Council has decided to do away with having a councillor as chair advisory committee meetings despite requests to let the position run its course till January.
The decision to remove Coun. Jan Liggett as chair of the community wellbeing advisory committee (CWAC) was made at a recent meeting spurred by a private letter sent to council members and feedback received from committee members and chairs.
"I know we have received a letter from the committee chairs," said Coun. Donna Reid, who moved the motion to the effect, talking about a letter whose exact contents were not shared openly. "Within that letter, there were some problems that people saw in having a councillor as chair of the meeting. I have always felt we shouldn't really put councillors as chairs of advisory committees for very good reason. There's a power imbalance."
Liggett said she was ready to hand over the reins to a non-council committee member but asked for the changeover to be held off until the end of her year as committee chair.
"We need to come together and not be divisive. We need to leave this committee alone until January, because otherwise it sends a bad message," she said.
However, Liggett said, the letter Reid referenced wasn't all true.
"A lot of the information in this letter is not factual," she said, adding much in the letter was 'totally fabricated.'
"If any of your want to have a conversation with me about what's true and what's not true, I'd be quite willing to do so."
Liggett had support from a Cambridge resident, who is also a CWAC member, but said she wasn't speaking on behalf of the committee.
"I would hate to lose traction at this point," said Carol Thorman, in her delegation to council. "If you vote to do that, we will lose our council member as chair and the vice-chair will not be re-voted on. That seems unfair to the committee. If you're going to remove the council member, you should at the very least make it an open election."
A couple other councillors also supported leaving the committee under the current structure till January, while others said they didn't question Liggett's dedication to the cause but that they would support changing the chair in fall.
"I don't believe you guys when you say I've done a good job but then support a change in September," said the Ward 4 councillor. "You're gonna do whatever you're gonna do here tonight. The writing's on the wall. But you can't stop me from saying what you don't want to hear from me. But I'm speaking the truth, you just don't want to hear it."
Mayor Kathyrn McGarry cautioned Liggett about her choice of words when talking about community members' opinions.
"There was some feedback from the CWAC a while ago that they felt the council member appointed as chair does not allow free and open discussion," McGarry said. "That there is a bit of a power imbalance.
"There have been a group of members that have spoken to me only to avoid backlash to let us know they want this to happen sooner than later to ensure the viability of the committee," she added.
This move was in addition to recommendations contained in a staff report that suggested an advisory committee review be undertaken to update matters, such as committee terms of reference, recruitment and membership, and council appointees to committees and voting privileges.
Cambridge resident, Bill Kirby, delegated to council to express his thoughts about the voting rights of council appointees.
"Councillors get to vote at council and although it's important for them to attend advisory committee and provide advice," he said. "If they get to vote, it's like council advising council instead of public advising council."
