Rideau Lakes Mayor Arie Hoogenboom’s used strong mayor powers to dissolve the municipal services committee for general governance (GG) and public works (PW) and established a Committee of the Whole.
He said he’s done so with full staff support, as Clerk Mary Ellen Truelove told council the workload with bi-monthly lengthy meetings is significant.
In a bid to shorten the length of meetings and reduce the workload, the directive also includes a change to staff’s reporting schedule.
Fire Services and Development Services will present statistical reports on a quarterly basis, and departmental updates will rotate bimonthly.
Truelove says there’ll be less repetition in staff reports with this change.
Councillor Paula Banks said she’s been saying since she joined council there’s been a lot of repetition in staff reports and is in favour of that aspect of this decision, but felt like this move was a shot at specific councillors, given the same idea was floated months earlier but was defeated due to attendance conflicts.
The Committee of the Whole meetings will start at 10 a.m., the same time the GG and PW meetings began, but there’s concern about how long they will last.
Banks said herself alongside Councillors Jeff Banks and Linda Carr cannot stay past 2p.m., and given the closed sessions happen towards the end of a meeting, that would means missing significant conversations should they exceed four hours in length.
Councilor Marcia Maxwell said the time constraints wouldn’t be a problem if not for personal attacks.
Banks also questioned the legality of Hoogenboom’s direction citing section 238(2) of the Municipal Act during the meeting and later on her Facebook page.
“Every municipality and local board is required to pass a procedure by-law governing the calling, place, and proceedings of meetings,” Banks quoted the section.
“This is a mandatory requirement, not optional and applies to how meetings are scheduled, where they are held, and how they proceed,” she wrote.
Responding to her comments during the meeting, Hoogenboom said he’s within his legal right with this direction, saying provincial directives trump municipal acts.
Both Jeff and Paula Banks have accused Hoogenboom of misrepresenting their actions, saying the mayor has launched “a media attack,” against them, amid his own Integrity Commissioner investigation, and will continue to call on non-confidence votes.
The mayor has confirmed in recent interviews with myFM and during public council meetings he is currently under investigation for matters he’s not specified.
The first Committee of the Whole meeting is set for September 15th, and will occur on the third Monday of each month.
Story by Grant Deme