The Procedure Bylaw, Bylaw No. 9004, requires that the annual schedule for Council and committee meetings be approved by City Council by the last Council meeting in December. The required public notice has been provided.
The recommended calendar, outlined in Appendix A, has been prepared on the basis of Council approving this report.
Included with the recommended 2022 calendar are a number of procedural recommendations put forward by the City Clerk in alignment with the recommended meeting schedule.
Strategic Impacts
The recommended 2022 Council and committee calendar provides for a predictable meeting schedule for 2022.
The proposed calendar reflects the reality that the governance and decision-making responsibilities of City Council are becoming increasingly complex and time-consuming, particularly for councillors serving in a less than full-time capacity. The recommendation attempts to reflect that meetings of both City Council and Executive Committee are increasingly lengthy in large part to the volume and complexity of arising issues, all in addition to the regular decision-making requirements of overseeing a city of 240,000 citizens and an operating budget of approximately $650 million.
There are no financial, environmental, accessibility or risk/legal impacts.
Option # 1 – Status Quo
· City Council and all committee meetings would remain on Wednesdays
· City Council would meet every second Wednesday at 1 p.m.
· Executive Committee would meet on alternate Wednesdays at 9 a.m.
· Regina Planning Commission would meet on the first Wednesday of the month at 4 p.m.
· Community Wellness Committee would meet on the second Wednesday of the month at 9 a.m.
· Operations & Community Services would meet on the third Wednesday of the month at 2 p.m.
· Distribution and submission deadlines would remain unchanged
· Consideration could be given to reducing the current number of councillors sitting on Community Wellness Committee and Operations & Community Services from five members to three
Option # 2 - Further downsizing of committees
· Disestablish Community Wellness Committee and Operations & Community Services Committee, with their respective responsibilities incorporated into Executive Committee
· City Council would meet every second Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m.;
· Executive Committee would meet every second Wednesday at 9 a.m. on alternating weeks;
· Regina Planning Commission would meet once monthly on Tuesdays at 9 a.m.;
· Distribution of agenda materials and deadline for delegation submissions would be the same as outlined in the Recommended Option
Implications
· Notwithstanding the increased responsibilities of Executive Committee, disbanding the two committees will free up time for councillors to attend to other matters
· Disbanding the committees, notably Community Wellness, while Council is focusing on many social challenges may be seen as contradictory to stated priorities
· Executive Committee would review all reports that are not specifically related to matters under the jurisdiction of the Regina Planning Commission
· Amendments to The Committee Bylaw would also be required
· Regina Planning Commission is being retained as it is established under The Planning and Development Act, 2007 to advise and assist Council with respect to community planning and development
· As members typically speak to most committee reports when before Council for consideration and final approval, having Executive Committee operate similar to a “committee of the whole” should streamline decision-making and reduce repetitive arguments, thereby leading to reduce lengthy meetings
The report will be considered at the November 3, 2021 meeting of Executive Committee and subsequently at the November 10, 2021 meeting of City Council.
Related bylaw amendments will be considered at the November 24, 2021 meeting of City Council.
The required public notice has been provided.
The meeting schedule, submission and distribution deadlines will be effective January 1, 2022.
In December 2020, Council revised its traditional meeting schedule of holding Council meetings on Monday evenings and committee meetings held at various times during the week:
· In 2020, City Council meetings were held once per month on Wednesdays while all committee meetings were held on various Wednesdays preceding the monthly Council meeting;
· In 2021, City Council and Executive Committee meetings were held twice per month, with all committee meetings remaining on Wednesdays.
In 2021, largely due to the increasingly numerous and complex issues and challenges facing City Council, meetings of City Council and Executive Committee have run consistently long with many motions to extend the meetings. The recommended calendar attempts to address this challenge and alleviate some of the time pressures on members of Council (who serve in a less than full-time capacity, with the exception of the Mayor) by extending the bi-weekly meetings of both Executive Committee and Council.
A concurrent suggestion to consider decreasing the number of councillors on each committee from five to three would further assist in this objective. Concurrently, it would not negatively impact the decision-making authority of Council as all but a small number of matters are within the sole jurisdiction of a committee.
Pursuant to section 5(4) of The Procedure Bylaw, No. 9004, the City Clerk shall prepare a report recommending the approved Council and Committee meetings for the next year.
Respectfully Submitted, Respectfully Submitted,
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