In a move to promote transparency, Gravenhurst council has moved to implement a tracking tool that shows constituents the attendance for each member annually.
District Coun. Erin Strength put forth the motion, explaining that it is “an easy tool for our constituents to access important information, to find out, for example, if we have been voting on a contentious issue and people have questions, they can see quickly and easily who was there, who they can talk to…it’s not about pointing fingers, there is no ill intent, it’s simply an information tool so constituents can see who was where, and when.”
Ward 4 Coun. Randy Jorgensen, who was the seconder on the motion, “reiterated that it’s a step towards more open processes.”
Mayor Heidi Lorenz said that some of the new equipment coming should help with this, referring to the audio and visual upgrades that are scheduled as part of an overhaul of Chambers. “I think there is even going to be push-button voting,” she said.
District Coun. Peter Johnston said he was “curious, what triggered this? He pointed out that this council is only seven months old, and that if there was an “egregious attendance issue, by a member, I get it. But that’s not happening.”
Johnston said he searched to see if any other municipalities had similar reporting processes in place, but said he only found the city of Sudbury, but that they were having attendance issues.
He also pointed out that the Municipal Act already has “dozens of measures to address this,” such as if three council meetings were missed, they must be granted permission to attend again and that there are options to send an alternate.
“There are legitimate reasons why people miss meetings, too. I’m a good example…a lot of meetings conflict. Today, for example, I was late. But I was at an extremely important meeting with the District, the final of four meetings to do with climate change mitigation.” He finished by saying that it was a matter of principle to him. “We all understood what our requirements and responsibilities are, I don’t think we need to be told this and put that in a record.”
Ward 2 Coun. Jo Morphy agreed with Johnston. “I’m finding it a little too ‘Big Brother’ for me…I assume if there was a chronic problem, then I assume the head of council would take that person aside and discuss and decide, find out what’s going on in this person’s life that’s affecting their attendance, rather than announcing it publicly in front of the whole town once a year.”
Morphy said she looked at all the committee meetings councillors attend, which is about 142. She asked if it was good use of staff resources to be keeping track of this, when there are already minutes in place. She also asked if this would help for future councillor recruitment. “Say you are younger, have a full-time job, do you want to know that once a year, this is going to show you missed four meetings, when it has little to do with how you are doing your job, because you are out there every day, dealing with constituents?”
Morphy again asked what benefit this brings and emphasized that the information is already available, and the Municipal Act and codes of conducts in place “controls when we are crossing the line…I do not agree with adding more layers of bureaucracy and staff time when the problem could be nipped in the bud by the Mayor.”
Lorenz responded that “first of all, I am not a babysitter. So if people report to me that they’re going to be absent, it’s not for me to tell them they have to be here, it’s their responsibility…I don’t think it’s a huge deal for staff, they already keep track of who is at which meeting, in the minutes.”
She said that when Coun. Strength came to her with this, she thought more information for the public cannot be a bad idea. “More reporting, more transparency, making it easier for people…I’ve been asked in the past if I have been present at contentious votes, and what am I supposed to say, ‘go read the minutes’? It’s not to shame anyone, it’s to make it easier for the public.”
Lorenz then called for a vote on the motion. All members voted for, with Johnston and Morphy voting against.
The next Committee of the Whole meeting is on July 18 at 3:00p.m. and can be viewed on the Town’s Youtube channel.
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What is big brother-y about it? You are elected officials who are responsible to your constituents who pay you for doing your job!
This is years overdue. It should be applied to committees as well. The Muskoka Airport Board of governors meets in secret and are pushing for closure of then east-west runway which will essentially kill the airport. The methods being used to close the runway are massively disgusting and it’s closure is not in the public interest.