Butler’s mayor is again asking the city’s authorities to move their meeting times to the evening.

City council passed a resolution at its meeting Thursday night to send each authority a letter requesting meeting times be changed to after 5 p.m. to allow for the working public to attend.

Mayor Tom Donaldson has been advocating the change since he took office in January.

“I won’t go away,” he said.

Donaldson said the authorities he is most concerned with are the Butler Area Sewer Authority, the city’s Parks, Recreation Grounds and Facilities Authority and the city redevelopment authority.

BASA’s board of directors holds its monthly meetings at 9 a.m. the first Tuesday of each month. The redevelopment authority has meetings at 2 p.m. the second Thursday of the month, while the facilities authority holds 1 p.m. meetings the second Friday of each month.

Both the redevelopment authority and the facilities authority have had one special evening meeting this year to try to better accommodate the mayor’s request.

“It’s about being open to the public,” Donaldson said.

Councilman Richard Schontz Jr. said the idea makes sense because much of the population works to about 5 p.m.

“We’d like them to have it in the evening so people who work have the opportunity to be involved,” Schontz said.

The city parking authority changed its former afternoon meetings to 5:30 p.m. this year due to the suggestion of the mayor.

Donaldson said he has personally approached each authority and requested the change. He said sending the letter out now is timely as most boards will soon begin preparing for next year.

Donaldson said some of the members of the authorities disapproved of the idea due to conflicts with their own schedules.

“They need to ask themselves what is more important — you serving on a board or the public being involved in government,” Donaldson said.

The city does not have the ability to force any of the boards to alter their schedules as the authorities are separate entities.

But the board members are appointed by mayor and council. It’s a leverage Donaldson said the city can use.

“It’s certainly something that can be taken into consideration during future appointments,” he said. “We’re public servants. We need to listen to people.”