By Pepper Parr
February 8th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The look of a building says a lot about the people in it.
It is sort of like the way you dress – you are making a statement.
In the municipal world the opening statement is the look of city hall and then the look of the council chamber.
A look at the way that city council communicates with its citizens is another part of the way a city administration is seen.
The Gazette decided to look at other city council chambers and compare them with what we have in Burlington. All the images used were taken from the web site of the municipality.
Our focus was on what a citizen sees when they go on line to watch their civic government doing the business of the people.
Fuzzy image is the best the Gazette could get from the city web site.
Oakville Town Council sitting as a Committee. Note the timer that tells a delegator how much time they have to speak.
Regional Chair Gary Carr.
Regional Council – even though it is a wide angle picture it is still possible to tell who the members are.
Milton Council
Milton council members are in focus.
A citizen delegating to the Town at a Milton Town Council meeting
When Town staff are speaking in Oakville the document they are referring to is shown on a screen as well as the person speaking. A viewer can follow the explanation being given.
In Oakville anyone watching the proceedings has a clear image of the person delegating with their name shown.
Our comparatives were: The Regional government which is located in Oakville, the Milton council chamber and the council Chambers in Oakville and Halton Hills.
Citizens of Burlington at a council meeting – this is the way the world sees us.
A Burlington delegator: Lisa Kearns deserved better.
Deb Morrison
The images of delegations in Burlington are fuzzy, hard to identify and the speaker is not identified.
Web cast technology is being very well used in our sister municipalities in the Region. Burlington’s web image is of exceptionally poor quality. Doesn’t live up to the Grow Bold, Grow Smart and Grow Beautiful statement that comes out of city hall.
While they’re at it, swing those Burlington councillor’s big TV screen monitors down to a desk level angle. Citizens delegating to council to be able to see the elected official’s face without obstructed views.
Upgrading the image should be a quick, low cost & easy fix – and if it isn’t, then rename the webcast: Blur-ington City Council.