The first task at hand for the newly elected city council is to review how representatives on municipal boards and committees are chosen.
And that may mean some changes to policies or numbers of those who serve on the city's 56 boards and committees, according to Mayor John Rowswell.
Rowswell said he'd like to achieve three things with a change in the appointment process.
He wants to give members of the public a better chance to serve on boards and committees.
He suggests either instituting a limit on the number of terms served or developing a rotation process that would allow more people to volunteer their time and share their expertise.
He also wants to discuss the possibility of appointing citizens or stakeholders to the contentious Sault Ste. Marie Conservation Authority board.
Currently, the city appoints four members to the board and Prince Township appoints one. City representatives come from council and, in the past, one comes from city staff.
Rowswell said he believes more citizens would be encouraged to apply to serve on the boards and committees if there were fewer reappointments each year.
"We need new people with new ideas to invigorate our committees," he said.
"And if we're going to have new blood on these committees, we need to have a method to rotate people through."
City solicitor Lorie Bottos said council can pass a bylaw that limits the number of terms a person serves on a particular board or committee.
To date, the city does not have such a bylaw, he said.
Rowswell said council will have to decide whether or not it needs a councillor representative on many of the committees.
It also needs to determine whether some of the committees have served their purpose and could be eliminated.
"The reality is there are so many more activities going on today than there was six years ago. We have only so many councillors and mayor and staff to go around," he said.
City clerk Donna Irving said that board and committee appointments are always a larger task during an election year. Many of the terms expire with the expiration of council.
Appointments made this year will range from one to four years, depending on the board or committee, she said.
New appointments become effective with the new calendar year.
Irving said she has had a great response to the request for applications for the boards and committees. Submission deadline was Nov. 24.
Council will start its Dec. 11 meeting early, at 3:30 p.m. to discuss the appointment process and length of terms before tackling the regular council agenda.
It's expected that a special caucus meeting will be held Dec. 18 for city council to review the applications and make the appointments.
Those appointments will be finalized by way of a council resolution at the first meeting of the new year.
