Marathon meetings

I consider myself pretty lucky to cover City Hall for the Spec. I've been on the beat for about six months now, and I've found it to be some the most interesting and challenging reporting I've ever done. One of the most frequent comments I get from people when I tell them about my job is "Isn't it boring to sit through those meetings?" But the thing is, there's so much going on at City Hall that most days just fly by.

Most days, that is, except every second Tuesday.

That's when I attend the city's Economic Development and Planning committee meetings. They start at 9:30 a.m., and we're often not out of here until 5 or 6 p.m. (To put it in perspective, most other meetings last a few hours tops). The agendas for these meetings are so thick that I have a file cabinet in my desk that's already packed to the brim with pages and pages of Ec Dev and Planning reports. 

Today, for example, there are several huge items coming before committee, including:
-The contentious St. Joseph's Villa condo decision
-A rundown of the Hamilton's urban and rural official plans
-A discussion of the Eramosa Karst
-A vote on a new pilot program to crack down on shabby rental properties
-An in-camera session about land acquisition in Glanbrook

Not only can these marathon meetings be exhausting, but I find their length really affects the decisions made by the committee. The councillors get really punchy after a long day. Decorum starts to crumble, tempers flare, and decisions can be rushed or defferred just to make sure everyone gets out of there before 8 p.m.

There's been some talk about breaking up the two departments and having seperate Planning and Ec Dev committees. I, for one, think that's a great idea.

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions about surviving eight-hour committee meetings?

Comments

[Rene Gauthier]

Perhaps these meetings should be held more frequently if the volume of issues is that huge. Better yet, maybe all the committees should be looked over to determine if these meetings are too short or too long to adjust the schedule appropriately.

Is there such a committee that oversees the other committees to review their scheduling and agendas?

After all, meetings that are too short or too long are equally counter-productive.

[Brian Henley]

I think, Emma, that you should be be given special commendation for having to endure such an assignment.
I would probably be driven to standing up and shouting "Get on with it you clowns! This shouldn't take so long!"
A competent chair should be able move these meetings along much better. An intelligent agenda review before the meetings could go a long way in terms of estimating how long the meeting should last.
If a meeting of a standing committee such as Ec/Dev is going to last more than 5 hours the agenda should be modified - even the best councillor understandably cannot make good decisions after that length of time.
If there is too much on the plate to get done in 5 hours, schedule another meeting at another time. That's not rocket science.

[Tom Robertson]

Here is an interesting report on economic development in the city.

http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/news/
article/205510

Richard Koroscil the Chairperson of the Chamber of Commerce is promoting an “arm’s-length” economic development corporation for the city. I am sure the Chamber would be looking for a large representation on this corporation. The Chamber is also lobbying for the LRT. Since Mr. Koroscil is also on the board of Metrolinx how long are his arms in balancing the 2 positions. For a group to be true "arms-length" in dealing with the City he has to hang up one of the hats he wears.

[Kathy Hagan]

It does seem that these meetings are over long and possibly not well chaired. Possibly too many long winded displays from Councillors. They should be kept on track and topic.
8 hour days are normal for working people and a minimum for those running businesses.
A good look into what is actually accomplished in the time frame of working hours and careful scrutiny of agendas is the answer.