Opinions divided over meetings’ start time

Starting city council meetings at supper time is not a good idea, says Riverdale resident Kristina Calhoun.

Starting city council meetings at supper time is not a good idea, says Riverdale resident Kristina Calhoun.

Calhoun addressed council Monday night about the proposal before council to move the weekly meetings from 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

“I would like to ask council to please keep the time at 7:30,” said Calhoun. “At the very least, go no earlier than 7:00.

“I am asking that because family time is dinner time.”

For parents who have children with busy schedules, sitting around the supper table is sometimes the only chance they really get to talk during the day, Calhoun said.

“As a gesture of accommodating family values and encouraging consistent participation, I ask you to keep the time the same.”

A parent herself, Calhoun was no stranger to city council meetings last year.

She led the public lobby to allow backyard chickens as a means of promoting locally grown food products.

Calhoun also told council Monday there is documented evidence available suggesting people who work 11 hours without a break are 2 1/2 times more likely to suffer from depression.

The proposal to switch the time is included in revisions to the bylaw governing council procedures.

The bylaw received first and second readings Monday night. Third reading is scheduled for Feb. 13. Should it pass, the first 5:30 meeting would be Feb. 20.

The proposed time change arose out discussions among council members at their annual legislative workshop held last Dec. 16. The administrative report to council last week recommended the change.

Rob Fendrick, the city’s director of administrative services, said changing the time would increase accessibility to meetings by providing residents the opportunity of taking the bus to and from city hall before the transit service ends for the night.

It would also allow staff to work right through instead of going home after work and then having to return for the meeting, he said.

Mayor Bev Buckway said she’d like to give the new time slot a trial run for six months or so, and if doesn’t work out, it can be changed back before the October general election.

A different time with available transit service might attract a different cross-section of residents, she said.

“I would like to try it and see what a difference it makes.”

Coun. Kirk Cameron said he is neutral on the issue, but encouraged residents to email or phone him, because he wants to get a sense of how people feel about the proposal.

The councillor also asked city staff to issue a press release informing the public about the proposal.

Council, Cameron told his colleagues, does not want to get tarred with another accusation of trying to sneak through a major policy shift with no public notice, as it was accused of earlier that evening regarding the city’s trail plan initiative.

Councillors Betty Irwin and Ranj Pillai indicated their preference for maintaining the status quo.

Irwin said a handful of people have already told her a 5:30 start time would be inconvenient, as they have to deal with picking up kids or not getting off work until 5:30.

“I would support the procedures bylaw going forward but I do not support the time change,” said Pillai, indicating that with children of his own, he too has parental duties at supper time.

Coun. Dave Austin, on the other hand, pointed out that council meetings sometimes go past 11 p.m., and it would be nice to get home a little earlier.

But Coun. Dave Stockdale pointed out his wife had made him a nice dinner Monday evening.

He would not have been able to sit and enjoy it and relax for a bit afterward had the meeting started at 5:30, he told his colleagues.

Coun. Florence Roberts said it doesn’t make any difference to her what time the meetings start, because she’s committed either way.

There are many Monday nights, however, where there is not a soul sitting in the public gallery, she emphasized, while recognizing the 17 who were there this week.

“But I would really like to see what the public has to say and whether their participation will increase or decrease,” she said.

“If it makes a difference to an awful lot of people, then fine, you have two weeks to let us know.”

Calhoun never did win her battle for the chickens, as the zoning bylaw clearly stated no chickens in urban neighbourhoods.

City hall did promise to revisit, and is revisiting, the issue during the current review of the zoning bylaw.

Whether backyard chicken coops should be allowed is on the ballot.