Photo: Goderich Town Hall
Goderich council is considering adding a time for residents to make comments on agenda items at upcoming council meetings.
CAO Janice Hallahan presented a Communications Plan Implementation Strategy, with the option to allow for public comments on agenda items at the beginning of council meetings.
Previously, there was an opportunity for community members in attendance to share their thoughts with a two-minute allotment at the end of council meetings.
The new approach would give a total of 30 minutes at the beginning of council meetings so that anyone in the council chambers would be allowed to take up to three minutes to address council on an item on the agend that is not part of a public meeting.
Council also suggested that there should be a change to the existing procedure, which previously did not give council a chance to respond or provide correction to misinterpretations of the agenda.
Further in the report, there was a recommendation that staff bring in a consultant to also provide training to effective community engagement through social media.
The estimated cost for the consultation and training is estimated to be between $4,500 and $6,000.
Mayor Trevor Bazinet suggested that should training be provided by the town, it would take effect for the new council that would be elected in next year’s municipal election.
Councillor Randy Carroll also suggested that the social media training be included with the governance training that incoming council receives after being sworn in.
In the meantime, the motion put forward included current council members direct members of the public on how to engage with council and staff through the town’s staff and administration.
Council did concur with the findings in the report, but no motion was passed.