THE TEAM APPROACH TO COUNCIL BUSINESS -

GETTING LUMPED IN WITH THE TEAM COULD MEAN A BIG, BIG LOSS

When I joined the protest to save Bracebridge’s Jubilee Park, a number of years ago, there was one aspect of the debacle that struck me.....about as hard as watching a great slice of urban open space sacrificed for development. It was the way council decided to adopt the “one for all, all for one” perspective, as did the next council voted-in prior to the OMB hearing, ruling on the park sacrifice. I couldn’t understand, how such an historically contentious and entirely controversial issue, could be dealt with by a totally “on-board, one-mind” council.....not once, but twice. The issue straddled the end of one council term and the commencement of another.

It was the “Team” approach. The steadfast and stalwart mission, to back this sacrifice of parkland. I have never forgotten the faces on those councillors. Team-players! Solidarity! And yet I’m positive, in the early going, they were not as unanimous or uncaring about opposition as they appeared at public meetings. There was definitely a desire to present a unified, “we want this real bad,” approach to the issue. It was on the minds of many opponents of the project. How is it possible that there isn’t one opposing viewpoint from at least one councillor? The team approach! So much for free speech.

So what’s wrong with the team approach anyway. Well let’s just look at the recent tax debacle in Gravenhurst, where area residents are pissed-off about news of a ten percent or more tax hike. It is largely the result of massive over-spending by a previous council. I do blame them. I feel some sympathy for those newly elected councillors, who must now be wondering what they got themselves in for, running in the fall’s municipal election. I warned them. I warned individual candidates, who I felt would be an asset to council, that the next four year term, because of this overspending, would be one of the most difficult in the town’s history. A few paid attention. Others probably flipped me the bird and dropped reading the blog altogether. Truth is a burden. The real problem today, is that the team approach to adopting the tax gouge, and avoiding placing blame where it belongs, is the very straightforward reality......if the team loses, well, so does its membership. Unless councillors, who were not part of the debacle of the past, step up and speak bluntly about the errors of the past, there is no point whining about the tax revolt headed your way. It’s likely to get more stressful.

There are members of the former council, now on the present council, who will be on the hot-seat for some years to come, and it would be refreshing if they recognized, with an apology, they had been a party to spending beyond their (our) means; and they truly recognize why we’re angry. Most of us know why this isn’t going to happen. Something to do with politics. As for those who might wish to save themselves from the downward spiral of the “team” it may prevail upon them, to drop the “it is what it is” point of view, and recognize the horns of a dilemma, and the damage taxation revolt can do to the Pleasantville, “good times were had by all” municipal overview, they seem to possess. Most of the attention now, is the bickering over what stays in the budget, and what is cut, which is small potatoes, compared to the truthful reckoning that “we were screwed blue by a previous council!” To hear a loud and clear presentation, by just one new councillor, that they appreciate the burden they are placing on the residents and business owners of this town, and how and when it began to collide with sensible, diligent, responsible operation of the municipality. Throwing a previous council under the bus isn’t necessary. We did that. At least in part.

Team-speak guarantees council will carry the burden as a unit. It seems like a noble thing to do. It is not democracy at its finest, however, as free speech and the right to dissent are absorbed in this misguided union of opinion. I’m pretty sure there are some councillors biting their lips hard these days, wishing to voice their concerns about the future for the folks who elected them. The team approach to governance is not in the best interests of democracy. While it is understood speaking out can bring consequences and “shunning,” of which I’m an expert (as one of the most shunned folks in Muskoka), there is such marvellous pleasure in being honest and open about issues, such an amazing rush, a liberation, feeling the life force of a vibrant democracy.....the wind in your sails. If I was a member of council, or an advisor, I would have begged my elected associates, to adopt the kind of transparency that would allow for truthful reaction to the budgetary woes, beyond the obvious admission; “we need to cut back.” The former councillors need to admit that they have played a role in this tax mess, and make a commitment to fix what they, as a team, inspired. As for new councillors, well, it is my advice they consider divorcing themselves from that team strategy, they may have been told is essential to good government, and save themselves. The only teamwork we want to see, is our council members representing the interests and needs of our community......not the solidarity of opinion that there is strength in numbers. It is faulty logic to believe this.

As an historian in this region, I’m telling you this is a particularly critical time in not only our town, but in the wider region......and the failure to understand the economic vulnerabilities in the home district, will perpetuate evermore anger and tax revolt. Council can’t look out at their constituents and ignore, any longer, that the economic burdens of living here, the cost of living in general, is becoming an over-riding concern to a majority of residents. As Gravenhurst has thought it a wonderful idea, to attract the retirement community to our town, you’d think there would be the companion insightfulness, that fixed incomes and tax hikes yearly, aren’t compatible. Do councillors appreciate the damage a 10 percent increase can do to the dynamic of a fixed income? They should. And be very apologetic about it!

I know there are highly responsible, committed and ethical folks on Gravenhurst Council. There have been thousands upon thousands of good and competent elected officials who have lost their election bids because of failings of their party or associate members. It is unfair to blame the present council for this most recent tax invasion. But that’s the way it will carry-on, unless those who are concerned about their futures as elected officials, speak out and make it clear they have little choice but to work with what they were left.....and commit to adopting a new and improved financial administration to avoid tax brutality in the future. There’s no need to go down with the team......unless loyalty prevails above sensibility......which has, afterall, been witnessed so far this spring.

I was critical of last year’s all-candidates’ meeting. For this precise reason. The fundamental muzzling of the audience, only allowing for submitted questions, disallowing citizens from demanding a public response about issues such as over-spending and taxation. Instead of an election debate, we had a manufactured meet and greet. This was a ridiculous event, that served no real purpose........ other than it did almost fill the Opera House. Nice to see.