What is a Wasaga councillor supposed to be doing?

I have had the great privilege of knowing some great members of Municipal Council through the years and watching how they do their jobs.

Today, I was at our store fixing our vending machine when someone who follows my discussion posts stopped to talk. It was pretty cool as we had never met in person.

He asked me what I felt the job of a Municipal Council Member was really all about. (He is considering running after a 30 year career in Human Resources).

I thanked him for asking because it is a question I have thought about often. These days, I find myself also asking what things should NOT be in a Councilors job description, but we can discuss that later.

1. Establish Budgets that respond to the needs of our community while being mindful that those needs are paid for by all and in doing this, keeping municipal taxes reasonable was very important.

2. Overseeing the spending that was approved at budget time. It is important to ensure budgets are respected by those responsible for delivering services.

3. Establish AND review/ modify bylaws to help shape the evolution and encourage modernization of our capital assets.

4. Finally, was a responsibility I had never thought of until I heard a previous Council Member say it was the most important part of the job to him. That responsibility was to help his neighbours and visitors navigate town hall. Well said!

Sure there are all kinds of additional things people see and think Council members do, like ribbon cuttings and attending anniversaries, but that’s just the fun stuff. The hard work is the learning (plenty of opportunity for those who want to learn) and then using that knowledge and standing up for what you think is in the best interests of our community.

I wonder how many serious budget cuts were made after vigorous debate before approving next year’s spending by the current 7.

Do you think there was much over-spending last year? If so, do you think our Council cared or expressed concern?

Our Capital Assets are being torn down this year and/or sold off to assist developers in profiting from new “private property”, that used to be well used public space. All of this to raise funds, while depleting our reserves… in order to facilitate development at Beach One.

Finally, do you think you could call all seven of our Elected Council Members and have them describe how to go about getting a building permit for something outside of current requirements?

Maybe even ask all seven WHY they have eliminated the recording of in-camera meetings. Could each member of Council comfortably describe our water/wastewater, or our recycling programs? Would any of the seven be able to explain why the current sign bylaw is only enforced against some businesses and not all?

It’s time for people who are thinking about replacing those currently selling our town, to start thinking about that all important question;

What IS a Council Members job?