Sir: What is the role of municipal councillor that more than 50 C-K citizens are competing for in the upcoming election?
One part of the answer to that question is covered in an excellent article by George Cuff in this month’s Municipal World publication. Mr. Cuff is a well-respected Canadian commentator on municipal matters. The article is titled, ”Questions that should not be asked by councillors” and his point is that councillors should stick to their job of governance and not interfere with staff’s job of administration.
His final statement in the article is, “If council members ask such (detailed administrative) questions they … bring the professionalism of their staff into question.” Will our next council stay out of the “weeds,” let professional staff do their jobs, and focus on their governance responsibilities?
What are those governance responsibilities? Some months ago in another article, I defined them as follows:
Visioning – Creating a vision of the future direction of the municipality which can be agreed to by the majority of citizens and council members.
Strategic Direction – Generating agreement on the strategies for achieving the vision.
Policy – Defining the boundaries of the actions permitted to implement these strategies.
Budget – Arranging the funding sources to implement the strategies and policies.
This isn’t something I dreamed up. It is drawn from a set of “best practices” publications listed at the end of this article, most of which are available in the local library. Read the minutes of council meetings in Ontario’s progressive communities and you’ll see that they focus on these key responsibilities and they don’t second-guess their professional staff.
Councils that are willing to learn from the best in the business will adopt their governance approach.
So, candidates, this is the job you are applying for. We need this job done. If you get elected and do a different job you will be cheating us. Voters, pick the people who can and will do this job.
References: Guide to Good Municipal Governance, C. Richard Tindal and Susan Nobes Tindal; Foundations of Governance: Municipal Government in Canada’s provinces, edited by Andrew Sancton and Robert Young; Responding to Policy Change from Above: Municipal Accountability and Transparency Regimes in Ontario, Alcantara, Christopher, Leone, Roberto, Spicer, Zachary; 10 Trends For Smarter Communities, Gord Hume; Strategic Planning For Municipalities: A User’s Guide, Thomas Plant; Open Local Government 2: How Crucial Legislative Changes Impact the Way Municipalities Do Business in Canada, M. Rick O’Connor; Local Government in Canada, C.R. Tindal.
John Sigurjonsson
Chatham
