ATHABASCA — Guidelines around cell phone use in council chambers and meeting rooms dominated Athabasca Town councillors’ discussion on the first draft of an updated Code of Conduct bylaw.
Coun. Edie Yuill was the first to offer suggestions to improve the draft during the Feb. 4 council meeting after first reading passed unanimously. She pointed out the new document, complete with more robust definitions of who it applies to and a clause on social media conduct, was missing rules on cell phone use during meetings.
“That hasn’t been abused by this council, but I can say there are some committees that council goes to that it is abused,” said Mayor Rob Balay.
Councillors agreed banning cell phones in chambers and other committee meetings was not the intent of the addition, but rather to limit personal distractions that can take away from the discussion at hand.
“In an emergency, yes, use your cell phone,” said Yuill. “Just don’t sit and scroll through Facebook while you’re in a meeting.”
Coun. Ida Edwards suggested placing the cell use clause under the section dealing with respectful interactions with council members, staff and the public, a sentiment Balay and others agreed with.
“I do believe when you’re doing that you are disrespecting your fellow councillors and members of the public and everybody else,” said Balay.
Though the policy would extend to town councillors while they sit at tables outside of chambers, admin and others like Coun. Sara Graling emphasized it would not apply to representatives of other municipalities.
“But we have to think we’re not always going to be at this table,” said Coun. Jon LeMessurier. “We’re not just thinking for now, in my opinion.”
The current code of conduct was last updated in 2018, and admins’ first draft clarifies the new bylaw will apply to all members of council, as well as appointed members of committees, boards, commissions or other public bodies established by council.
New clauses note media requests and council or committee member concerns over town operations be directed to the CAO, and outline expectations for respectful and professional use of personal social media accounts.
Wording around orientation and emergency services training was altered, making training mandatory if the bylaw passes, and changes to the formal complaint process give council more options for appointing an investigator.
Second reading of the bylaw also passed with the support of all seven councillors, and the bylaw will be back before councillors for third reading and more potential amendments.
Electronics devices policy
Two clauses around the use of municipal provided devices were removed from the code of conduct and housed in a new electronic communication device policy, which council approved unanimously with minor wording amendments.
Much of the policy pertains to proper privacy procedures, but councillors had questions about personal use on their provided devices both inside and outside of council duties.
Councillors agreed limited personal use on town devices was a reasonable guideline, and also noted a similar policy for admin staff would be useful in creating consistency, especially for requiring out of pocket equipment repairs or replacements due to negligence.
