New St. John’s city council upbeat for first meeting
After their swearing in, the newly elected St. John’s city council rolled right into their first public meeting Tuesday, lasting roughly 15 minutes.
While short, it was certainly sweet for the group, with some of the new members casting their first votes as public office holders, under the watch of family and friends filling the public galleries.
Mayor Danny Breen closed out the meeting — his first in the big chair — with remarks on teamwork and public engagement.
“We will make the best decisions by considering all information and everyone’s thoughts and opinions,” he said, committing to an environment where councillors and city residents are heard.
“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to disagree,” the city’s fifteenth mayor told The Telegram afterwards.
“We’re certainly going to have our disagreements. … But I think through thorough and wholesome debate, we can arrive at decisions. Not everybody is going to be agreeable with them, but at least everybody can say that they were fully heard and that the decision was made at the end.”
Breen said improving transparency is something he expects to be tackled early on.
“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to disagree. We’re certainly going to have our disagreements. … But I think through thorough and wholesome debate, we can arrive at decisions. Not everybody is going to be agreeable with them, but at least everybody can say that they were fully heard and that the decision was made at the end.” Mayor Danny Breen
“I think we can be more transparent and more accountable and I think you’re going to see different decisions that are going to be based on making it more transparent and accountable,” he said.
He said he is looking at ways to encourage attendance by the public and members of the media at individual committee meetings, where issues are often first discussed, to see topics raised in general conversation sooner.
Asked about Breen’s remarks on co-operation, re-elected Coun. Dave Lane said the new group is full of individuals open to debate.
“And I think with mayor Breen, he really does want to bring us together constructively,” he said.
Coun. Maggie Burton, elected as a Councillor at Large, said she is ready for the work ahead.
“When you campaign, you campaign as an individual, but when you govern you must govern as a group, or else you’ll never get any of your ideas past the gate,” she said.
Ward 3 Coun. Jamie Korab said there was generally a feeling of excitement with the first meeting, a sense of potential.
“I think with the youth we have here and the experience, it is going to work well together,” he said.
Coun. Debbie Hanlon is returning to the city council as a Councillor at Large after four years away.
“I want to put it on record how excited I am to work with this diverse group,” she said, referencing the varied ages of the group elected and the number of women elected to council.
“I think we’ve got a fantastic team,” she said.
The new St. John’s city council includes: Breen, deputy mayor Sheilagh O’leary, Deanne Stapleton for Ward 1, Hope Jamieson for Ward 2, Korab for Ward 3, Ian Froude for Ward 4, Wally Collins for Ward 5, and Councillors at Large Burton, Lane, Hanlon and Sandy Hickman.