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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-03-19 ACAC Minutes Arts and Culture Advisory Committee March 19, 2024, 4:00 p.m. Pipe Room - 6th Floor City Hall City of Kitchener 200 King Street W, Kitchener, ON N2G 407 Present: M. Melo, Member M. Lam, Chair B. Reid, Member A. Girard, Vice-Chair I. Stefanescu, Member E. Wainaina, Member Staff: K. Varin, Committee Administrator E. Rumble, Coordinator, Arts & Creative Industry A. Hallam, Manager, Arts & Creative Industries _____________________________________________________________________ 1. Commencement 1.1 Acceptance of Agenda Moved by B. Reid, seconded by A. Girard. 2.Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and the General Nature Thereof None. 3.Delegations 3.1 Welcome to Andrea Hallam, Manager, Arts & Creative Industries, Economic Development A. Hallam and members introduced themselves briefly. 3.2 Terms of Reference: Clerks A. Fusco, Director of Legislated Services/City Clerk, addressed questions voiced by members during the February meeting and provided further guidance relating 1 to work that the committee is doing in updating its Terms of Reference. In summary: Historically advisory committees were an engagement method with the community: currently other methods exist, and their role morphed into advising staff; they should have a clear and defined mandate to facilitate participation, information sharing and building of energy. Terms of Reference should define and be clear about the purpose of the committee and its mandate: consider asking what is ACAC looking to achieve and how does it align with the Arts & Creative Industries team's workplan? The committee can make recommendations for proposed changes to the scope and purpose of the committee to the Arts and Creative Industries team. Staff then would work with Clerks on alignment with existing policies and take the amendments to Council for approval. Establish clear definitions (clarity is helpful for citizens considering joining the committee). ACAC members and staff can look for examples of user- friendly language in other committee Terms of Reference including outside of our municipality –the structure of the corporate policy, as a governing document, can't be changed by the terms within are amendable. Meeting details such as date, time and frequency can be amended, but consider what is most productive for making decisions. Membership: all advisory committees to Council are governed by the City’s Appointments to Boards and Committees policy. The accepted best practices are that members either live, work or own property in the municipality in order to be a committee member. The Appointments to Boards and Committees policy restricts membership to only one committee at a time unless exceptions are made by Council: consider how that affects ACAC members serving on EDAC and DAC? The composition of the committee can be changed. Volunteerism is at an all time low. Staff in the Clerks office are amending appointment policies to reflect the collection of demographic diversity data information. Historically, they have seen low uptake on completing these fields during the application process, likely because the public does not know the reasons for collecting this data or how it will be used. 2 Members sought clarity around the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee has been appointed by Council since the late 2000s through a public report and its membership is public knowledge. It is composed of five CEOs of the city’s largest community associations including the Waterloo Region Community Foundation, Capacity Canada, United Way -Waterloo Region, the Multicultural Centre and the Chamber of Commerce. These members receive all the eligible applicant applications and determine eligibility using a rubric that considers past and new experience, age, diversity, membership of racialized and marginalized groups, etc. to form a balanced and diverse committee. Are rotating chairs and vice chairs an option? Rotating Chairs is not ideal as that disrupts the consistency in practice and what is permitted for one delegation or meeting could set precedent for all. Clerks offers Chair and Vice Chair training and can share guidance tips. What does reporting back on recommendations look like? How does the committee measure impact of their recommendations? Committee advice and recommendations flow through staff. If ACAC wants Council to consider an action, they can discuss that request at a regularly scheduled meeting and if supported by A&CI staff, would write a report to standing committee. If they wish, ACAC members can delegate to the item. Council decisions are public and accessible through the city's website. Staff should be updating regularly at committee meetings. Committee members cannot direct staff but can support the intent of the committee by other means such as research. Responsibilities in the Terms speak to developing a work plan, which can be amended, but should continue to link to the mandate of the committee and the City’s Strategic Plan. Creating a summary document of items discussed, outcomes and suggested priorities moving forward, would be useful to create at the end of each term; the report could also list suggested ongoing/standing items to continue into a new term. This would be helpful with engagement and recruitment of new members as it would further clarify the type of work the committee does. Quorum is defined in the Procedure By-law as the majority of the total of the members. Current ACAC number of members is 12, so a majority would be 7. The committee membership is high by committee standards and could be lowered. If a member misses more than three meetings, they are deemed to have resigned. Staff would reach out if there are patterns 3 of not being able to attend. Committee administrator should solicit feedback on reasons for resigning. Subcommittees are generally defined in the Terms –their purpose, membership numbers, etc., and exist from a select few members of the overall committee. Based on Clerks' interpretation of the Public Art Working Group, it is not a subcommittee of ACAC, as it’s membership is different. Clerks recommends it to be an individual committee. Its Terms of Reference can specifically discuss the expertise needed. Steps to create or dissolve a sub-committee can be defined in Terms of Reference. E. Wainaina inquired how the low interest in participation could be addressed and if barriers preventing better participation have been identified. Currently, the Volunteer Engagement team is examining promotional practices effectively used in other municipalities. The Multicultural Centre would be a good partner to work towards engagement strategies. 4. Discussion Items 4.1 Terms of Reference review: staff and committee Members noted that it is important to find language that would encourage Council to act upon a recommendation or advice. Forming sub-committees around a project under discussion, may strengthen a recommendation to Council. Action: ACAC chair M. Lam will meet with A. Girard to discuss the information presented by Clerks, and member feedback, and bring suggestions of Term of Reference edits back to the committee for review. 4.2 Workplan approval: Margaret Lam, chair, ACAC The chair, M. Lam presented an updated draft. The workplan attempts to be specific about the scope and deliverables that members can commit to. It is important that the workplan doesn't loose sight of how ACAC can support the goals of the city's Strategic Plan. Members suggested minor revisions to reflect the above. B. Reid questioned if the Berlin Tower Artspace exhibition program should be reviewed by ACAC or by PAWG. Both committees would need to give input. In relation to committee inquiry about updates on the development of the Arts and Culture Plan as it relates to their work this year, A. Hallam explained that the Arts and Creative Industries team has recently been in flux - the creation of a new Culture and Entertainment director role that oversees both the Arts and 4 Creative Industries team and the Special Events team - and her recent start as the manager of the A&CI team has affected the work. The Director will present a comprehensive strategy plan which will further guide and support the data and input already collected to develop the plan. This will also be shared with ACAC. However in the interim, A. Hallam noted that in place of the Arts and Culture Plan, an Arts Strategy that pertains to work in the next 12-18 months will be developed and implemented. Action: the chair will further revise some of the language in the workplan to present to the committee. 5. Information Items 5.1 Standing Items city updates: staff Committee administrator, K. Varin informed the committee, that Council approved an Honorarium and Reimbursement Policy for Advisory and Quasi-Judicial Committees. This policy was developed by the Equity, Anti-Racism and Reconciliation division. The policy speaks to honoraria provided to members of committees and other advisory groups for expertise rendered that is fundamental to the purpose of their committee as well as reimbursement which compensates members for out of pocket expenses such as travel costs and childcare. Under the policy, ACAC members are eligible for reimbursements connected with travel costs (parking and public transit) and childcare. Currently staff from that division are working on developing Standard Operating Procedures based on a needs- based model. She asked members for initial needs related to costs. K. Varin will share this information with the division. Read the full report and policy. E. Rumble informed members that the call for the public art proposals for Mill Courtland Community Centre, will be posted on the city's website and social media on Monday, March 25th. A public information session is planned on April 24th. The revised public art policy has been endorsed by Council and E. Rumble will now identify future projects with the working group. The waitlist for space at 44 Gaukel is growing and ArtsBuild is working on filling any vacancies. The A&CI staff is also working on a contingency plan for this property. A. Hallam is working on the Arts Strategy, and reviewing procedures across the portfolio to identify any challenges and inefficiencies. 5.2 Downtown Action and Advisory Committee: Annabelle Girard A. Girard was unable to attend. 5 Latest DAAC minutes 5.3 Economic Development Advisory Committee: Margaret Lam, Jeffrey Paquette No meeting was held. 5.4 Public Art Working Group: Brenda Reid After recruitment efforts, PAWG now has seven members of whom majority are artists, with one member having long term experience serving on various committees. Staff summarized the 1% public art policy and the Terms of Reference which will also need to be reviewed. 5.5 Council report: Councillor Dave Schneider Councillor Schneider was absent. 5.6 Member updates 6. Adjournment On motion by B. Reid, seconded by E. Wainaina, this meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. Karoline Varin Committee Administrator 6