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An impressive beginning
?It was a suitably sober ceremony Monday night at the inaugural meeting of the newest incarnation of Uxbridge Township Council. But not too sober.
Town crier Bill McKee, who splendidly led an encouragingly large crowd in “Oh Canada” and the “Queen”, exulted in his “cry” that there had been dancing in the streets at Mayor Gerri Lynn O’Connor’s return, but then mused that maybe it was just the Santa Claus Parade. Clerk Debbie Leroux, who admirably presided over the festivities, announced that CAO Ingrid Svelnis would be hanging the noose... or rather the chain of office, around the new/old mayor’s neck. Ms. Leroux, who seldom flashes her dry sense of humour during council meetings, was obviously enjoying herself Monday. And for good reason. She and Ms. Svelnis seem to have a very good crew to work with over the next four years.
Much of the ceremony was taken up with the seven council members taking the oath of office. In case you haven’t seen one of those before, it commits the councillor to:
• “impartially” doing the job to the best of their “knowledge and ability”;
• not taking - past, present or future - any “payment or reward” that would cause them to act in a “biased, corrupt or improper manner”;
• disclosing any pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in any matter before Council;
• being faithful to the Queen.
Several of these clauses are open to interpretation. Determining whether a member of Council has acted in an improper manner may be as difficult to determine as whether they are being impartial or for that matter, being faithful to the Queen. There is a lengthy code of conduct that guides Councillors a little farther down the straight and narrow path. And in one area at least, that of pecuniary interest, there is an item on every single agenda which asks members to reflect on that, and to remove themselves from debate if they have even the slightest inkling of a conflict. Our experience over the last five years is that councillors have been very conscientious about that.
It was very encouraging, of course, that many of the councillors, including the mayor, spoke of the necessity for teamwork in tackling the hard questions that lay ahead. We recall the same being said at the inaugural meeting four years ago, but the concept proved hollow too many times during that council’s term.
In this case, however, Mayor O’Connor quickly demonstrated her commitment to team building by naming as her deputy mayor the most experienced person in the room apart from herself, Ward 1 Councillor Bev Northeast, who was unreasonably denied any leadership position at all during the previous term. This term, Northeast also gets public works, fiscally the biggest and thorniest portfolio on Council.
We don’t immediately agree with the mayor’s other “cabinet” appointments (see our cover story), but time will tell, and she can always do a shuffle a year or two down the road. In the meantime, we look forward to a council invigorated by a rested mayor and three eager rookies (among whom we include Mr. Ballinger, who seems like a puppy on the leash in his impatience to get his teeth into Regional affairs).
So off we go. It’ll be a fascinating four years.
