Delegates will no longer have to sit through other city business before addressing New Westminster city council.
Starting in January 2025, city council will begin its meetings by hearing from delegations and people making presentations. The 6 p.m. start time for delegations takes effect at the Monday, Jan. 13 meeting.
Until now, meetings began at 6 p.m. and delegates were scheduled to address council at 7 p.m.
The City of New Westminster invites people or organizations wanting to address city council as delegations to complete a “request to speak" form online. They’re able to speak for up to five minutes, addressing council either virtually by telephone or video conference or in person in the council chamber at New Westminster City Hall.
The City of New Westminster’s council procedures bylaw allows up to 10 members of the public who have signed up ahead of time to delegate at regular council meetings (unless a public hearing is happening that evening).
The new start time for delegations was among a number of changes taking effect for council meetings in January 2025.
Other changes – which won’t impact community members – are related to the part of the meeting where council considers bylaws, a new council meeting schedule for 2025 and an updated notice of motion policy for council members. Another change will allow the acting mayor to preside over workshop meetings, which is something staff say is a process followed by some other councils.
While New West council members agreed on many of the changes, the frequency and type of council meetings was an area where they had differences of option.
At its Nov. 18 meeting, council voted 5-2 in support of a 2025 meeting schedule recommended by staff. Staff said the option is similar to the practice that’s been in place for several years but would have council meetings and workshops taking place on alternate Mondays. (Under now, council often has closed meetings and workshops in the afternoon, followed by evening meetings.)
According to staff, the new schedule would result in two fewer workshops each month because those afternoon sessions would be eliminated on days when council is meeting at 6 p.m. All totalled, council would meet four days each month; the schedule includes a total of eight meetings, including closed and regular evening meetings and afternoon workshops.
Staff believe this option offers a balance between efficiently handling official city business while continuing to provide a forum where council and staff can effectively work on a variety of strategic priorities.”
Mayor Patrick Johnstone and councillors Ruby Campbell, Tasha Henderson, Jaimie McEvoy, and Nadine Nakagawa supported the staff recommendation. They spoke in favour of continuing to hold workshops to delve into specific issues; they also suggested weekly meetings would help ensure meetings don’t go late into the night, as that’s not an effective way to do business.
Councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas opposed the meeting schedule. Fontaine said he preferred the option that would eliminate workshops, although they could be called on an as-needed basis. (Under that option, council would meet two days each month, with a total of four meetings – two closed/incamera meetings during the day and two evening meetings.)
Fontaine argued that some people may not be able to run for council if they’re required to take every Monday off work. He also questioned the value of the discussions that are occurring in workshops.
