Colwood council has taken the first step in changing up the way the public is able to interact with council during its regular meetings.
With a unanimous vote Monday (April 24), council approved a motion by Coun. Ian Ward which directed staff to return to council with a bylaw amendment giving the public a choice of either speaking to council during the standard public input time at the start of each council meeting, or at the beginning of discussion for the agenda item they wish to speak to.
Ward said council has a responsibility to take every opportunity possible to hear the thoughts and concerns of residents, and this “innocuous” change to the council procedure bylaw would give the public a greater opportunity to speak to council.
Ward noted his motion does not aim to change any of the other existing regulations for public participation, including the two-minute speaking limit, and is deliberately broad in its wording in terms of how it would be implemented.
Coun. Cynthia Day sees this change as being similar to a change made previously to how the public participates in committee of the whole meetings, which she said have worked well.
She said in her experience the best way for these sorts of changes to be implemented is to simply try them, and refine the exact procedure over time.
Staff told council they agree with that assessment, and will return with a formal bylaw amendment for council to vote on which will also be left open in terms of how the new public participation system will be implemented to allow for changes and refinements.
The suggestion for a starting point is to have members of the public wishing to speak later in the meeting on a specific agenda item inform the recording secretary at the start of the meeting so that a list of speakers can be on hand and referenced as council makes its way through the agenda.
Those wishing to speak more generally will continue to address council during the standard public participation period at the start of the meeting.
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