While the City of North Bay's Town Hall meeting went off as advertised on Tuesday evening, not all in attendance were satisfied with the format or the level of engagement.
Four citizens stood at the podium in the North Bay Public Library's auditorium to speak. The meeting was hosted by North Bay City Council and City of North Bay staff members were on hand to take notes.
Presenters had to apply in advance with their topic, and an overview of their presentation had to be added to the roster. Delegates were given three minutes to speak. The mayor and councillors had free range to ask questions of the presenters but it was clearly stated no debate was to take place.
The four presentations covered a range of topics. Martin Simard spoke about potential improvements to the active transportation network with the addition of more multi-use trails; two presenters, Barb Laverock and Granny Arseneault, suggested moving to a ward system, with Arseneault proposing a referendum on the matter; Cindy Lalande advocated for the stricter enforcement of the idling by-law; and, Laverock also brought up the continued use of Jake brakes by transport trucks on Thibeault Hill.
Each presentation was informative and respectful and elicited a question or two from the council. The entire meeting took less than 30 minutes.
As he moved to adjourn the meeting, Mayor Peter Chirico said, "I believe all the council has heard the presentations tonight. Senior staff has heard those presentations and, certainly, we will take those under consideration."
Linda Brown, one of the 30 or so in attendance, then asked from her seat in the audience if the floor would be opened up for questions.
"I am wondering if there is an opportunity for our folks here tonight to ask some questions that they may have in mind?" asked Brown.
"If I could address that," Chirico responded, "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."
Brown said she felt the use of the term "Town Hall" was not ideal for what had transpired and she gained some nods of agreement from those sitting around her.
Instead of "Town Hall," Brown suggested the meeting should have been called, "Presentations from the public to the council members..."
Mayor Chirico interjected, "As was noted in our releases leading up to this, any member of the public was able to register to present this evening."
As one scheduled presenter did not show, Brown hoped that extra time might be allotted to a question period.
"We do thank you," she added. "This is a big effort on your part and I would think perhaps you would enjoy some questions from the general public other than in a million emails."
Another woman sitting in the audience later told the council she sympathized with Brown's frustration.
"The Procedural By-Law prevents a spontaneous Town Hall type of 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," Chirico agreed. "We would have to amend our Procedural By-Law to allow for that. One of the issues is when we do have quorum of council.
"Feel free to reach out to any member of our council. Myself, through us, if you have specific questions ... I know that each and every member of council responds to requests on a daily basis. The doors are always open. But a public town hall meeting, we are restricted by that."
Before wading into the crowd for post-meeting discussions, Chirico acknowledged town hall meetings can take different forms, including with a question period.
"In this case, I do have to go right to the Procedural By-Law," said. "I'm sure this will prompt some further discussion among council for the future."
