The town of Qualicum Beach currently hosts an open house to give residents an opportunity to meet with town councillors. The open houses are held once a month in one of the meeting rooms at the Town hall. A maximum of two councillors are in attendance since more than this number would constitute a quorum and, thus, be deemed a meeting of council. In any event, the open houses are informal get togethers of two of the council members and any number of interested residents. The residents and councillors sit around the table. Coffee is provided. Questions are raised by residents. Some questions are specific. Others are of a general nature. In some cases, long time residents are able to provide background information to fill in gaps. In other cases, the discussion around the table expands upon the original question. Some questions are answered by the councillors in attendance. Some questions are referred to town staff by the councillors. The point is that the open houses are informal get togethers without the intimidation and trappings of a formal council meeting.
As with many good things, the open houses are coming to an end. At the December 11 council meeting, Mayor Westbroek tabled a Notice of Motion to replace the monthly open houses with, in the words of the motion, "quarterly Committee of the Whole meetings [Town Hall style] on a trial basis for 2025 for the purpose of fostering open communication between the public and Committee members to ensure effective information and to manage staff time and resources efficiently". In presenting the motion, Mayor Westbroek stated that the motion was self explanatory, that the purpose is to improve communication between Council, staff and the public so that all of Council hears, at the same time, the concerns raised by the public and responses from staff (and, although not mentioned by Mayor Westbroek, hopefully also from Council). The motion was seconded by Councillor Harrison and passed unanimously with no discussion. In this regard, I note that Councillors Vander Valk and Young were in attendance at the open house on the Monday prior to the the December 11 Council meeting. The proposed Notice of Motion eliminating the open houses was discussed with the consensus of the residents being that the open houses were a welcome and valuable opportunity to ask questions on an informal basis. Neither Councillor Vander Valk nor Councillor Young mentioned this at the time for discussion prior to the unanimous passage of the motion.
Where does this leave us? We go from a monthly meeting to a meeting every three months. We go from an informal discussion around a table to a formal meeting with a chair directing submissions. We go from a meeting in a room at the town hall where the coffee is made by the attending councillor to a meeting in council chambers with the mayor and four councillors, the CAO, the Corporate administrator taking minutes, the CFO and any other members of staff necessary to, in the words of the Notice of Motion, "ensure effective information dissemination".
I have reservations about the proposed Town Hall Meetings. We can only wait and see if they effectively replace the open houses and foster open communication, provide information and manage town staff and resources efficiently.
The last open house will be at 10 AM on January 6 with the first Town Hall Meeting scheduled for 10 AM February 26. I encourage residents to attend both.
Jim Noel
December 22 2024
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