December 29, 1997
To: Striking Committee
From: City Clerk
Subject: 1998 Schedule of Meetings
Purpose:
To recommend a schedule of meetings for Council, its Committees and Community Councils in 1998.
Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
There are no funding implications.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1) the 1998 Schedule of Meetings submitted as Appendix "B" to this report be adopted;
(2) a copy of the 1998 Schedule of Meetings be circulated to the major agencies, boards and commissions with a request that wherever possible, they avoid scheduling conflicts with meetings of the Council and the Standing Committees to which they report; and
(3) the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.
Council Reference/Background/History:
The Council must approve a schedule of meetings to permit the orderly consideration of business in 1998.
Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:
The final report of the Toronto Transition Team contained recommendations for a core political decision-making structure comprised of Council, the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee, the Budget Sub-Committee, five Standing Committees and six Community Councils.
In addition, it recommended an Audit Committee and Striking and Nominating Committees.
The new City will also have a Board of Health and a number of agencies, boards and commissions that Members of Council will be appointed to.
In designing a schedule of meetings, a number of assumptions were made and principles applied:
- Council, the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee, the Budget Sub-Committee, five Standing Committees and six Community Councils will need to meet on an ongoing basis;
- the Audit Committee and Striking and Nominating Committees will need to meet on a less regular basis;
- the need for frequent enough Council meetings to permit decision-making that is not over duly delayed;
- Members must be able to attend all Standing Committee meetings which cannot then be scheduled concurrently;
- Community Councils can meet concurrently;
- the need to ensure adequate time to permit report writing, agenda planning and distribution;
- provide preparation time (agenda reading, questioning and briefings) before meetings for Members and the public;
- accommodation, as much as possible, for Members to attend agency, board and commission meetings;
- the provision of time for Members to attend constituency and other meetings; and
- the recognition of days and times of religious significance.
A number of meeting cycle options were reviewed:
Two-week cycle:
- not enough time for all decision-making bodies to meet within the cycle unless there were concurrent meetings;
- insufficient time for report preparation and agenda distribution and review; and
- no time left to accommodate attendance at agency, board, commission or constituency meetings.
Three-week cycle:
- many similar problems which arise from a two-week cycle.
Modified four-week cycle (Council and Community Councils meet every two weeks):
- insufficient time for report preparation and agenda distribution and review for Community Council and Council meetings;
- no time to accommodate attendance at agency, board, commission or constituency meetings; and
- complexity around which committees report to which Council meetings will lead to confusion.
Five-week cycle:
- complexity around which committees report to which Council meetings will lead to confusion; and
- unacceptable delay in decision-making by Council.
After review, the four-week cycle of meetings embodied in the attached Appendix "A" is recommended in that it best meets the principles set out earlier. This Appendix also sets out the traditional days of meetings of the major agencies, boards and commissions. The model provides for the issuance of agendas six working days prior to Standing Committee and Community Council meetings and four working days prior to Council meetings to provide distribution to the public.
The full year's schedule set out in Appendix "B" accommodates the spring school break when the public is less able to participate. It provides opportunity for participation at the annual meetings of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario where representatives from the Toronto area have traditionally played a major role. Concern that meetings in August would preclude public participation has been addressed.
Until such time as a permanent seat of government is decided, the business meetings of Council will be held in the Metro Hall Council Chamber after the first day of the Inaugural Meeting. The Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee will meet in Metro Hall. The Standing Committees will meet at either Toronto City Hall or Metro Hall, wherever the majority of the Committee's membership is located.
Discussions are continuing with the local cable television companies to provide television coverage for meetings for the public.
Many factors are not known at this time. There is no experience in determining the workload arising at Standing Committees and Council. At the beginning, it is expected that there will be a learning curve for Members, staff and the public. It is anticipated that the new Council will inherit a backlog of issues requiring consideration that have arisen from the absence of meetings through the later part of 1997.
Conclusions:
The schedule of meetings is designed to meet a number of criteria to ensure that information can flow through a decision-making process with adequate assurance that certain commitments to access, preparation and participation are met. This is a schedule that will permit flexibility, but which must be worked with for an interim period of time while the public, Council and staff gain experience in its functioning.
Contact Name and Telephone Number:
Ralph Walton
Interim Lead, Secretariat
392-8670.
City Clerk
Attachments
