By Cecilia Nasmith
The committee structure introduced at Northumberland County council in January was designed to streamline monthly meetings that seemed to be lengthening exponentially, by allowing sufficient discussion of issues in a committee format with a report back to council.
But when the February county council meeting took a mere half-hour, councillors grew uneasy.
As of January 2022, meetings of the Community Health Committee, Corporate Support Committee, Finance and Audit Committee, Economic Development, Tourism and Planning Committee, Public Works Committee and Social Services Committee occur prior to each monthly regular council meeting, with a list of motions coming to council in a “consent” format. This means council accepts that the committee has taken the appropriate action and makes a motion to that effect, though there is always the option to dig deeper into an issue.
At the January meeting, several items were set aside for further discussion from the January committee meetings held earlier that month, such as the donation of a surplus ambulance and an overview of waste-management services, programs and costs.
As in January, committee minutes formed a portion of the February county-council agenda, as well as a chart of motions that were passed. None was deemed pressing enough to separate out for discussion.
But Councillor Mandy Martin of Cramahe Township found it all rather unsettling.
“There were quite a few resolutions and quite a few topics. I am not sure everyone is entirely comfortable with the depth of the information we have shared on these matters,” Martin said.
“Somehow or other, we need to get a little bit of, shall we say, explanation or detailed information.”
Committee agendas are made public and meetings are streamed live, with members of the media and the public invited to watch, Martin allowed.
“But we are not always able to attend everything and read everything. I am just a little concerned about things slipping through the cracks.”
Other councillors agreed and shared their thoughts.
Though the process is fairly new, Councillor Bob Sanderson of the Municipality of Port Hope had experienced difficulty accessing the meetings and did not detect the higher involvement of the public that the change was designed to effect.
“My main point is, through this system we are looking for transparency and public input. And at this point we are not getting it,” Sanderson said.
“It's early in the game, but I would like to find a way we could encourage that as well.”
Alnwick-Haldimand Township Councillor Gail Latchford sometimes finds it difficult to attend all six meetings. And though minutes are provided, she finds it's important to get another aspect of the information.
“You are missing the conversations,” Latchford explained.
“That's where you get the majority of the information, and it's just reading the motions. Maybe we don't know we are missing something in some of those motions that should be discussed on the floor.”
Perhaps the new system needs to be tweaked a bit to get more information out to council and to the public, Latchford suggested.
Sanderson noted that he tries to attend meetings but, as a county councillor, he feels a duty to be more than a spectator. Even though he is not a voting member, he would like to participate in discussions and have access to closed portions of the meetings.
Warden Bob Crate told Sanderson that this is possible, and that he would be provided with the information he needs to participate in this way.
“I totally support the consent agenda, though,” Sanderson said.
“It works well in our municipality, and it does also ensure to some degree that councillors look through the data because you are then somewhat responsible to pull something out.”
Asked if meetings – which are live-streamed – are archived on the county website for later viewing, Warden Crate was told they are not. Director of Communications Kate Campbell subsequently clarified that these recordings are available by request by completing the appropriate request form.
“The county is also exploring how to record in-person council and committee sessions in the future,” Campbell added.
“Recommendations regarding the necessary technology and upgrades will come before county council in 2021.”
