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Kamloops council agrees to halt public inquiries for two months to rework process

City pauses public inquiries

Kamloops city council has decided to put a temporary pause on public inquiries for a two-month period, going back to the drawing board to decide what the meeting agenda item might look like when it returns.

During Tuesday’s meeting, council members first voted in favour of adopting some procedural bylaw amendments which would give them more flexibility to make adjustments to meeting agendas.

Then, council debated a recommendation from its governance committee to put public inquiries on a six-month pause. This recommendation followed concerns from councillors over a pattern of disruptive behaviour coming from the podium during this portion of the agenda.

Some council members weren’t in favour of a six-month long removal of public inquiries.

“We haven’t had that chance to look at that middle ground, and I just don’t know if I’m ready to go that far,” said Coun. Mike O’Reilly.

“I do see the end goal of what we want is a productive business meeting — which is what council meetings are for.”

Coun. Margot Middleton made a motion to instead remove public inquiries from regular council meetings for a period of two months.

She said she felt council was “rushing to come up with a solution,” and the pause would give staff and council time to bring forward new bylaw amendments that would put different parameters around public inquiries.

“I would be hopeful that we can pass one motion for two months, giving staff time to come back to us with recommendations for how we reintroduce public inquiries and what that looks like,” Middleton said.

Coun. Kelly Hall said he didn’t disagree with the need for changing the way public inquiries are structured, but questioned why a two-month pause was needed in the interim.

Coun. Katie Neustaeter said she’d support the recommendation, but pointed out a “robust discussion” had already occurred around the governance committee table.

“I think one of the weaknesses of our governance as a team is that we have these conversations and then we bring them back and rehash them,” Neustaeter said.

Ultimately, the suggestion to take a two-month pause was passed 7-2, with Hall and Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson opposed.

There was some discussion about putting a 15 or 16-minute time cap on the public inquiries portion of the agenda, or giving each member of the public two minutes to speak instead of a five-minute limit which has been council’s past practice.

Hamer-Jackson said he thought instead of removing public inquiries, meeting agendas could be better managed especially when there's more contentious issues being discussed.

“We know when it's going to be a hot topic,” Hamer-Jackson said.

O’Reilly replied that he thought city staff do a good job managing the agenda, and deferring agenda items wasn’t always a viable option as other parties are often waiting on council to make a decision in a timely manner.

Middleton put forward a second motion asking staff to bring back a few recommendations to council’s committee of the whole around how to handle public inquiries.

The motion carried with a 7-2 vote, with Neustaeter and Hamer-Jackson opposed.

The two-month pause on public inquiries meant this agenda item did not take place during Tuesday's meeting.



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