WHEREAS the Community Charter and Local Government Act do not mandate the provision of a “Question and Comment Period” during Council Meetings;
AND WHEREAS, the City of Pitt Meadows provides a variety of opportunities for community engagement with Council, including email correspondence, online engagement, public hearings, advisory committee meetings, and Engagement & Priorities Committee meetings;
AND WHEREAS, other local governments have addressed challenges with public engagement at Council meetings by canceling such opportunities altogether, restricting the number of people who can speak, or limiting comments or questions to agenda topics only;
AND WHEREAS, Council’s Procedure Bylaw broadly provides for two “Question and Comment” periods at every regular Council meeting, one at the beginning of the meeting and one at the end of the meeting, with the ‘Public Engagement at Council Meetings’ Policy establishing 15 minute for each Q&C period, with discussion currently allowed on any city-related topics;
AND WHEREAS, it is in the best interests of the City and the Community to avoid the following potential negative impacts of public engagement at Council meetings:
- Unreasonably long meetings;
- Can take time away from thoughtful and informed discussions on current agenda items or the advancement of current matters;
- Can set a negative tone for the meeting and potentially deter other members of the public from speaking to agenda items;
- Can result in single issue advocacy that is at times rude or out-of-order, coupled with misinformation presented at the meeting;
- Can result in repetitive questions previously answered or readily available on the City’s website; and/or
- Can result in loss of productive time if Council and staff must readdress previously made decisions;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council:
- Approve the focus of public engagement at regular Council meetings to questions and comments related to agenda items only; AND
- Approve an amendment to Council Policy C107 (Public Engagement at Council Meetings) to reflect this change.