WHEREAS the duties and workload of the President and Board of Directors of the AAMDC have significantly increased over the past nine years due to the current rural crisis and the many varied changes to municipal governance implemented by the provincial government;AND WHEREAS it is appropriate and timely to review the structure of the AAMDC Board of Directors to determine if changes need to be implemented to allow board members to continue to effectively represent their own constituencies while also adequately representing the associations membership;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) establish an Ad Hoc Committee composed of one or two councillors from each AAMDC District, elected to the committee by the respective District, to:1. review the structure of the AAMDC Executive and administration to determine if changes need to be implemented2. prepare a report to be brought back to the membership prior to the 2005 Spring Convention, and3. if it is determined that changes are required, present options to the membership for discussion.

Over the past few years the role of the municipal government has become even more imperative in presenting local issues to the senior levels of government. The AAMDC has played a significant and important role in both protecting rural interests and educating all levels of government on issues affecting rural Albertans. The time commitment required to ensure that all matters are handled satisfactorily for the associations membership has increased significantly. While the current President and Board of the AAMDC have done an exceptional job in addressing issues that are important to rural municipalities with all levels of government, the County of Grande Prairie No. 1 believes that a review of the structure of the AAMDC Board is currently needed. We believe a review would identify if a more equitable method to distribute the workload of the President and Board is needed to ensure that all issues relative to rural municipalities are dealt with in a timely manner and each issue receives the attention needed to appropriately present membership comments or concerns. In other municipal organizations, the Board of Directors consists of a first and second Vice President to assist the President. This structure could be investigated to determine if it is appropriate for the AAMDC. With the diversity of issues being faced by rural communities, distinct differences of the membership and the shortened timelines set by senior levels of government for municipal input into issues that directly or indirectly affect rural municipalities, it is imperative that the Association be able to glean the input from the membership to satisfactorily speak to these issues.Therefore, we believe that a committee should be struck to review the structure of the Executive Committee of the AAMDC to see what changes can be made to improve the reaction time by the AAMDC to issues being presented.

The AAMDC has no resolutions currently in effect with respect to this issue. However, at the 1995 spring convention, delegates endorsed a resolution calling for an ad hoc committee to be established, composed of two elected councillors from each of the AAMDC zones to review the AAMDC zone structure. The committee recommended the following:1. That the AAMDC not increase the size of the Executive;2. That the AAMDC increase the number of districts to five by dividing the existing Edmonton Zone into two separate zones (Edmonton-East and Edmonton-West); and3. That in order to maintain a six-member executive, the Vice President be elected by the delegate body from among the Directors.The recommendations of the committee were written into a Notice of Motion to amend the bylaws of the Association. The Notice was circulated to all municipal districts and counties, and endorsed at the 1995 fall convention.

At the Fall 2005 AAMDC Convention, the membership approved the Executive Review Committee Final Report and Recommendations. A subsequent implmentation plan for the resulting 11 recommendations was endorsed at the Spring 2006 AAMDC Convention. Eight of the 11 recommendation are expected to be implemented by July 2007 with the remaining three in the following year.