Meetings of some Port Moody committees will return to council chambers in the Inlet Theatre, where they can be live-streamed and video archived for later viewing.
At its meeting Tuesday, Port Moody council decided meetings of the city’s finance committee, community planning advisory committee and committee of the whole will be held in their former venue for the coming year after they had been relocated to the smaller confines of the Brovold Room since the beginning of January.
Meanwhile, city staff will continue to explore options to allow video streaming and archiving from the Brovold Room as well. A staff report tabled at Tuesday’s meeting said a single static camera, along with a omni-directional microphone for audio, could be installed for less than $6,500.
In a report to council, Coun. Diana Dilworth called the decision to hold committee meetings in the circular venue that is not currently equipped for video streaming or recording “an arbitrary one made by the mayor” that drove council backwards in one of its desired goals to build relationships “through transparency and integrity.”
Dilworth pointed out regular council meetings have been live-streamed and archived since September 2012; finance committee meetings were moved to council chambers last year; and the community planning advisory committee (which used to be known as the land use committee) was moved to the Inlet Theatre in 2015 because of an increasing number of residents attending those meetings.
“We’re not being as open and transparent as we have been in the past,” Dilworth told council.
Mayor Rob Vagramov concurred moving the meetings was “a slight step back for transparency” but said he directed the move to “create a space that was a little less intense” to encourage better discussion and debate. He also said the expense of staffing a technician to manage the live-stream and subsequent digital archive, which he estimated to be $800 per meeting, isn’t justified by the few people who access them, adding the live coverage draws an average of 30 viewers.
Statistics compiled by city staff and included in Dilworth’s report show meetings of the finance committee in 2018 were watched live by an average of 34 viewers and by 274 viewers through the archive. Committee of the whole meetings were watched live by an average of 30 viewers and through the video archive by 195 people. And the community planning advisory committee meetings were viewed live by an average of 33 people and through archived video by 43 people.
Coun. Zoe Royer said aside from the technical limitations of the Brovold Room, the venue isn’t large enough to accommodate some of the crowds that can attend committee meetings, especially when contentious issues like the city’s budget or development plans are being discussed.
“The seating arrangement becomes very difficult,” Royer said, adding the handful of folding chairs available around the perimeter of the Brovold Room for spectators can become uncomfortable for long meetings.
She said she has noticed an uptick in the engagement of residents since last November’s civic elections.
“Many of our residents have made an extraordinary commitment to attend.”
Coun. Meghan Lahti said the comfort of residents interested in the city’s governance, whether attending meetings in person or watching them online, should take precedence over the comfort of councillors.
“That’s what transparency is all about,” she said.
Newly-elected councillor Amy Lubik said while she appreciates the informality of the Brovold Room, she values the transparency that comes from having a permanent video record of meetings.
Vagramov said equipping the Brovold Room with video and audio capabilities will achieve the best of both worlds.
“I don’t know what’s more comfortable than lying in bed with a beer and your computer,” he said. “I’m surprised by the amount of resistance we have to a new idea.”
