Editor:
The Town of Gibsons has passed Bylaw No. 1207-03, 2022 which amends the procedural content and frequency of town meetings.
Regular council is now only scheduled to meet once a month and limit one delegation per meeting. In effect, this decreases the ability of residents to address mayor and council in regular council meetings from a possible 48 delegation per year to a possible 12. Council meetings are open to the public however the agenda now does not automatically include an item where residents may ask questions.
Writing letters to council also gets no response. The tittle of the letter is included as correspondence however the content does not get addressed unless a council member so chooses. The content of your letters is read by staff however not summarized for the meeting and its content is excluded from staff reports.
To delete inquiries and limit delegation to one meeting a month severely restricts public input; combine that with the Black Hole where your letters go and the result is a complete isolation, unless council holds public meetings. These meeting produce minutes, however the minutes report only that a meeting was held and lack any substance.
Only Coun. De Andrade spoke for amendment to the proposal, however, the public interest was not served because no other councillor would second the motion. The bylaw stands, no amendment, no review period, no public input at meetings.
Mark Evans, Gibsons
