Awards and delegations

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Water Audit Report":

How about an extra meeting, once every two months, scheduled for 3 hours, with nothing but delegates and awards, and cut them out entirely from proper council meetings?

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Both have a place in the scheme of things. Awards are ceremonial events. They are a celebration of excellence.

Ceremony is a  function of the Mayor's office . The Chain of Office is our only piece of regalia.

In tributes and  awards, neither council nor staff have a role to play. We  sit around like extras in a crowd scene.

It makes no sense to me that ceremony should be combined with town  business.

The Skylight Gallery in the town hall was designed for such events. The Mayor, wearing the Chain of Office is  the dignitary. Council members  must be invited  with  a reception to  follow. It provides an opportunity for meaningful exchange.

A tribute  should be more than a handshake and a photo opportunity.

A day of the week should be dedicated to such events . Not necessarily every week. Only when called for.

How we do it now lends no  dignity to the occasion . People are called forward, photographed with the Mayor , hurried  on their way,  so  the next  person can  receive his/her tribute.

It's tacky.

If we really want to honour individuals, we should do it with style befitting the entire community's  sincere intent.

Delegations have their place but as part of a protocol.  If someone has a problem the  appropriate department should have an opportunity to deal with it before it comes to council and  public attention.

If it isn't dealt with satisfactorily at staff level,  the Mayor's office is the next logical resource . 
If  the Mayor or a Councillor  is unable to  resolve the problem, an appearance at  Council in a public meeting is a last resort. 

Delegation should be directed to council- in- committee.  A staff report in response should accompany the delegate's complaint . There should be no opportunity to come back again and again and again to re-hash the same issue. Sometimes, there is no resolution to  a particular problem.

Councillors have no right to abuse procedures. Neither does  a non-elected resident..

Procedures should be consistently applied.  Five minutes to present is enough. Three people to speak to the issue, to triple the time  is not fair.  It is not equal . It is a stunt to circumvent  the rules.. It should not be permitted let alone  suggested , as it was repeatedly  in the last term.

Decorum should be observed. Proper respect for the representative body should be maintained.  A Council is not subservient, no matter what Councillor Gaertner imagines. .

The electorate chose their representatives. Their choice is paramount.They have delegated their authority to the occupants of  Council chairs.

Disrespect to the elected body is disrespect to the  system whereby we govern ourselves

If a Council does not collectively respect itself , disrespect is the inevitable result..

We do not respect ourselves, if we do not consistently respect the rules we adopted.

We do not respect ourselves,  if  we permit the rules to be inconsistently applied.

We do not respect ourselves,if we adopt rules which are not acceptable to the entire council. .Not just a majority. Acceptable rules require unanimous support.

We have no hope of collegiality without agreement with the rules we chose to govern  meetings. 

We do not respect ourselves if we allow the function  of council to be disrespected and abused.

We owe it to the office we hold, to treat the office with respect.

For meetings to be used for purposes other than proscribed  by the Municipal Act, which is  attending to the town business  in a timely and efficient manner, is disrespect for the function of Council  and the people who made the choice as to its membership.

Making  important decisions at and after  the hour of midnight is total disrespect in every sense of the term.