For more than a decade, cameras and other recording devices have been banned from Loyalist Township city council meetings, causing a lack of information for many residents.
This ban is on top of all three mayoral candidates’ minds as the fall election approaches. Candidate Joy Silver has lived in Bath, Ont., for nearly 55 years, and she says she has attended all of the city council meetings for over a decade because reporters stopped attending. She became a self-trained reporter to spread council news to the residents of Loyalist Township.
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A plaque was drilled into the door of where the city council meetings occur that says all video and audio recording devices are prohibited, which mayoral candidate Lorna Willis does not agree with.
“I support making council more accessible for residents that could include streaming and/or recording meetings,” said Willis.
The Deputy Mayor of Loyalist Township, Ric Bresee, is running for the mayor’s seat and says he understands why the bylaw was initiated — cameras can make the room crowded and the message could be manipulated to cause misinformation.
Bresee added that if he is elected, he would encourage council to direct staff to begin live-broadcasting the proceedings of council and maintain an online archive of all such recordings for review.
The current mayor of Loyalist Township, Bill Lowry, will not be running for re-election in the fall.