Councillor motions to move council meetings to 4:30

By Medicine Hat News on July 8, 2025.

@MedicineHatNews

A city councillor is suggesting two changes to how council meetings are scheduled and how the agenda is prepared.

Coun. Shila Sharps submitted two notices of motion to Monday’s regular meeting, including a motion that would see council’s open meetings begin at 4 p.m., rather than at 6:30 p.m.

A standard closed session that now is scheduled before open meetings would be moved to the end of the agenda, if needed, should the idea be adopted.

Notices of motion are a mechanism used by individual councillors to place an item on a subsequent agenda.

As such, notices made this week would lead to debate on July 21, if they are seconded by another council member.

Sharps had raised concerns about agenda scheduling in late 2023, stating that closed sessions – held to discuss legal issues or confidential business items – were often short and created an hours-long gap before official business was conducted after dinner.

Last spring, council approved changes that would allow start times to change depending on the expected length of discussions.

At the same time, council approved the potential for an individual councillor to step in on a meeting to approve the following week’s agenda when the mayor, or rotating deputy mayor or acting mayor were not available.

A proposal by Sharps outlined Monday would see those three positions become permanent members of the agenda committee.

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