Poorly attended public hearings have Stonewall's Council looking at their options. Seven hearings were held at Wednesday's Council meeting, to address fines for those who had not paid to license their dogs or cats, but none of those facing the fines had attended the meeting. Mayor Lockie McLean says they've been holding about ten of these hearings each year, but adds it's unusual for more than one or two people to attend. McLean says scheduling these hearings leads to wasted time and effort, so they're looking at eliminating the requirement. 

Mayor Lockie McLean

"To have that on the docket of Council when there are many more important things to deal with...We talked about it at this week's meeting, and we said in the future we'd look in the by-law and see if we could change it. Really, that should be handled strictly by the administration. Just like if you're late on your hydro or water bill, it shouldn't come up as a hearing on council."

While these public hearings have been commonplace in Stonewall Council chambers, McLean says this was the first time they've questioned their necessity. He feels unpaid pet licenses aren't a political or policy issue, noting it makes much more sense to have these issues dealt with by staff.

"As mayor as I'm looking at the agenda and preparing for a hearing, it finally dawned on my 'Why are we doing this?'. Everyone looked and it became pretty apparent that we should take a look at this and see if we can change it. It doesn't really fit in terms of what we do in dealing with policy and the issues we deal with at a Council meeting."

McLean says when the hearings are attended, it usually sees those in attendance providing reasons for the late payments, or Council address those who continue to violate the animal control by-law. McLean says they're still early in the discussion, so isn't yet sure how these cases would be dealt with in the future.