It has long been a tradition in Lions Bay that residents may take two minutes at the beginning and end of council meetings to speak to council during Public Participation. Ahead of the 2022 election, Berry-Broughton and friends made good use of these opportunities to ask pointed questions and railed against the then-mayor when he avoided answering and moved things along. At the time, councillors often chose to overrule him and repond to residents.
Fast forward to Ken Berry as mayor and chair and we have seen a drastic erosion of this democratic process. Residents are cut short, maligned, and not answered. Councillors are silenced.
Best practice requires that council members come to meetings with an open mind. Votes should reflect outcomes that have been explored at the table by council. However, of late, the CAO (seated at the table) frames and dominates what should be a council conversation. In the absence of discussion, votes appear to be taken in accordance with the CAO’s “advice”.
Concurrently, the mayor speeds things along, shutting down consideration of topics at hand. This has led to some very questionable decisions, including policies that make no sense in Lions Bay or contradict existing bylaws.
For example, a development permit was granted for an over height “garage with office” in direct contravention of the bylaw (vote: 4 – 1). Worse, the severely impacted neighbor who attended the meeting was not given a chance to have a say before the vote took place which is a requirement for this process.
