How I grade the municipal councillors in Annapolis County
Being the political junkie that I am, I watch municipal government meetings online. I have the time to do it. I am interested in what goes on in my closest communities. While I watch some of the Town of Annapolis Royal Facebook Live meetings, I pay closer attention to the videos of the Annapolis County Council meetings. I check the agenda for the upcoming county meetings to see if there is something I am particularly interested in.
I would like to suggest that anyone who does watch these meetings, check out the following report card that I put together. It’s not too sophisticated and takes in most of the responsibilities that I believe one should own as a municipal councillor:
•Awareness of county issues •Knowledge of the background on these issues
•Understanding of the background
•Pre-reading agenda with its background information
•Cogent discussion of motions •Knowledge of all parts of the county
•Awareness of provincial matters that affect municipalities
•Knowledge of the Municipal Government Act
•Contact with constituents — regular meetings
•Understanding and respectful of relationships with county staff
•Prompt replies to constituents’ emails/phone calls
•Willingness to serve on municipal committees
•Attendance
There may be a few more but these are the ones I thought of right away. Since the new council started back in November, I have found that there has been some acrimony and some uninformed remarks and a lot of tension. These meetings are not fun to watch. There are some thoughtful questions and remarks occasionally.
I do have to give credit where it is due: the acting chief administrative officer, Mr. Louis Coutinho, is a wonder to watch. He treads lightly but really knows his onions, as we used to say. He has moved discussion out of the shadows with his recommendation that the three big items on this council’s plate be aired in special meetings, opposed to private in-camera sessions. And so, we have heard about the present situation with the internet build, the situation with the Basinview Centre building in Cornwallis Park, and lots about the garbage issue. There is still one more of this type of meeting to come — Gordonstoun.
In regard to Gordonstoun, the last council meeting (Feb. 16) received a letter from Darlene Karamanos in support of Gordonstoun. The following (verbatim) is what happened after the motion to receive for information was moved and seconded and any discussion was called for:
Coun. Connell said: “I’ve taken some comments from people and some of the concerns that our new council is being blamed for trying to squash the school and I think that individuals that are shouting this out and making these remarks… I only have one concern and paying taxes and taxpaying citizens gave me the same thing when I went canvassing. As far as we know, he has no investors, so it’s nice to send us a nice letter supporting the idea of the school. But if these individuals have their heart set on this school being in our county, they should invest. They had a full opportunity to call (the developer) Mr. Farren and offer an investment of money on their behalf. I encourage anyone who wants this school to get on the bandwagon.”
“Just don’t send us letters.”
Only one councillor spoke up. Coun. Diane LeBlanc said the last comment bothered her and “we shouldn’t be telling people not to send letters. They should be able to send letters — good or bad.”
It seems to me that the warden should have said something as well.
My advice at this time is either send Coun. Connell a letter a day or, if you agree that this is not a proper remark for him to make, contact the warden.