Windsor City Council meetings could be starting much earlier in 2024, if council approves a recommendation from city administration.
Administration is asking that meetings begin at 1 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. to address added costs and ongoing challenges posed by the current start time.
A report going to the Dec. 11 meeting of council details how meetings continue to take place in a hybrid format, requiring increased staff resources from Council Services, Information Technology and the Facilities Departments, resulting in increased resources both human and financial and budgetary dollars are limited.
The administration report argues that the change in start time provides a safety net in terms of additional resources being readily available during regular office hours to troubleshoot technical issues and allow for the meetings to continue seamlessly.
Any in-camera meetings that would be required would be scheduled prior to the 1 p.m. start time for public meetings.
Ward 1 Councillor Fred Francis is worried the change could limit public engagement and discourage potential candidates from running for council if they know they need to take an entire day off work, 15 to 20 times a year, to meet their council commitments.
Francis says the whole point of council starting at the end of the day is to afford people the opportunity to take part in the democratic process.
"My biggest concern really is if we change time from 4 p.m. to 1 p.m., does that really afford people the opportunity to participate? As a councillor, I need to hear what the people are thinking, I need to hear what their objections are, I need to hear them say, 'you know what, we think you're doing a bad job or we think you're doing a good job,'" he says.
Francis says he doesn't want to put up political roadblocks for potential candidates who might not be able to take time off from their regular job to attend council meetings.
"I don't want to make it harder for them to run for council. I think we need a diverse candidate pool, it's needs to be equitable and fair for everybody. It can't just be for people that don't have to worry about working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. It needs to include the people that are working Monday to Friday, 9 to 5," he says.
A similar proposal to change council meetings start times was debated in November 2021. That debate resulted in council rejecting a proposed 1 p.m. start time but agreeing to move to the existing 4 p.m. start time from 6 p.m.
Francis says at the very least, this deserves a conversation and public consultation.
"The politicians don't own city council, the bureaucrats don't own city council, the people of Windsor do," he says. "There might be an added cost to this, there might be an added cost to keeping the time at 4 p.m. That's a cost, in my opinion, is a good investment if it allows for more public engagement, if it allows for more public consultation and involvement."
City Clerk Steve Vlachodimos tells AM800 News, in terms of dollar figures, it is estimated the overtime in 2023 to be in the thousands of dollars, allowing two representatives from Council Services to attend meetings along with himself.
The city also has at minimum one Information Technology rep on-site as well as an additional Facilities team member. The four administrators are part of collective agreements that provide for overtime. This staffing structure was put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained in place to continue the hybrid experience.
In order to continue using the hybrid model, which allows citizens to either attend in person or virtually, a safety net is needed in terms of resources readily available to triage any technical difficulties that might emerge during a meeting.
Other administrators required to attend on any given Monday for meetings and be available for questions, are required to be paid overtime as per collective agreements. Those dollars have not been accounted in the savings referenced in the report.
Windsor City Council meets Monday, Dec. 11 at 4 p.m. at Windsor City Hall.