A Wellington North councillor wants council to explore options to make committee information more available to residents.
Councillor Andy Lennox, at a Nov. 5 meeting, said the township should reconsider its current practice, which sees committee meeting minutes approved by council without discussion.
“I think we do need to start a review of our procedural bylaw and start communicating with the public on how we operate,” Lennox said.
He told the Advertiser after the meeting he believes the public isn’t getting enough information on issues faced by council.
Lennox said the review should look at whether some committees should be disbanded and discussion about those issues dealt with instead at regular council meetings.
Lennox has been calling for a report on closed meetings and council transparency for several months. The issue has been discussed at the township administration committee level with minutes eventually contained in reports to council.
However, Lennox, who recently attended a course on municipal procedures hosted by Southgate Township, has complained the process in Wellington North is too slow.
“A critical success factor of any municipal government involves successfully building and maintaining public trust,” Lennox said in his report.
“Critical factors in building that trust include conducting all appropriate business in an open and transparent way, conducting business that cannot be disclosed to the public accordingly to the highest possible standards, and communicating to the public the manner in which they can interact and provide valuable input into the decision making process.”
Lennox did not single out the fact committee meetings are rarely attended by the press and subsequently not reported on. He did agree having information come to council for open debate when the media is present would be preferable.
Councillor Dan Yake agreed the matter should be dealt with “quickly and thoughtfully.”
Mayor Ray Tout welcomed a review, although he did not believe there would be a wholesale abandonment of the committee structure.
“It’s worth looking at, but it’s not gospel,” Tout said of possible findings coming out of the review.
The mayor said the committee structure offers councillors an opportunity to discuss issues brought forward by department heads.
He added the current structure is not an attempt to conceal information from the public. Tout doesn’t believe committees such as recreation and economic development could be disbanded, however administration could be held at an open council meeting as long as matters of confidentiality are not brought up.
“I could do that as long as you don’t have litigation or employee matters,” Tout said of possibly disbanding the administration committee and dealing.
Tout said he believes residents would be better served if discussions on a new long-term strategic plan for the township were discussed in open council and reported on in the media.
Council instructed staff to prepare a report on the committee structure for its Dec. 17 meeting.
