Pitt Meadows council has a new Code of Conduct Policy, and transitioned the existing staff Respectful Workplace Policy to a council policy.
“The adoption of the Code of Conduct Policy is reflective of the level of commitment that this council has for working collaboratively and respectfully with one another,” said Mayor Bill Dingwall. “This is an important initiative for every member of this council.”
The Code of Conduct Policy and the Respectful Workplace Policy endeavours to instill a sense of public confidence and trust. It also serves to articulate key principles for council to live by and establishes guidelines for the path forward should things go wrong.
Council adopted both of these policies with the understanding that changes can be made on an ongoing basis. Both policies will be brought back before Council over the coming months.
“I’m so thankful for this. I think it’s really good to have guidelines in place when things go wrong,” said Coun. Tracy Miyashita. “I think this is a really good group to work with, I don’t anticipate anything going wrong, but that’s when you want to create a policy is when things are good. To me it’s about accountability to myself, to each other at this table and to the citizens, and to have something really clear to follow.”
With the new code of conduct, council can choose to bring the matter to the council table for review and decision by passing a motion of censure. They can also impose sanctions on a member of council if he or she has breached the bylaw.
It outlines that council could rescind a councillors committee appointments, and control their access to city property and employees, including by phone or email.
The policy will deal with their interactions with the public, with staff and with other councillors, and is based on codes of conduct from other municipalities