After being delayed in his move to establish a City of Elliot Lake committee to come up with new street names in the city, Councillor Ed Pearce withdrew his motion to do that at Monday night's council meeting.
At its previous regular meeting on July 27, fellow Councillor Chris Patrie objected to a Notice of Motion which Pearce attempted to table titled, Honouring our Past through Street, Building and Location Names within Elliot Lake.
Patrie objected, noting the Notice of Motion was accompanied with neither a letter of submission nor a report to council.
In his July 27 submission, the motion read in part:
1. Whereas there are a number of streets within Elliot Lake that have the same name (Eston (sic) Road North and South, Hillside North and South, etc).
2. And whereas there will be new developments requiring named streets
3. And whereas there are streets and locations that have names that are inappropriate (Highway 108) or of no relation to the history of our City (Westview Park)
4. And whereas very few of our Public buildings are named after the civic or community leaders who made them possible
5. And whereas there has been insufficient public recognition of the people who have worked to build and maintain our city.
Pearce suggested a six-member naming committee should be comprised of two citizen members, Mayor Dan Marchisella, another councillor and Elliot Lake CAO Daniel Gagnon and another staff member.
In his written submission for Monday night's council meeting, Pearce included some clarifications regarding the intent of his motion.
He shortened his motion and included the clarifications. They all appeared on the council agenda.
In addition, he made another suggestion. "Many communities also have a name on their city hall. Should we? What about the library? The new theatre? The museum? The art gallery?"
"There would be a great deal of community input and discussion before any decisions were made," Pearce concluded. "No costs will be incurred and the final decision on renaming or not, would rest with council."
But at Monday night's council meeting, Pearce announced he had changed his mind and decided to withdraw his revised motion. He asked for a chance to explain the move by making a statement. After reading through council procedures that applied, Mayor Marchisella ruled there was no need to allow the statement.
Pearce objected, saying he was raising a matter of personal privilege and demanded to be heard.
"Would you explain to me why I can't defend myself, when other members of council can stand up there and do the same thing?" he asked. "Why am I not allowed to do that?"
Addressing his fellow councillors, Pearce stated, "That's a point of personal privilege. That's an attack on a positive statement of fact."
Mayor Marchisella explained council had voted to back the mayor's ruling and disallow the statement. For now, at least, there are no plans to rename any streets, or public buildings and facilities in Elliot Lake.