Doyle tries to spur Carbonear committee changes

By Mark Squibb/November 4, 2022

Councillor Danielle Doyle is eager that council make good on a motion passed some months back to shake up the Town’s committee memberships, but other members of council don’t seem to share the same sense of urgency.

Doyle reminded council last week that back in July, council amended its rules to switch to a three-member committee structure.

A month earlier, some members had pushed back against a motion by councillors Chris O’Grady and Peter Snow to amend the rules to limit committees to two members as opposed to three. That motion was defeated, with only O’Grady voting in favour of the change. The committee structure, said Doyle at the time, typically allowed for three members of council to sit on a committee, but had changed sometime last year with the result that committees now only have two council members each.

No appointments have been since then to add to the committees, which is what Doyle was pushing for last week.

“We should probably talk about our strengths and weaknesses and see who has preferences for what committees to decide where people feel they are best able to help our community grow and prosper,” said Doyle.

Mayor Frank Butt asked for clarification on whether the Department of Municipal Affairs has any rules concerning committee numbers.

CAO Cynthia Davis noted council had already amended the rules to bump committee membership from two councillors to three, with the mayor acting as ex-officio on all committees.

Councillor Malcolm Seymour argued council should maintain the status quo for the time being until the new budget is set and then let the new committee members “hit the ground running.”

“And I think that’s fine, but I think we should decide here tonight who’s going on what committee,” countered Doyle. “There are supposed to be three councillors on a committee and there have been times when committee meetings haven’t been able to go ahead because one or two members weren’t able to make meetings, so then decisions have to be put off until we can get together to have those meetings.”

Doyle said it would be better to have all committee members in place before the new budget is set.

“I don’t know why we would wait,” said Doyle. “We have a town of 5,000 people and so the more voices that are heard at committee meetings in my opinion, is important. But I think we should decide what committees we’re joining here tonight and then it would be up to everyone here when people would actually start attending those meetings.”

Mayor Butt said he would like to see councillors commit to which committees they would prefer to be on.

‘When you’re putting three on a committee, it doesn’t leave many committees that you’re not going to be on,” said Butt. “You’re going to be on at least three.”

Doyle didn’t agree with Butt’s math, saying that previously each councillor only had to sit on two committees to fill a complement of three members per committee.

Councillor Peter Snow said he would prefer council make the decision during a private, rather than public, meeting.

“My personal opinion on the matter, and I’m on two committees and councillor Seymour is on two committees, is that it should be decided in a privileged meeting,” said Snow. “I know councillor Doyle is very anxious to get this done.”

Councillor Ray Noel confirmed Doyle’s assessment that for there to be three members on each committee, each councillor would have to sit on two committees. He also agreed with Snow’s suggestion to appoint members in a separate, private meeting, as it was “an HR type issue.”

“But I do believe that it’s timely and I do belive that its something that all of council agreed to back in July, and so it’s time for us to move on with it,” said Noel, who also liked Butt’s idea that councillors submit a list of which committees they would prefer to sit on.”

Noel added that in some municipalities, councillors are welcome to attend committee meetings of which they are not a member.

“I’ve never heard of that proposed, but there’s a lot of knowledge to be gained from how council operates,” said Noel. “And as a councillor that’s not on a certain committee, sometimes you’re voting on something, and you really don’t have all the information. I mean, the minutes are there, but we all know what minutes are, minutes are brief and to the point.”

Council wrapped up the discussion by scheduling a private meeting for Monday, November 7, to discuss the matter further.

Currently, Doyle chairs the Economic Development, Planning and Land Use Development committee and acts as liaison to both the Recreation Commission and Special Events Committee.

Noel is a member of the Recreation, Special Events, Culture and Tourism committee and liaison to the Harbour Authority.

O’Grady chairs the Administration and Finance committee and acts as liaison to both the Conception Bay North Joint Council and Princess Sheila NaGeira Theatre Board.

Seymour chairs the Recreation, Special Events, Culture and Tourism committee and is a member of the Public Works, Waste Management and Community Services committee.

Slade chairs the Public Works, Waste Management and Community Services committee and is a liaison to the Heritage Society and is an alternate to Mayor Butt on the Urban Municipalities Committee of MNL.

Mayor Butt is an ex-officio member of all committees, and also acts as liaison to the Conception Bay North Joint Council with O’Grady and the Urban Municipalities Committee of MNL.