If Pontiac residents want to find out what’s going on at the MRC Pontiac, they won’t find much help at the MRC website.
A quick look at the MRC Pontiac’s staff directory shows that the communications director position remains vacant.
This has had an impact on the lines of communications between constituents and the regional governing body.
For instance, from January to October of 2017, the MRC published 60 press releases detailing information on a range of issues.
The former communications director left the post in June of this year and the vacancy has been notable.
MRC staff and officials have had to step in and fill the void, which takes them away from the jobs they were hired to do.
This cuts down on productivity across the MRC establishment.
From January to October of this year, the MRC only published 27 press releases – less than half of last year’s total over the same period.
If a resident clicks on the “press release” tab of the MRC website, they’ll see an item from August of this year. Similarly, the “news briefs” section features the tree and forest festival from May of this year.
Some of the communications that are being released by the MRC focus more on the work of its partners than it does on the work of the MRC itself.
For instance, one of the most recent releases promotes the Transcollines public consultation. There is another that details the creation of a seal of approval developed by a local co-operative.
The most recent council of mayors minutes are from April of this year – two months before the departure of the former communications director.
While it’s nice to see the MRC promote its local partners, important things like council minutes need to be posted in a timely fashion.
With such a limited amount of information available, some of the only avenues for people to find out what’s going on at the MRC is through their local media or to attend meetings themselves.
Unlike many other rural areas, the Pontiac is well-served by a variety of media. Local journalists do their best to shed light on what officials are up to, but the MRC needs to be more proactive.
On top of that, many people just don’t have the time to go to the council of mayors meetings to get information that should be publicly available in a timely fashion.
Even if a citizen attends a council of mayors meeting, their heads would spin when they saw how fast motions are approved – many of which come with limited explanations.
The Municipality of Pontiac, on the other hand, provides detailed minutes for every council meeting. Even the motions that are passed are clearly defined and easy to understand.
One of the major currencies of governments is the trust that is placed in them by citizens.
If the only source of information coming out of a government body is provided by the media, it wouldn’t be surprising if people wonder if something is being kept from the public.
In that scenario, the trust of citizens in their elected officials could start to wane.
While it’s understandable that the MRC’s communications have dropped off since the departure of the former communications director, to go six months without filling the vacancy seems excessive.
The MRC plays an important role and residents deserve to be informed of what kind of work is being done.
Unfortunately, with the MRC website providing limited answers, residents are the ones who lose when they’re kept out of the loop.
Chris Lowrey
