Nearly two years after city council moved to virtual meetings in the face of a burgeoning pandemic, it’s set to make a return next month to in-person sessions.
Elected municipal officials and city staff will be welcomed back to the city hall council chambers beginning with council’s committee of the whole meeting on March 7.
“I miss them. Getting back to that state will be a good thing for us,” said Mayor Cam Guthrie, who made the decision in consultation with the city’s clerk’s department and senior executive staff. “There’s something to be said about being in the … chambers of democracy where you’re in person and that has definitely been lost.
“Although you can hear a tone of voice, you can see body language through technology, there’s nothing like being in the actual chambers.”
City council moved to strictly online meetings in late March of 2020, following the declaration of a global COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of related capacity limits.
“The constant feedback over the past couple of years, especially from the public delegations, they feel it’s been a real added benefit to allow people to use technology to be able to participate in council meetings,” said Guthrie.
During the past two years, council has received a mixture of video delegations and phone calls from people commenting on issues in front of it. At least one appeared via video from a park, streamed from their phone.
For now, council members will have the option of attending meetings in person or attend virtually, Guthrie said. Delegates will continue to appear virtually or speak via telephone until capacity limits and other public health measures are completely lifted.
“We can’t ever determine in advance how many people would want to be in the council chambers,” the mayor said. “Until the capacity issue is dealt with, we have to start slowly by looking to have some councillors and/or some staff back.”
Council members have been asked to let the clerk’s department know in advance if they plan to attend in person so that the number of city staff in attendance can be determined.
During the upcoming pre-election break, when there are no council meetings planned, Guthrie said the chambers will undergo a series of capital upgrades to improve the use of technology by delegates.
“Eventually, we certainly want to have the entire council chambers back open,” said Guthrie. “There’s nothing that compares to when the council chambers are full, full of people that are passionate about whatever the topic of the day is that council is debating.”
