It害羞草研究所檚 an ongoing joke in many communities that council meetings can run a bit longer than expected - sometimes lasting hours into the evening.

Ironically, one B.C. municipality has taken the time to debate the matter.

North Saanich Coun. Celia Stock raised a motion recently, seeking to limit the amount of councilor discussion that takes place on any given issue 害羞草研究所� in an attempt to speed up their meetings.

She said she wanted meetings run in a more effective and efficient manner and pointed to neighbouring councils in Central Saanich and Sidney that put time limits on how long a politician can debate a point.

害羞草研究所淎ll of us have had this 害羞草研究所� on the radar since last fall,害羞草研究所� Stock said. 害羞草研究所淲e do often tend to have meetings that last (up to) four-and-a-half hours.害羞草研究所�

In Sidney害羞草研究所檚 example, she continued, there害羞草研究所檚 a procedural bylaw in place that keeps debate per councilor to five minutes on each subject.

害羞草研究所淎nd then they are not allowed to keep on speaking,害羞草研究所� she said.

Central Saanich害羞草研究所檚 limit, she continued, is 10 minutes and the limit among Capital Regional District directors is 15 minutes. Stock said having similar limits in North Saanich could prevent meetings from going beyond 10:30 p.m. and 害羞草研究所渘ot subjecting staff害羞草研究所� to long sessions of council.

It was clear, however, that other councillors have been timing each other and, instead of imposing limits, a majority suggested other means of keeping the meetings more succinct.

Coun. Heather Gartshore said their meetings vary from two-and-a-half hours to those longer ones Stock mentioned. However, Gartshore said the longer ones are rare 害羞草研究所� despite the three long ones council had in January.

害羞草研究所淚 feel this notice is born of frustration,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淚 feel as if this is trying to kill a fly with a sledgehammer.害羞草研究所�

Gartshore wondered how it would be enforced, such as having staff with stopwatches.

She added she feels meeting length is related to agenda size, saying if North Saanich council met more frequently and didn害羞草研究所檛 break in the summer, the meetings could be quicker.

Gartshore also said if councillors come prepared and ready to go, meetings may also pick up.

害羞草研究所淢y observation is that doesn害羞草研究所檛 always happen.害羞草研究所�

Coun. Geoff Orr noted with humour that Gartshore herself spoke seven minutes on the issue, but basically agreed with her. Her said he doesn害羞草研究所檛 feel he has to apologize for asking questions to reach the decisions he needs to reach.

Coun. Jack Thornburgh added he saw Stock害羞草研究所檚 motion as 害羞草研究所榓spirational害羞草研究所�, rather than prescriptive. If councillors exercise self-discipline, he continued, there wouldn害羞草研究所檛 be a need for time limits.

In the end, Stock害羞草研究所檚 motion was defeated in a 5-2 vote (Stock and Mayor Alice Finall voted for it).

The entire debate took approximately 36 minutes.

editor@peninsulanewsreview.com
Like us on and follow us on