A town councilor for Lunenburg says council needs to be more transparent.
Brian Davis says too much town business is being discussed in-camera or in private.
According to the Municpal Government Act, in-camera meetings are reserved for discussions around financial and personnel matters.
Davis is concerned that issues that don’t fall into those categories are being discussed in-camera and away from public accountable.
“But after looking at the Municipal Government Act and seeing what is eligibe for an in-camera meeting I was pretty certain that they weren’t complying.”
Davis is particularly concerned about an meeting that took place on December 6th.
Council began the meeting in-camera before holding an impromptu public meeting to vote on the issue they just discussed.
According the Municipal Government Act, council is required to give two days notice before holding a public meeting.
“We were getting up to go and the CAO, she said we’re going to have a public meeting now. And I said whoa, just wait. You have to give two days notice to hold a public meeting. And they said no you don’t.”
Davis says he has raised the issue with the mayor and the rest of council but isn’t satisfied with their response.
He would like to have someone from the Department of Municipal Affairs come and speak to the council to help clear up the confusion.
Meanwhile,
Mayor Rachel Bailey says council goes to great lengths to be open and transparent.
She said that council did not make any decision at the in-camera session.
“We made a recommendation. We went through the formal process of making a motion to make that recommendation. But no binding decision on an action to be taken by council was made at the in-camera meeting. There was a recommendation which came to the public session to be approved.”
Bailey says, it was at this point that council was actually making a decision around spending money.
She says in-camera sessions are necessary for the town to run effectively.
“It’s to facilitate the business of council. It’s not to hide something. It’s to enable something to happen.”
She says council procedures can seem complex.
To satisfy Councilor Davis’ concerns they had a lawyer review their actions.
Bailey says the attorney assured them they are acting responsibly.
