City to continue town hall meetings ... with burgers

City council will hold one more town hall in 2013 and might even offer up a hamburger or two in the process.

Councillors reviewed the city's public engagement policy on Monday, supporting recommendations by staff that two more town hall meetings be held before June 30, 2013 and that it discontinue the column that deputy mayors have been writing for local newspapers.

Next fall's municipal election was cited as the reason to reduce the number of town halls and stop writing the column.

“With it being an election year it might be inappropriate to continue with (the column),” said Coun. Malcolm Parker. “Also we did it in 2012 as a bit of a trial and I'm not sure if we got some good feedback. I didn't see anything to suggest the public really liked it.”

Council approved only one tentative date for the town halls – Feb. 23, both Saturdays. Of the three town halls held in 2012, the first, which took place on a Saturday morning, was the most well-attended.

Approximately 40 people in total attended the three town halls held this year. Roughly half of those who attended the first meeting attended either the second or, in some cases, all three meetings.

“It's always been a struggle to get people to come out,” Parker said. “Most are receptive of the fact they've had the opportunity to come to those meetings.”

As a part of the review, councillors were asked for suggestions on how to improve attendance and the overall format. Suggestions that were incorporated into the new terms of reference included co-hosting the town halls with community groups, as the city did during its budget town halls the first week of November, offering door prizes and holding a barbecue in conjunction with the town hall.

The budget town halls, which also featured a speed-dating format with councillors, saw almost double the attendance.

“I wouldn't mind cooking a few burgers myself,” Coun. Wes Broadhead mused.

“Sometimes you need a carrot to get people out and sometimes that can be a free burger,” Parker said.

Council passed terms of reference that include door prizes at town hall meetings. It rejected a proposal to advertise the dates on city utility bills.

“I don't want to see them used as a method of communication,” Heron said.