A North Bay city councillor is joining members of the public who are frustrated by the lack of engagement on display at a recent town hall meeting hosted by the municipality and its council.
See related: Frustration, as no questions allowed at City Town Hall meeting
"The town hall experience was disappointing and the public has asked for the procedural by-laws around town hall meetings to be amended. I agree," Coun. Sara Inch told BayToday on Wednesday.
Near the end of Tuesday's regular meeting of council, Inch gave notice of her intent to table a motion "to review the procedural by-laws for the town halls to allow more public participation."
The town hall meeting held on Sept. 24 left some audience members frustrated by the lack of a question-and-answer period between citizens and council members. Earlier on, four presenters who had registered in advance with the clerk and provided their topic and an overview of their presentation were added to the agenda, each spoke for up to three minutes, and then fielded questions from the council. This lasted less than 30 minutes.
As Mayor Peter Chirico readied to adjourn the meeting, audience member Linda Brown asked from her seat whether the council members would be taking questions. "I am wondering if there is an opportunity for our folks here tonight to ask some questions that they may have in mind?"
"Unfortunately, due to our procedural by-laws, which dictate public meetings, those are very clear as to what we can do, what we can't do. If there is that wish to do that by members of council, then the by-law will have to be changed," Chirico replied.
Brown questioned whether a true town hall meeting had indeed taken place under such restrictions.
Another woman sitting in front of Brown in the audience told the council she sympathized with Brown's frustration.
"The procedural by-law prevents spontaneous town hall type questions that are on our minds and input from our council. Are you saying that, in order to have that kind of venue, the by-law has to be changed? Or, a new by-law put in place?" she asked.
"That's exactly it," Mayor Chirico agreed. "We would have to amend our procedural by-law to allow for that."
See also: City responds to citizens' frustration over Town Hall meeting
The City of North Bay responded the following day with a statement about the town hall meeting and the restrictive language contained in the by-law.
"Whenever a quorum of council members meets, it's considered a public meeting under the Municipal Act. To ensure these meetings run properly, they're guided by a procedural bylaw, which every municipality and local board is required to have.
"These bylaws outline the steps and rules for how meetings should be conducted, and town hall meetings are no exception — they also follow a formal structure as defined by the bylaw.
"At [that] night’s meeting, there was an opportunity for question-and-answers, but it was only for those who had registered in advance, as required by the procedural bylaw. The meeting details, including the need to register to speak, were well-publicized ahead of time. Those who didn’t register still had the chance to ask council members questions afterward."
