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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOR-2022-154 - In-Person and Hybrid Council and Committee Meetings Corporate Services Department www.kitchener.ca REPORT TO: Finance and Corporate Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: April 4, 2022 SUBMITTED BY: Amanda Fusco, Director of Legislated Services/City Clerk, 519-741-2200 ext. 7809 PREPARED BY: Amanda Fusco, Director of Legislated Services/City Clerk, 519-741-2200 ext. 7809 Dianna Saunderson, Manager of Council/Committee Services/Deputy Clerk, 519-741-2200 ext. 7278 WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: March 15, 2022 REPORT NO.: COR-2022-154 SUBJECT: In-Person and Hybrid Council and Committee Meetings RECOMMENDATION: That the Hybrid Meeting Protocols (Attachment A) to report COR-2022-154 be approved for a one-year pilot; That staff be directed to report back to Council in 2023 with a review of the Hybrid Meeting Protocols, as part of the Procedure By-law Review; That beginning with the Council meeting of May 9, 2022, or as determined by the Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer, staff be directed to facilitate meetings in a hybrid manner with in-person and remote Members of Council and the public. REPORT HIGHLIGHTS: The purpose of this report is to outline the development of a draft Hybrid Meeting Protocol for the City of Kitchener, by examining the principles which make the foundation of effective council meetings and the experience of Kitchener Council throughout the pandemic. As the level of government closest to the people, democracy typically occurs in a physical space and many members of Council are interested in returning to in-person meetings. There are benefits of allowing remote participants to join a hybrid meeting, such as improving the accessibility of meetings and increasing attendance, particularly as we transition from strictly electronic meetings to a return to in-person attendance. It is recognized that post-pandemic, electronic meeting participation has benefits for delegates, including consultants retained by the City and can offer flexibility to members of Council, in specific instances, if they are unable to attend meetings physically. In order to support hybrid meetings long-term, additional resources and upgrades to the audio-visual (AV) infrastructure are required. *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. This report supports the delivery of core services. BACKGROUND: Kitchener Council has been meeting remotely through electronic meetings since March 23, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 21, 2020, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery electronically with no requirement for a state of emergency. At its meeting of December 14, 2020, City Council, through report COR-2020-12, approved amendments to Chapter 25 the Procedure By-law, to incorporate permitting electronic participation and meetings outside of a declared emergency. In the report Council approved recommendations that closed session electronic meeting participation be permitted including counting towards quorum and being permitted to vote, however voting (for procedural matters or giving staff direction in caucus) was not captured within the subsequent by-law brought forward. In order to address this, staff will bring forward a by-law amendment to Council to align section 4.18 with the recommendation in the 2020 report. On February 22, 2021, Chapter 25 Procedure By-law 2021-015 was enacted including section 4.18 to permit a member of Council, a Committee of Council, a Quasi-Judicial Committee, or an Advisory Committee to participate electronically in a meeting that is open to the public including voting, to be counted in determining whether a quorum of members is present and participate electronically in a meeting that is closed to the public. During the pandemic, Council meetings have been held in a fully electronic fashion, due to the public health restrictions prohibiting gatherings. While meetings have been held electronically out of necessity, Council is able to continue to conduct its meetings effectively and the advantages of allowing electronic participation during Council meetings became clear. Despite the significant barriers posed by the public health measures, Council meetings continued a regular schedule with high levels of attendance from Councillors and high levels of public participation. REPORT: In the fall of 2021 with an optimistic outlook on possibly returning to in-person meetings, plexi- glass was installed in the Council Chamber and members of Council were surveyed on their interest of returning to meetings in a strictly in-person format, or with the flexibility of a hybrid meetings, recognizing the flexibility and benefits that the conference meeting technologies had provided. Through the survey responses three-quarters (75%) of council members expressed interest in the flexibility to provide for hybrid meetings, with one-quarter (25%) of council members opposed to the idea, remaining to prefer in-person attendance only. Council members were unanimous (100%) in desiring electronic participation continue to be offered to delegates. Given the overwhelming majority of members of Council supported the idea of hybrid meetings (i.e., meetings with both in-person and electronic participants at the same meeting), Legislated Services staff viewed other municipal electronic and hybrid configurations and reviewed other municipalities hybrid meeting procedures. While it isstaff'sopinionthatin-personmeetingsprovidethemostaccessible, transparent, and accountable opportunity for the public to participate in local government, the benefits and flexibility provided by electronic participation cannot be ignored. Staff have reflected a balanced approach to hybrid meetings in the protocols to ensure that democracy and the representation of constituents occurs visibly in a physical space, therefore providing limited exceptions to members of Council being physically present in the Chamber. The timing and protocols reflect the most recent loosening of restrictions. Effective March 1, 2022, the Province took additional steps to ease public health including lifting capacity limits in all remaining indoor public settings and proof of vaccination requirements for all settings. Masking requirements were then lifted on March 21, 2022, for public spaces including in schools, restaurants, gyms, and stores. In alignment with the Provincial direction, the Region of Waterloo at a Special Council meeting on March 16, 2022, repealed the bylaw requiring face coverings in indoor public places. The established criteria to end the state of emergency across the region has been met and the City of Kitchener is expected to terminate its emergency declaration on March 25, 2022. It is expected that the Province will lift the remaining COVID- 19 regulations by the end of April and Kitchener will follow suit by removing remaining workplace protective measures by April 27, 2022. As the City continues to transition out of its COVID-19 pandemic measures, staff recommend the inclusion of electronic participation for meetings going forward, in addition to traditional in- s presented by electronic participation to be added to the in-person meeting format, addresses the desire of Council and welcomes the public back into the Council Chamber. Hybrid Meeting Protocols Council Members As reflected in the protocols (Attachment A), in-person remains the preferred attendance for members of Council. An option to join remotely potentially allows for greater attendance, with limited exceptions restricted to when travelling on official business, illness or infirmity, parental or caregiving requirements, and health and safety. Therefore, members of Council who may not be able to attend meetings for periods of time due to illness, injury, or recovery from surgery, for example, may be able to attend from home and not miss extended periods of meetings. Members of Council that take parental leave or return from parental leave may require flexibility with physical attendance of meetings. Similarly, other caregiving responsibilities may inhibit in-person attendance and flexibility provides options. Members of Council suffering from minor illnesses may attend the meeting if they are feeling well enough but may stay home to avoid spreading an illness to other people. The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the importance of preventing the spread of illness by staying home if not feeling well. Electronic participation also allows for Council Members to join meetings from outside of Kitchener when travelling on official city business. If a member of Council in good faith and complying with the exceptions, requires electronic participation, the protocols require that notice to the Clerk must be given no less than 12 hours prior to the meeting. It is important to note that Legislated Services staff will not ask for, or record the exception related to Council member requests to attend electronically. To reinforce that the best experience for Council, staff and thepublic is in-person attendance, the protocols reflect that the technology equipment in the Council Chamber to request to speak, and record votes shall be used. Therefore, the Chair must be physically present to address speaking queues and resume the management of the timer. In January 2022 upgrades were made to the audio-visual equipment in the Council Chamber to allow the clerks station computer to host and participate in a meeting by importing the council chamber camera (the static camera at the rear of the room) into the electronic meeting. Testing of hybrid meeting abilities and processes occurred in February 2022. Members joining electronically will continue to use the will determine the speaking queue that will, to the best of their ability, reflect the order in which members of Council have requested to speak. As it functioned pre-pandemic, if no recorded vote has been called, the Chair will facilitate the vote by members participating in-person and electronically raising their hands, then indicating if In a hybrid meeting recorded votes will be taken first by those in-person using the voting technology in Chamber. Once the voting has been closed, the Chair will conduct a roll call of the members participating remotely to record their vote. Once the roll call has ended the vote will be displayed and the Chair will state the results of the vote including the roll call and it will be reflected in the minutes. City Staff In order to fully participate in the proceedings related to the presentation and deliberation of staff reports, and respond to questions, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) has stated preference that staff physically attend meetings. Direction remains with the CAO to receive, consider, and approve or deny requests from staff to participate in meetings electronically on an exception basis. If electronic participation is supported, like Council, staff must provide notice to the Clerk no less than 12 hours prior to the meeting. Public Participation Throughout the pandemic, electronic Council meetings have seen continued public participation. Residents, consultants, developers, and applicants were able to provide comments through written correspondence, or by joining the meeting live through the conference or by telephone. Staff provided testing and assistance for residents prior to the meeting to ensure they would be able to join successfully. Due to these options, public participation remained high during the pandemic and electronic participation even allowed for delegations to join from outside the Kitchener area. Hybrid meetings will allow residents to join meetings electronically as delegations, which provides the same accessibility and flexibility discussed for Council members. It also allows for residents to join a meeting without the same time commitment as attending in person. For example, residents who may commute for work outside Kitchener may be able to provide their delegation from their work location, without the need to take time off work and travel back to Kitchener. Providing for electronic participation post-pandemic will accommodate delegations facing barriers, such as childcare or elder care, transportation. This electronic delegation would be in addition to in person attendance, as residents are able to attend Council Chamber to provide their feedback in the traditional way. Council Chamber Technology As noted above, Legislated Services staff have worked with vendors to export the Council Chamber camera (static camera at the rear of the room) and port it to station so the camera can join the electronic meeting and in-person members can be seen in the electronic meeting. This is similar to how the livestream was managed for standing committee pre- pandemic. Staff recognize that electronic meetings have increased the expectation of visibility, as members have been displayed in the gallery view format. Staff have begun the necessary steps to secure a resource to assist with camera manipulation of standing committees to ensure that speakers in-person are visible in greater ability than the static camera abilities. This would ensure consistency in the viewing experiences and align it with Council meetings which are managed and broadcast by Rogers television. However, while the iterative steps mentioned above are in place to address hybrid meetings in the short term, there are concerns regarding supporting hybrid meetings long-term given the serious limitations of the current aging technology. The current technology in the Council Chamber was installed in 2012 and at times poses unforeseen difficulties and interruptions during meetings. The current audio technologies (i.e., microphone) in Chamber are not capable of being integrated with the visual technologies (i.e., (i.e., requesting to speak, voting, and displaying the vote) is seamless regardless of location. Additionally, the camera system in the Chamber is manual and requires intervention to ensure the best possible experience for members attending in person (i.e., panning to the speaker). The encoder required to integrate the cameras to the livestream has been installed however there are currently no resources to support it within Legislated Services. It is important to note that a majority of municipalities in the area have performed technical upgrades to their Chamber technology systems ranging from $15,000 to $500,000. A significant investment is required to upgrade the Council Chamber AV system in the coming years. Staff will undertake further analysis of these technical requirements and report back with recommendations through a future budget process. Staffing Resources The Legislated Services division within the Corporate Services department supported the entirety of the electronic meetings, most often requiring two support staff to execute them. This is an increase in service as in-person pre-pandemic only one staff member typically attended, outside of Council. At times Technology Innovation & Services (TIS) staff have been required to provide technical assistance. In a hybrid meeting format staffing to support meetings may need to be enhanced, depending on the number of electronic participants, as in essence they involve two meeting; advice, assistance and trouble-shooting for both in-person and those participating remotely. Staff continue to review whether the current complement to facilitate meetings needs to be expanded indefinitely. Advisory Committees, Boards and Task Forces At this time the Hybrid Meeting Protocolswill onlyapply to the Standing Committee and Council meeting structure. The advisory committees, boards and task forces will continue to meet electronically. Many of the advisory committees, boards and task forces supported outside of Legislated Services use various meeting rooms in City Hall, not Council Chamber. Unfortunately, due to technology shortages and shipping delays not all of the rooms in City Hall have been converted for hybrid use. Additionally, as volunteers, they are not provided with City issued devices and would therefore be asked to bring personal devices to City Hall for meetings. While a few have expressed interest to return to in-person, there has not been an overwhelming nd measured approach be taken. Staff will continue to monitor abilities for advisory committees, boards and task forces to return to in- person meetings. Review by new term of Council with Procedure By-law Review Staff recommend that the draft Hybrid Meeting Protocols be employed as a pilot, with a scheduled review at the beginning of the term of the 2022-2026 Council. As hybrid meetings potentially change the dynamic of meetings, it is most effective to examine their effect on the Procedure By-law as a whole. The pilot would allow for flexibility to fully test and understand the technology and continue to assess longer-term resource requirements, related to meeting management, AV needs, delegation management and room capacity management. Further, it will allow staff to draw on the best practices developed in waterloo region and other Ontario municipalities following the return to hybrid and in-person meetings. Hybrid Meetings and Return to Council Chambers As noted above, on March 21, 2022, the Province lifted the public health measures regarding mask requirements for indoor settings. It is expected that the Province will lift the remaining COVID-19 regulations by the end of April and Kitchener will follow suit by removing remaining workplace protective measures by April 27, 2022. Any meetings held prior to April 27, 2022 would require the use of plexi-glass between desks and masking requirements in order to address physical distancing within the workplace. While there could be earlier opportunities to test hybrid meetings, in light of the April 27restriction removal date staff have suggested the , May 92022, Council meeting be the first hybrid meeting to be facilitated with in-person participation. STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT: This report supports the delivery of core services. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Capital Budget The recommendation has no impact on the Capital Budget. Operating Budget The recommendation has no impact on the Operating Budget. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: INFORM council / committee meeting. CONSULT The draft hybrid meeting protocols wereprovided to corporate leadership, corporate services management, and committee chairs in advance of the report to provide feedback and comments. Staff canvassed the Chairs of Legislated Services facilitated committees regarding their interest in hybrid meetings. Similarly, the Committee Administrators across the City supporting meetings for advisory committees, boards, and task forces have been canvassed. COLLABORATE Legislated Services staff collaborated with Corporate Communications on key messages arising from the protocols and counterparts in offices across waterloo region, particularly the Region of Waterloo, to ensure equity of experience in consideration of the criteria to be established. PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES: (Mandatory This section should cite any previous reports, meeting dates, or other governing authorities (by-laws, policies) when approvals/authority was given. If you have no information to include in this section, include the default wording below.) By-law 2021-015 Being a by-law with respect to Procedure, known as the "Procedural By-law" COR-2020-12 Proposed Amendments to City of Kitchener Municipal Code Chapter 25 Procedure) COR-20-006 Amendment to Procedural By-law Regarding Electronic Meeting Participation APPROVED BY: Victoria Raab, General Manager, Corporate Services ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A Draft Hybrid Meeting Protocols Attachment A to COR-2022-154 Hybrid Meeting Protocols These protocols apply to all Council and its Standing Committee meetings, both open and closed sessions, where an element of in-person and electronic participation is present which creates a hybrid meeting format. - Procedure (Procedure By-Law), as amended, applies to all meetings, including hybrid meetings, and must be followed. These Protocols are intended to provide a general guide for hybrid meetings and work in conjunction with the Procedure By- Law. Hybrid Meeting Principles Principles have been developed to support effective hybrid meetings and the transition from fully electronic meetings to hybrid meetings with participants who join remotely and in-person. 1. Hybrid meetings will be set up to ensure that participants are treated equitably regardless of which method they use to join. The audiovisual technology will be used to help the in- person and remote options provide as similar an experience as possible for both the participants and members of the public. 2. Members participating virtually will count towards quorum of members, will be able to vote, and will be permitted to participate in any portion of a meeting which is closed to the public including voting. 3. The Clerk, based on available resources and advice of the Director of Technology Innovations & Services (TIS), will determine the Conference System method and technology to be used for a hybrid meeting. 4. As the City transitions through the COVID-19 pandemic period and restrictions lessen, the hybrid meeting approach will remain adaptable to allow for the most flexible response if public health guidelines should become more restrictive again. 5. Hybrid meetings represent a new approach to municipal Council meetings. While they increase the accessibility and flexibility of people participating, they are more complex in terms of technology and ensuring an equitable experience. In addition, as a new approach, there may need to be changes made quickly to address transparency, responsiveness, and emerging technologies. Definitions: Clerk Attachment A to COR-2022-154 meeting participants via electronic means. including presenters and consultants retained by the City. ronic means, including but not limited to audio teleconference, video conference. the meeting, and can share presentation and other materials as needed. -person meeting operation and electronic or virtual attendance. -means the Municipal Code Chapter 25 Procedure. Protocols: 1. Prior to the Meeting: 1.1 Council Members 1.1.1 In-person participation will be the default for Members of Council to allow for physical convening and dialogue. Limited exceptions to in-person participation will be permitted including: travelling for official city business, illness or infirmity, parental and caregiving requirement, health and safety. 1.1.2 Members of Council will act in good faith and compliance with the exceptions provided in 1.1.1, and if requiring electronic participation will notify the Clerk, no less than 12 hours prior to the meeting, to advise they are participating electronically. 1.1.3 Legislated Services staff will not ask for, or record, the exception related to Council member requests to participate electronically. 1.1.4 The Chair of the meeting, unless for emergency or extenuating circumstance, will participate physically from the meeting space, supported by the Clerk. Attachment A to COR-2022-154 1.1.5 Each electronic participant in the hybrid meeting, where possible, will ensure nothing prohibits their participation and will join the meeting 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting to ensure connectivity. 1.1.6 The Clerk, or designate, will forward a conference invitation to Members of Council joining electronically prior to the meeting. 1.2 City Staff 1.2.1 In-person participation will be the default for City Staff to enable staff to address and respond to dialogue of Council. 1.2.2 Requests by staff to participate in a meeting electronically will be addressed to the Chief Administrative Officer for approval. 1.2.3 If approved by the Chief Administrative Officer, staff requests to participate electronically in meetings will be provided to Legislated Services no less than 12 hours prior the meeting in order to facilitate participation. 1.3 Delegations (including Presenters and Consultants retained by the City) 1.3.1 Delegation registration with the Clerk or designate will be facilitated through the online delegation registration form or through delegation@kitchener.ca is required. 1.3.2 Registration deadlines for both in-person and electronic participation will be noted on the agenda. 1.3.3 In person delegations will be permitted to register all the way up until the start of the meeting. 1.3.4 Electronic delegations, to ensure they have all the necessary meeting details for participation, will be requested to register 2 hours prior to the start of the meeting. Electronic delegates will be sent an invitation to join the electronic meeting by clicking the Join Meeting Now link or dialing the telephone number listed in the invitation. 1.4 While registration deadlines have been provided for all participant groups, where possible, staff will continue to facilitate emergency requests for electronic participation. Attachment A to COR-2022-154 1.5 Meeting participation by telephone conferencing is not a preferred method of attendance and should only be relied upon as a last resort after exploring alternatives with staff. 1.6 Legislated Services staff will provide meeting notes to the Chair to help facilitate the meeting, including where possible, staff in attendance, delegations and provide direction related to presentations. 2. Participants during the Meeting 2.1. Council Members participating electronically will be noted in the minutes as . 2.2. All microphones will remain muted for the duration of the meeting except for the individual speaking. 2.3. The Chair will introduce each agenda item and, upon request, allow for Staff, Delegates, or other participants to address Council or Committee where appropriate to do so. 2.4 Presentations will be displayed and controlled by the Host Computer to mitigate risk to the City of a participant inadvertently sharing personal information that constitutes a privacy breach. 2.5 Staff, Delegations, and others participating electronically will keep their cameras / videos off except when acknowledged by the Chair. 2.6 Electronic participants are to be mindful that their video will be visible to the public and should review their background, lighting, camera angles and location with this in mind. 2.7 Where Council Members participating electronically have connection or service interruptions, the Chair may recess the meeting for up to 15 minutes. After 15 minutes of no connection with the member, the meeting will resume. 2.8 Should Delegates participating electronically experience technical disruption, attempts will be made to facilitate an alternative electronic participation method. Where the attempts are unsuccessful, the meeting will continue in absence of the Delegate. Attachment A to COR-2022-154 3. Speaking Rights of Members 3.1 The Chair will determine the speaking queue that will, to the best of their ability, reflect the order in which members of Council have requested to speak. 3.2 Members participating electronically wishing to speak will utilize the speaking request (i.e., Raise Hand) function within the electronic meeting Conference System. Members participating in-person will use the Council Chamber request to speak (RTS) system. 3.3 The clock in the Council Chamber will be the mechanism to assist in timing speaking times and will be logged into the electronic meeting so it is visible to all electronic participants and the livestream. 4. Voting 4.1 If no recorded vote has been called, the Chair will facilitate the vote by members participating in-person and electronically raising their hands, then indicating if the The vote will be indicated as such in the minutes. 4.2 If a recorded vote has been called, votes will be taken first by those in-person using the voting technology in Chamber. Once the voting has been closed, the Chair will conduct a roll call of the members participating remotely to record their vote. Once the roll call has ended the vote will be displayed and the Chair will state the results of the vote including the roll call and it will be reflected in the minutes. 4.3 For Members not participating in-person or video conference, the Chair will establish the means by which members cast their vote. 5. Accessibility 5.1. The electronic agenda will be posted on the website in accordance with the Procedure By-law. 5.2. Livestreaming will continue and archived videos of meetings will continue to be available on the website. Note, livestreaming has a delay of approximately 45 seconds. 5.3. Legislated Services staff will monitor the livestream throughout the meeting to Attachment A to COR-2022-154 ensure that is functioning. 5.4. In the event that there is a service disruption with the livestream the Chair will be notified and the meeting will be paused. 5.5. Legislated Services staff will undertake troubleshooting to ensure the livestreaming can be resumed. 6. Conclusion of the Meeting 6.1. At the conclusion of the meeting, the host computer will end the meeting and all participants will be disconnected automatically.