City of Powell River Council is considering a number of changes to its procedures bylaw, which governs how it governs.
At council’s June 2 committee of the whole meeting, Marie Claxton, city clerk, said what precipitated the revision of the procedures bylaw was the change in the committee of the whole meeting date from Thursdays to Tuesdays. Council meetings are typically on the first and third Thursday of each month, and the bylaw revision would provide for the committee of the whole meetings to be held on the Tuesday the same week as the council meeting. The change in date had been tried on a trial basis and Claxton said moving the day permanently would require a change in the procedures bylaw, so she felt if one change was being made, council may as well look at the whole bylaw.
Also proposed are changes to how in camera meetings are described at meetings. When going in camera, a councillor reads a recommendation to do so and the practice has been to outline in general terms why the meeting is going in camera.
“A practice that we have been doing for some time is when you go in camera, you are stating to discuss a legal matter or whatever kind of a matter,” Claxton said. “I think that’s a really good practice and so I would like to see that in the bylaw for future so that it will always be there.”
The new section proposed for the bylaw says that when making the resolution to go in camera, council will provide a broad description of the subject matter to be discussed in camera without undermining the reason for closing the meeting.
There are some items that Claxton is suggesting be taken out of the procedures bylaw. A matter that came up last year pertained to rescinding motions.
“I think it came up with the library issue and we had a member of council who wanted to rescind something but they were not part of that council so she didn’t have that opportunity,” Claxton said. “We suspended the rules at that time so I have written in a clause now that states: a council member who was not a council member when a resolution was adopted may move at any time to rescind that resolution.”
Claxton is recommending in the minute-taking of council and committee meetings, the mover and seconder of the motions not be recorded.
“We still need to have a mover and a seconder, but by taking the names out, you are taking away individual ownership of a motion and instead it’s showing council collectively making its decision,” she explained. “In past I have heard people say: ‘that was my motion.’ No, that belongs to council. The person that moved it just got it on the table and the person who seconded it got it going for debate.
“We sometimes fall into the bad habit of when you are going to consider withdrawing or amending a motion, asking if the mover and seconder is okay with it.”
Councillor Maggie Hathaway wondered, with the elimination of the mover and seconder of motions in the minutes, whether the results of votes would be shown. Claxton said if council members are opposed to motions, they are recorded as such. If a councillor is not shown as opposed, it means they are in support of the motion.
The procedure bylaw changes will be forwarded from committee of the whole to city council for consideration. Claxton said that after first reading, the city is obligated to advertise notice of the bylaw to advise the public of council’s consideration.
