Oh, to be a fly on the wall!

Yesterday’s discussion appears to have been noticed!!!!!

So the “Special” Council meeting scheduled for today which I wrote about yesterday has been re-scheduled. Why? According to policy, the agenda cannot change (special rule for “Special” meetings), so that leaves a few possibilities.

Could it be that our Mayor is not home from one of his multiple vacations and didn’t want to give up the chair position?
Is it possible the issues they hope to vote on are not ready to move forward? Of course, the public won’t be privy to this option because this will be another “in camera” (behind closed doors) meeting. In these they will meet, open the meeting publicly, kick out the public and then invite the public back in for a “rising report” once they have discussed their agenda items. Any voting on the matters at hand is NOT to happen while in camera. The votes are to be public for the sake of transparency. So maybe the two day delay simply allowed lawyers to iron out the details of whatever secrets are being decided.
Of course, another reason for the delay may very well be yesterday’s post. By rescheduling, they will now be in compliance of posting the agenda publicly 48 hours prior to the meeting.

More and more there are signs of conflicted activity at our Town Hall. The CAO has admitted that these FaceBook “discussions”are being reviewed by him, so we know he is aware of public concerns. So, are changes being made simply because the public is influencing our governance? You will never see the CAO admit that because of the other side of the “conflict”. That is the fact that more and more people weekly are reaching out to ME to report that their enquiries directed to staff or council are being ignored.

People ask what can be done to get our Town to respond. The answer is itself complicated. There is plenty you can try to do, but if you are asking a question that they cannot answer without sparking controversy or shame, then you likely will be ignored. It appears to be happening on a regular basis.

Ultimately, complaining to an integrity Commissioner might make a difference, but the majority of people I speak with don’t want the personal attacks that they fear will follow such action.

So, just keep track! We will form a list of questions ignored and the dates they were asked. Sure, they will claim they are frivolous complaints or enquiries, but when the next election rolls around, we can post that list and let the voting public decide why these emails and enquiries were truly ignored.

For now, it’s nice to see that at least they are appearing to respond when it is pointed out that they are not following their own process. I will tune in to watch the meeting on the 10th. It may be for nothing, but if it is… that in itself is worth discussing.