Now is the time for mayor to roll up his sleeves
Posted By TIM MCNABB
Posted 3 months ago
I've been on council for 15 years and served under four different mayors. I've served on good and bad councils, but that tends to be in the eye of the beholder.
I was excited when l looked at the people elected to this term. They looked to bring a lot of good experience to the table.
Unfortunately, there was a lot of political baggage carried from the previous council that certain members couldn't or wouldn't let go.
Early in this term I had a meeting with our new mayor, Chris Carrier, and I told him his success or failure as a mayor will be judged by his ability to effectively lead council. He needed to stop the petty bickering and work on building consensus.
He made an effort, unfortunately he hasn't been able to rise above the petty arguments and this has become the norm for all of council.
Now don't get me wrong--this council is far from the worst I have served on, and has made a lot of good decisions in spite of the negative distractions at the table.
Unfortunately, too much time is spent bickering and not enough on long term planning or visioning for the community.
The frustration comes when you can't have proper discussions on issues without someone turning it into the next petty argument. While not all the blame can be placed at the feet of the mayor, it takes nine to make a council and at least five to pass a motion--so as head of council he gets the lion's share.
There is also the question of who is giving direction from Council to staff. Is it council through motions from the table on Mondays, or the mayor (the CEO) from his office the rest of the week? During this term a number of issues brought up at the table seemed to get lost in the bureaucratic nether regions of town hall.
We've now got a new CAO and I'm hopeful things will improve on the bureaucratic side. While we are fast approaching the silly season leading up to the next election, there's still time to set things right.
Collingwood's Values, on Page 3 of Collingwood's Strategic Plan, "represent the principles and standards that are to be embraced by Council and employees". Integrity, Excellence, Respect, Results and Teamwork; I believe it provides a good template of the way things should be conducted around the council table.
It was endorsed by Council but never really embraced.
Chris truly wants to be a great mayor and has been working at it since he was elected. His personal schedule is full of meetings on behalf of the Town and I respect and give him full credit for his effort.
However, being elected to lead and being a good leader are two very different things, and his success as Mayor ultimately depends on how council functions--not how many meetings he attends.
It's time for our mayor to roll up his sleeves and embrace Collingwood's values. I for one would be happy to follow.
Tim McNabb is a municipal councillor for the Town of Collingwood. The Enterprise- Bulletin has invited Collingwood council members to provide a once-a-month column on municipal issues.
