Council decides to let incoming council make final decision when to hold meetings

The current members of Town of Osoyoos council have voted to allow the incoming council elected after this fall’s municipal election to tackle the issue of whether or not to switch to early evening council meetings or maintain the status quo.

For the past several years, committee of the whole meetings have started at 9 a.m., while regular council meetings begin at 2 p.m.

Staff was directed by council to prepare a report that would look at the implications involved in switching the regular meetings to begin at 7 p.m. and committee of the whole meetings to late afternoon.

Janette Van Vianen, the town’s director of corporate services, prepared a report that was presented to members of the current council on Monday.

Council meetings were held in the evenings up until 2010, at which time they were changed from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m. on condition that public hearings be held later in the day to allow the public to attend and make representations, said Van Vianen.

Council also shows its meeting online allowing residents to watch them at their own convenience, she said.

“With the move to afternoon meetings, (Town) directors started attending and presenting their own reports and were available to answer questions from council,” she said. “In turn, the committee meeting took on a new direction and became Committee of the Whole meeting. This meeting no longer reviewed the regular open agenda for later in the day, but instead looked at upcoming issues and allowed for informal presentations from various individuals or groups.”

A switch back to evening meetings could require an amendment to the Procedural Bylaw and advertising to inform the public and council would also have to consider a provision to having a maximum end time to meetings, which was previously 10 p.m., she said.

If Committee of the Whole meetings began at 4 p.m., some members of council might be prohibited from attending, but starting them at 5 p.m. might not give sufficient time for the meeting or special closed meeting to be completed prior to the regular meeting beginning, she said.

The additional costs for staff to attend evening meetings would be $40,000 to $45,000 as CAO Barry Romanko, directors and senior administration would be paid extra, she said.

“Directors can alter their work day, but this may cause operational issues,” she said. “If someone runs for council and is successful, and if they are unable to attend meetings during the day, it is council’s prerogative at that time to reschedule council meetings to accommodate that council member. If the council of today wants to ensure that those running for office in October do so with assurances as to time commitments, it should consider changing the bylaw now, however, there is no guarantee the new council won’t change the time back.”

The benefits of afternoon meetings include having all directors and senior staff able to attend to present reports and answer council questions immediately; leaving evenings open for council and staff to participate in other events and activities; no rush to complete Committee of the Whole meetings as they can be continued after regular meetings; no additional costs to the public; some press deadlines are more attainable.

Some of the cons to afternoon meetings include not having all members of the public be available to attend and those considering running for council may not be able to attend afternoon meetings and this might dissuade them from running, she said.

Coun. Mike Campol, who had introduced the motion to have council switch to evening meetings, said he was disappointed that the staff report focused primarily on the additional costs involved.

“We tend to look at other municipalities – municipalities our size and municipalities in the area – to see how they’re affected by what they do,” said Campol. “We seem to be in the minority as far as times at which we hold our meetings. If I had to guesstimate, 90 per cent of municipalities our size in B.C. do have evening meetings.”

In his opinion, evening meetings would increase public input and attract a more diverse council, said Campol.

“We’re here to represent our constituents the best we can and show as much diversity as we can while doing that,” he said.

A motion he presented to direct administration to conduct an online poll on the Town’s website asking for public input in relation to switching to evening meetings was defeated as no other member of council would second his motion.

Coun. Jim King then introduced a motion asking staff to contact numerous other municipalities approximately the size of Osoyoos to see how many have evening meetings of council.

This too was rejected.

Coun. C.J. Rhodes said every municipality in the province is “unique” and comparing what is done in other small towns doesn’t interest him.

“I just don’t see the relevance of pooling other communities to see what they do because they each have their own uniqueness,” he said.

Rhodes said he was a member of Osoyoos council when meetings were held in the evening and during the past eight years when afternoon meetings were adopted and it’s his opinion that the status quo is more effective.

The biggest advantage of the current meetings is having senior staff and administration readily available with detailed reports and able to answer questions from council, he said.

While there are pros and cons to holding evening meetings as opposed to the status quo, Rhodes said he believes the final decision should lay in the hands of the newly-elected council following the 2018 municipal election this fall.

Rhodes then asked council to support a staff recommendation that “no action be taken at this time and this matter be left for consideration by the next council.”

Only Campol voted against this motion.

Campol is the only member of the current council who has announced he won’t be running again in this fall’s municipal election as he concentrates on his career.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times