At its first business meeting on Nov. 28, the new council in The Blue Mountains made several moves that suggest changes to how the town interacts with the Blue Mountains Attainable Housing Corporation may be afoot.
First, council passed a resolution in a 6-0 vote (Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon was absent) directing CAO Shawn Everitt to reach out to the corporation’s board and ask that it consider making all recordings of the public portions of board meetings available online for viewing by the public. The previous council had made this request in August and in response, the corporation’s board of directors sent council a legal opinion that stated the board could post videos of meetings, but was under no obligation to do so. The full legal opinion can be read here.
Coun. Paula Hope said it is important for the housing corporation to be “fully accountable” to the public. She said the corporation is receiving funding and other support from the town and recordings of its board meetings, which are public, should be available online for viewing by the public - similar to council.
“That’s what happens when you’re publicly accountable,” she said.
Next, council deferred appointing any of its members to the board of directors of the housing corporation and at the same time passed a resolution, in a 6-0 vote, requesting that the corporation’s board consider appointing CAO Everitt as an non-voting observer of its meetings.
Coun. Gail Ardiel said she envisions a board for the housing corporation with no council representatives.
“I’d like Mr. Everitt to sit as an observer and not have council members on there,” she said.
Everitt said a deferral of the council appointments would give him the opportunity to consult with housing corporation executive director Jennifer Bisley about possible options for changes to the makeup of the board and to define how an “observer” position would function.
Director of Legal Services Will Thomson said council’s requests may take time as the housing corporation, which is a separate legal entity from the town with its own governing policies, would have to amend its corporate documents. He said that currently two of the positions on the board are reserved for appointments from council.
“You can’t appoint a staff member to fill one of those seats,” said Thomson, who noted that the business of the housing corporation could continue in the meantime with the council positions being vacant.
