Issues sometimes occur that we need help with but we do not know who to call or turn to. What if I am not satisfied with the answer? What do I do next?

This is a resource to help you guide your way through this maze on seeking a satisfactory answer to your issue.

Here is a summary on how to resolve an issue with the Town.

1. Contact the Town department responsible for your concern by phone or email.
2. Follow up with the manager, Director, or CAO with your concern.
3. Submit an official complaint to the Town Clerk and request an official response to your complaint.
4. Submit a complaint to the Town Ombudsman.
5. Send a letter or email to the Town Clerk asking that the letter or email be added to the next Council agenda. Make sure there is a specific action you are requesting Council to act on.
6. Make a delegation to Council with the specific action you are requesting.

During this whole process, it is very important to document whom you talked to, the dates, and what was said.

The Town web site is a good repository of information on who to contact and what to do. It is sometimes difficult to find what you are looking for. We have added links to assist you in getting to this information more easily. Links are subject to change and if the link no longer exists, you can perform a search on the Town web site for that particular topic.

https://www.cobourg.ca

First steps

It is best to try to contact a person in the department responsible for your issue. Many people think that contacting a Councillor will help to resolve an issue. An individual Councillor has no additional authority than anyone else to do something about an issue. Their authority in being able to accomplish matters is as one vote in a Council meeting in setting policies and approving bylaws. They will refer you to the department or contact someone to call you about your issue. You are better to first try to resolve your issue directly with a staff person.

To find a list of all of the Town departments with contact names, phone number and the ability to email any of these contacts, you can go to the Staff Directory here:

Contact Directory

For those who do not like to use the internet and would prefer to talk to a live person, here is the main contact information for the Town:

Main: (905) 372-4301
Toll Free: 1 (888) 972-4301

Another good starting point is to determine if this pertains to a bylaw infraction. You can read about bylaws in this handy guide:

Town of Cobourg 2018 Municipal By-law Guide

If you think this may pertain to your issue, you can go here for more information:

Bylaw Enforcement

Here you will find out how to submit a complaint or inquiry to have a bylaw officer investigate your issue. The officer can help answer your questions and help enforce a bylaw.

For those who want to educate themselves with the actual bylaws, you can go here, but in most cases, contacting the bylaw officer will be easier.

Municipal Bylaws

Second step

If you cannot get satisfaction, the next step you may want to take is to contact the manager or director of that department with your issue. If you still have not resolved your issue, you may want to contact the CAO. Their contact information can be found in the Staff directory here:

Contact Directory

Third step

If you are at this point without resolving your issue, you are now ready to start the official process for  submitting your complaint. You can submit your official complaint to the Town Clerk and request an official response to your complaint. You can find the information on how to do this here:

Formal Complaint Process

Although you can use the fill in form on the web site, we recommend emailing the Town Clerk at clerk@cobourg.ca. You will be able to keep a record of the date you sent this in for reference. Provide all the details in your email. 

Fourth Step

If the reply you receive does not resolve you issue, you have a choice of going to Council or submitting a complaint to the Ombudsman. Submitting a complaint to the Town Ombudsman may take up to 90 days or more before a final report is issued. Although the Ombudsman report is legally non-binding, it does provide additional support if the Ombudsman rules in your favour. If you choose not to submit a complaint to the Ombudsman, skip to the fifth step below.

To submit a complaint to the Town Ombudsman, you can find the information in

Municipal Ombudsman Investigation Protocol LEG-ADM18

You can contact the Town Clerk at clerk@cobourg.ca or phone him at 905-372-4301 on how to do this.

Fifth step

You can send a letter or email to the Town Clerk, copying Councillors, outlining your issue and ask that the email be added to the next Council agenda. Make sure there is a specific action you are requesting Council to act on.

To:  clerk@cobourg.ca
cc:   jhenderson@cobourg.ca
        sseguin@cobourg.ca
        aburchat@cobourg.ca
        abureau@cobourg.ca
        bdarling@cobourg.ca
        echorley@cobourg.ca
        nbeatty@cobourg.ca

Or you can click here to send an email to the Town Clerk and copy Council.

Send to Town Clerk / Copy Council

Sixth step

Make a delegation to Council with the specific action you are requesting. How to do a delegation can be found here:

Speak at a Council Meeting

Council will usually refer your delegation/action to staff for a report.

You can take satisfaction and pride that you did everything possible to resolve your issue.