'Side gig' politicians face another push for daytime council meetings at city hall

London, Ont. -

Another political push is underway to hold city council meetings during city hall’s normal business hours.

Council meetings currently start at 4 p.m., but the Governance Committee voted unanimously to recommend shifting to a 1 p.m. start time.

“We don’t need to be keeping staff here until 8 p.m., 8:30 p.m., or 9 p.m. at night,” explains Governance Committee member Councillor Shawn Lewis. “That’s time we have to give them off on another day of the week. If we can accommodate meetings during their regular work week, I think that’s a much more respectful way to treat our senior administration.”

Councillor Lewis says it would also improve work-life balance for councillors.

“We’re human beings with lives too. Switching to this daytime schedule has a lot of quality-of-life benefits,” he explains.

The proposed change would only impact council meetings— standing committee meeting times would remain unchanged.

A survey of current city council members found no consensus on daytime council meetings.

Past councils have wrestled with the decision to start meetings earlier because some members hold full time jobs.

Councillor Lewis has little appetite for those concerns.

“The idea that council can be a side gig, is absolutely wrong. If you want to sit on council you find a way to make this your primary focus.”

Delegations are not permitted at council meetings, so an earlier start time would not impact the public’s ability to actively participate.

Changing the start time would require city council’s approval, but wouldn’t take effect until the next term of council at the end of 2022.