Few turn out to transit commission recruitment

The City of Ottawa's drive to recruit members of the public to serve on a newly formed transit commission got off to a rocky start when only four people showed up to an open house on Wednesday.

Last week the city started accepting applications for four citizen representatives on the commission, which also includes eight already-appointed members of city council.

The city said it is looking for people with a background in transit, planning, finance or adminstration who have an interest in transit and are willing to volunteer their time on the commission.

But on Wednesday night, an open house recruiting session in Orleans drew only four people.

Diane Blais, the program manager for advisory committees in the city clerk and solicitor's office, said the low turnout is a surprise but not necessarily indicative of interest.

"I would obviously like to see a little bit better turnout at the open houses," said Blais.

"But even if we don't have better turn out at the open houses the ultimate objective is for people to apply," she said.

Blais said it is possible people are not attending because they are getting the information they need through the city's website or through the media.

But people who have contacted the CBC said they lost interest in applying because information on the positions and the duties was difficult to find.

There will be three more recruitment open houses throughout the city for positions on the transit commission as well as a number of other committees:

• Thursday night from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Nepean Sportsplex;
• Saturday, Jan. 22 from 9 a.m. to noon at Jean Pigott Place in Ottawa City Hall; and
• Tuesday, Jan. 25 from 5 p.m. to 8 pm. in the Councillors Lounge of city hall.

The deadline to apply for the commission spots is February 4.