The clip is taken from a council meeting in the past few months. The Mayor says everyone is well aware of the process for public inquiries. I am not so sure though. After first watching this clip, I went back through minutes of council meetings in the past few years. Kind of all over the map what has been allowed at public inquiries. No information I can find on the city web site on what is allowed.
The citizen appearing in the clip, who shares her views with council on a regular basis, asked for a minute and a half. The Mayor's frustration is palpable as he feels the question is turning into a presentation. Maybe, though, a rationale for the question could have been allowed? This painful exchange takes more than six minutes:
Unfortunately I think the Mayor is correct on this one. That said, if they're not clearly laid out in a publicly viewable location (preferably online) they really ought to be.
Posted by: Mike | July 07, 2010 at 11:14 AM
I could not believe the disrespect showed by Dr. Mader. I understand there may have been some confusion over the restrictions on Public Inquiries, but her attitude was unacceptable.
To answer your question Arjun, for about two to three months before this happened, the Mayor had been putting similar limits on people making Public Inquiries. It would have been unfair for him to have made suddenly allowed this particular one to go beyond what he had not allowed others to do.
Posted by: Kevin Skrepnek | July 07, 2010 at 11:45 AM
Maybe the way around this, and I think this was the case at one time, is to say at public inquiries, you are allowed 5 minutes. And then the Mayor can choose to answer right away, could defer it to staff, or let the citizen know it is a council decision.
Kevin, I appreciate your perspective on what had been happening as someone who had attended the meetings. I don't see the disrespect from Dr Mader that you see. I think the onus in on the people on council to treat every citizen with respect.
Posted by: Arjun Singh | July 07, 2010 at 11:50 AM
Arjun, I'm referring to a particular gesture made by Dr. Mader at approximatively 4:16 in to your video. It isn't quite as noticeable on film as it was in person, but it was the source of my feelings on her attitude.
Posted by: Kevin Skrepnek | July 07, 2010 at 05:48 PM
Had a look at the clip again Kevin and saw the gesture you are referring too. I respect your reaction. To me, it seems not too big a deal in the context of what was happening.Wasn't obscene, for example. I've seen a few people do a lot worse at that podium, Personally, I think this situation just started to spiral downwards right from the get-go. Both participants in the episode made choices about how they acted and didn't act.
Posted by: Arjun Singh | July 08, 2010 at 01:09 PM
I too think the mayor was correct on this one...perhaps there needs to be a submission for public enquiries as well...not to screen who comes in with what questions and information but for the staff to decide what of everything submitted constitutes public enquiry and what constitutes a delegation....the individuals would then be contacted as to where and when they fit in to the upcoming meetings....so you apply with your plan to talk to council ex. question with short rationale, power point presentation and declaration, or just a question (you don't even have to say all the details in the application...just a brief outline of the plan) and the staff person allots you to the time that would be most appropriate for what you plan to do....that shouldn't be too hard for someone to organize at the City
Posted by: marsha | July 08, 2010 at 07:02 PM