and supporting information including FAQs is available on the Get Involved website for the project at https://www.getinvolved.rdn.ca/gabriola-island-health-and-wellbeing-service-aap. If less than 10% of the eligible electors indicate they are opposed to the creation of the service, the service can proceed.
What is the proposed position?
The Gabriola Health and Wellbeing Collaborative is a group comprised of representatives from over 50 organizations working to support the health and wellbeing of our community. Health and wellbeing is defined in its broadest sense as quality of life. From emergency responders and health providers to recreation, arts, business, and environmental sustainability groups, these groups meet monthly to inform and coordinate activities. The coordination of the services for Gabriolans done through the Collaborative are done on a voluntary basis and most of the collaborative is composed of volunteer Boards. These individuals volunteer their time and often incur expenses in service to the betterment of our community. What I’ve heard clearly over the last two years is that these groups feel they need support to avoid volunteer burnout, to facilitate collaboration, and to support their continued service to the community.
The Community Health and Wellbeing Service Coordinator would be responsible for coordinating organizations and networks involved with health and wellness service delivery. The role will include developing and implementing strategic planning which identifies key priorities, goals, objectives and will support monitoring and evaluation. This would also include a gap analysis of services and/or collaboration between on-island groups. A key element of this role would be to provide an administrative and communications function to facilitate collaboration between committees, organizations, and service providers in the area. The Community Health and Wellbeing Service Coordinator would also develop funding applications to support health and wellbeing services delivery.
What would be the structure of the Coordinator’s position?
If the service is approved through the AAP process, the RDN will put out a request for an existing non-profit society to hold a contract with the RDN. The funding from the RDN will go through that society and they will be responsible for hiring and overseeing the person hired. A small group of representatives from the Health and Wellbeing Collaborative will form a governance body to oversee the position, set priorities, and ensure the work of the Coordinator is in alignment with the priorities of the Health and Wellbeing Collaborative. The society which holds the contract with the RDN will be responsible to provide annual reporting to the RDN Board to ensure that the society and the position meet the requirements of the contract.
How much will it cost?
The position is proposed to start initially as a part-time position (pilot project) with the potential to eventually become a full-time position. The AAP is asking support for the full-time position to allow the position the flexibility to evolve over time. If approved, 2024 taxes will include funding for a part-time position (not full-time) as a pilot project which will extend for at least 1-2 years. A part-time position is proposed to cost $50,592 including an operating budget and a small administration fee by the RDN, and a full-time position would be $102,612. Based on 2024 assessments, the cost per $1,000 of property assessment is $0.0203 for the part-time position (ie just over 2 cents per $1,000 of assessment) and $0.0413 for the full-time position. To calculate how much you would pay, take your property assessment for 2024 (available at https://www.bcassessment.ca/), divide it by 1,000 and then multiply it by 0.0203. What this translates to is that a property assessed at $500,000, for example, would pay a total of $10.15 in 2024 for the part-time position for the pilot project. A property assessed at $1,000,000 would pay $20.30 in 2024. In future years if the position becomes full-time, the amount will be adjusted and could increase or decrease based on changes in population assessments, or decrease based on population growth.
Why are we having an Alternative Approval Process for this service?
Regional Districts are required to create bylaws for a new service. Depending on the service it may require approval of the residents through either assent voting (ie a referendum) or an Alternative Approval Process (AAP). Both of these processes are approved by the province as a method of assessing the support of residents and are laid out by provincial regulation which includes a timeline for voter response as well as other requirements such as the types of advertising required. I’ve been asked why we’re having an AAP for this new position/service:
1. For this type of social service a referendum/AAP is not mandatory if it’s brought in for an area because it’s considered a local government service that can be implemented at any time. For this particular service an AAP/assent process was required because it’s being brought in for a portion of the area (Gabriola) and not the entire area (Area B). Even if we were considering the service for the entire area, I felt that, because this was a new service, I wanted to include an educational component and check in with residents about their thoughts.
2. The province provides guidance on deciding on AAP vs assent voting. For this service I felt comfortable that it met some important criteria for an AAP:
a. It’s an important service that typically a local government can implement (as I mention above, isn’t even required to go to elector approval if all of Area B was included - and an argument could be made for that);
b. The service in the context of the budget is not expensive, does not require long-term borrowing, and will I believe provide good value for the residents of Gabriola and provide much needed and requested support to various community groups who work for the benefit of Gabriolans;
c. It will start as a part-time position to ensure it meets the needs of community groups/Gabriolans before it would be expanded; d. I have been engaging with the public for close to 2 years on this through the feasibility study and numerous Sounder articles and meetings with community groups. I have mentioned this potential service and the upcoming AAP in almost every Sounder article I’ve submitted in over a year. I’ve also made numerous posts on Facebook about it. There were numerous in-person and online engagement opportunities with the consultants and I have attended much of the engagement to hear and answer questions. Through all of this the vast majority of people I’ve heard from were in favour of the new position; some had concerns but were mostly questions about how it would be implemented. Based on that I feel it met the criterion of a service that is not highly controversial.
3. Finally, an assent vote (referendum) requires in-person voting and is many multiples of the cost of an AAP. Because of the above reasons I felt an AAP for this new service was appropriate.
Do you have additional questions?
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