Physically distanced council (File Photo. Image Credit: City of Kamloops)

By James Peters

Kamloops Council

How have physically distanced Kamloops council meetings been working?

Jun 2, 2020 | 4:08 PM

KAMLOOPS — A Kamloops council discussion on ramping up public engagement for a number of major projects Tuesday (June 2) morphed into a discussion on the effectiveness of hybrid in-person-online council meetings.

To promote physical distancing, council has been meeting regularly with four members at City Hall and the remaining five joining in via electronic means. The public is not allowed to attend.

Today, council was presented with a proposal that it discuss a community climate action plan at a Committee of the Whole meeting in October, when all members could theoretically be in the same room. Committee of the Whole meetings, formerly called workshops, are meant to allow more in-depth explorations of topics without formal votes.

Expressing impatience with how long it has taken to get to the climate plan discussion, Councillor Arjun Singh suggested it take place earlier than October, even if it meant at a hybrid meeting.

“I don’t want to criticize anybody. We’ve done the best we can and I really appreciate the work we’ve done,” said Singh. “I think that, as someone who has been around here for a long time, I know the ability we have to do work and I know the ability we’ve shown to innovate.”

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Singh is one of the four councillors attending in council chambers, meaning three councillors and all staff speaking to the meeting are in the same room as him.

Some of those participating from home did not share Singh’s satisfaction with how the meetings have played out.

Councillor Dale Bass expressed she has a hard time hearing speakers, especially when they are naturally soft-spoken. Councillor Dieter Dudy agreed, and said being unable to fully participate makes him prone to distraction.

“I feel that this has been a good stop-gap measure, but it has fallen short of being effective, in my view,” said Dudy. “Moving forward, I would really rather wait until such time as we can safely put ourselves into an environment — and I don’t know that that’s that far off. We just need a big enough space to be able to do it.”

Councillors proposed larger rooms in which they could temporarily hold meetings, including the Valley First Lounge at Sandman Centre — currently occupied by the City of Kamloops COVID-19 emergency response — TNRD board chambers or space at Thompson Rivers University.

While council voted 7-2 in favour of pushing up the climate discussion to the summer, staff has committed to determining whether there is a way to hold meetings that can more fully incorporate all of council.