{"id":26176,"date":"2020-03-12T19:54:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T23:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=26176"},"modified":"2020-03-12T19:54:12","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T23:54:12","slug":"municipal-service-board-rejected-as-option-to-run-library-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/municipal-service-board-rejected-as-option-to-run-library-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Municipal Service Board rejected as option to run Library Square"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The question of just how Library Square will operate once\nthe multimillion-dollar redevelopment project is completed still remains\nunanswered, but last week\u2019s General Committee meeting went one step towards\nclarifying the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Councillors rejected the possibility of\nestablishing a Municipal Service Board (MSB) to oversee the operations of\nLibrary Square \u2013 which would include 22 Church Street, the approved extension\nto the historic Church Street School building, and the gathering space planned\nbetween it and the Aurora Public Library \u2013 in a way that is somewhat\narm\u2019s-length from municipal operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnder the MSB model, the Town would continue to own the\nlands and buildings at 22 Church Street and remain responsible for capital\nasset funding,\u201d said Project Manager Phil Rose-Donahoe in his report to\nCouncil, noting that while an MSB model is unusual for cultural institutions\nowned by a municipality, it is a model that has been established in St.\nCatharines. \u201cOnce established, the MSB would become the operator of the\nbusiness, responsible for program and service delivery, facility rentals and\nbookings, establishing rates and fees, box office administration, financial\noperations, marketing and promotion, fundraising and employing and managing all\nemployees and volunteers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch a governance model would require the Town, through\nCouncil, to create a body that possesses the expertise at an operational level\nto implement the Library Square Business Plan and oversee the ongoing\noperations and programming of the facility. Council would also need to approve\nthe criteria and competencies for the MSB and establish broad policies it needs\nto follow, thereby controlling the MSB\u2019s scope of authority to some extent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on his report in Council Chambers last week, Mr.\nRose-Donahoe offered Council a number of pros and cons for this model \u2013 and\nothers \u2013 and, as far as the MSB, the cons outweighed the pros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the plus side, an MSB would provide \u201cunified\nleadership and centralized direction\u201d, a balance between municipal control and\nan independent board, the integration of existing staff and board members, and,\nin some cases, lower staff compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, there are\nfew examples on which to compare this proposal for Library Square, an MSB could\nsee a disruption to current program delivery, translate into a lengthier\ntransition period for all employees, and limit fundraising potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn analysing the MSB model, it\nhas become increasingly clear that this model poses numerous challenges that\nmake it the least feasible model for the future governance of Library Square,\u201d\nsaid Mr. Rose-Donahoe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More feasible options, he said,\nare the adoption of a Direct Delivery system where the operations of Library\nSquare would fall under the umbrella of the Town\u2019s Community Services\nDepartment, or a Not-For-Profit\/Municipal Hybrid Model, one which is similar to\nthe Town\u2019s current agreements with the Aurora Cultural Centre (ACC) for the\npurposes of delivering cultural programming to the community. (See sidebar)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Council agrees that the MSB\nmodel is one that should not be pursued, the next step in the review process is\nto continue to work with key stakeholders to further explore the Direct\nDelivery and Not-For-Profit Municipal model to determine which one is the most\nfeasible option for Library Square,\u201d said the Project Manager. \u201cThis means\ncontinuing to work with stakeholders during a series of process mapping workshops,\nthe purpose of which is to undertake a step by step analysis of the\ndecision-making process for various, real world scenarios that would occur at\nLibrary Square.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council ultimately agreed with\nhis recommendation, tentatively rejecting the MSB model in a decision that is\nexpected to be ratified at the end of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in favour of exploring\nthe Hybrid model further were Councillors Michael Thompson and John Gallo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince being on Council since\n2010, the ACC has done everything Council has asked of them,\u201d said Councillor\nThompson. \u201cThey continue to build and improve upon the relationship [between\nthemselves and the Town] and address issues, and I expect that to continue. I\nstill think the current hybrid model we have in place\u2026is still the best path\nforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On his part, Councillor Gallo\nsaid he agreed with Councillor Thompson\u2019s views but questioned the purpose of\nthe report and the recommendation to reject the MSB rather than to simply pick\none of the three options to move forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am just saying, let\u2019s make a\ndecision and if it took a little bit more time [for a recommendation] I would\nhave been okay with that,\u201d he said. \u201cI would have been prepared to make a\ndecision even before this report, to be quite honest, but I am happy it is here\nand it is moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Tom Mrakas said he too\nwas prepared to make a decision at the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think maybe it is in the best interest to say, \u2018You\nknow what? Let\u2019s task staff and say we\u2019re going to go for the non-profit\nmunicipal hybrid model and have them just specifically work on that, how they\ncan update that, how they can tweak that and give us the best proposal when it\ncomes before us and we can look at that,\u201d said Mayor Mrakas. \u201cI have gone\nthrough this, I have looked at it, I kind of see the one I like and from what I\nam hearing around the table, I think everyone is leaning towards one model over\nanother. Maybe that is what we do and give staff the proper amount of time so\nwe can have the best solution once the doors open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Councillor Rachel Gilliland: \u201cI do like the fact we\nhave the opportunity to look at all three models and I think you did pick the\nright two. What I think we want for the Cultural Centre, if it ain\u2019t broke, why\ntry to fix it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staff, however, cautioned that now is not the right time to make a final decision on Library Square\u2019s governance as more work needs to be done to hammer out just how \u201cthe majority of new space\u201d will be used and what the Town\u2019s responsibilities might be in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir <\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The question of just how Library Square will operate once the multimillion-dollar redevelopment project is completed still remains unanswered, but last week\u2019s General Committee meeting went one step towards clarifying the matter. Last week, Councillors rejected the possibility of establishing a Municipal Service Board (MSB) to oversee the operations of Library Square \u2013 which would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6Oc","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 23:56:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}