3.       STANDING COMMITTEE AUDIO-CASTING AND ACTION MINUTES – COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS

 

DIFFUSION EN FORMAT AUDIO ET DES PROCÈS-VERBAUX DE SUIVI POUR LES COMITÉS PERMANENTS - ANALYSE COÛTS-AVANTAGES

 

 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AS AMENDED

 

That Council approve:

 

That all public meetings of Standing Committees, Sub-Committees and the Debenture Committee be audiocast, and that the audiocasts be archived on ottawa.ca; and

 

That the Minutes of all Standing Committees, Sub-Committees and the Debenture Committee be action-only minutes, in English and French, with the exception of some Planning matters where some additional detail will be provided; and

 

That the one-time start-up costs for implementing audiocasting be provided from the Elected Officials administration account (11130).

 

 

RecommandationS MODIFIÉES du ComitÉ

 

Que le Conseil approuve:

 

Que toutes les réunions publiques des comités permanents, des sous-comités et du Comité sur les débentures soient diffusées en format audio, et que les enregistrements soient archivés sur le site ottawa.ca;

 

Que les procès-verbaux des réunions de tous les comités permanents, les sous‑comités et le Comité sur les débentures ne portent que sur les mesures de suivi et qu’ils soient rédigés en français et en anglais, sauf pour quelques questions relevant de la planification pour lesquelles des renseignements supplémentaires seront fournis; 

 

Que les coûts de démarrage ponctuels pour l’implantation de la diffusion en format audio soient couverts par le compte d’administration des représentants élus (11130).

 

 

DOCUMENTATION

 

1.      Committee Coordinator’s report dated 28 March 2011 (ACS2011-CMR-FED-0003).

 

2.      Extract of Draft Minutes dated 5 April 2011.


Report to/Rapport au :

 

Finance and Economic Development Committee

Comité des finances et du développement économique

 

28 March 2011 / le 28 mars 2011

 

Submitted by/Soumis par: Diane Blais,
Committee Coordinator / coordonnatrice du Comité

 

Contact Person/Personne ressource: As above/tel qu’indiqué

(613) 580-2424 ext/poste 28091 – Diane.Blais@ottawa.ca

 

City Wide/à l'échelle de la Ville

Ref N°: ACS2011-CMR-FED-0003

 

 

SUBJECT:

STANDING COMMITTEE AUDIO-CASTING AND ACTION MINUTES – COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS

 

 

OBJET :

DIFFUSION EN FORMAT AUDIO ET DES PROCÈS-VERBAUX DE SUIVI POUR LES COMITÉS PERMANENTS - ANALYSE COÛTS-AVANTAGES

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

 

That the Finance and Economic Development Committee receive this report for information. 

 

 

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité des finances et du développement économique prenne connaissance de ce rapport.

 

 

BACKGROUND/ DISCUSSION

 

The attached memorandum from the City Clerk and Solicitor was originally listed as Information Previously Distributed (IPD) on the Finance and Economic Development Committee agenda of 1 March 2011.  At the meeting, it was requested that this item be placed on the 5 April 2011 Committee agenda as an item for discussion.

 

The original IPD (ACS2011-CMR-CCB-0009-IPD) is listed as Document 1.

 

CONSULTATION

 

This item will be advertised in the local daily newspapers as part of the Public Meeting Advertisement on the Friday preceding the Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting.

 

 

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

 

As this is an information report, no Legal or Risk Management Implications have been identified.

 

 

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

 

N/A

 

 

COMMENTS FROM THE WARD COUNCILLOR

 

Not applicable, as this is a City-wide issue.

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

Financial implications are as noted in the attached IPD Memo.

 

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

 

Document 1 -  IPD Memo dated 22 February 2011 from the City Clerk and Solicitor (ACS2011-CMR-CCB-0009-IPD)

 

 


DOCUMENT 1

 

 

M E M O   /   N O T E   D E   S E R V I C E

 

 

To / Destinataire

Mayor and Members of the Finance and Economic Development Committee / Présidente et membres du Comité des finances et du développement économique

File / N° de fichier: 

ACS2011-CMR-CCB-0009-IPD

From / Expéditeur

M. Rick O'Connor, CMO

City Clerk and Solicitor / Greffier et Chef du contentieux

Contact / Personne-ressource :

Leslie Donnelly, Deputy City Clerk, Greffière adjointe

580-2424 Ext. 28857

Leslie.Donnelly@ottawa.ca

Subject / Objet

Audiocasting and Action Minutes for Standing Committees – Cost-Benefit Analysis / Diffusion en format audio et des procès-verbaux de suivi pour les comités permanents - analyse coûts-avantages

 

Date:     22 February 2011 /

             le 22 février 2011

 

BACKGROUND

 

At its meeting of 8 December 2010, during consideration of the 2010-2014 Council Governance Review report, City Council approved Motion No. 1/12 directing that the City Clerk and Solicitor report back to the Finance and Economic Development Committee in January 2011 with a cost/benefit analysis of moving from synopsis minutes to action minutes for all Standing Committees and extending audiocasting to all Standing Committees as well as archiving the audiocasts.

 

This memorandum provides a high-level analysis of the costs and benefits of moving from synopsis minutes to action minutes for Standing Committees, and extending live and archived audiocasts for all Standing Committees.

 

The Costs of Expanding the Audiocasting Pilot to All Standing Committees

 

In January 2009, a pilot project was put in place to audiocast all Planning and Environment Committee meetings live on ottawa.ca. In addition, the audiocasts are generally made available following the meeting for a period of two weeks, after which point they are replaced by the subsequent meeting. 

 


Allowing an audiocast of the Planning and Environment Committee (now the Planning Committee) to the general public through the city’s public web site has increased the transparency of the Committee’s work, especially as it relates to the Planning Act.  The ability to monitor the work of the Committee at a location other than the committee room is a significant service improvement to the accountability of the Committee.

 

The response from public, staff and elected officials has generally been positive, with any complaints focused on incidents when there have technical difficulties getting the audiocast running or archived in a timely manner.

 

Interest has been expressed in expanding audiocasting to all Standing Committees and the Transit Commission and making it a permanent program.  It is anticipated that the additional cost of providing live audiocasting of Committee meetings, above and beyond the existing Planning Committee pilot program, would be minimal (approximately $6000 per year in IT staff time.)

 

However, there would be additional costs to have the audiocasts fully archived online, as is currently done with Council web casts.  Additional costs for archiving would be approximately an additional $19,900 per year in IT staff costs and data storage space.

 

It is estimated that the cost of providing live broadcast and full archiving of Standing Committee and Transit Commission audiocasts would be approximately $25,900 above what is currently being spent on the pilot.

 

In addition to realizing the benefits listed above, providing for fully archived audiocasts of Standing Committees and the Transit Commission has the benefit of allowing members of the public (along with elected officials and staff) to go back and listen to all or part of a past meeting discussion, without waiting for the final minutes to be approved at the next meeting, which can be up to a month following the Committee meeting.

 

Upgrades to Champlain Room Audio Equipment

 

The audio system in the Champlain Room is approaching the end of its lifecycle.  As a result, there have been technical problems that have impacted the quality and reliability of the Planning Committee Audiocasts.  Should Council decide to expand the audiocasting pilot to all Standing Committees, Council may wish to proceed with replacing the audiocasting equipment in the Champlain Room to resolve the current issues with quality and reliability.

 

The estimated cost for replacing the necessary components of the Champlain Room audio system is $65,500.  If Council wished to upgrade the system to have the same name–handling capabilities as the Council Chambers, this would cost an additional $4000, for a total cost of approximately $69,500.


Potential Cost Savings and Other Benefits of Moving Away from Standing Committee Synopsis Minutes to a Combination of Audiocasting and Action Minutes

 

If Council moves to provide fully archived audiocasts for all Standing Committees, Council may wish to consider reducing the amount of detail provided in Standing Committee minutes.

 

Under the current practice, the City Clerk’s Office provides summarized, “synopsis” minutes for all Standing Committee meetings, and “action” minutes for Council meetings.  Synopsis minutes provide a high level of detail regarding the presentations and debate that occur at Committee, over and above the motions and decisions recorded in action minutes.

 

Synopsis minutes have been recognized as a valuable resource to elected officials, staff and the public to help provide context and justification for the recommendations that emanate from Standing Committee. These more detailed minutes do, however, require much more time to prepare and there is no legal requirement to produce such detailed minutes of Standing Committee or Council meetings.

 

While changing the format for Standing Committee minutes has been considered by Council before during previous budget periods, it has never been implemented. However, in the context of achieving savings that would enable the City to provide archived audiocasts without an increased budget pressure, staff has conducted a review of the savings that might be achieved by moving from synopsis to action minutes.

 

Staff Time Savings

 

The length of time it takes to complete Standing Committee minutes can vary considerably from Committee to Committee and depends largely on the importance of the issue, the number of delegations and the length of the debate.  It is projected, however, that a move to action minutes would save a significant amount of staff time.

 

Based on 2010 time reporting by Legislative Services staff, the move to action minutes from synopsis minutes could save over 900 hours of staff time per year, spread over a variety of staff.  Much of this savings would likely be Committee Assistants’ transcription of tape recordings, which is time consuming but frequently necessary due to the level of detail required in the synopsis minutes.  Based on 2010 rates of pay, it is anticipated that this change would represent approximately $41,500 worth of staff time and approximately 2/3 of an FTE.

 

Printing Cost Savings

 

In addition to the savings in staff time, it is anticipated that moving to Action Minutes would also reduce printing costs as a result of a reduction in the size of Council Reports, which include excerpts of the synopsis minutes.

 

Based on 2010 figures, a change to action minutes could realize an approximate print cost savings of $9,700, which represents the cost of the pages of “synopsis” that would not have to be printed.

 

 

A switch from synopsis minutes to action minutes for all Standing Committees would result in an estimated savings of $ 9,700 in printing costs and free up $ 41,500 in staff time.

 

In addition to the potential cost savings, the other benefit from moving to action minutes is timeliness.  As action minutes can be more quickly produced than synopsis minutes, the Committee Coordinator will (in most instances) be able to send the draft minutes out to Members of Council more quickly after the meeting.  This will allow Members to review them well in advance of the Council meeting, and go back and reference the archived audiocasts or other meeting documentation if required. 

 

Planning Matters

 

There has been some concern expressed with providing action-only minutes for Planning Act matters considered by the Planning Committee and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, as the minutes for these items are used as evidence before the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in the event of an appeal.

 

Other Ontario municipalities have taken various approaches to minutes for planning items.  Detail ranges from merely listing all delegations who spoke at the meeting, to a detailed summary of all questions and comments, as Ottawa does currently.

 

If Council wishes to move from synopsis minutes to action minutes, it is recommended that a slightly different approach be taken for Planning Items (Zoning Bylaw Amendments, Official Plan Amendments, Site Plan applications etc.) that could be subject to an OMB appeal.   For those items, delegations making oral submissions at the meeting would be encouraged to submit written copies of their comments, which would form part of the public record and be available as evidence before the OMB.  For those unable to do so, a brief listing of their position and points raised would be listed in the minutes.  There would no longer be detailed synopsis of all Committee questions, answers and debate.

 

The Clerk’s department could also retain a copy of the audio recording pending the resolution of all appeals and would transcribe those matters required by Legal Services for OMB appeals.

 

Accessibility

 

Following the approval of Motion 1/12, one resident has expressed concern regarding the elimination of synopsis minutes.  The resident, who has a hearing impairment, relies upon synopsis minutes to understand the proceedings of Standing Committee meetings. It was noted that the resident’s hearing impairment prevents the resident from accessing audiocast recordings. 

Staff would note that the proposal to move to action minutes would continue to provide residents a written record of all decisions taken by Standing Committees. Further, staff would provide synopsis minutes, upon request, in keeping with the City’s Multiple Formats Policy. 

 

Enhancement to Bilingual Service

 

Currently, Committee meetings are audiocast in the language being used in the meeting room. No simultaneous interpretation is provided. Committee synopsis minutes are not translated, as it was determined to be prohibitively costly, and difficult to translate in a timely manner. The Committee Disposition, which provides a record of all decisions, is already translated.  The Council action minutes are also translated.

 

If Council were to move to action minutes for Standing Committees, there is an opportunity to enhance bilingual services by translating Standing Committee minutes.  These could be translated relatively easily and inexpensively because most of what would be contained in the action minutes is already translated as part of the Disposition. Additional translation costs would vary based on how many motions are considered and lost at the Committee (this is the incremental cost above the service already provided in translating the disposition.).

 

Based on 2010 figures, it is estimated that it will cost between $300 and $800 per year for any additional translation required for Standing Committee action minutes.

 

If Council were to pursue all the options above, implement fully archived audiocasting, move from synopsis minutes to action minutes for all Standing Committees, and translate Standing Committee Action Minutes, there is a potential increase to operating costs of $17,000 per year and an offsetting decrease of $ 41,500 in staff time. 

 

 

 

M. Rick. O’Connor, CMO

City Clerk and Solicitor


            STANDING COMMITTEE AUDIO-CASTING AND ACTION MINUTES – COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS

DIFFUSION EN FORMAT AUDIO ET DES PROCÈS-VERBAUX DE SUIVI POUR LES COMITÉS PERMANENTS - ANALYSE COÛTS-AVANTAGES

ACS2011-CMR-FED-0003                            CITY-WIDE/ À L’ÉCHELLE DE LA VILLE

 

Councillor Hume spoke to this item, suggesting it was an opportunity to drag the City’s administrative process into the 21st century and move away from paper minutes towards a process where the discussion at Committee and Council could be posted on the web and heard by the community at large.  He remarked that currently, Committee synopsis minutes were produced in English only whereas Council minutes were action minutes produced in both official languages.  He proposed moving away from synopsis minutes for Standing Committees and replacing these with an audio feed of the actual discussion that happened around the Committee table so residents would be able to access the website, select the issue of interest to them, click on it and hear the actual debate in full.  Further, he remarked that moving to action minutes for Standing Committee meetings would enable the City to start producing these in both official languages, as was currently done for Council minutes.  He indicated his understanding was that the audiocasts would be in a searchable format by subject.  He advised that, as a pilot program, the City had been audiocasting Planning Committee meetings so people could listen from home.  Unfortunately, the pilot program only allowed the City to keep one set of audio recordings on the website at any one time.  As a result, a lot of people questioned why the City could not take the next step and put all Committees on that archive and make them searchable.  He indicated staff had advised that once Council moved to its paperless format at the end of this year, not only would they be on the web but they would be searchable by subject.  He felt this was a good step forward.  He advised that ordinarily, he would have put this forward as a budget increase.  However, in keep with a recent Council direction to find an off-setting saving when adding something in, he had been working with Clerk’s staff and he believed this was the most efficient way of achieving this service enhancement.  At this juncture, Councillor Hume read the following motion into the record:

 

WHEREAS a pilot project has been in place since January 2009, whereby all Planning and Environment Committee meetings have been audio-casted live on ottawa.ca; and

 

WHEREAS providing an audio-cast of the Planning and Environment Committee meeting to the general public through the City’s public website has increased the transparency of the Committee’s work, especially as it relates to the Planning Act; and

 

WHEREAS the response from the public and staff has been positive and complaints have pertained to instances of technical difficulties with the system; and

 

WHEREAS there is significant interest in extending audio-casting to all Standing Committees and archiving the audio-casts; and

 

WHEREAS there is a cost to extending the audio-casting to all Standing Committees and archiving the audio-casts; and

 

WHEREAS there will be a reduced need for synopsis minutes if audio-casts are available; and

 

WHEREAS a move to action minutes for Standing Committees would yield savings and also allow for the translation of action minutes with limited cost increases;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that all public meetings of Standing Committees, Sub-Committees and the Debenture Committee be audiocast, and that the audiocasts be archived on ottawa.ca; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Minutes of all Standing Committees, Sub-Committees and the Debenture Committee be action-only minutes, in English and French, with the exception of some Planning matters were some additional detail will be provided; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the one-time start-up costs for implementing audiocasting be provided from the Elected Officials administration account (11130).

 

Responding to a question from Vice-Chair Clark with respect to start-up costs, Ms. Leslie Donnelly, Deputy City Clerk, advised that the start-up costs would be approximately $26,000, almost exactly the amount of savings from the cutbacks to Members’ travel.

 

Councillor Egli referenced page 28 of the agenda package, which talked about the result being an estimated savings of $9,700 in printing costs and free up $41,500 in staff time.  He requested clarification on the term “free up staff time”.  Ms. Donnelly indicated if the the proposed change was implemented, Clerk’s would have less need for Committee Assistants.  That being said, she referenced some of the proposed changes in governance insofar as a lobbyist registry, a gift registry and support to an integrity commission, and she advised that she did not yet know what the staffing impacts would be.  However, she submitted that, depending what other changes were implemented through the governance renewal framework, the resulting impact would either be that staff time would be freed-up to take on other responsibilities or there could be a saving of one full FTE. 

 

Councillor Egli wondered what the City would do for those who did not have access to a computer or to the internet.  Ms. Donnelly acknowledged that there were trade-offs in both choices.  However, she noted that there were free access terminals at libraries as well as many other locations across the City.  Further, she maintained that there would continue to be action minutes, which was reflective of the standard across Ontario.  She indicated most municipalities produced action minutes.  She added that if Council moved to action minutes for Standing Committee meetings, these would be translated whereas currently, the synopsis minutes were not translated because of the time and expense this would entail.  She submitted that Committee and Council may be balancing the issue of the digital divide versus the francophone community.

 

Councillor Egli questioned the number of requests the City received for minutes in French, wondering whether this was an actual need or a perceived need.  Ms. Donnelly indicated staff did not track every inquiry, whether for audiocasts or for translations. That being said, she explained that meeting dispositions were currently translated, though they only contained recommendations and motions approved by Committee.  They did not contain motions defeated by Committee.  She re-iterated that it was a question of balance, that there were trade-offs, and that it would be up to Committee and Council to decide as to where the best balance was in terms of service to members of the community insofar as minutes and the availability of audiocasts. 

 

In reply to a question from Councillor Hubley with respect to the costs of upgrading audio equipment in the Champlain Room, Ms. Donnelly suggested that was a life-cycle issue, which would be coming forward in any case.  However, she indicated it was separate from the issue at hand.  She explained that the sound equipment in the Champlain Room had been failing for some time and facilities staff would be putting forward a budget pressure where they deemed it most appropriate. 

 

Councillor Wilkinson felt the City should continue to do synopsis-type minutes, noting that most Members of Council had campaigned on platforms of keeping people informed and letting the public know what they were doing.  She expressed concerns about residents having to listen to hours of meeting audio in order to find the item of interest to them.  Further, she felt synopsis minutes were important for archive purposes, arguing that tapes, film and disks did not last or were no longer retrievable once the technology changed.  She argued that paper could last for hundreds of years.  She felt this proposal would take away from a record of Committees’ activities and she believed it was important to preserve such information, adding that minutes were what people really used.  She referenced the e-mails received by Committee on this subject, noting that these had come from people involved in the community who used Committee minutes to find out information.  In closing, she asked that the motion be divided for voting purposes.

 

Responding to a series of questions from Councillor Taylor, Ms. Donnelly confirmed that the audiocasts were not actual physical media but actually electronic files that would provide flexibility as technology changed.  In terms of searchability, she explained that each report listed on an agenda would be bookmarked so that a listener could click on a particular item and listen to only that part of the meeting and hearing it directly, as it occurred at the meeting rather than reading a clerk’s interpretation of same in synopsis minutes.

 

The following written submissions were received by Committee and are held on file with teh City Clerk :

·         Christian Pupp, Federation of Citizen Associations of Ottawa Carleton, e-mail dated 4 April 2011

·         Liz Bernstein, Vice President, Lowertown Community Association, e-mail dated 4 April 2011

·         Caroline Vanneste, President, Glebe Community Association, e-mail dated 4 April 2011

·         Amy Kempster, Chair, Friends of the Greenspace Alliance, e-mail dated 4 April 2011

·         Brian Dickson, President, Rockcliffe Park Residents Association, e-mail dated 4 April 2011

·         Marilyn R. Jenkins, President, Stittsville Village Association, e-mail dated 4 April 2011

·         Eric Darwin, President, Dalhousie Community Association, e-mail dated 4 April 2011

·         Kris Nanda, Chair, Riverview Park Community Association Planning and Development Committee, e-mail dated 5 April 2011

·         Heather Pearlman, Co-Chair, Champlain Park Community Association, e-mail dated 5 April 2011

 

Pursuant to Councillor Wilkinson’s request to divide the motion, Committee proceeded to vote on each “therefore be it resolved” section therein. 

 

Moved by Councillor P. Hume

 

WHEREAS a pilot project has been in place since January 2009, whereby all Planning and Environment Committee meetings have been audio-casted live on ottawa.ca; and

 

WHEREAS providing an audio-cast of the Planning and Environment Committee meeting to the general public through the City’s public website has increased the transparency of the Committee’s work, especially as it relates to the Planning Act; and

WHEREAS the response from the public and staff has been positive and complaints have pertained to instances of technical difficulties with the system; and

 

WHEREAS there is significant interest in extending audio-casting to all Standing Committees and archiving the audio-casts; and

 

WHEREAS there is a cost to extending the audio-casting to all Standing Committees and archiving the audio-casts; and

 

WHEREAS there will be a reduced need for synopsis minutes if audio-casts are available; and

 

WHEREAS a move to action minutes for Standing Committees would yield savings and also allow for the translation of action minutes with limited cost increases;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that all public meetings of Standing Committees, Sub-Committees and the Debenture Committee be audiocast, and that the audiocasts be archived on ottawa.ca; and

 

                                                                                                CARRIED

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Minutes of all Standing Committees, Sub-Committees and the Debenture Committee be action-only minutes, in English and French, with the exception of some Planning matters were some additional detail will be provided; and

 

                                                                                                CARRIED

 

YEAS (5):       R. Chiarelli, A. Hubley, P. Hume, M. Taylor, D. Thompson

NAYS (4):      P. Clark, D. Deans, K. Egli, M. Wilkinson

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the one-time start-up costs for implementing audiocasting be provided from the Elected Officials administration account (11130).

 

                                                                                                            CARRIED