After a busy week at council, and then a week off following the May long weekend, council will get back to work with some fairly unusual circumstances. First, council must fill a whole new slate of committees with a whole new slate of members, and then they will have to look to their own membership because right now council is one person down! On top of that, there may be some additional commentary about this month’s Committee of the Whole agenda!
NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting in-person or via tele-presense but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on Friday May 23. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.
NOTE #2: In addition to meeting in-person, this meeting will also be live-streamed on the City of Guelph’s website here.
CLOSED MEETING:
May 2025 Public Appointments to Advisory Committees of Council – Before the appointments are made, council will considered the slate of candidates in-camera under Section 239(2)(b) of the Municipal Act for matters “regarding personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees.”
May 2025 Public Appointments to Advisory Committees of Council – As you may recall, council approved a new slate of Advisory Committees of Council earlier this year and now they have to staff them. After confirming in closed session, council will fill the new committees with the people who will continue to offer advice to council in the seven select areas of speciality. The committee are:
- Accessibility Advisory Committee
- Heritage Advisory Committee (formally Heritage Guelph)
- Planning, Environment and Water Advisory Committee (combined Planning Advisory Committee, Water Conservation and Efficiency Public Advisory Committee, the Natural Heritage Advisory Committee and Waste Resource Innovation Centre Public Liaison Committee)
- Arts and Culture Advisory Committee (combined Guelph Museums Advisory Committee and Public Art Advisory Committee)
- Transportation Advisory Committee (formally the Transit Advisory Committee with more of a focus on transportation overall)
- Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee (combined Guelph Economic Development Advisory Committee and Tourism Advisory Committee)
- Committee of Adjustment and Property Standards Committee (combined Committee of Adjustment and Property Standards Committee)
City Council Vacancy Declaration: Ward 6 – As you may have heard, Ward 6 Councillor Dominique O’Rourke is now Guelph’s Member of Parliament, and since you can’t be a city councillor and MP at the same time, O’Rourke has resigned from council and they, in turn, have to declare that seat vacant. This much is obvious, but the report does also note that O’Rourke wore a lot of hats at council that now require someone else to wear including Chair of Infrastructure, Development and Environment, and spots on the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee and the Elliott Board of Trustees. Council can take the opportunity to fill some of those positions.
Filing of the Vacant Ward 6 Councillor Seat – As discussed on a recent episode of this podcast, there are three options for filling a council vacancy midterm: by-election, appointment from a list of candidates in the last election, and an open call of nominees. Staff are recommending the third option, which will see council issue an open call for nominations and then consider those nominations at a special meeting of council on July 23 when they will vote on a nominee to fill the Ward 6 until next year’s municipal election.
Consent Agenda items from the Committee of the Whole meetings on May 6. (Items can be pulled by a councillor seeking additional information, otherwise all items will be voted on as a slate without further debate.)
- Addressing Gaps in Daytime Sheltering Options for Persons Experiencing Homelessness
- Committee of the Whole Terms of Reference Update
- 2024 Year-end Operating Budget Monitoring Report and Surplus Allocation and Deficit Funding
- 2024 Year-end Capital Budget Monitoring Report
- 2024 Long-term Financial Statement: Reserves and Debt
- Code of Conduct for Council and Local Boards
- Guelph’s Community Call to Climate Action
Guelph Politico 