Changes are in the works as the new Petrolia council begins its term – including removing one of the opportunity for public comment at regular council meetings.
Nov. 21, the new council got together to learn about all the facets of local government. Each department head spoke about the issues in their department. The fire chief and the Inspector of Lambton OPP as well as the town’s auditors also made a presentation .
And Mayor Brad Loosley outlined some of the changes he is suggesting for the next four years.
Loosley told members of council a new procedural bylaw would be coming to council Monday. It’s reviewed every term.
Currently, there are two opportunities for the public to speak at council meeting without advanced notice. Loosley is suggesting one be removed because it is “after the meeting decisions have been made.”
The last time council suggested removing the opportunity for questions from the public was in 2018 when John McCharles was mayor. There was a large outcry and the second question period remained. It was a tradition the last council continued.
Loosley is suggesting an alternative way for the public to raise their concerns. “We’re going to have a town hall meeting twice a year,” said Clerk Mandi Pearson “They’re not documented, they’re not meeting minutes, (the public) will come and speak and interact with council. So when we have open opportunity, those decisions will be made very informal here at town hal…they’ll be able to come forward and speak without any debate or discussion.”
Loosley is also proposing a new system of pay of councillors. They’ll receive a base amount but will be docked pay if they miss the meetings of the committees they are assigned to attend. The amount the pay would be docked was not specified Monday.
In 2020. the mayor was paid $26,046.65 and councillors $13,643.06 yearly and get health benefits of $3,000. They can also claim for mileage and conferences expenses.