City Hall becomes less transparent - delaying release of Council agendas

Remember after @Ont_Ombudsman slapped #HamOnt Council on the wrist for closed meetings, they promised transparency… that was funny

— Joey Coleman (@JoeyColeman) April 20, 2012

Citizens wishing to know what their city government is doing will have less time to do so. The release of City Council agendas will now be delayed until the Monday prior to a meeting. Until the the last meeting, agendas were released the Friday prior to a meeting.

For the last meeting, City Hall withheld the agenda until less than 36 hours prior to the meeting citing the Easter holiday as an excuse for less transparency.

I emailed my Ward councillor, Brian McHattie, and he very quickly sent an email to staff asking about the change. He was not aware of it.

Only weeks ago, in light of criticism by the provincial ombudsman about improper closed meetings, council promised to do better. A new era of transparency was upon us. Council had seen the light and were going to amend their ways.

Let’s hope the light is shone into the recesses of City Hall shortly.