In addition to City Council, Arlene is on 31 other committees, boards and agencies, representing City Council and the residents of Ward 13. (see the left sidebar).
There are usually 21 regularly scheduled City Council meetings per year (only one in each of July and August). These meetings are held on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 9:30 am. Since COVID closures, in March of 2020, these meetings have been virtual (on-line) and are now hybrid (some Councillors and staff on-line remotely and others in the Council Chambers at Hamilton City Hall).
Council and Standing Committee meetings are not normally scheduled between the last Council meeting in December and the first standing committee meetings in January, except in the event of an urgent matter. These would be Special Council meetings, held only if quorum can be achieved.
In addition, there can be Special Council meetings scheduled immediately following a standing committee or other such meeting, if a matter requires and immediate Council ratification, or, occasionally, as a separate special meeting to deal with an urgent matter. These meetings are not scheduled in advance and Councillor's attendance can be subject to conflicting pre-scheduled events, meetings, other City business or pre-scheduled vacation.
All members of Council are required to sit on Standing Committees and are also assigned to additional Sub-Committees, Agencies, Boards and Tribunals, as well as Advisory Committees as City Council's representatives and liaison and other commitments they may have personally..
Members of Council also rotate monthly in the position of Deputy Mayor. In this capacity, Councillors attend events and meetings as the Mayor's delegate, and Chair the Board of Health and General Issues Committee meetings as well as the Committee of the Whole
section of City Council meetings.
Council and Committee
Meetings are normally only missed due to a conflicting commitment while Councillors are attending to other City business.
