The mayor of Essex wants to see more information provided when it comes to items being discussed behind closed doors by the town council.
Sherry Bondy will present a notice of motion at Monday's council meeting asking that the council direct administration to revise closed meeting agendas to provide as much information as possible about the general nature of the matters to be considered without compromising the reason for holding a closed meeting.
Bondy says it's something that's been on her radar for a while.
"I've been talking to the clerk for a while, saying, "Is this something we can review in our procedural bylaw?" Everybody knows my style; I want to be open and transparent, sharing as much information with the public as possible while protecting the municipality," she says.
Bondy says they do go into closed session for items like land transactions and legal matters but feels the public has a right to know a little more about what's going on in a closed session.
"Maybe we can do more when we come out of closed and share more with the public. There are things coming up where I'm like, "Pay attention here." I'm trying to give the public information, but at the same time council members are not allowed to give information that's in closed session," she says.
Bondy says municipalities do receive complaints from the Ontario ombudsman about policy and procedures.
"I want to make sure we're addressing any potential complaints that we're getting in the future. Making it so people don't have a reason to complain, that they have the information they want," she says. "This has been an ongoing conversation. If you look at, for example, I peek at the Town of Amherstburg from time to time, there's a whole lot of information there. It's good to see what other towns are doing, and I just want to provide more information to the public."
While Bondy's motion will be presented during Monday's meeting, it will be brought forward for council consideration at the October 6 meeting.
Essex council meets Monday, September 15, at 6 p.m. in the Essex Municipal Building at 33 Talbot Street South.