The municipal council in St. Stephen is considering a new bylaw to increase public participation strategically and deliberately.
The town allows for a public comment period during the regular council meeting every month, but not at the committee of the whole.
Regular council meetings are held monthly and allow for readings of bylaws, final votes, and some debate.
Committee of the Whole (CoW) meetings are more informal, where the council is able to discuss various topics, bylaws, and things in a productive way.
A new bylaw would create a forum for public participation outside the council chamber, in possibly the form of a town hall, according to Chief Administrative Officer Jeff Renaud.
“I think this a huge step for us,” he said during the meeting. “I think we’re going to have a much better product and with our goal setting for a path like this.”
Renaud hopes a separate format will help take some of the burden of the regular meetings.
Coun. Emily Rodas said she believes this is likely what the council has been missing all along.
“I do find in our council meetings, we get feedback, but we don’t get in-depth feedback that we can actually implement and have the time and space to talk about things and actually move forward with citizens,” she said. “I find we get thrown a lot of information through social media or the podium but we don’t actually have the time to unpack it.”
She said she knows, though, how busy the CAO office is and she appreciates there have been boundaries outlined in the policy for that public participation.
“I feel that we’re moving in the right direction,” she said. “But we still have these certain topics that keep getting brought up and I think we need a better forum that’s structured to be able to talk about those topics and have that public engagement.”
She suggested that perhaps there be a time frame around the engagement sessions.
Rodas thanked Renaud for listening to the public and their concerns about waiting for a bigger forum.
Renaud said in order to make it work, MDSS has to be deliberate about when they are seeking their opinions and when they are not.
“We have to be strategic in which tools we apply in what situations,” he said. “I think if we’re very upfront about that with the public we’ll get (a) much better response and in my experience that’s where you get much more respectful meetings.”
Municipal politicians have faced increased criticism, including in St. Stephen, through social media and other platforms – something which has created great concern from the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick.
In recent months, MDSS has stopped requiring staff to attend regular meetings due to its inability to provide harassment-free working environments, according to a report from Renaud.
Council, including Mayor Allan MacEachern, said they would like to continue having a public comment period during the regular meetings – the new forum would be in addition to it.
Coun. Joyce Wright said residents always have the right to reach out to them about any issue they feel strongly about, but this formalizes the process.
“I also want to make it clear when you say it might reduce the need to have comments or certain things happen in meetings doesn’t mean we’re trying to eliminate it, this is a way to enhance that,” she said during the meeting.
Wright hopes this will create better dialogue between the council and the public.
“Sometimes it’s been a matter of timing that we haven’t been able to do as much as we want to do,” she said.
Coun. David Hyslop said many things he brings up are concerns brought directly to him by constituents.
“I’m sure everyone gets approached about a thing and say can you ask about this,” he said. “I’d like to see more people approach.”
No date has been set yet to bring the draft policy to regular council for three readings, and pending any amendments, to be voted on.
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