At the last (Feb 16th) Williams Lake Committee of the Whole Council meeting, Councillor Sue Zacharias was permitted to participate in this meeting, via teleconference (electronic means). Normally, I'm for this sort of thing as it allows full Council member participation with 1 or more Council members being away but still allows them to carry out their duties as a member of Williams Lake City Council.
However, in order to take advantage of this, a Council Procedure Bylaw must authorize the use of electronic means (teleconference or webcam) for a Council member's remote participation in a meeting (Regular Council or Council Committee).
Section 128(1) of the Community Charter states:
If this is authorized by procedure bylaw and the requirements of subsection (2) are met...
However, the current Williams Lake Council Procedure Bylaw does not authorize the use of electronic means to allow WL Council members to participate in Council meetings (Regular Council or Council Committee) however Quesnel Council & the Cariboo Regional District have authorized the use of electronic means in their meetings and their members have used this provision at their past meetings
I have emailed both WL Mayor Kerry Cook and WL City Councillor Geoff Bourdon with my concerns about what occurred at the Feb 16th Committee of the Whole meeting (participation of Councillor Zacharias, via teleconference) but quite frankly, I'm not expecting much if any sympathy from them. I very well may have to take this issue up with the Ministry of Community and Rural Development
I would certainly call upon Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook not to allow her Council colleagues to use teleconferencing or other electronic means to participate in WL Council meetings, until such time as WL Council authorizes the use of electronic means in their meetings and formally makes those changes in the Williams Lake Council Procedure Bylaw
No comments:
Post a Comment