Request for Commissioners

The City of St. John’s invites interested and qualified people to apply as potential commissioners. The role of a commissioner is to conduct public hearings and make recommendations to the St. John’s Municipal Council regarding amendments to the St. John’s Municipal Plan.

When selecting a commissioner, Council chooses from a list of people who have suitable professional qualifications and interests, which may include a legal background, an academic background or architectural expertise. The commissioner holds a public hearing, receives written and verbal comments on the issue at hand then reports to Council with a recommendation whether to proceed. Commissioners are independent and cannot be members of Council or City staff. A commissioner is paid for his or her time based on a standard hourly rate.

At present the City has a list of persons who serve as commissioners. We wish to add to the list to ensure that we have people available any time a public hearing is needed.

A person serving as a commissioner should be:

• Independent from Council.
• Familiar with the Urban and Rural Planning Act, the St. John’s Municipal Plan, the St. John’s Development Regulations, and land development in general.
• Capable of chairing a public hearing, gathering the required information, asking suitable questions, taking accurate notes, and maintaining order and decorum.
• Skilled in thinking through the issues, applying the policies of the Municipal Plan, writing a report on the public hearing, and making appropriate recommendations to Council.
•  Committed to confidentiality until the report has been reviewed by Council and released publicly (commissioners do not give media interviews or speak publicly about their reports). After submissions are received, the names that are selected will be referred to a future meeting of Council for consideration. Candidates who are accepted by Council will be notified that their name is being added to the list of potential commissioners and will be invited to an orientation session.

If you are interested in being considered as a commissioner, please send your resume and any other pertinent information by Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, to: City Clerk, City of St. John’s, PO Box 908, St. John’s NL  A1C 5M2; fax 576-8474; email cityclerk@stjohns.ca. For further information, please contact Ken O’Brien, Chief Municipal Planner, at 576-8220 or email kobrien@stjohns.ca.