A number of proposed changes to City Council’s procedures bylaw made their way to the Council table at this week’s meeting.
This includes reducing the advance notice period needed for Councillors to participate in meetings electronically if they are unable to attend the meeting in person, reconsideration of Council decisions, and a required land acknowledgement at the start of meetings.
Two other proposed changes dominated the discussion, the first of which was brought to attention by Councillor Brian Skakun.
This revolved around Council getting closed meeting information such as agendas and handouts ahead of the meeting.
“I can’t responsibly go into a closed meeting when I might get the agenda Thursday, perhaps Friday and staff is under the gun to get it to us by the end of business hours on a Friday afternoon,” Skakun said.
“On occasion, we’re given a handout at a closed meeting that we don’t know what it’s about, we get it, I think at most we have about 15-20 minutes perhaps to go over what in particular the item might be, and the consequences to the corporation are huge, and I have no way to do research on that, no way to plan the questions, no way to comprehend the report that I just read, and go into it and vote in good conscience that I’m doing my job, because to me that’s not due diligence.”
Council typically holds these meetings on Monday afternoons, prior to the regular meetings held at 6:00 pm.
Closed meetings are held for a number of reasons, if the items of discussion relate to:
- Personal information about an identifiable individual who holds or is being considered for a positions as an officer, employee or agent of the municipality or another position appointed by the municipality,
- Labour relations or other employee relations, the acquisition, disposition, of land or improvements, if council considers that disclosure could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the municipality,
- Litigation or potential litigation affecting the municipality,
- the receipt of advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose
“Administration can certainly accommodate closed agendas being published on the same timeline as open agendas, if that’s council’s wish,” explained City Manager Walter Babicz.
“The handout issue is a little bit more complex, and I think to give a little more fulsome response and explain all of the scenario are advisable as best practices, perhaps that could come back in the report together with the Council Procedures Bylaw amendments so that staff have an opportunity to explain those situations.”
Council voted to have a report come back on what the best way to present the closed meeting’s agendas and handouts to council.
Another potential change was included in the report, outlining the potential for meetings to start earlier in the day.
This was brought forward from a meeting held last month, in which Council discussed the possibility of moving the meetings earlier.
“I would love to start earlier, but I don’t think it’s practical,” Skakun added.
“I think how long the meeting goes, and I’m going on right now, is totally under our control.”
Monday’s meeting took roughly four hours, ending just after 10:00 pm.
Councillors Ron Polillo and Trudy Klassen also spoke in favour of starting earlier.
“I know from talking to my colleagues before this, there’s not a lot of appetite to start earlier but maybe something that I think we might want to address later in the term,” Polillo.
“I really question whether we’re making the best decisions when we’re three, three-and-a-half, four hours, four and a half hours in a meeting, and it’s consistent, and Councillor Skakun is right, a lot of it is in our control, I think we all need to get better as a council if we want to stay at the six o’clock start time.”
No action was taken on the start times.
In addition to the proposed changes to the Council Procedures Bylaw, council gave the first three readings to amendments for six different bylaws.
According to City staff, these amendments were made as housekeeping items, including changes made to organizational position title, provincial legislation section numbering, and consequential amendments requesting from other bylaw amendments.
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