Hamilton city council has 16 political representatives who are all voting members. The Mayor is the head of council and is elected by the residents of the city of Hamilton. Fifteen councillors - one for each ward in the city - are elected by the constituents (or residents) of each ward.
City council is the final approving body for all recommendations submitted by the Standing Committees of Council and other committees of council which are explained below.
The Mayor:
-
acts as the council representative when meeting with representatives of the federal or provincial governments
-
attends ceremonial functions on behalf of the council
-
can vote on all issues
-
chairs the Council meeting and Strategic Planning & Budgets Committee
-
provides leadership to members of council
Councillors:
-
represent their constituents
-
make decisions they feel are the best decisions for their constituents and the whole city
-
develop policies that guide the services being provided by the city (for example, that all buildings constructed by the city will be accessible to persons with disabilities)
-
pass laws, called by-laws, to regulate the actions of people and businesses in the city (for example, that residents have a four-bag garbage limit per week or that plumbers must pass an exam before receiving a licence from the city to work as a plumber in the city)
-
oversee the city administration and ensure that council’s decisions are carried out
-
oversee the financial matters of the city
-
decide what services will be provided by the city, how to pay for them and who will pay for them
How decisions are made
City Council meetings are usually held twice a month in council chambers but will meet more often when necessary. City Council meetings are where final decisions are made on recommendations that have been approved and rejected at Standing Committees.
Councillors are free to make their own decisions on how to vote on each issue. Council makes a decision by passing a motion or a by-law by a majority vote.
Some recommendations by staff require the enactment of by-laws once they are approved by City Council. Except for a relatively few by-laws, they do not need three readings as Bills do at the provincial and federal levels before becoming laws. This is partly because Council can and does discuss their by-laws at the Standing Committee meetings. At these committees preliminary decisions are made and then forwarded to City Council for final acceptance.
Motions are also formal decisions of the council that are confirmed by a by-law at the end of each council meeting. Although they pass laws when they meet as council, not all business is conducted in the council meetings. They also meet in committees to discuss issues.
Committee of the Whole and Standing Committees
In Ontario, there are primarily two structures of committees of council. The first one is called a Standing Committee and the second is called a Committee of the Whole. In Hamilton we have a Standing Committee governance structure.
In our Standing Committee structure, each Councillor sits on a minimum of two Standing Committees which contains only some of the members of council. They become specialists in those areas under the mandate of the Standing Committee, and can help other councillors when the decisions go to council for approval.
In the City of Hamilton, there are five Standing Committees of Council with six to eight Councillors. The Mayor is an ex-officio member of all the Standing Committees and carries a vote while in attendance. Non-committee members can attend and partake in the discussion of the Committee, however they cannot vote on the matter while in Committee. Recommendations from the Standing Committees are forwarded to Council for final approval and all members of Council vote on all these issues, unless prohibited to do so under the Conflict of Interest Act.
Hamilton's five Standing Committees are as follows:
Emergency & Community Services - 7 members of Council with Councillor Sam Merulla as Chair.
Audit & Administration Committee - 7 members of Council with Councillor Chad Collins as Chair.
Economic Development & Planning - 9 members of Council with Councillor Margaret McCarthy as Chair.
Public Works - 8 members of Council with Councillor Chad Collins as Chair.
Board of Health - 16 members, all members of Council with Mayor Fred Eisenberger as Chair.
The City's Procedural By-law calls for the rotation of Chairs every year with no member of Council allowed to Chair the same Committee.
The Committee of the Whole structure, is a committee of council. As the name suggests, it means that all members or the “whole” council sit together to discuss and debate the issues that have been presented to the committee. The purpose is to promote discussion by using less strict rules than those used in a formal council meeting.
Each political representative is a voting member. The issues from all councillors are discussed at this time because they are present at the same meeting. All departments of the city report to this committee.
Before they are considered final, all decisions made in the committee meetings must be presented to council for approval. If one or more of the members requests it, these issues can be discussed again at council, after which another vote is taken. If council agrees with the decision of the committee, then “council has spoken” and the decision is final.
Visit the Hamilton City Council web pages for more information (note: this will take you outside the orientation site).