Should Stouffville council only come out at night?

Councillors await report on cost of moving to evening meetings

Yorkregion.com
May 9, 2015
By Sandra Bolan

It costs the municipality $187,050 to pay 13 town employees and security to attend 15 evening council meetings annually, according to a May 5 staff report.

The discussion to move all council meetings to 7 p.m. or maintain a mix between daytime and evening meetings was again tabled Tuesday night.

Town staff required to attend council meetings include the CAO, the Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library CEO, directors, managers (as required), recording staff and security, according to the report.

They each receive 3.5 hours of lieu time regardless of how long the meeting lasts.

Lieu time cannot exceed 35 hours or five days, Marc Pourvahidi, the town’s CAO told The Sun-Tribune earlier this week. If the time off is not taken, the employee is paid for it.

Former mayor Sue Sherban, who was in the gallery Tuesday night, suggested the policy be changed so staff does not receive a cash payout. This is something Pourvahidi told The Sun-Tribune he is willing to consider when he submits a more detailed report on the cost of meetings to council. That is expected to be presented at the May 19 meeting, which starts at 3 p.m.

Directors receiving lieu time for attending evening council meetings did not sit well with Ward 6 Councillor Rob Hargrave.

“We will tell the staff when we (have) meetings,” he said.

On the flip side, Ward 3 Councillor Hugo Kroon suggested 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. meetings in order to accommodate developers because, according to Kroon, they need to bring their staff to council meetings, including those held at night, which costs them money, which eventually is passed down to the taxpayer.

Upon hearing this, a member of the 21-person gallery shouted: “do developers vote for you?”

“We don’t work for the developers. They work for us,” Hargrave said.

Mayor Justin Altmann likes the day and evening schedule and noted important agenda items can and have been, moved to 7 p.m. in order to accommodate residents.

“You’re not listening to the people,” Hargrave fired back at the mayor.

Hargrave has been advocating for all evening meetings for the past 11 years and other councillors noted Tuesday night that while out campaigning last year, they heard from residents they too want night meetings.

Hargrave noted in his previous terms, major decisions were made at 3 p.m. meetings and “that’s not right.”

An impromptu Facebook and Twitter poll conducted before Tuesday’s meeting by Ward 5 Councillor Iain Lovatt, revealed 11 out of 15 respondents wanted 7 p.m. meetings while one person said 9 a.m.

“Very unscientific but a quick gauge of people's feelings,” Lovatt told The Sun-Tribune via email.

Councillors did not make a decision on the meeting schedule for July onwards - pending Pourvahidi’s report.