Mayor Roger Morrill reminded the new town council at its regular meeting Dec. 3 that he has been lobbying for the Athabasca Regional Multiplex Society to make its meetings open to the general public.
The society oversees all operations of the Athabasca Regional Multiplex and its subsidiary facilities, finances and personnel. Representatives from the Town of Athabasca and Athabasca County are part of the society.
“The previous (Athabasca town) council has always advocated for the opening of the multiplex meetings,” said Morrill.
Morrill said that at the first official society meeting following the municipal elections, held Nov. 18, he made a motion in to open multiplex society meetings to the general public.
Morrill requested a recorded vote; the motion was defeated 4-2 and was the only defeated motion in the entire meeting. Morrill said discussion has continued on the subject.
“I think any time that something’s done without the knowledge of other individuals, the chance of skepticism, uncertainty can enter in,” Morrill later told the Advocate.
“Approximately one-fifth of all (town) budget dollars goes towards recreation in our community here. So that’s a pretty substantial portion of our budget, and I think that’s just another reason why these meetings should be open for the public to attend if they so choose,” said Morrill.
“I’m for the public attending any meeting if they so choose. I mean, the town has always stood for that. I’m not aware of any of our councillors that have opted for closed meetings,” he said.
Athabasca town councillor Joanne Peckham was the only town representative to vote against the mayor’s motion in the Nov. 18 meeting.
“(County councillor)David Yurdiga made a valid point that there are too many Freedom of Information and Privacy issues,” explained Peckham. “Because I’m so new to it, and he’s got the expertise behind him, I’m not going to question his reasoning.”
She said there are too many personnel issues and salary issues in the multiplex meetings that would make the meetings too lengthy if they had to go in and out of camera.
“It’s still transparent and open. Everything pretty well that happens there, you’ll hear about anyways. The only things you’re not going to hear is the personal stuff and the salaries,” said Peckham.
Morrill maintains the multiplex society meetings are very significant meetings that affect many people in the community.
“They have the right to hear what is being discussed, in my opinion,” said Morrill.
According to county councillor Kevin Haines, who on May 6 voted against the society opening its meetings to the general public, the society regularly has personnel, legal and financial discussions, all of which qualify for in-camera discussions.
When a body goes in camera, the public has to exit the meeting room and allow the board or council to have a private discussion.
Haines said the society considered going public a few years ago, but the concern of going in and out of camera too much prevailed.
“They were very long meetings to start with, and we decided, well, it would be hard to get a lot of business done,” said Haines. “They are challenging meetings.”
