County council approves expanding electronic participation in meetings

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The move to electronic council meetings was originally viewed as a temporary measure to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, but the generally positive experience of the past two years has led Essex County Council to vote to offer it as a permanent option outside of emergency situations.

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“It’s allowed for the functioning and running of the system of meetings,” said Kingsville Mayor Nelson in reflecting the wide support at Wednesday’s council meeting in favor of the bylaw change.

The new system will be available, if needed, when county council meets in-person on May 4 for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. County Warden Gary McNamara confirmed Wednesday he’ll lift the county’s emergency declaration that has been in place for the past two years on Thursday.

Director of Legislative and Community Services/Clerk Mary Birch told council the move to allow for expanded electronic attendance is one the majority of the province’s municipalities are moving towards.

“We have the technology in place,” Birch said. “We’ve made significant investments through the Safe Restart Fund.”

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Birch said electronic attendance would be limited to three times annually from within Canada. It also won’t be offered for the inaugural council meeting each term or during budget sessions.

Council meetings will continue to be live streamed for the public and in the short-term delegations will present via Zoom.

Lakeshore Mayor Tom Bain was the most vocal in expressing his concerns about the changes.

“I’m not crazy about the idea,” Bain said.

“I like to see the person face-to-face and hear what they’re saying and see their reaction to questions,” Bain said. “You get a better understanding of how adamant they are about an issue.

“I think it’s important for both councilors and delegations to be in chambers.”

Bain added he’s found the Zoom council meetings also tend to drag on longer and there are lost networking opportunities for councilors before and after meetings.

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He noted his own Lakeshore council must meet Thursday to finish off a regular council meeting from the previous Tuesday because they only got three quarters of the way through the agenda.

“You eventually get there, but it takes a lot longer and it’s harder,” Bain said.

“I haven’t had nearly as much discussion with fellow councilors with us all on Zoom.”

Bain added he would have preferred county council to consider permanent changes after doing a pilot project.

However, I have conceded with COVID-19 numbers still very high I have understood the value of the electronic option.

“Rather than jump right in back to in-person meetings, these will be like baby steps towards resuming regular meetings,” Bain said.

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