A New Low for Council Committees
An unmistakable lack of respect for the public
People who frequent this blog know about my concern for process. My belief that City Hall needs to do a lot more before it deserves to be able to toss around some of the self-congratulatory buzzwords that it’s so fond of. Words like accessibility, fairness, openess, and transparency.
How many times have I referred to difficulty in staying abreast of what’s happening at City Hall because of committee meetings that are held concurrently? To difficulty in hearing committee or Council discussions either because Council members don’t turn on their microphones or maintain such distance between the microphones and themselves that they might just as well not be on?
I’ve sat through many delegations where I struggled to hear what was going on, but this week’s meeting of the Environment and Transportation Committee takes the prize as being the worst that I can recall.
There was the discussion of the proposal to create a London Administrative Tribunal. Click HERE to read what I’ve got to say about that.
There was the portion of the report from the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee in which some discussion took place about a possible deer cull. Click HERE to read what I’ve got to say about that.
There was the delegation with respect to objectionable noise from a lawful business which interferes with a private homeowner’s entitlement to the enjoyment of her property. Click HERE to read what I’ve got to say about that.
But the absolute worst display of the entire meeting occurred when Roger Khouri (Chair of the Accessibility Advisory Committee) presented a case for the fulfillment of Council’s sidewalk snow removal funding promise.
In the first place, I wasn’t entirely certain exactly what motions were on the floor. And is often the case when votes are not recorded, I couldn’t tell from the quick show of hands who voted in support and who voted against the motion. And then, to make matters worse, the decision of the committee was not announced. Mr. Khouri was simply thanked for having made his submission.
[I realize that I haven't explained anything substantive about the submission itself. This post is only about the process (or lack of it) that I observed. I'll post about Mr. Khouri's actual reason for being there tomorrow or the next day.]
Now, here’s the rub. As much difficulty as I had trying to see who voted which way, Mr. Khouri had even more trouble. Because he happens to be blind.
Oh! Something I almost forgot to mention…
Many of you will recall at least some of my posts in which I referred to the submissions that I made to the Governance Task Force. At least several of them criticized the process at City Hall. One of them was a suggestion that all votes at Council and committees be recorded. Another one was that all meetings be audio recorded and that those recordings be accessible from the city’s website. You can click HERE to review them.
Here’s the other rub. Three of this committee’s members were also members of that task force.
How shameful is that?
© Fowler Media
Mr Khouri’s experience at the ETC was the subject of today’s London chat on CBC Ontario Today. It was interesting as I wasn’t aware of the criterion for ploughing sidewalks. There has to be 8″ of snow before ploughs are sent out. Also apparently the discussion was sidetracked into the responsibility of homes and businesses to keep the sidewalks clear. I hope Mr Khouri’s campaign gets somewhere, I’d like to help if I can as the 8″ snowfall rule affects me too, and I’m fit and healthy!
Jesse: The criterion is 8cm, not 8″. I only focused on the continued lack of appreciation for process in this post. I’ll also be posting about the substance of Mr. Khouri’s post (sidewalk clearing) as soon as possible (hopefully later today). Also, Mr. Khouri invited me to apply to his committee because of my interest in this and other transportation & disability issues, so I may be doing that as well. Does the CBC segment always include a chat about London? If so, what time does it air?
On the CBC radio site it says “regional newscasts at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. each day” and London appears to be on wednesdays. I guess I catch the 7.30 one – I don’t know if the same bit of chit-chat is repeated at the other times. Other regions such as Peterborough and Kingston are covered on other days.
I’m sure they said 8 inches because I remember thinking “gosh, that’s a lot”.
Jesse: Thanks, I’ll try to catch the one next Wednesday. And I didn’t mean to suggest that you heard wrong. But if they said 8″ then I’m pretty confident that they’re wrong because I was at the ETC meeting and heard the discussion directly. In fact, I probably audio-recorded it. Perhaps I’ll be able to find some time to find it for you … no promises but I’ll try.