RUNNING FOR MAYOR: COLLABORATIVE & TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT

Updated: Oct 7, 2022

This blog post is part of my series, Vote Valiquette.

This blog series includes the following posts:

This post explores how as the mayor of Grey Highlands I intend to make government more collaborative and transparent.

You might recall from the post, Why I Want to be Mayor, the following:

It’s time that Grey Highlands had leadership that is about people, not politics. As you mayor, I am committed to open communication. I believe in working collaboratively, and not seeing the world as either winners or losers because divisive politics are a barrier to real solutions that improve people’s lives. Politician shouldn’t be a dirty word; politicians can do better, so much better, and as your mayor I will strive to make “politician” evoke a positive image: an image of integrity and transparency.

I am running because I am committed to a collaborative government that works transparently with staff and the community.

As the Mayor of Grey Highlands there are several things I will:

Meet with the Deputy Mayor regularly.
Meet with Members at least quarterly.
Encourage strong liaison relationships between Staff and Council.
Encourage Council Members to Chair Committee of the Whole (COW) for which they are the liaison, as per The Procedural By-Law
Encourage committee assignments that are based on talents, skills and preferences, not politics.
Encourage inclusive language. As you mayor, there is no need to call me "your worship". I will encourage Council to call all staff by their titles followed by their last name in formal settings to encourage inclusive language. Language matters.
Efficiently run meetings. If meetings were chaired efficiently there would be more time for constituents to speak at Open Forum. (This would mean a change to the Procedural By Law that would require the majority of Council to approve.)