Members of Midland council recognized the value of public input during their recent committee of the whole meeting, while cautioning about the ‘dumpster fire’ of deputations in neighbouring municipalities this term.
To speak before the Midland committee of the whole currently, a deputation form must be filled out with a limit of two 10-minute deputations for each meeting.
Presented by Deputy Mayor Beth Prost, a notice for which motion was given addressed the feasibility of implementing a public comments section at the beginning of regular meetings of council.
The topic was raised near the midnight hour after a lengthy council meeting filled with several presentations and lengthy discussions of council matters.
Mayor Bill Gordon provided the context that the proposed motion occurs in other municipalities.
“We see this in place in Tiny (Township),” said Gordon. “It's gone through some changes because they've had to clamp down on it – but I don't know if that was so much the procedure or the topics, because they’ve got some contentious stuff going on.
“There's plenty of (other municipalities) where it doesn't happen,” Gordon added, “because it can become a real dumpster fire, real quick if it's not managed well.”
He stated that his perception was that the current council climate was accessible to the public through many avenues such as through email or in person, but he would look forward to a report on the subject.
Prost acknowledged there would need to be changes made to the procedure bylaw to accommodate resident engagement, and simply asked for a report if council were interested in approving the motion.
“It's all about bringing the public in, and making them feel like they can come in and say something to us, or ask a question. It's better than emails and phone calls sometimes,” said Prost.
“I’m being honest… I don't think a lot of people are going to be lining up at the door to have their whole two minutes at the beginning of the meeting. I think it's going to be fine, and we can learn from Wasaga Beach, from Penetang, from Tiny. There's lots of things we can learn from, and we can make it really simple – and if it's a dumpster fire, we put it out and it's over," said Prost.
In contrast to the majority of council showing favour toward a report on the reconsideration, Coun. Catherine MacDonald objected to allotting staff time to a report – perhaps due to the late hour or because she had been chided moments before on a different matter – using council’s words back at them that staff would be busy as budget season and next year’s election cycle approached.
“I would prefer to introduce it when we’re reviewing the bylaws entirely instead of – because the staff's pretty busy,” said MacDonald to the amused reaction of fellow councillors.
Town clerk Sherri Edgar stated that if it were the will of council, a report could be brought by September, but cautioned: “When we make changes to the procedure bylaw, it's for the next term of council… (although) it's not fair to do it three-quarters of the way through the term, and then it would be for the new council.”
Prost replied: “That's all I ask. A report comes back and it's up to council if they want to do something to involve the public or not, so if it doesn't go it doesn't go but I tried.”
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53 when available, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
