Two Athabasca town councillors voted to keep last weekís budget deliberation meeting public.
Councillors Paula Evans and Colleen Powell both voted against the motion to go in-camera.
ìI think we should have talked about this a long time ago,î Evans said of the budget process. ìEdmonton has budget consultations, and Westlock has some open budget talks with their population.î
The Athabasca Ratepayerís Association also commented on the in-camera meeting.
ìI was surprised to see council immediately go in-camera at the beginning of budget deliberations,î member Ernest Aleixandre said. ìI was hoping they would have discussed a portion of it publicly at the beginning and left the issues that needed to be discussed in-camera for the end.î
Aleixandre attended the council meeting and was present when the council immediately proceeded with budget deliberations.
ìWere there no portions of the budget that could be discussed publicly?î Aleixandre asks council. ìI think residents deserve an explanation.î
Powell thought some of it should have been public.
ìI think that meetings should generally be held as open, and if there are specific things that should be held in-camera, they can,î she said.
ìHowever, this is a long-standing thing.î
Powell thinks that being more open with the residents would be better than limiting the available information.
ìI do think that citizens have a right to know what the differences of opinion are,î she said. ìI think we are pretty good at that. You get to know where we stand on various issues.î
Discussing the budget in public would allow the residents to see where councillors stand on issues.
ìWhen the draft budget is there, we put it out, and we can debate it in public,î she said.
