City council candidate John Beebe is frustrated by the current city council's decision on Monday to change council meeting times only weeks before the Nov. 19 election.
On Monday, city council approved the first three readings of an amended procedural bylaw which would change city council open meetings from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. and move council's closed meetings from a 4:30 p.m. start to 3:30 p.m.
"Why are they putting down rules for a new council? I'm very frustrated by this," Beebe said. "I have a full-time job where I have responsibilities. I was prepared to work late to be a city councillor ... but I can't take two-and-a-half hours off early from work on Mondays."
Beebe said the changes discriminate against councillors with full time jobs. Beebe is a salesman with West Fraser Electro/Mechanical.
The changes were based on recommendations by council's governance review select committee. Beebe said the committee's report should have been postponed and presented to the new council after the Nov. 19 election.
Fourth and final reading of the bylaw will go before city council on Nov. 7, city manager of legislative services Walter Babicz said. If council approves the changes, they will go into effect on Dec. 1 - ahead of the Dec. 5 inaugural meeting of the new council.
"To put this in only weeks before an election and after people have already declared their intention to run is very disappointing," Beebe said.
Although the early closed meetings do not happen as frequently as open meetings, in 2010 council had 25 regular public meetings and 22 closed meetings.
Coun. Cameron Stolz, who chaired the governance review select committee, said the recommendation to move the meeting times forward an hour was to reduce the number of late meetings.
"Numerous meetings have gone beyond 10 [p.m.], gone beyond 11 [p.m.] and midnight," Stolz said. "If we want to make better decisions, we need to be fresh and on our game. The rationale is, if we start an hour sooner, we'll end an hour sooner."
Being a city councillor is a part-time job which requires 15 to 20 hours a week, he said.
"This is part of the job. I don't know if Mr. Beebe is aware, but committees meet during the day," he said. "Meeting times during the day have been a standard practice for several terms. It should be acknowledged that it will cost you time to participate, and that may cost you money."
Being a councillor also requires attending conferences such as the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities annual conference in Vancouver, he said.
"It's a job. It takes time."
