Opinion: Is Council dysfunction evident?

This article was originally published in the Burlington Independent, Burlington’s only print newspaper. The AI-generated picture accompanying this article was added by Focus Burlington.

The latest city council meetings have been odd, unusual, and even interesting, in that not much appears to be getting done. Why is that?

Perhaps because it is an election year. Or maybe it’s because council members – in their fourth year of this term of council – have nearly reached the breaking point in their dealings with each other.

Outside of the council chamber I expect members of council get along well. Those I meet and discuss this issue with, roll their eyes at how things are now going.

This council is not a first term council – three members have been there three terms now. The others have been there two terms.

Sure, we can all get tired of the person sitting in the seat next to us, after a few days, weeks, months, or years. Maybe that is what’s happening?

To my seasoned council reporter eyes, this situation now bears the hallmarks of dysfunction.

The mayor going in her own directions, trying to convince or coerce councillors to come along for the ride. Whether its a struggle with a real proposal with serious financial implications, or a matter of obvious disorganization, or even procedural disagreements (council has a Procedural By-law governing how things can and cannot unfold), we are now at the point of things starting to not get done. The professionalism is waning. And that looks bad for a mid-sized, wealthy city.

Staff (some senior staffers are fairly new to their roles) are being asked – via Strong Mayor Powers – to do things which are outside of the supervision of their immediate boss, the Chief Administrative Officer. He, too, is new to his job. The other key staffer, the Clerk, is new as of two months ago. That person is council’s shepherd, if you will.

I recall covering a municipal council at a former newspaper in Ontario. I covered that council for many years. Personalities did affect their productivity. Municipal staffers are paid (well) to carry out their specific functions. However, their interests are often in their own careers, planning their next move from one job to a higher one, perhaps in a different municipality. They can lose focus.

That council I covered had three-dozen staff depart over a four-year term of council. That is a high number and suggests clearly that something was not going as it should.

Staff work best with clear direction from council. They have their job descriptions, and they have their weekly projects and task they are assigned by the CAO. Often at city hall things are interwoven, and changing something over here affects something over there. Short notice changes are best avoided. Staff look to the mayor and to other council members for that clarity. If they don’t get it, all they can do is carry out their orders the best they can.

Councillors have told me that they are not experts – they are ordinary folk like you and me. They say they rely on the technical expertise of municipal staff to allow council to step gingerly around the hidden ‘land mines’ associated with any number of projects each year, as decisions are made at council.

If that is missing, watch out! It’ll be like walking in our parks at this time of year, trying to avoid the doggie doodoo!

Brad Harness is former Publisher & Editor of the Middlesex BANNER and Elgin BANNER newspapers, an award-winning journalist, political commentator, freelance and creative writer.