City Council Agenda - November 26, 2012 - City of Guelph

In early 2010, a Citizens Committee for Council Remuneration was struck in orderto make recommendations with respect to potential salary adjustments for theMayor and Members of Council to take effect for the 2010-2014 term of office.In response to the most recent Council Governance Survey conducted in thesummer of 2012, Members of Council were asked to agree or disagree with whether“A City of Guelph Councillor should be a full time position”. As a response to thiscomment, 17% of the respondents strongly disagreed, 8% disagreed, 17% wereneutral, 25% agreed and 33% strongly agreed. As part of this survey Members ofCouncil were also asked if “Council has the right number of Councillors”. Inresponse, 41% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed, 16% were neutraland 32% agreed or strongly agreed.REPORTEmployment StatusThe employment status of a member of council is not specifically contemplatedwithin the Municipal Act. The Act does provide that municipalities have the authorityto establish remuneration for councillors, employees and officers, but it does notset out any requirements related thereto. Any reference made to the “composition”of council refers to the number of councillors and to the process with which they areelected rather than their employment status. In order to transition members ofcouncil from part time to full time status, a council would need to direct staff tomake the necessary adjustments. This could be done by way of resolution or bylaw.As noted within the 2008 staff report, there are several considerations to be madewhen contemplating an adjustment to the council’s employment status. Primarily,there would need to be a quantification completed with respect to councillor timecommitments. In order to assist the 2010 Citizens Committee for CouncilRemuneration, a survey of Councillor time commitments (Attachment 2) withrespect to the 2006-2010 term of office was undertaken.There has not been a survey conducted with respect to Councillor timecommitments for the current term of office. The only existing pertinent data relatesto the length of Council and Committee meetings. Based on a preliminary review,Councillors spend approximately 18.25 hours per month attending Council andCommittee meetings. The following is a summary of this time commitment over thepast 4 years for both Council and Committee.Council Meetings 2009 2010 2011 2012 forecastedto Dec. 31/12Number of Public40 27 45 36Council MeetingsAverage Length of2.5 hrs 2.3 hrs 3.3 hrs 2.55 hrsPublic CouncilMeetingAverage Length of 1.25 hrs .5 hrs 1 hr 1.1 hrsClosed CouncilMeetingAverage MonthlyTime Spent AttendingCouncil Meetings12.5 hrs 6.3 hrs 16.1 hrs 11 hrsPage 2 of 5CITY OF GUELPH COMMITTEE REPORT