Meandering debate of council priorities held with doors to city hall locked

Londoners are being asked to provide feedback on the latest iteration of city council’s draft 2023-2027 Strategic Plan.

On Monday, council spent more than seven hours developing areas of focus and outcomes for this term — but public engagement stumbled out of the gate when part of the meeting took place with the doors to city hall locked.

The long and arduous meeting began with a review of the previous Strategic Plan’s areas of focus.

“Our strategic plan should be really reflective of our community,” said Coun. Skylar Franke who urged colleagues to keep a pillar to combat gender-based violence separate from other safety goals.

Council eventually drafted eight pillars that would guide municipal actions and budgeting:

• Reconciliation, Equity, and Inclusion
• Housing and Homelessness
• Wellbeing and Safety
• Safe London for Women, Girls, Gender-Diverse and Trans People
• Economic Growth, Culture, and Prosperity
• Mobility
• Climate Action and Sustainable Growth
• Well-Run City

“How do we communicate this?” Coun. Anna Hopkins asked her colleagues and civic administration. “How can we do a better job using plain language so residents can get more involved in local government?”

Hopkins asked those questions as the public gallery in council chambers sat empty.

The meeting began at 4 p.m., however, at 6:25 p.m. CTV News discovered the front door to city hall was locked.

City hall closes to the public at 4:30 p.m. unless there are public meetings taking place in council chambers or the committee rooms.

Upon regaining access to the building, CTV News immediately notified the city clerk who had the door unlocked.

The meeting was being webcast, but a similar occurrence in June 2015 prompted an investigation by the Ontario Ombudsman.

At the time, the Ombudsman determined even unknowingly holding the public session of a meeting with city hall’s door locked violated provincial rules because, “Under the Municipal Act, 2001 all meetings of council, local boards and committees of council must be open to the public, unless they fall within prescribed exceptions.”

Three recommendations were made in 2016 to avoid a repeat occurrence:

1. All members of council for the City of London should be vigilant in adhering to their individual and collective obligation to ensure that the city complies with its responsibilities under the Municipal Act, 2001 and its own procedure by-law.
2. The City of London should ensure that the public has unimpeded access to council chambers in order to observe all open meetings of council and committees.
3. The City of London should ensure that a formal written policy is created and implemented that sets out security protocols during meetings of council or committees.

The public will have the opportunity to provide online feedback about council’s draft strategic plan, or attend a public participation meeting on March 10.