MOOSE JAW — City council approved its 2025 regular and executive committee schedules during its final meeting recently, with city administration acknowledging that it may be possible to change the 4 p.m. start time.
During council’s final meeting of this term, Coun. Kim Robinson asked whether the 4 p.m. start time was “set in stone.” He noted that if he is elected mayor, he wants to see the times pushed back since they currently make it difficult for some councillors and residents to attend.
City clerk Tracey Wittke replied that the procedure bylaw says the start time should be 4 p.m. However, the opportunity exists for council to change that “if they wish to bring it forward.”
The schedule for next year shows that meetings will occur — all on Mondays unless otherwise noted — on Jan. 13 and 27, Feb. 10 and 24, March 10 and 24, April 7 and 28, May 12 and 26, June 9 and 23, July 14 and 28, Aug. 11 and 25, Sept. 8 and 22, Oct. 14 (Tuesday) and 27, Nov. 10 and 24 and Dec. 1 and 15.
April, October and December are the three months where city administration has modified council’s schedule because of conferences or holidays in those months.
In April, the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association’s (SUMA) annual conference is mid-month. This means council’s meetings that month will fall on the first and fourth Mondays instead of the second and fourth.
In October, because Thanksgiving occurs on the second Monday of the month, council’s meeting will be moved to Tuesday, while its second monthly meeting will be on the regular fourth Monday.
The city’s procedure bylaw says that whenever a regular council meeting falls on a holiday that the collective bargaining agreement between the City of Moose Jaw and CUPE Local No. 9 recognizes, that regular meeting will be held at the same hour and location on the next ensuing day that isn’t a holiday, a council report said.
Meanwhile, city council has historically rescheduled its December meetings during the festive season. Next year, the meetings would normally occur on the second and fourth Mondays, but because the latter day happens during Christmas week, the meetings will be on the first and third Mondays.
If an emergent event arises during the Christmas season or at any other time of the year, the mayor — with authority under the procedure bylaw — may call a special council meeting to deal with the matters, the report said.
The 2024 municipal election is Wednesday, Nov. 13. The inaugural meeting of the new city council is Monday, Nov. 18, while the first regular meeting is Monday, Nov. 25.
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