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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCLD-012-09Clay`' ~ REPORT Leading the WaJ~ CLERK'S DEPARTMENT Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE //~~ 1/i~ q Date: June 15, 2009 ~'e5O~1.~~DY~~!'~"1 ~~ .v / Report #: CLD-012-09 File #: By-law #: Subject: STANDING COMMITTEE STRUCTURE RECOMMENDATIONS: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report CLD-012-09 be received; 2. THAT one of the following options relating to the Municipality's standing committee structure be chosen: Option 1 THAT the General Purpose and Administration Committee be divided into two committees, namely the Planning and Engineering Committee and the Administration Committee with athree-week meeting cycle, committee meetings being held during the day and Council meetings held in the evening. Option 2 THAT the General Purpose and Administration Committee be divided into two committees, namely the Planning Committee and the Administration Committee with a three-week meeting cycle, committee meetings being held during the day and Council meetings held in the evening. CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T 905-623-3379 F 905-623-6506 REPORT NO.: CLD-012-09 PAGE20F9 Option 3 THAT the current standing committee structure remain unchanged, ie, General Purpose and Administration Committee remain in its current structure with atwo- week meeting cycle, committee meetings being held during the day and Council meetings held in the evening. Submitted by: ie, CMO Reviewed by: Franklin Wu, Clerk Chief Administrative Officer REPORT NO.: CLD-012-09 PAGE 3 OF 9 1.0 BACKGROUND At the Council meeting held on April 6, 2009, Council approved the following recommendations of the General Purpose and Administration Committee: "WHEREAS the Current Standing Committee Structure includes one standing Committee, being the General Purpose and Administration Committee; WHEREAS the current meeting and reporting structure, being Committee and Council alternating weeks, presents timeline challenges for both staff and Council for investigation and preparation for the meetings; WHEREAS valuable senior staff resources are tied up attending Committee meetings regarding issues not pertaining to their department; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the CAO and Municipal Clerk be directed to investigate and report back to GPA, prior to the summer recess, on options to modify the current standing committee structure, streamline meetings, and improve reporting efficiencies; and THAT the options considered include a three week schedule as follows: • week 1 day committee meeting addressing planning matters, • week 2 day committee meeting addressing balance of agenda matters, and • week 3 night Council Meeting." 2.0 CURRENT STRUCTURE Currently, we operate under a one standing committee structure, namely the General Purpose and Administration Committee (GPA). All matters to be considered by Council are reported through GPA, unless the matter is urgent and the timing does not allow for consideration by Committee. In this case, the report is taken directly to Council. GPA meets generally the first and third Monday of the month, with its recommendations being considered by Council on the alternating Mondays. This committee structure results in lengthy Committee meetings as all matters requiring Council direction are considered in one sitting and it does not provide an abundance of time between meetings for issues to be reviewed and reports prepared for inclusion on the next agenda. REPORT NO.: CLD-012-09 PAGE 4 OF 9 In reviewing the current structure and the meetings, three areas of concern arise: 1. volume of reports 2. length of discussion and debate (this will be addressed in more detail later in the report) 3. delegates having to sit through lengthy meetings to determine the outcome of their issue, giving the perception of inefficiency Two of the concerns identified could be improved upon by dividing our GPA Committee into two committees. By doing so, the volume of reports being considered at each meeting would be reduced, and delegates' issues would be considered in a more timely manner. Two possibilities for altering the current committee structure are as follows: One committee addressing Planning and Engineering matters One committee addressing the balance of agenda matters (Administration Committee) 2. One committee addressing Planning matters One committee addressing the balance of agenda matters (Administration Committee) In order to allow all members of Council the benefit of hearing the delegations and debate regarding each matter, it is recommended that all members serve on both committees. It would not be necessary for staff to attend the meeting which does not deal with matters affecting their department. Supposing one of above options was put in place following the summer recess, the schedule from September to December would be as follows: REPORT NO.: CLD-012-09 PAGE 5 OF 9 Legend PE =Planning Committee or Planning and Engineering Committee AD =Administration Committee C =Council = Statutory Holiday S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 8 PE 9 10 11 12 13 AD 15 16 17 18 19 20 C 22 23 24 25 26 27 PE 29 30 S M • T •: W T F S 1 2 3 4 AD 8 7 8 9 10 11 C 14 15 16 17 18 PE 20 21 22 23 24 25 AD 27 28 29 30 31 S M • T W. T F S 7 C 3 4 5 6 7 8 PE 10 11 12 13 14 15 AD 17 18 19 20 21 22 C 24 25 28 27 28 29 PE 3.0 MEETING LENGTH S M ^ T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 AD 8 9 10 11 12 13 C 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 28 27 28 29 30 31 In order to determine the amount of time being spent in meetings, a review of both GPA and Council meetings from 2000 through to 2009 (to the end of April) was undertaken, with the following results: Year Average Meeting Time -GPA Average Meeting Time -Council 2000 3.29 hours 2.05 hours 2001 2.86 hours 2.25 hours 2002 2.78 hours 1.60 hours 2003 2.05 hours 1.75 hours 2004 1.80 hours 1.90 hours 2005 1.90 hours 1.50 hours 2006 1.90 hours 1.50 hours 2007 4.06 hours 2.90 hours 2008 4.77 hours 3.20 hours 2009 4.70 hours 3.20 hours REPORT NO.: CLD-012-09 PAGE 6 OF 9 As can be seen by the above comparison, the length of both committee and Council meetings has significantly increased over the last three years. In order to determine the cause for the increase, a look to the procedural by-law (the by-law) has been undertaken. 4.0 PROCEDURAL BY-LAW REVIEW The procedural by-law underwent an extensive review and rewrite in 2007. The new by-law works well in governing the meetings, however, in reviewing recent meetings, it is apparent that the rules are not being vigorously enforced. The following outlines areas of concern. 4.1 Announcements Section 7.3 of the by-law addresses announcements and states "During this portion of the Meeting, Members may announce or comment on community events and activities when recognized by the Chair." On numerous occasions, the matters being raised during this section of the meeting have strayed from being community events and activities and, oftentimes, prolong the meeting significantly. 4.2 Presentations and Deleoations With the passage of the current by-law in December 2007, the time limit for delegations was reduced from 10 minutes to 5 minutes, exclusive of the time allowed for questioning by the members of Council. Presentations were originally not subject to a time limit, however, by amendment to the by-law, a 10 minute time restriction was placed on presentations related to special committees of Council and other presentations deemed appropriate by the Municipal Clerk. There is no restriction on the number of presentations or delegations allowed at any one meeting. The by-law, in Section 9.1.2 states that "Members may ask questions of Delegations only to clarify their submissions or to elicit further information from them that is relevant to their submissions." Oftentimes, the questioning of the delegates and/or presenters goes beyond clarification and beyond the relevant subject matter and prolongs the time allotted to an individual delegation. 4.3 Speak Once Section 10.9.1 of the by-law states that "No Member shall speak more than once to the same question without leave of Council, GPA or Special Committee, as the case may be, except that a reply shall be allowed to be made only by a Member who has presented the motion, but not by any REPORT NO.: CLD-012-09 PAGE 7 OF 9 Member who has moved an amendment or procedural motion in response to that motion". Sometimes when a matter is being debated, the Chair has allowed for debate to continue with members speaking multiple times to the same matter. 4.4 Members Speaking Lately, in many circumstances, the issues that have been before Committee and Council have resulted in significant debate. Section 10.10.1 of the by-law states that "No member, without leave of Council, GPA or a Special Committee, as the case may be, shall speak to the same question or in reply for longer than five (5) minutes." In the past, there has been occasion when this rule is not enforced by the Chair, again prolonging the meeting. 5.0 OTHER MUNICIPALITIES In preparing for this report, a survey of the municipalities within Durham Region was undertaken and it has been determined that Oshawa, Pickering and Whitby currently work on a three-week meeting cycle; the other municipalities meet on a two-week cycle. The following table outlines how the three-week cycle works in Oshawa, Pickering and Whitby. Munici alit Committee/Council Structure Meetin C cle Committee Membershi Oshawa Strategic Initiatives 3 week cycle, all 5 members, with the Committee committees meet one Mayor ex-officio week, one week of no member on all Development meetings (allowing committees Services Councillors time for their Committee constituency work), next week Council Finance and Administration Committee Community Services Committee Pickering Planning & 3 week cycle, P8D 1 All members of Council Development Monday of the month, serve on both Committee Executive Committee committees Meeting 2ntl Monday, Council 3rd Monday Executive Committee REPORT NO.: CLD-012-09 PAGE 8 OF 9 Munici alit Committee/Council Structure Meetin C cle Committee Membershi Whitby Planning & P&D one Monday, 5 members serve on Development Operations the next P&D Committee and Committee Monday followed by Operations Committee, Council the next 4 members serve on Operations Monday -Management Management Committee Committee meets Committee monthly Mayor and Deputy Management Mayor ex-officio Committee members of P8D Committee and O erations Committee The three-week meeting cycle appears to be working very well in those municipalities who have implemented it, allowing more time for staff to complete reports and, as less time is spent in meetings, more time for Council members to deal with resident concerns. 7.0 RECOMMENDATION It is respectfully recommended that Committee approve one of the following three options: Oation 1 THAT the General Purpose and Administration Committee be divided into two committees, namely the Planning and Engineering Committee and the Administration Committee with athree-week meeting cycle, committee meetings being held during the day and Council meetings held in the evening. Oation 2 THAT the General Purpose and Administration Committee be divided into two committees, namely the Planning Committee and the Administration Committee with athree-week meeting cycle, committee meetings being held during the day and Council meetings held in the evening. Ootion 3 THAT the current standing committee structure remain unchanged, ie, General Purpose and Administration Committee, on a two-week meeting cycle, committee meetings being held during the day and Council meetings held in the evening. REPORT NO.: CLD-012-09 PAGE 9 OF 9 Should it be Committee's wish to approve either Option 1 or Option 2, the structure could be reviewed prior to the end of the year to determine its effectiveness.