Once again Monday, city politicians met in closed session — this time for about 90 minutes — to discuss the controversial use of strong mayor powers in Orillia.
When Mayor Don McIsaac and the eight city councillors returned to the council chamber, there was no discussion, publicly, about what was discussed behind closed doors.
Council, however, approved a motion to adopt further confidential information concerning external legal counsel, as a follow-up to the 2.5-hour closed meeting held as part of the special council meeting April 23.
About 35 people came out to that meeting, but not many lasted until council returned and those who did were disappointed that there was no open discussion. The only thing that was made public was that legal counsel who participated in the meeting were from WeirFoulds LLP of Toronto. No one from the firm was in council chambers.
Before that, councillors petitioned for an April 15 special council meeting about strong mayor powers that was to have legal counsel present to discuss the change in the chief administrative officer (CAO), made by McIsaac after attaining strong mayor powers, and details of strong mayor powers.
Approximately 100 people showed up to the meeting to learn more about it, but legal counsel was not present and after much verbal wrangling about proper procedures, the meeting came to an abrupt halt. The public left frustrated.
After that meeting Coun. Janet-Lynne Durnford (who was one of six councillors to petition for the special meeting) said another meeting would be scheduled "to ensure we are not setting the city up for additional liability."
Weeks later, a date for that meeting has yet to be set.
Following Monday's council meeting, OrilliaMatters asked Durnford about it.
"We are working closely with city staff and the clerk's department to make sure we don't have the same situation where, procedurally, we can't proceed," Durnford said, referencing the earlier meeting that was cut short. "Our focus would be on public education."
The meeting will most likely take place at night and include an open public forum so people can ask questions and get answers, Durnford said.
The plan is to have a guest speaker, ideally a lawyer, that is knowledgeable about strong mayor powers, said the Ward 4 councillor. Asked if it will be a lawyer from WeirFoulds LLP, Durnford said "maybe."
"We are seeking someone who would do a presentation on the legal aspects of stronger powers without it being legal advice, as that has to be in closed session," she said.
Durnford said the meeting will take place after councillors submit a written petition for a special meeting and discover when a speaker is available to come to make the presentation and answer questions.
"We don't want to waste people's time and we want to make sure if they are coming here that there is information for them," she said.
Asked if that was part of the discussion in the closed meeting, Durnford said, "I can't speak to the closed meeting."
McIsaac acquired strong mayor powers April 3 and used them to appoint Amanpreet Singh Sidhu to the position of chief administrative officer (CAO) on April 7. Sidhu had already been working for the city as the deputy CAO/solicitor.
Prior to McIsaac getting strong mayor powers, the city had gone through a "rigorous" process of choosing a new CAO. That choice was Trevor Lee and council approved the hiring in a closed session. Lee had already been given a laptop, began on-boarding process; he had quit his job as deputy CAO in Guelph and put his house on the market.
He told OrilliaMatters he was "bewildered" by the city's sudden rescinding of his hiring.
Sidhu has not attended a council meeting since being appointed to the CAO position on April 7.
When asked by OrilliaMatters why the CAO was not in attendance at a recent council meeting, McIsaac said it is not mandatory for the CAO to attend council meetings. Prior to this strong mayor debate, Singh was regularly in attendance at all council meetings and his advice/counsel was often sought during debates.
The April 23 special council meeting's closed session was recorded but not distributed. Coun. David Campbell, who was out of town for that meeting, had to fight at the April 28th meeting to be able view the confidential recording through an electronic link. A motion was later passed at the meeting to allow the confidential video to be shared with mayor and council. The recording will cease functioning on May 27.
Since taking on strong mayor powers, McIsaac has published Mayoral Decisions and Directions statements on the city's website. One of those was to transfer the power for hiring and firing of staff back to the CAO, which had been the procedure before strong mayor powers. He has retained all other powers.
After this week's meeting, there was a council information package dated May 13 stating that McIsaac would not veto any bylaws adopted during the meeting. With strong mayor powers comes special duties and powers of the head of council, that would allow for McIsaac to veto some bylaws.
