Weigh in on council bylaw

Kamloops residents will have the chance to weigh in next month on a proposed bylaw amendment giving council more flexibility to make meeting agenda changes — including the potential pause of public inquiries.

Kamloops council gave its unanimous vote on Tuesday, Dec. 10, to the first three readings of the recommended procedural bylaw changes. The amendments will go up for adoption in January.

Maria Mazzotta, the city’s corporate officer, told council that advance notice will be provided so members of the public can provide feedback on the bylaw changes.

“Based on the three readings given today, the notice will go out for a Jan. 14 public submissions opportunity on the council procedure bylaw, and adoption will be considered that day,” Mazzotta said during Tuesday's meeting.

Mazzotta told Castanet Kamloops the proposed bylaw changes allow for flexibility so council could, if they wished, pass resolutions to vary the types of business included in agendas for regular and committee of the whole meetings.

The bylaw change, if approved, would allow council to authorize a temporary stop to the two standing public inquiries sections on the agenda — a move that was recommended by council’s governance committee last month after a spate of disruptive behaviour.

However, Mazzotta noted the bylaw amendment up for adoption doesn't include any wording aimed specifically at this portion of the agenda.

“It's not just for public inquiries, it allows [council] to pause other sections of the agenda as needed and or when needed,” she said.

Mazzotta said members of the public will be able to submit written comments, or will be able to speak to the proposed bylaw changes in person or over Zoom during council’s next meeting, on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Unlike the public inquiries section — which only allows for questions about agenda items — the public submissions period allows for members of the public to bring forward their opinion or commentary on the matter at hand.

The proposed bylaw amendments includes a few other adjustments, including removing the need for the mayor or chair to sign meeting minutes, taking away the step of voting to approve the agenda, and limiting the number of delegations at a council meeting to two.

If approved, the bylaw amendments would also allow council to decide by resolution if someone can participate electronically in a closed meeting from a location outside of Canada. At an earlier meeting discussing these changes, governance committee members heard council would have the authority to exercise discretion in each case.

City staff brought forward a number of suggested procedural bylaw changes in the wake of a meeting where a Zoom user broadcast pornography to people watching in city hall and online. However, other members of the public have frequently used speaking time to level accusations and talk about conspiracy theories with little pushback from the chair.

After debating the matter, council’s governance committee recommended pausing the two standing public inquiries sections on the agenda over concerns about continuous disruptive behaviour during city meetings.

The public inquiries section — which is different from public hearings or public submissions on city business like land use or zoning — allowed people to address council for five minutes with a question about matters on the meeting agenda.

Many municipalities do not allow for public inquiries at all — including Chilliwack, Delta, Kelowna and Abbotsford — and several others have instituted strict guidelines for such submissions.