Bradford Council is gathering more details on the draft event strategy

The devil is in the details, or lack thereof, for Bradford’s new event strategy report.

That was the response from several councilors following a report by recreation and client services manager Nick Warman, as well as a presentation by Justin Rousseau of Expedition Management Consulting, during the June 4 commission.

“We’re going to throw some more rocks,” Rousseau said, assuring the board he’ll try to answer as many of their questions as possible, but “if the data isn’t there, you’re not going to get it.”

This followed his explanation of how the city could change the way it organizes public events such as the annual Canada Day celebration and the Carrot Festival over the next decade.

This is based on the proposed events strategy, which focuses on six objectives:

1. Increasing human resources — Recommends the city hire three new positions: Community Events Facilitator, Event Marketing and Revenue Generation Specialist and Administrative Assistant
2. Encourage third-party delivery — Recommend the third-party organization “whenever possible”
3. Evaluate which events the city will invest in — Determine whether each is achieving the intended outcomes of the strategy and reduce, eliminate or expand programming based on the core outcomes identified in the strategy
4. Increasing municipal investment in event production — Suggests the city consider increasing its annual investment in events to keep up with rising costs
5. Increase event revenue — Suggests the city consider increasing admissions, sales commissions and more to generate additional revenue
6. Improve assessment processes — recommends that the city maintain continuous evaluations of the return on investment, including from social, economic and environmental perspectives.

Rousseau explained that while some of the workload is being outsourced to third parties, the city should still hire more staff because while some of these groups may be more professional, some are also likely to be smaller communities that need support, without which. “It usually doesn’t work very well.”

While praising staff for the work they do at city events, Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine offered his “full support” for third-party involvement.

“We can’t rely on the municipality (staff) to do everything themselves. It’s not sustainable,” he said, adding that the city will likely remain responsible for grassroots events like Carrot Fest.

That sentiment was echoed by Ward 1 Coun. Cheraldean Duhaney, who emphasized the value of organizing cultural events by members of these cultures and community groups.

“Culture is who we are,” she said.

However, some councilors were more hesitant.

Section 6 Con. Nickolas Harper had concerns about the strategy, comparing Bradford to municipalities such as Whitchurch-Stouffville, Aurora and Newmarket, which in 2011 had populations of 49,864, 62,057 and 87,942 respectively. Each hosted 22-23 community events supported by municipal staff, according to the report.

At the same time Bradford was listed as having a population of 42,880 and hosting 18 events supported by council staff.

Harper also wanted to see more comparisons of how much other municipalities are spending to facilitate third parties and what levels of satisfaction they have achieved.

“How do we know it actually works?” he asked.

Mayor James Leduc also disputed the elected comparisons and asked to see their strategic plans to better understand how the new approach might work.

The mayor also emphasized the importance of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library and its role as a cultural center that may be able to act as a “support system” to “improve our services” without hiring new staff.

“We run several programs from here … and we have people here who are event providers,” he said.

Section 2 Con. Jonathan Scott summed up the concerns around the council table.

“The devil will be in the details of how we implement it,” he said. “I don’t want to lose what we’re doing well today to pursue something new.”

The proposed new direction comes in response to an organizational structure that is “not sufficient” to cope with rising costs and increased expectations for community programming that have come with “rapid population growth” coupled with “blurred roles” for staff and a lack of resources and strategic planning, according to the draft strategy.

“The current situation is not sustainable and, if left unchecked, there is a risk of staff burnout, low resident satisfaction or even greater risks to safety, infrastructure and the environment,” the strategy says.

According to Warman’s report, work on the strategy began last October, and after an upcoming 30-day public consultation period, Rousseau said he expects a final version of the strategy to be presented to council this fall, before the public budget. anticipated deliberations in mid-November.

The committee recommended that the board receive the report and presentation for information only, but asked for more information before the final version comes out.

Recommendations from the full committee are considered for approval at the next regular board meeting.