The purpose of this report is to respond to the following direction from the Finance and Administration Committee meeting of October 8, 2009:

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1 Report To: From: Finance and Administration Committee Item: Date of Report: FA February 25, 2010 Rick Stockman, Commissioner File: Date of Meeting: Corporate Services Department A March 4,2010 Subject: Audio Recording of City Council and Standing Committee Ward(s): All Meetings Public Report 1.0 PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to respond to the following direction from the Finance and Administration Committee meeting of October 8, 2009: "That staff be directed to investigate recording all open and closed of Council and Standing Committees in anticipation of the opening of the new Council Chamber; and, That the matter be referred to the City Clerk for comment, Information Technology for cost considerations and Legal Services to provide a legal opinion and staff be directed to report back to a future Finance and Administration Committee meeting in time not to affect the opening of the new Council Chamber." 2.0 RECOMMENDATION That the Finance and Administration Committee recommend to City Council: 1. That the decision to audio record open City Council and Standing Committee be deferred pending the completion of the investigation into webstreaming as outlined in Report FA-10-26; and 2. That closed City Council and Standing Committee not be audio recorded. 3.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Finance and Administration Committee requested staff to investigate recording all open and closed Council and Standing Committee as there were concerns raised with respect to recalling meeting discussions after the event. In response to previous Council direction, staff are also currently investigating webstreaming Council and Committee which looks very promising.

2 Administration Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: March 4,2010 The practice of recording open, with the exception of cable television broadcasts, is done by only a few municipalities but it is not widespread. None of the municipalities surveyed audio record closed. Due to the promising outlook for webstreaming, it is recommended that the decision to audio record open Council and Standing Committee be deferred until the completion of the webstreaming investigation It is also recommended that closed not be audlo recorded. 4.0 INPUT FROM OTHER SOURCES 4.1 General 9 The City Clerk, City Solicitor, lnformation Technology Director and Facilities Management Services Project Manager have provided input to this report. > lnformation was also provided by the City's audio consultants, Orchestral Arts lnc 9 Various municipalities were contacted to determine their policy with respect to audio recording of. 4.2 Auditor General 9 The Auditor General has no comments. 5.0 ANALYSIS 5.1 Background 9 This report is based on the assumption that once the new Council Chamber is completed, Council will be held in the Council Chamber and Committee will be held in the Committee Meeting Room. 9 The Finance and Administration Committee directed staff to investigate recording all open and closed of Council and Standing Committees in anticipation of the opening of the new Council Chamber. 9 The basis for the direction to audio record was to assist Council members and staff when responding to an enquiry from the Ombudsman's Office. These enquiries typically take place several mpnths after a meeting has occurred and details of discussion which occurred at the meeting are often difficult to remember by those in attendance. 9 In response to previous Council direction, staff are currently investigating webstreaming for open Council and Standing Committee. which looks very promising.

3 Administration Committee (Continued) -3- Meeting Date: March 4, Current Practice 9 All City Council and Standing Committee are minuted by staff from City Clerk Services in accordance with the Municipal Act which states: "A municipality or local board or a committee of either of them shall record without note or comment all resolutions, decisions and other proceedings at a meeting of the body, whether it is closed to the public or not." 9 Once finalized, the minutes for open are circulated through the next Council agenda and placed on the City's website for the public's use. > The minutes for closed are circulated to Council members, the City Manager, Commissioners, the City Solicitor and the City Clerk only. 9 These minutes are permanently retained as the record of the meeting in accordance with the Municipal Act and the City's Records Retention By-law. 9 With the exception of regular open City Council being televised by Rogers Cable TV, special Council and Committee are not audio recorded in any manner. 5.3 Audio Recording - General > Audio recording of without the video portion provides challenges such as: when an individual speaks at a meeting, they would be required to identify themselves each time; it will be difficult to transcribeldiscern minutes when more than one person is speaking at the same time; an audio recording will not ident~fy who is in the room or who enters or leaves at any particular point in time; = the longer the recordings are kept, the more difficult it will be to transcribeldiscern if speaking is not clear andlor preclse or identification of speakers is not utilized; and staff changes in City Clerk Services w~ll impact the ability to transcribe recordings as voices may prove to be unrecognizable to another staff member. 9 Attachment 1 outlines the results of a survey of Ontario municipalities. The practice of recording open, with the exception of cable television broadcasts, is done by only a few municipalities but it is not widespread. None of the municipalities surveyed audio record closed.

4 Administration Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: March 4, Audio Recording - Closed Meetings 9 In addition to the challenges outlined above, the following should also be taken into consideration with respect to audio recording closed : all recordings would be subject to Freedom of Information legislation and would require the transcription of the specific minutes which are the subject of a request; the City Solicitor, and occasionally external counsel, provide legal advice during closed. Only Council and appropriate staff are entitled to the content of this advice; and There is not a legal entitlement for anyone to be provided with a verbatim account of closed, simply the minutes (the Municipal Act states that minutes are not to include note or comment, simply the resolutions and decisions of Council). 9 As shown in the survey of Ontario municipalities (Attachment I), the general practice is not to record closed. 5.5 Technical Considerations 9 The City currently does not have equipment which would audio record Council andlor Standing Committee, however the audio system planned for the new Council Chamber will have recording abilities for use during Council. 9 It should be noted that if the audio system is turned off (during closed sessions) or the system is not working, it would not be possible to record and a parallel stand-alone system would be needed. 9 The new Committee Meeting Room will be equipped to allow for recording equipment to be connected to the audio system. 6.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 9 If it is decided to record closed, a simple voice recorder connected to the AV system would cost approximately $200 and a parallel stand-alone system would cost approximately $1,000. Flash cards, on which to record, would cost approximately $1,200 annually.

5 Administration Committee (Continued) -5- Meeting Date: March 4, RESPONSE TO THE COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN P Ensuring accountability to citizens and effective City management Sndra Kranc City Clerk Corporate Services Department

6 Attachment 1 Municipality Survey of Ontario Municipalities Audio ~ecord Open Meetings -. Ajax Cable TV broadcast for Council No Brock Township No No Durham Region Cable N broadcast for Council No Halton Hills Cable N broadcast for Council No Halton Region Webstream Council and Committee Kingston Cable TV broadcast for Council No Markham Council and Standing Committees No I Milton I Council I No 1 Municipality of Clarington Cable TV broadcast for Council No Newmarket Cable TV broadcast for Council No Oakville Webstream Council and Planning Act Orillia Cable TV broadcast for Council in No Committee of the Whole and Council Peel Region Council and Standing Committee Pickering Cable N broadcast for Council No St. Catharines Council and General Committee No Scugog Township No No Uxbridge No No Whitby Cable N broadcast for Council No I I! Very seldom. Upon request only