Celebrating what makes the City of Prince George tick

The first CityFest drew crowds to the Prince George Civic Centre on Wednesday, May 21.

The event transformed both the interior and exterior of the centre with booths, fire trucks, Zambonis, face painting, games and food trucks.

Attendees had the chance to speak with a variety of community figures, including RCMP officers, firefighters, emergency program officials, city councillors and the mayor, all of whom were on hand and eager to engage with residents.

Inside the Civic Centre, booths offered a look at the behind-the-scenes work done by the City of Prince George, including asset management, infrastructure planning, city planning, communications, bylaw enforcement and other services.

Residents were also invited to share their opinions on infrastructure investment, new projects and city spending directly with municipal staff.

Claire Thwaites, one of the event’s lead organizers and the city’s communications manager, told The Citizen that a major goal was to connect with residents from all walks of life.

“This came about because last year council put through a notice of motion requesting that the city do two engagement events a year,” said Thwaites. “We always did one around budget time in the fall, and then last year we held a town hall in May around public safety.

“Following that, council said, ‘You know what? We need to make sure that we're meeting with our people and engaging.’ As the event date got closer, we realized there wasn't one single project or issue on everybody’s mind — there were a whole bunch of things.

“So we thought: let’s do more of an open house style, make it family-friendly, bring in some trucks, and make it fun.”

Thwaites said she hopes the event helped residents better understand the work that happens behind the scenes in local government.

“People know about solid waste, they know about bylaw, they know about snow removal,” she said. “But we’ve got representation here from some of the areas of the city that are a bit more behind the scenes — like asset management, project delivery and the capital projects office.

“I hope people get around, have a chance to talk to different groups, and learn a bit more about how local government works.”

Mayor Simon Yu was also in attendance, speaking with constituents and sharing his own thoughts on the event’s value.

“Looking at all the information the planning department put forward regarding each of our neighbourhoods, we now have a much deeper understanding of the city's composite demographics,” said Yu.

“To know where people live — this is great information. Even as mayor, I came down here and learned a lot. It’s a huge value to the city.”

Yu said he hopes CityFest inspires more residents to engage with their local government — and he’s already looking ahead to next year.

“My takeaway immediately is that we need to do this at least twice a year,” he said. “Also, we should have a permanent display of all this information on the first floor of city hall. That way, whenever people visit, they’ll be able to see what’s going on and talk to staff.”

He added: “Democracy only works if people participate, and people can only participate when they have the right information. It’s our duty — as mayor, as council, as a city — to make sure residents are engaged. Not just once every few months when we send them a utility bill.

“There should be a place where people can ask questions—live.”