Public Trust - Must Not a Bust

I have procrastinated enough.  It’s time to write a blog on public trust.  I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and what is there to say about public trust? 

I think the polls say it all when it comes to public trust.  37% of the electorate voted in the last municipal election.  This is the same number as the last election of 2008. So why wasn’t there a total overhaul of Regional Council?   The media and polls strongly suggested people wanted a dramatic change to their municipal government, yet only three seats actually changed in the election.

Could it have been the inconvenience? Due to the change in boundaries, there were changes to many poll locations.  To save money, Council agreed to the elimination of advanced polls by paper ballot hoping the electorate would take advantage of the two weeks of internet and phone voting. Moreover Election days were moved to Saturdays to allow for easier access to vote.  Or was it just plain apathy?

I’m thinking it’s the last.  Apathy seems to be rampant within all levels of government these days. I believe it boils down to public trust. A large percentage of the population have lost faith in the system and can you blame them?  No.  

At the municipal level, politicians are not really in control with the day to day operations of the municipality.  The issue stems from the fact that our elected officials are strangled with legislation from past provincial government decisions. In Halifax Regional Municipality’s case; they are ruled by a report known as the Hayward Report. Written in 1995 for immediate action in 1996, the report outlined the newly amalgamated Municipality’s governance model which empowered the bureaucrats and emasculate the elected officials.   

William Hayward the author of the report himself was a bureaucrat and really didn't understand the complexities of municipal services and the roles the citizens wanted their representatives to govern.  With the adoption of this governance model, several things were left out of the framework, starting with the support of the citizens and businesses for the change.  Out of 3 amalgamations, only one was truly backed by the electorate, and it wasn’t Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford or the former counties; it was Queen’s Regional Municipality.    

With so much opposition to amalgamation, I believe the citizenry were so turned off; they lost interest in any of the details like the governance model.  Do you blame them?  I certainly don’t, but I do blame the lack of educating of the public of this model on the municipality. By not educating the electorate, their expectations of good governance are dashed constantly because the rules favour the process and policies of former “strategic plans”, “planning strategies”… etc.  Does the bureaucratic machine have too much power and those elected not really educated in the rules surrounding government? I think it’s a little of both.  

While at a Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference a few years ago, I noticed that Calgary has a great program in place for educating their citizens. Run by Community and Neighbourhood Services City Hall School is available for school children from grades 3 to 12 the opportunity to be educated on the operations and political side of City Hall. A city educating their future citizens could be broaden to include newly landed immigrants or citizens that would like to know more about civics.  Why can’t Halifax introduce something like this? 

I brought this idea up at Regional Council many times, but unfortunately I had no support, so I’m challenging this New Council to pick up this idea and run with it!  Seriously, if we want a change in the percentage of voters, more civic pride, and more citizen participation; you need to foster, educate, and work with the citizens.

On a closing note, public trust is a two way street.  Yes, government needs to gain the citizens’ trust by acting in good faith, but citizens have to stop being so bloody apathetic!   Change only happens when everyone participates as a team.  I know, I’m cheerleading here… but if we want better government, we have to participate, push our elected officials, and request change, not just for the sake of change, but to make our communities better for all.

Next Blog: TBA

Boxes Aside... Benefits of Community Councils and How to Save Small Municipalities

I was going to write a quip about the things I uncovered while sorting through the 12 years of reports, thank you letters, requests, and material brought back from conferences, but I have decided to change gears due to two opinions that were made regarding how our municipality should be governed and the issues towns throughout Nova Scotia are facing.

The first opinion was tweeted last night.  It thoroughly enraged me as the comments were completely incorrect regarding the role/governance, and use of Community Councils. Many may ask “what is a Community Council?”  A Community Council is a smaller body of Regional Councillors which represents areas which are physically adjacent to each other or have similar planning, geographical, and community similarities.  For example: on the peninsula the former four districts (11, 12, 13, and 14) were known as the Peninsula Community Council.  The four Councillors met once a month publically to discuss the areas of concern for these four districts on topics such as variances to the Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) with respect to development or additions to dwellings or planning applications for their area, concerns brought forward by businesses or residents of these Districts or Staff related files within the areas (such as park upgrades).   

Although these meetings were public, not many residents or businesses attended unless they had a beef with a development or a neighbour’s proposed request for a variance.  Some groups did take advantage of the ability to present their questions, comments or requests to the Community Council, but it was never a packed house.

The abilities of a Community Council over the past 16 years have not been modified nor used to its potential under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) or the Halifax Charter (basically a carbon copy of the MGA with amendments focused on Halifax and its required need for changes to the legislation to allow for better governance on matters such as planning (example HRM by Design).

What irked me regarding the tweet last night is the person basically said it was “another level of government that we do not need”.  Well, I absolutely disagree; in fact, this IS the type of government we need, but has been underutilized, never fostered, or funded properly to make it all of what it should be, the venue for community engagement, citizen consultation, and local grass roots governance. 

While studying the different forms of local government, I learned about several models of governance under which Canadian municipalities can govern.  The closest comparison to what Halifax Regional should be governed is; Toronto.  Unfortunately, William Hayward (the bureaucrat charged to design the governance for Halifax Regional in 1995-96 by the Provincial Government of the time) didn’t go into great detail on the aspects of governing, only to point out that the Chief bureaucrat shall have ultimate authority over the operations of the Municipality, Regional Council (including the Mayor) would be like a Board of Directors dealing with the adoption of policy and amendment requests to the Province.  Hayward’s approach to the use of Community Councils was quite vague, thus the proper usage of this government body is weak and not as effective as it could be.

Toronto on the other hand, uses its model of Community Councils properly or I should say better than Halifax Regional.  First of all Toronto is set up as a Two Tier system ( Halifax Regional is 1 Tier) which gives authority and the ability for Community Councils to actually work.  Instead of compiling the Community Councils by geographic likeness, Toronto broke them in to categories: Urban, Suburban and Rural.  Toronto also allowed these Community Councils to establish budgets for localized work operations (parks, neighbourhood improvements etc.) as opposed to everything going to the full Council ( Halifax does this currently).  We have all witnessed how polarizing effects of Urban versus Suburban /Rural over the years have caused controversy at Halifax Regional, so I won’t delve into that drama.

How will the Community Councils evolve for this new Council?  I’m not privy to any information, but I hope that they decide to do it correctly and follow Toronto’s example.  Furthermore, I hope the Provincial Government with get off their butts and start working with the Halifax Regional on revising/ amending the Halifax Charter to allow for a better form of governance that will be for the betterment of all areas of the municipality.

The second opinion piece that grabbed my eye was published in the local newspaper.  It described the failing towns of Nova Scotia in the more rural areas.  Interestingly enough, the Province has been aware of this issue since the early 1970’s (Graham Report).  During a Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities’ conference, the state of the province’s population shift was presented and demonstrated their forecast, and the issues that would arise within the next 10, 15, 20 years.  Basically, the population would be attracted to the more urban areas and this would cause financial hardship to the smaller municipalities.  As stated in the opinion piece, Canso was the first victim and more to follow if a creative solution is not incorporated. 

The “A” word (Amalgamation) is not the answer, but joint service agreements between small towns and counties may bring a little relief. This would allow for communities to retain their identity, and share resources, manpower, and establish joint capital projects to enhance the quality of life for the current and/or future businesses and citizens.

There is a huge need for creative solutions: tax breaks to companies to relocate to an area or a main street.  For this to succeed, our Province and Federal Governments need to accomplish a few things: the connectivity whether it be digital or physical must be made a top priority. The Broadband rollout promised years ago must be completed, and stable transportation choices (buses, train, and roads in good state of repair) must allow residents and businesses to transverse without the fear of delay or safety issues.  It’s a sign of the times; no one will relocate to an area that does not offer such minimal living requirements. 

Ok, enough ranting.  I have a linen closet to clean out.

Next Blog: Public Trust

The Ironic Twist Fate Throws at You

Fate. Some people think that everything in life happens for a “reason”.  Perhaps it does. I’m not discounting any theories these days.  I just know that a few weeks ago I gave the graduating class at Eastern College (approx. 1500 people in attendance) an inspirational speech on the premise you never know what your future has in store for you. 

I told them of how an unknown community member somehow became a community activist after experiencing a disturbing incident while walking back to work one lunch hour, how this activated the activist in her. Her passion for helping our area was noticed by her neighbours and she was asked to run in the next municipal election. The activist was elected 3 times to represent her community and was now seeking a fourth term. This is where the Ironic Twist of Fate comes in….my political career ended days later. 

Now it’s time for Double Irony… cue the “Jeopardy Music”… 

Last week I was awarded Best Councillor by the readership of The Coast for the 10^th consecutive year in a row for which I am extremely proud of. So am I missing something here?  Winning such an awesome award, but not getting elected…  WTF?  Talk about mixed messages. Reminds me of the guy you dated for 10 years, but he’s really in love with someone else and they are getting married tomorrow.

This led me to thinking; is our life’s path predetermined or do we make our own destiny? Are there glaring neon directional signs that perhaps we do not see or want to acknowledge?  Denial is just not a river in Egypt me thinks. (Yes, I know it is spelt Nile.) Do others see what our future hold for us? Will they share their info and advice with you or just let you fall into that lion pit like Yosemite Sam??

Case and point: a friend invited me to a church service the other Sunday.  Although I am not the best of company to anyone these days, I decided to go.  Thought it might give me a soulful boost.  I was informed it non-denominational fellowship and that I may find some of the practices different.  I didn’t think it would be an issue as I have always enjoyed experiencing various cultures, religions, and respect all who practice any spiritual practices.  In fact my Great Grand Father started a non- denominational church in Clearwater, Manitoba at the turn of the last century.

The Spiritual Science Fellowship describes itself as “Federally Chartered Inter-Faith Association providing spiritual services, educational programs and Pastoral Ministrations for persons regardless of their religious background, who desire to understand experiences of Psyche and Spirit.”

The members are very friendly and inviting.  I appreciated that their hymnal included contemporary music like Imagine and On Top of the World, and the meditational time which allowed for a very calming reflection time.  Something I really haven’t done for quite some time.  Only one problem, my cell phone was on silent, but I had the alarm set for 7:30 pm to remind me to take my antibiotics for my pneumonia.  As the congregation began to slip into meditation mode….  The Theme for Laverne and Shirley started rising up throughout the hall.  Somewhat relaxed, I didn’t realize it was my phone until “we’re going to make our dreams come true” was wailing quite loudly. I grabbed my purse and ran into the hall to shut it off.  Just a little bit embarrassing to say the least.  I then rejoined the meditation session with the phone completely shut off.

The next part of the service included a messaging exercise.  My friend told me that the Ministers would pick individuals out of the congregation and ask them if they would like to receive a message. A physic message.  If you say yes, the Minister will either hold your hand or just begin to give you your message.  As the first Minister delivered messages, I was relieved that I had not been chosen.  I just wanted to be an observer, a fly on the wall.  

The second Minister then got up and delivered a few more messages and then approached me.   She asked me if I wanted a message, and I was reluctant at first but thought what the heck.  What could she tell me that I don’t already know about myself?  She took my hand and proceeded to describe her vision.  “I see you polishing… repeatedly polishing shoes.”  Uh?  Shoes?  What does this have to do with me, am I going to work in a shoe store like Al Bundy? 

She then told me “You keep repeating the same task. You need to stop blaming yourself.  It isn’t your fault.  You have so much to give and you feel defeated.  Don’t blame yourself.  You need to heal.”  Well, I was floored.  She said a few other nice things which I can’t recall as I was weld up with tears by then.  The conclusion of the service included the joining of hands and singing of Kumbaya.  Yet irony enters….I always told the previous Council we needed to do this, but it never happened.

As I left the hall, I began to digest the message.  It wasn’t my fault.  The shoes were an analogy for my rehashing of the campaign. I then recalled a famous quote: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Albert Einstein   Do I believe a guy who had a perpetual bad hair day?   I’m not going to tempt fate.  Time to move on…. 

Next Blog: Odd things inside the boxes

My Political Career and it's relationship to the Holy Grail

Today I was asked to resume my blogging for Haligonia.ca which I enjoyed doing briefly earlier in the year.  When I asked what I should blog about, Steve gave me a wide berth for which I am grateful as I have many opinions on various topics.  So the first topic had to be about my current loss in the Municipal Election, my bout of pneumonia, the untimely death of my 1998 Honda, the unrelated cooking fiasco (where I simultaneously blew up a crock pot and the stove)  and my future and its relationship to Monty Python's The Holy Grail.

The last week has been an internal Hell for me.  Losing the election has been quite the blow to my world.  My work was my passion. It meant everything to me.  I lived and breathed to serve the people of the municipality.  So the big question everyone is posing to me is “what now?”  “What are you going to do next?” “We are all waiting to hear what your next move is.”  Simple answer is, I don’t know.

12 years of public service and I have no idea where to focus my passion, my skills, and my energy. As a single 45 year old, what do you do when you are unemployed? How do you regroup and persevere while battling pneumonia and trying to finish up my term with a brave face.  Not an easy task!

While feverish and swaddled in blankets it dawned on me (pardon the pun) that my dark days are not as bad as they could be.  So I rooted through my sparse DVD collection and found my answer.  Monty Python’s The Holy Grail.  The bring out your dead scene was what I was searching for as it reminded me of my newly deteriorated political career.  The dying man interjecting that he is “Not Dead Yet” is what struck a chord with me.  Morbid dark humour, yes.  It did lighten my spirits briefly.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not dead yet.  I do need time to grieve losing the best job ever.  I need to grieve the death of my crock pot and my trusty Honda.  I need to regroup and refocus my passion and energy.  I need for those who supported me to understand I will need their support in the transition from public official to citizen, but right now I need a little space to clear out 12 years of paperwork from my home and to start a new chapter in my life.

PS: I do want to thank those citizens, business and municipal staff who have supported me and those who aided me over the 12 years.  I especially want to thank the Councillor’s support staff:  Nadine, Lynn, Brenda, and Margo.  Each of you really contributed to the quality of work which I was trying to achieve for the community

Next Blog: The Ironic Twist Fate Throws at You.