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Mono council keeps status quo on bylaw case reporting after hearing from resident

September 11, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

And that holds true with how Mono’s bylaw enforcement staff manages reports about complaints by residents.

Mono resident Jake Thomas suggested when council met Sept. 9 that the town implement a number system for bylaw complaints, with names and addresses redacted, so all bylaw complaints and tickets can be viewed on the municipality’s website.

Under that suggested system, the complainant could get a case number so they would be able to check the issue’s status on the town’s website.

Fred Simpson, the town’s clerk, said bylaw complaints are subject to privacy regulations.

“I’m not sure what the service to the public is by publishing each bylaw complaint individually on the website,” Simpson said. “Now, we bring an aggregate report to council periodically that says we had this many noise complaints and this many of each individual complaints.”

Simpson recommended that council continue with the current means of reporting enforcement activities.

“I don’t see how it serves the public to list each one individually,” Simpson said.

Councillor Melinda Davie asked if discussions about the proposed new noise bylaw might have inspired the question of changing how infractions or complaints are tracked.

“So you can see whether there’s been one or two complaints already so I should add mine or no there’s already been 10 complaints so what’s mine going to add?” she said.

“I think by the time they are posted on the website, bylaw enforcement would already be moving on a complaint that needed action,” Simpson said.

The town’s online complaint service system already attributes a number to each complaint. There is confirmation that the complaint has been received, and a service request number is provided.

“I think we need to think more about this,” Coun. Ralph Manktelow said. “I think the suggestion has some merit.”

The public always benefits from the transparency of governing bodies. In terms of disadvantages, frivolous complaints are made public.

Mayor John Creelman said the heart of the question pertains to the level of feedback to residents who make a bylaw complaint.

“It’s one thing to have a pro forma response with a number,” Creelman said. “It’s another thing to have made a complaint and a year or two later wonder how it was disposed of.”

“If a resident who files a complaint doesn’t get a follow-up, which they should and the vast majority of times they do… if that person reaches back out to bylaw enforcement staff, they get that update,” Simpson said.

Sometimes weeks or months may be needed to determine a course of action to resolve a complaint, Simpson said.

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