Bonfield’s proposed public conduct policy is heading back to the drawing board.
As the policy explained, “The purpose of the policy is to provide a positive, safe, and supportive approach to promoting acceptable and appropriate interactions with the public.” Meant to serve as a guideline to help municipal staff deal with complaints, vexatious requests, and inappropriate behaviour towards staff, the policy provided clear steps for staff to follow within those situations.
In short, the policy “Serves to provide notice of what constitutes unacceptable behaviour and sets expectations for both the public and municipal staff.”
Council was behind the idea of implementing the policy, but Mayor Narry Paquette suggested councillors take more time to review the document.
The mayor noted, “I am not in favour of that policy exactly the way it is. I find it difficult to put that out to our taxpayers.”
The policy detailed that “It serves to provide notice of what constitutes unacceptable behaviours and sets expectations for both the public and municipal staff when interacting with members of the public.”
The policy outlined a list of “vexatious and frivolous requests” as well as “examples of unreasonable behaviour,” including harassment or bullying, whether verbal, written or physical. Further, the policy suggested actions if those behaviours occur, beginning with a verbal warning, moving to a letter of warning, and concluding with a letter of trespass issued.
The full policy can be found on the Feb. 25 agenda, beginning on page 25.
There is also a model complaint form included in the policy, which Mayor Paquette was wary of. She expressed her concern about “The complaint form which sets out what the complaints are, and it even indicates if there were drugs or alcohol involved, and I don’t think that should be up to our staff to determine that in a complaint form.”
Mayor Paquette also wondered, “How many other small municipalities have a policy like that?”
Overall, the mayor noted, “I don’t like the policy, and I’m being honest, I think that if I was out there as a taxpayer, I might be offended. It’s not a policy that I’m comfortable putting in place for our township. To me, it seems that it’s closing more doors, and we came in here saying we’re going to open doors.”
She suggested the policy be returned to committee for review, and council agreed. It will be discussed at the next corporate services committee meeting.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.