Lethbridge City Council will not indefinitely postpone its meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Councillor Jeff Carlson’s resolution to suspend the meetings was defeated 7-2 after more than an hour of questions, debate and amendment.
“A blanket statement like this — that we’re going to just cancel indefinitely — is not showing the leadership I expect at this time. We have to do our job… This is our time to be there for our community in the way that we can,” said Councillor Belinda Crowson.
Confusion on the council seemed to stem from Councillor Rob Miyashiro’s amendment, which allowed for members of council, committees and public hearings to vote by telephone, email and video conference.
Mayor Chris Spearman questioned how anyone could vote remotely in the meetings if they were being cancelled.
The council left the chamber and went in-camera for about 10 minutes at the request of Councillor Ryan Parker.
“I think it’s incumbent on us as city leaders to not follow the ‘do as we say, not as we do’ rule, but actually ‘do what we do.’ We want to keep our community safe,” said Carlson.
Carlson said his reasoning for the motion was to free up city staff to deal with issues related to the COVID-19 situation, as well as set an example of social distancing for the community.
Councillor Joe Mauro openly voiced his frustration with the discussion, which he said he believed was unnecessary and unproductive.
“We’ve been here an hour and ten minutes… and here we are as elected officials and we’re trying to tell our community in the city about stuff that is out of our hands. If I’m Joe Citizen out there I’m going to get my information from Alberta Health Services – not from listening to what we’re doing,” said Mauro.
The council did pass a resolution allowing committees to vote remotely, if they choose, during the crisis.
The city declared a state of local emergency and closed City Hall on March 18, although council meetings will continue for now.
Residents are being asked to use the city’s online services and anyone with urgent business can call Lethbridge 311.
There are 8 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Alberta’s south zone, as of March 25.
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