From the front steps of city hall to a packed public gallery, the first meeting of London council since Mayor Joe Fontana was charged criminally will be memorable, if not historic, on Tuesday.

Protesters outside are expected to chant “Time to go, sloppy Joe,” while free samples of the hamburger dish are distributed to those arriving for the 4 p.m. meeting.

Inside, Occupy London members plan to flash “red cards,” the same thing soccer referees display to indicate serious penalties and player ejections.

On the council floor, two motions relating to Fontana’s situation will be tabled, one asking him to step aside, the other a two-parter from Coun. Sandy White, urging council members to seek legal advice about the fate of council members facing charges and that a system be developed to select acting mayors if they’re unwilling to become full-timers.

Monday, an advisory went out to media warning them to bring credentials to the meeting because council chambers are expected to be so packed overflow rooms are being planned.

On Nov. 21, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced three counts against Fontana, who is midway through his four-year term. He is charged with breach of trust by a public officer, fraud under $5,000 and uttering forged documents.

The charges are connected to federal funds used to pay a deposit on a 2005 wedding reception for his son, Michael, when Fontana was an MP and federal minister of labour and housing.

The charges, laid the day after council’s last meeting, come to court Jan. 8.

Since then, Fontana has insisted he will remain in office and not step aside as other mayors have when they found themselves under a cloud of suspicion.

Fontana said repeatedly Londoners think he is doing a good job and he has no intention of stepping down.

An early bid by some fellow councillors to bring forward a motion requesting he vacate his post didn’t win enough support to be discussed.

More recently, a motion was passed by council’s finance and administration committee where Fontana declared a conflict of interest and did not vote.

The mayor’s voting bloc, known as the Fontana 8, seems to have enough votes to shoot down the latest bid.

Plans have been made to have the separate motions dealing with Fontana considered early in the meeting.

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Occupy London and its Red Card Protest

“This whole thing with the mayor is preventing the city from moving on,” said protest organizer Mike Roy.

“We’re planning on serving sloppy joes on the steps of city hall,” he said. “Free for anybody who wants to come in.”

The sloppy joe theme has been featured in other protests, including outside the Fontana news conference at which he declared he was staying on.

“We are reaching out to the general public,” said Roy, whose event has been promoted on social media and by word of mouth.

He said he isn’t sure who came up with the red cards his members will display from the public gallery.

“Personally, I think it speaks volumes,” he said. “Our presence highlights the reasons we were in (Victoria) park to begin with. We have issues with the mayor.” (A bit more than a year ago, Fontana ordered police to evict the group from the park.)

Motion asking Fontana to step aside

Coun. Joni Baechler’s motion, approved Nov. 26 by the finance and administration committee, reads as follows:

“I move that the mayor take a leave of absence with pay until final disposition of the criminal charges against him.”

Baechler said she hopes to have the motion dealt with at 6 p.m. because of the large number of Londoners who have told her they want to observe proceedings.

“I have consulted my lawyer before I put the motion in,” she said. “There is no legal issue to be concerned with from his perspective.”

Other council members who cite legal concerns for their unwillingness to support her motion are relying on “fear and confusion,” she said.

“If offering up your residents’ opinion at a duly elected meeting of council is somehow illegal, then I have great concerns about democracy in the City of London.”

Pressure on Coun. Denise Brown

Residents of Old South have mobilized to urge Brown to switch from supporting Fontana to asking him to step aside.

“We’ve been talking to a lot of people,” said Old South resident Larry Whitty. “A lot of them seem pretty disturbed about what’s going on.”

He estimates he has contacted at least 50 residents of Brown’s Ward 11 urging them to urge Brown to represent her constituents.

“I haven’t heard a single person stand up and say he (Fontana) should stay on,” Whitty said. “People are concerned because he holds the public trust . . . if there is any suggestion he hasn’t been, then I think he has to clear that up.”

“I think you should represent the feelings of your constituents,” he said, adding he has asked Brown to change her stand a half-dozen times.

Another Old South resident, Eric Shepperd, says Fontana’s failure to step aside is “a political distraction.” He said Brown “doesn’t represent the people of that ward.”

Sheppard said he is “definitely” planning to run in the next council election. “I haven’t quite decided where yet.”

Brown could not be reached for comment Monday. She originally sided with Fontana, then suggested she was having second thoughts, and has since returned to the fold of Fontana supporters.

Coun. Sandy White’s motion

A rather confusing, new two-part motion from the Ward 14 councillor says it is intended to find options for dealing with situations where council members are charged or convicted of a criminal offence:

a) Legal advice be provided . . . for dealing with above-noted situations, with the intent of maintaining public confidence in the work of the municipal council . . .

b) Civic administration be directed to report back with a proposed amendment to the council policy related to the appointment of the acting mayor, which would disallow a council member who wishes to be appointed, or run for office, to fill a vacant mayor’s seat, to fill the seat on an interim or acting basis pending he filling of the vacant seat through an appointment or election.”

White said "I want to have proper legal consultation about this before making any decisions. I am not interested in working against the charter (of rights and freedoms)."

For her part, Baechler said it would appear odd White is concerned about legalities, but would bar some council members from running for the office of mayor.

“What do you have left?,” she asked. “You have people who don’t want it (the job of mayor). How do you draw from a pool of people who don’t want it, to pick an acting mayor? It is total nonsense.”

Special media, public advisories

City hall is expecting a real crowd for Tuesday’s council meeting.

A special advisory was issued late Monday telling media representatives “to bring identification that specifies the media outlet you are working for.”

Such a request is unheard of and is bound to become an issue for the growing number of bloggers and others who write about city issues in new media.

The public and media were also notified that a closed session of council will be held shortly after the meeting starts, in an adjoining committee room.

And the public was alerted overflow rooms will be available from which spectators can monitor proceedings if large numbers show up.