SHOULD I TAKE A RUN FOR COUNCIL IN TWO YEARS? MAYOR CURRIE, AND FREE BEER FOR EVERYONE
GADS, A CURRIE AT TOWN HALL? COULD THERE BE ANYTHING WORSE?
I WAS ASKED RECENTLY ABOUT RUNNING FOR POLITICAL OFFICE, WHEN THE NEXT MUNICIPAL ELECTION ROLLS AROUND TWO YEARS FROM NOW. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO ANSWER AND SUZANNE THOUGHT THE PERSON SUGGESTING THIS WAS BEING SARCASTIC, POSSIBLY IN REFERENCE TO SOMETHING I'D WRITTEN ABOUT TOWN COUNCIL AND ITS PRESENT CONUNDRUM KEEPING UPPER MANAGEMENT EMPLOYED HERE. I'M NAIVE THIS WAY, AND I ASKED SUZANNE TO EXPLAIN WHY SHE THOUGHT THIS. SO I RUMINATED ABOUT WHAT HAD BEEN SAID, AND GUESSED THAT IT DID SEEM A TAD SARCASTIC, AND ALMOST A DARE TO "PUT UP OR SHUT UP." RUN FOR COUNCIL, IF YOU THINK YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
WELL, HERE'S WHAT WOULD BE DIFFERENT. AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL I WOULD BE QUOTED BY THE PRESS CONSTANTLY, AND STAFF WOULD HAVE TO HIT ME OVER THE HEAD WITH DOCUMENTATION REGARDING CODE OF CONDUCT. IF I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY, BY JESUS GET OUT OF MY WAY. I DON'T HIDE BEHIND THIS BLOG, AND I WOULDN'T LET COUNCIL MUZZLING….IF THIS IS TRUE, KEEP ME FROM REPRESENTING MY CONSTITUENTS, WHO WOULD HAVE FIRST, GIVEN ME THE UNCONDITIONAL MANDATE TO REPRESENT THEM IN A DEMOCRATIC FORUM. THERE ISN'T A PERSON ALIVE OR DEAD WHO KNEW OR KNOWS ME TODAY, WHO WOULD CALL ME A WALL-FLOWER. I MAY BE A TAD SHY WHEN WE FIRST MEET, BUT BY GOLLY, THAT'S THE LAST TIME YOU'LL THINK THAT IF WE MEET AGAIN. I THINK THAT COUNCIL TODAY IS FAR TOO POLITE, AND WORRIED ABOUT PROTOCOL, TO FREE-WHEEL THE WAY WE WOULD LIKE OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO ACT ON OUR BEHALF. AS MAYOR I'D BE IN THE DOG-HOUSE CONSTANTLY, AND ALTHOUGH IT WOULDN'T BE LIKE THE TORONTO DEBACLE, THE FOLKS IN THIS TOWN WOULD KNOW THERE WAS A SHIT-KICKER ON COUNCIL. WHY THE HELL ELSE WOULD I BOTHER, RUNNING FOR ELECTION, IF EVERYTHING I HATE ABOUT STATUS QUO REMAINED UNTOUCHED? THAT WOULDN'T BE ANY FUN AT ALL. ONE THING ABOUT IT, I'D HAVE A PROVINCIAL REPUTATION IN THE FIRST YEAR, AND THAT WOULD ENTITLE ME TO FREQUENT EXPOSURE IN THE CITY MEDIA UNDER HEADLINES LIKE….."MAYOR GOES ROGUE…..RUNS NUDE THROUGH COUNCIL CHAMBERS IN PROTEST OF IMPOSED MUZZLING."
AS A COUNCILLOR, THE HEADLINES WOULD BE SLIGHTLY MORE APPROVING: "COUNCILLOR DEFIES MUZZLE ORDER BY TALKING LOUDLY TO EVERYONE ABOUT HIS SUMMER HOLIDAYS." OR, GET THIS ONE: "CRAZED COUNCILLOR EXPLAINS ABSENCE FROM MEETING, DUE TO ALIEN ABDUCTION."
ABSURD AS THESE NOTATIONS ARE, I STICK BY THE RULE THAT HAS SERVED ME WELL OVER A LIFETIME. "I WON'T BELONG TO ANY GROUP OR ORGANIZATION THAT WOULD HAVE AN A-HOLE LIKE ME FOR A MEMBER."
THEN I REALIZED IT MUST BE A SUGGESTION IN GOOD HUMOR
I told the individual, who had made this suggestion, that I most certainly wish I had the constitution, to sit around a table listening to routine municipal business, for hours and hours, but that I would most likely gnaw my arm off out of boredom. Or someone else's. I guess the point is, then, that how can you walk a mile in a council member's shoes, to feel what it's like to be getting hit with print shrapnel like the editorialists and bloggers are firing regularly. It's funny, you know, I never even thought about that when I first began as a cub reporter, covering councils in Muskoka Lakes and Georgian Bay. I knew my job was to act on behalf of the free press, and report what was going on. I didn't have a problem knowing what councillors felt about the progress of their council term, because I used to get a chance regularly to ask them for comments. It always surprised me just how much I would get, way beyond what questions I had asked, and that, dear friends, is what allowed me, and us as a reporting body, to understand the issues behind the council motions and debate. We could stay on or off the record, and have politicians trust our discretion with the information. I can't tell you how many times, we avoided goofing up on a story, because we had background information that showed us clearly where the shallow water got very shallow. It saved their asses and ours, by the fact we knew what the story was behind the main council issues. Today? Forget it? If I was an elected official, I would act the very same as those councillors I knew and respected…..because they wanted the story I was writing to be accurate. Infilling was protocol, and we were glad of it!
Deep throat. Hey, I had deep throats (not the movie) all over the place, but it wasn't espionage. It was common sense. I got tipped off about big stories by councillors and even some of the mayors, who again, felt it was better for the reporters in attendance, to write responsibly, and avoid major "lawsuit" errors. Even after council meetings, I had the opportunity to sit down with almost any official I needed, and there were only a few in administration, that would try to thwart my access. One in particular had a whole bunch of tricks to throw us of course, and we just found a way around him. We had no choice. Our publishers wanted above the fold, front pagers, and we delivered. Sometimes it wasn't too flattering for councillors, but they still stood their ground, and their opinions, and would often phone to initiate a discussion with us. As I've said before, my era with The Herald-Gazette, waging war on our competitor, the Bracebridge Examiner, forced us to be on-guard constantly, and ever-digging for stories long after council meetings had concluded. The pressure on councillors was immense, and it does not compare today because there isn't the same level of competition. I'm sure they won't take my word for it, but the reality is, they have much less intrusive media than those councils of the past. This is changing and I'm glad. There are a lot of stories circulating out there…..which one is right? Well here's an idea. Meet with the press, without a ribbon to cut, and answer some tough questions without hiding behind a code of conduct policy……that does nothing to promote transparency.
So when I ruminated further, scratching my hairless head, about this suggestion I run for council, possibly to get insight about the stress politicians are under to run our municipality, I got a little chuckle thinking how close I was to the inner sanctum of numerous municipal councils, from the late 1970's, to 1990. It was about as intimate as you could get without being married to the council reps. So as far as understanding what it's like to be on the hot seat, especially for Gravenhurst Councillors today, I think I'm as up to speed as I can be, without dragging myself to every council meeting……which, and this is true, I could not endure without requiring jumper cables to re-engage my will to live. Sorry for admitting this. It doesn't mean I don't care for council decisions because I'm particularly watchful in this regard. I just wouldn't want to be at the reporter's table or sitting as a council member, because, as they say, "life's too short."
I will not make any comment about the present swinging door over at town hall. I expect they will fix this up. Fill the positions again and start where the others left off. I told council hopefuls it was going to be a long and painful four year term. I think my prediction has been fairly responsible so far. Where do we go from here? Make the last two years of this council term better than the first two. I hope the media persists with their council scrutiny, and I really hope that some council members step forward and give interviews for the press…….to show that the very idea of a "gag order" is nonsense. I really want to believe this isn't true but I'm concerned. And as I've harped on before, I would really like to see council play the next two years as independent voices, representing constituent concerns, and not playing "as a team." I've heard this a number of times, about teamwork and council as if it is a political party, with very few dissenters. We didn't elected a party. We elected individuals because we liked their personal commitments and character. The "team" concept is great if you're on a ball club. Just not on a municipal council. Council can still work together but not of a like-mind. There are too many contentious issues for that. Bracebridge Council was like-minded a few years back, and they sold off a century old park.
I answered my friend, after some quiet contemplation, that I am an eager supporter of hometown values. I do appreciate the inherently difficult job of being an elected official. I did remind my buddy that the freedom of the press, allows for this kind of thing, where one might prefer only happy stories and lots of grip and grin photographs of our council in action. In short, I do understand the role of councillor in this town, and that I would love to liberate them, so that they would yell out, even at me, 'I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this any more." It would be refreshing to hear an honest appraisal of something. As for the suggestion that I might be best suited in one of those council seats, I answered like I did in a Muskoka Today column way back in the 1990's. "I will never run for political office no matter what the bribe." Did it twice in Bracebridge. Got hammered…..and at the bar afterwards, and flushed the whole notion of elected officialdom from my biography yet to be written. I'm a lover, and antique dealer, a writer, but by golly, a long way from being a politician. At least a good one. Wherever I go, my wife says I cause collateral damage. This is true enough.
So if you think a box of chocolate bars, or tickets to the theatre, might convince me to run, it's just not enough. No, they don't make enough chocolate and I have a dreadful problem staying awake at the theatre. I suppose the comment about me running was one of those tongue and cheek taunts, to see if I'd come out and admit an interest two years in advance. The first thing I'd do, as an elected councillor in Gravenhurst, is eat the new code of conduct policy. Now what kind of fool does something like this. An old fool.
Thanks so much for joining today's blog. Please visit me again…..any time. And as a big footnote, one I'm proud to announce, are you ready? I've been offered a monthly "historical sketches" column in the Gravenhurst Banner starting some time soon. I've just finished my first column which may or may not be called, "Gravenhurst Sketches." You know, my first column in the Bracebridge Examiner was "Antiques and Collectables," in 1978. I've written columns for many publications, including "Cold Coffee," "From the Bleachers," "The Auction Roll," "Coarse Golfing," and "Muskoka Sketches," for Muskoka Publication newspapers, and "Hometown Advantage," for Muskoka Today here in Gravenhurst. My critics thought I was too old to rebound in this new century. Just watch me. I'm a surprisingly youthful 57 when I'm not limping, and hunched over from years of writing abuse. I'll make a stunning corpse though. I can't let Suzanne read that last sentence. She hates me writing things like that, and would argue, she'd insist on a closed coffin. I love that woman.
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