In an effort to better “reach the public,” Guelph-Eramosa council has rejected proposed changes to its meeting schedule, favouring the status quo.
On Oct. 1 clerk Meaghen Reid reported that she was recommending regular council meetings be moved from the first and third to the second and fourth Mondays of each month.
“Staff have discussed the potential change … with planning, legal and engineering consultants and they do not have any concerns or conflicts with the proposed changes,” Reid said in her report.
Councillors had previously expressed support of the change, which would help eliminate confusion surrounding long weekends, when meetings are moved from holiday Mondays to the following day.
But that all changed when Mayor Chris White asked members of the media for their input.
Citing comments from a reporter from the Acton Tanner, who said the change would conflict with council meetings in Halton Hills, the mayor said Guelph-Eramosa council should stick with its current schedule.
“If you can’t reach the public, it matters,” said White.
Council agreed to defer the matter and bring forward the original 2013 proposed schedule for approval.
Councillor Doug Breen, who initially suggested moving meetings to the second and fourth Mondays, said he was fine with the schedule either way.
Last month Breen pointed out that six out of the 22 regularly scheduled meetings for next year take place on the Monday of a long weekend, which means they are pushed to the following day.
To avoid confusion, and a possible conflict with schedules, he suggested the municipality could meet on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, which would reduce from six to two the number of meetings moved to a Tuesday.
