A lot of Cortesians were talking about local governance earlier this year. My colleague De Clarke wrote that more than 40 people were at the public meeting held in Mansons Hall. I submitted the attached comparative analysis of Cambridge, Hornby & Cortes local governance models to a subsequent research committee meeting on February 22, 2020. 

Cambridge, Hornby & Cortes Models

These associated interviews were published on Cortes Currents:

• Feb 1, 2020 – Local Government Through Annual Town Hall Meeting (An interview with  George Putnam, Chair of Cambridge’s Select Board and  Marguerite Ladd, Cambridge’s town administrator.)
• Feb 18, 2020 – How Community Decisions Were Made (An interview with former Cortes Ratepayer’s Association President Bruce Ellingsen and his brother Andy Ellingsen.)  
• Feb 22, 2020 – Hornby Island’s Style of Government (An interview with Lynn Nunley, President, and Reina LeBaron, Administrator, of the Hornby Island Residents and Ratepayers Association.)

Going Forward

The research committee’s activities were brought to an end with the advent of COVID and the Cortes Virtual Community Meetings. 

It remains to be seen if someone, or a group of someones, will pick this endeavour up and carry it to the next level.

Top photo credit: Townhall Meeting (Somewhere in Central Europe) by all2gethernow via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)