(by Margot Grant)
Councillor Silas White has proposed that the Town of Gibsons’ “mayor and council” email address be set to auto-forward all incoming correspondence directly to all members of council.
At the council meeting of Tuesday May 2, he also proposed that all other correspondence addressed to mayor and council and received by staff be shared with all members of council in a timely manner.
The motion was passed with mayor Wayne Rowe and councillor Charlene SanJenko opposed.
Corporate officer Selina Williams said that she currently reviews all incoming mail to mayor and council. Mayor and council do not automatically get this mail “because of the statutory framework and the deadlines for submissions to public hearings.”
“I don’t want staff to filter my emails,” Lumley said. “The more information the better. We have to stay in contact with the community.”
Williams said that if the emails were to go directly to mayor and council, a new policy and protocol would be needed. She said time was needed to study the matter; she proposed to carry the motion over to the beginning of June.
Councillor Stafford Lumley wondered why he could not receive emails from citizens immediately after they were sent.
Councillor SanJenko wasn’t sure if she wants all emails automatically forwarded to her email address. Especially in times of public hearings it might be hard to deal with large volumes of emails, she said.
“There were 600 emails related to the George and many about the bike lanes on Shaw Road, the problems with the geothermal heating in Parkland and the chipseal problems,” SanJenko said.
Mayor Rowe could not support the motion because of what SanJenko said.
He also said that it would not be a good idea if individual councillors would start answering emails to mayor and council.
Williams was in favour of a new policy whereby emails to mayor and council could only receive a response from the body, not individual councillors.
Council does need a protocol for responding, councillor White agreed.
Councillor Lumley was concerned that council would not receive emails with pertinent information and facts before a vote. He also wanted to be well-informed so he could talk with staff about important issues before council meetings.
The motion to forward the emails and mail was passed by councillor White, councillor Lumley and councillor Jeremy Valeriote.