- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor

They're not sexy and they feel kind of clumsy, but the processes of democracy are what makes it...well...democratic.

For most of the past year, a number of members of the Owen Sound Downtown Improvement Area (DIA) have asked me to look into a variety of concerns. I put them in the pile and other things kept getting to the top first.

Much of it involved legal requirements under the Municipal Act, and for most of our readers, that's not the most fascinating part of life in our city. I wanted people to read our articles, so I let it slide farther down the pile.
We were busy at the Hub, and it was hard to get information that was not obviously being made public. No DIA minutes were being posted or going to city council for approval.

Which turned out to be exactly the problem.

So even as DIA members were tugging on my sleeve, I let one DIA member be the squeaky wheel. Peter Reid was dismissed, ignored, called a liar, and ultimately became the subject of a questionable closed meeting.

But he was right. The board meetings were being changed, for months, without public notice. This past week the public record - the published calendar of meetings for 2018 - was changed to match the actual meetings held, often a week before or after the published date.

All year the DIA minutes had not been going to council, until Mr. Reid exercised his right to ask about them in a public question period on June 11. Everyone at the council table, including the two councillors on the DIA Board of Management, gave a blank look as the Clerk confirmed that no minutes had been received.

Peter Reid wrote an open letter to council and his fellow DIA members on July 30,which he also sent to the media. We at the Hub re-checked the facts (the opinions are his own) and published the letter, and it was discussed – in a closed meeting – at the DIA board meeting. Which means the minutes of that discussion would never go to any open meeting of council.

At last Monday's council meeting while discussing Mr. Reid's letter, the Clerk and City Manager confirmed that as a "local board" the DIA was required under the Municipal Act to follow the City's procedural by-law regarding notice, minutes etc. This was apparently new information to the mayor and council.

Councillor Scott Greig thanked Mr. Reid for his letter saying it helped "keep council on its toes". In full view of the public and the live cameras, Councillor Brian O'Leary called out both his fellow councillor and Mr. Reid in one brief comment: "Before I'd go thanking Peter Reid for anything, I would do my homework to make sure there's truth in his letter. And there isn't."

Mr. Reid had no opportunity to defend his facts. He says he has lodged a formal complaint with the City Clerk that Mr. O'Leary has breached council's code of conduct.

All of this matters for three reasons. One – at these meetings with no public notice and no public minutes, some very significant changes were being proposed for Owen Sound's DIA. Not by downtown businesses or residents, but by Councillor O'Leary and the City Manager. Details to follow.

Second – as the DIA says on its own website "Strong, open, reliable, and timely communications are essential for the long term success of any organization."

And third – It may not be the stuff of front pages, but we value the clumsy, unsexy, process of municipal democracy.

For those of you who want to know more about the entities known as BIAs (Business Improvement Areas) or DIAs, it's here