Greater Sudbury city council appears to be done making any major decisions, with the agenda for their final meeting on Oct. 3 consisting mainly of final approval for existing decisions.
The 3:30 p.m. special city council meeting will follow a planning committee meeting at 1 p.m. and was “scheduled to deal with the ratification of matters from the planning committee, which are time sensitive,” according to a city spokesperson.
They also confirmed the meeting would be the last before the Oct. 24 election, and that the next regular council meeting would be held Nov. 8.
A regular council meeting had been scheduled for Oct. 4, but is no longer on the city’s calendar.
As such, it appears the current city council’s final regular meeting was held on Sept. 13, at which members voted to hammer the final nail in the Kingsway Entertainment District’s coffin and to request the public weigh in on the proposed federal electoral boundary changes.
The Sept. 13 agenda was not completed, however, and a report updating council on the 2023 budget originally slated for that meeting does not appear on the Oct. 3 agenda. As such, the new city council will consider the report in which it’s noted staff will need to shave $17.7 million from the budget in order to hit a tax increase of 3.7 per cent next year.
Although the Oct. 4 regular council meeting is no longer happening, community advocate Chantelle Gorham of Onaping Falls said the “‘Greater’ Sudbury is Failing Us Rally” planned to take place from 4-6 p.m. originally intended to pre-empt the meeting is still taking place.
“It was never really for the council,” she told Sudbury.com. “They’ve done as well as they’re ever going to do these past four years.”
The rally, she said, will consist of “a group of people that need to take a stand … that it’s time for the entire city to be a priority,” alleging certain areas have been ignored.
“It’s a respectful rally,” she said. “We’re not an angry mob, we’re certainly a frustrated and disillusioned mob, but this is for everyone who wants a voice before people head to the polls.”
For more information on the upcoming election, including how to vote, click here. In addition to two days of paper ballot advance voting and paper ballot voting on election day, electronic voting will be made available from 10 a.m. on Oct. 14 to when polls close at 8 p.m. on Oct. 24.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
