Saanich council is preparing to launch town hall meetings three times a year, but it’s scrapping the open-forum portion of its committee of the whole meetings.
Council voted unanimously to hold town halls three times a year, with the first scheduled for Oct. 22 at Cedar Hill Golf Course at 6 p.m.
In a separate 6-3 vote, councillors opted to get rid of the open forum portion of committee of the whole meetings. Councillors Mena Westhaver, Teale Phelps Bondaroff and Nathalie Chambers voted to retain the forum.
Mayor Dean Murdock said the open forum, a 15-minute period at the first committee meeting of each month, was becoming more frustrating than useful for both residents and council.
“The current process only allows council to say ‘thanks very much’ and that doesn’t make anybody feel like their time was valued and appreciated,” said Murdock. “We place a high value on public input and opportunities for engagement with the public.”
Murdock said both council and residents were not satisfied with the way the open forum was restricted to residents saying what’s on their minds, which did not allow for a meaningful exchange of ideas with councillors.
“The open forum really is like leaving a message for council in person,” he said. “I think that we need to ensure that our processes allow for us to be more solution-oriented, to address presenters when they’ve taken the time to come to speak to council and identify ways that we can address the issue that’s being raised.”
In the first half of the two-hour town hall meetings, residents will be able to address council for three minutes, with some back and forth, while the second half will be an informal opportunity for residents and council to connect individually.
Saanich staff have said remote participation and streaming of town hall meetings from venues around the district would not be possible, but they will explore how to make it happen.
“This offers us an opportunity to provide more meaningful engagement, so we can ask questions and get at the root of a problem, so we can address that issue,” said Murdock.
The idea is also to move the meetings to various parts of the municipality to be as inclusive as possible.
An amendment proposed by Phelps Bondaroff to have the town hall meetings held at the municipal hall was rejected.
“The whole idea is to go to the community and have a conversation and do something different,” said Coun. Colin Plant, noting council chambers can be an intimidating environment for some.
Most councillors also suggested that the first meeting not be tightly regulated and be flexible to respond to the topics raised and interest from residents.
Chambers said she supports the idea of the town halls, but would have preferred to see them in addition to the open forums.
Council also agreed Monday to have its finance and governance committee look at other tools to improve public input and engagement.
Murdock said that could run the gamut from electronic participation to open forums, town halls and opportunities for Q-and-A sessions.
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Note to readers: This story has been updated to make clear that Saanich council's vote to scrap the open forum at its committee of the whole meetings passed 6-3 with councillors Mena Westhaver, Teale Phelps Bondaroff and Nathalie Chambers voting to retain the forum.
