Colwood won’t likely be seeing a full-time volunteer coordinator position, as council showed no support for a staff recommendation.
On June 12, council received a staff report regarding the creation of a formal volunteer program in the city, including the hiring of a new full-time staffer to manage the program and hiring a consultant to advise the city on how best to establish the program.
Discussion on whether to move forward with the program was originally scheduled for June of 2022, but the previous council passed a motion to deffer discussion until the new council had settled in.
While discussion did happen on Monday, council failed to move the staff recommendation and an amended motion by Coun. Dean Jantzen, resulting in no further action on the program.
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Staff said the creation of the program, and hiring of the coordinator, would create the capacity for the city to identify, foster and empower community groups to formalize and undertake volunteer activities that provide benefit the community and the participants. The specifics of the program were developed in partnership with Volunteer Victoria.
While council stated their support for improving and supporting volunteerism in the community, they had concerns over the cost and bureaucracy involved in the project as presented. A staff report said the program would cost $95,000 annually, with $50,000 to be spent in 2023 through a required budget amendment.
“It’s really important to me that if we are going to spend the money, and it’s a big ask, that we are spending the money in a way that the volunteers think is valuable. If we are asking people to volunteer, we need to make sure we are not asking them to work for free, but to indulge their passions,” said Coun. Cynthia Day. “We need to do it in a way that follows their lead, rather than dragging them in.”
Jantzen said he would prefer to find a middle ground between not introducing a formal volunteer program, and going all the way to hiring a new full-time staff position to run one. He said a better option would be to look at part-time or seasonal staff positions for the role, or possibly partnering with a community group to provide volunteer coordination services for the city.
On that last point, Jantzen made a motion to explore partnering with a community group, but failed to secure a seconder to support it and allow for a vote.
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