The city’s incoming municipal council will be sworn in Monday and, prior to that, members will undergo an orientation and training session today in the council chamber at city hall.
It is an opportunity for the newcomers to gain an introduction to the city’s procedural bylaws and code of conduct . . . matters of protocol several out-going members apparently did not familiarize themselves with.
Picking up on our discussion last week with Mayor Heather Jackson, we asked her about the city’s relationship with neighbouring municipalities — not always of a harmonious nature in areas like tourism promotion and marketing.
“We have work with our neighbours and we have to work with the county,” stressed Jackson. “Let’s get a liaison meeting set up early in the new year. I want their new council to get to know our new council . . . so we can continue to build a relationship.
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Monthly Archives: November 2014
Is new-look council an improved model?
Not only will it be a new-look council on Dec. 1, the method in which our municipal representatives conduct city business is about to be overhauled.
We talked with Mayor Heather Jackson on Friday to get a sense of her expectations as head of a council comprised of a sole returnee.
“I see this all as opportunities. I don’t see any challenges. There is a lot of learning that is going to happen in a short period of time.”
To assist with the formidable learning curve, Jackson and CAO Wendell Graves are establishing an online resource centre for the six new aldermen.
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Last stand for the infamous Barwick Five
The clock is ticking down on the term of what many ratepayers have deemed the most ineffectual council in recent memory.
That may be an overly harsh evaluation — one only has to look at the two councils in power during the lengthy and feisty new arena debate a decade ago — however there is little doubt the individuals who became known as the Barwick Five were no crowd favourites, with the exception of Heather Jackson, voted in for a second term as mayor.
She and Ald. Jeff Kohler are all who remain as a new council is installed next month.
While many voters will surely take credit for the house cleaning at city hall, the reality is the makeover was self-inspired.
Aldermen Dave Warden, Lori Baldwin-Sands and Gord Campbell announced their retirement from municipal politics and aldermen Cliff Barwick and Mark Cosens were the two casualties in the mayoral race with Jackson. Continue reading
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My acclamation? Sorry, no comment on that
He’s the hottest and sexiest political commodity in the country right now and surely any number of eager, imaginative up-and-comers would love to be a player on the Justin Trudeau team as it readies for the 2015 federal election.
And yet we are expected to believe not one single motivated individual stepped forward to challenge Lori Baldwin-Sands for the Liberal nomination in Elgin-Middlesex-London?
The former St. Thomas alderman will be acclaimed on Nov. 20 at a nomination meeting to be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
That’s right, it was no contest.
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Voters hung up on robocalls, now it’s time to dial in on issues.
In a municipal election campaign that deeply divided the city, it would be fair to say most residents do agree on one thing — thank goodness the damn thing is over with.
The focus on a new police station and, to a lesser extent, revisiting the two-year-old Ascent remuneration boondoggle that ensnared Ald. Tom Johnston, completely shifted the focus away from more pressing concerns.
Will this new council work as a unified body to address unemployment, poverty and homelessness, a staggering infrastructure deficit, the city’s woeful transit system and the west end of Talbot St., to name but a few items requiring urgent attention?
And, while it would be easy for us all to take credit for electing a new-look council, the realization is fresh faces in the council chamber at city hall was an inevitable reality as three veterans were retiring and another two would be casualties in the mayoral race.
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