HOPE COUNCIL IS PROUD OF THEIR HOMETOWN - WE SURE ARE!

AND WE THINK THIS IS A GOOD COUNCIL FOR A GOOD COMMUNITY

Prior to the municipal election, in November, I had the opportunity to discuss the stresses of the upcoming four year term, with a number of bright-eyed, bushy-tailed council hopefuls. If you could play back what I said to them, it would sound as if I was telling them bluntly, with an unearthly growl, that “if elected, you will go straight to hell-on-earth!” Well, not quite but close. When I suggested to them that being a councillor is one of those 24 hour a day, 7 day a week adventures, that could mire one in town business at the expense of family life, sanity, and anything normal again. That’s if you don’t know how to handle and resolve citizen complaints, negotiate with the incorrigible, organize to a sharp point, and delegate accordingly. I wasn’t trying to be a smart-ass, just a realistic-ass. And I’m sure a few councillors may be nodding their head about the profile I painted, admitting now that the doom and gloom wasn’t just a scare tactic.

I’ve covered many council hours in my years as a reporter, pounding the local beat. Some of those council terms, throughout Muskoka, were particularly tough with quite a few controversies to sort. I had many personal interviews with stalwart, long-term councillors, who knew how to handle daunting municipal business, no matter how contentious, and still enjoy their free time. Many of these same councillors had day-jobs as well, as they do now, and it amazed me how well they handled daily stress. New councillors had to cut their teeth on major issues without much of a warm-up. Reporter-kind, in my day, knew how to get inside council news without haggling for information from the veterans. We always targeted the rookies. They’d say anything to defect blame from themselves, and most of the time they didn’t appreciate the power of the media, until they were splashed across the front page. Did we exploit their innocence to council business? Of course we did. As elected members, it was their responsibility to bone up on all the protocols, not just how to wave at constituents during the Santa Claus Parade.

When I offered some advice to these councillors, it was with best intentions. I’m no longer a serious day to day reporter. As compared to most bloggers out there, I’m pretty gentle.....and maybe even a little helpful. It’s not in my interest now, to find holes or council misadventures, as much as trying to work with governance to help this town.....help itself. It’s likely not seen this way. Instead, they probably look at my comments as scathing and unflattering, when they should put aside their self admiration, for awhile, and discover my motives are straightforward and finely honed. We have many threats to the quality of life in this community that need to be addressed, regardless how rankled councillors may be by peanut gallery advisories. Just for the record, if the local press really wanted to rankle status quo, they’d tempt me out of self-imposed retirement. I’d still be unfalteringly strong-willed, to represent the best interests of this town, but it would require some surgical strikes, to massage a few council secrets out into the open.

As a result of a confluence of numerous financial tides, this will be a four year term to remember. I’m sure councillors, seasoned and green, will likely agree with me on at least one point......cutting the budget for 2011 has been surgery without anesthetic. No question it has been a wickedly blunt start to what some believed would be a good term of office, with hard-working and committed colleagues. The inner sanctum thoughts however, may reflect quite differently. Something like, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this any more.” (Peter Finch, in the movie, “Network”). I wouldn’t begrudge any councillor feeling a tad betrayed by the task so far. It’s going to get worse however, because the tax increase will be a massive, burdensome chain being hauled behind each and every councillor. Dragging that chain into cottage association meetings, this summer, is going to severely test the mettle of mayor and council. Is it fair? Of course it is! It’s the job! And I never misrepresented, to a single council hopeful, that it would be anything less than an endurance test. Some council terms have been easier than others. This one was a tempest brewing, long before the municipal election.

I know that this council has a lot of talent aboard. And I’m pretty sure if there were “do-overs,” for those carry-over councillors, it might seem worthwhile to demand some prudent, frugal changes, to the spending patterns of the last term of office. It does seem a shame that these town reps have to dig themselves out of a quagmire first, before doing much else to represent the interests of the community. I don’t blame them for having to increase taxes because it was clearly the only path (that I could see) even back in November, and I told them so. The only blame I have directed, is toward their general inability or sense of proportion, to place clear responsibility where it rests. By not making it a clear distinction in all our minds, that a previous council overspent to an extreme, which most of us know regardless of confessional, it clearly means council has decided to take one for the team.....and spare feelings of those returning council members, who were part of the past spend-fest!

It seems unsettling, that the new councillors are willing to shoulder the burden and criticism they don’t deserve. They were elected by some of us, as a direct challenge to the fiscal recklessness of that subject council. So imagine our chagrin to find out that, they at best, are towing the line, not standing up and admitting why they can’t follow through on their election promises......like being transparent. That should mean being truthful about all the reasons we are facing a huge debt-load as a municipality, hefty interest charges, and a whopping tax increase potentially over multi-years.

I know town council has a tough job and it does carry-on into home life. Particularly when they have to make tough decisions, and break bad news. I do believe they are proud of their hometown, and I do think, by talent and experience, this can be a productive and innovative council despite the odds against. The financial crisis facing this town is being impacted by many other factors beyond their control. It is an unfortunate reality, that no matter how much optimism we thrust upon the present situation, there should be no illusion out there, that tax issues can’t or won’t sink the perceived “unsinkable.” Being in their shoes, means facing an angry group of taxpayers. Being in my shoes, is far more comfortable. But it’s not about the joy of criticism, because it’s anything but the truth. I am concerned about the welfare of this community, and this great and cumbersome responsibility falls, in part, on a council to reckon with through an obstacle-strewn, four year traverse. It’s imperative that we come out the other side of this tunnel with a full understanding, what it means to live within our means.

Gravenhurst has faced adversity many times in its past, and prevailed with a chipper resolve to build back and restore what has been lost. Some might argue it’s an underdog that has become used to working more effectively with less resources, while still remaining competitive. It has been served many blows, over the past few decades, as government, industry and business opportunity has been substantially diminished, with only a partial recovery at best. It has learned that to be an underdog means that we have to fight like a pit-bull to haul back some of that old-time prosperity. My wish is that councillors appreciate that hard feelings do exist, carried over from previous terms of office......where we did feel a cold and cutting wind between us and town hall. From the early going, there is still a leftover bitter sensation, that this group is not better than the last one, or the one before that! Seeing the double digit tax increase, and the “tough noogies” approach, at least as presented in the press, isn’t doing much to change opinion about elected officials and their trail of broken promises.

I think the mayor and assistant mayor, would be well advised to seek out the local press, and offer themselves for a no-holds-barred question and answer period, about just how tough this year’s budget process has been.......and what ratepayers can expect for hikes in the future. This is a start on the path to transparency. As a past reporter, what a change this would be, to invite full access to what information can be provided. The mayor might even find this a good quarterly approach, to connecting with concerned residents. People may not wish to attend public meetings, for a variety of reasons, but they will read the newspapers in far greater numbers. The only rule, is to dump the fear that bad news is what the press craves. They are trying to look out for the town as well, and it wouldn’t serve them at all well, to ignore any opportunity to enhance freedom of the press and promote, in kind, a willing, sharing partnership.

The councillors I got along with, as a reporter, were those who knew all too well, two tough jobs were made easier, relations more sustainable, with a commitment to full co-operation. I could call on them......they could call on me. And then there were the artful dodgers, wishing to avoid any encounter with the press at all. And that’s just the kind of information that I’d highlight in my front-pager. If you read the news like I do, you know I’m not the only newsy to profile the “I don’t want to talk to you” gang.