Hamilton residents will have an extra week to comment in writing on committee decisions before city council votes to ratify them, under a new meeting calendar set to begin in January.

City Clerk Matthew Trennum presented the calendar to incoming councillors on Nov. 10, according to reporting by Joey Coleman of TPR Hamilton. The change will lengthen the interval between standing committee meetings and the council meeting that considers their recommendations.

Since amalgamation in 2001, Hamilton has held committee meetings within a single week, with council ratifying decisions the following Wednesday. Under that schedule, a Friday evening agenda release left residents only one-and-a-half business days to submit correspondence before the Tuesday noon deadline.

Council ratification agendas will now be published a week in advance. The submission deadline will remain noon on the business day before the meeting.

“If you didn’t have an opportunity to delegate at a standing committee, you now have more opportunity to convert your public delegation into written correspondence for the public council agenda,” Trennum told TPR Hamilton.

The first cycle of 2027 will put standing committee meetings between Jan. 11 and 15, followed by council ratification on Wednesday, Jan. 27, rather than Jan. 20. No standing committee meetings are planned for Jan. 18 to 22.

The incoming council must still decide how frequently it will hold ratification meetings. After members are sworn in on Nov. 18, they will choose between a monthly cycle with 12 meetings annually and the current three-week cycle with 14.

Mayor-elect Keanin Loomis told TPR Hamilton that the additional time could give residents more opportunity to mobilize and improve the quality of council’s decisions.

The new term will also bring six standing committees instead of five. The Planning Committee will handle only Planning Act matters, while other responsibilities within the Planning and Economic Development Department’s mandate will go to a new Economic Development Real Estate & Tourism Committee.

The Emergency & Community Services Committee will become the Housing & Community Services Committee, and the Audit Finance & Administration Committee will become the Corporate Services Committee. General Issues and Public Works will remain unchanged.

Council’s inaugural meeting is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Hamilton City Hall. Seating in the council chamber is by invitation only.

Sources