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Councillor sits in the hot seat

An Okotoks councillor is taking a new approach to public engagement. Coun. Florence Christophers hosted her first live question-and-answer session via Facebook Live on Oct.
Florence Christophers
Coun. Florence Christophers hosted her first Live Q&A session Oct. 1 via Facebook. She plans to answer questions from the public in an online forum the first Monday of each month starting at 7 p.m..

An Okotoks councillor is taking a new approach to public engagement. Coun. Florence Christophers hosted her first live question-and-answer session via Facebook Live on Oct. 1, welcoming queries from the public and providing answers for more than an hour. She said it was a great experience for her first crack at the initiative. “It was joyful and I absolutely loved it,” said Christophers. “There are things I would do better and differently, but on the whole I thought it was a great start and I loved it.” For starters, she plans on using a different platform for the next go-round, rather than Facebook Live, which she said didn’t quite perform the way she’d hoped. Christophers would rather have a more interactive forum. “I want it to be more of a dialogue going forward, because what happens is when I’m reading a question that’s really short and I’ve answered it, I can’t check back in with that person to make sure I got it right and answered it to their satisfaction, and that’s important,” said Christophers. She plans to continue hosting her Live Q&A sessions monthly, on the first Monday of each month beginning at 7 p.m. The idea has been brewing for a long time, but two weeks ago came “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” which pushed her to get it going. She’d received a call from someone who had heard a rumour the Town had deliberately stalled on approving the wedding licence for Crystal Ridge Golf Course because staff were hoping the golf course would go under and the Town could assume its water licence. “I said to her, ‘Is this a joke?’” said Christophers. Over the course of the conversation she also learned people were worried the Town was coming after the Crystal Shores Beach House and shut it down to take over its water. “I don’t want to live in the kind of community where bad rumours circulate and it creates stress and frustration, hostility and suspicion,” said Christophers. She decided it was time to put herself out there and field questions from residents on burning issues or anything else on their minds. As an extrovert, she said she enjoys interacting with the public. She said it’s important for council to be out there communicating with residents. “It’s a gesture of, ‘I do want to hear from you and I do want to be accessible and I do want to be open,’” said Christophers. Although she was the only one in front of the camera, she said it doesn’t mean Okotoks council isn’t working as a team. “I’m just expressing myself in a way that feels right for me in terms of how I want to connect with my community, so I bring good information back to my team,” said Christophers.  

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