How does Council Work?
City Council proceedings can be confusing, and sometimes difficult for the public to sift through the maze of information and what means what. I thought it would be good to do a series that breaks down some of the processes.
I’d like to start with the motion to “accept for information” - which most recently got coverage on the Gondola project.
As you can guess, accepting information can mean a whole lot of things. The general idea is that Council, or committee, accepts this information and any actions presented in the report. That means, if the report highlights that no actions will be taken without a motion (as was the case with the Gondola) then ‘accepting for information’ means no further action required at this time. When the report lays out next steps or actions that Administration will take, then accepting the report for information means that Council is in agreement with the outlined actions, as was the case with the Scona Pool closure.
The moral here, the contents of the reports are what are important and why detailed reading of agenda packages is a huge part of the role of Council members.
Look forward to more “How Council works blogs” including:
How the heck do Committees work?
What City Councillors are able to do
Inquiring minds want to know (Council Inquiries)
Governance vs. Operations - what and who can Council direct?
City Council & Edmonton Police Commission: Who does what?
How YOU can be heard on an issue
Let’s do something about this (Motions)
