The 2014 municipal election is over and Espanola’s next council appears ready to serve. The selection by voters is awesome to say the least. The former council was virtually eliminated by voters. The only re-elected Councillor Stewart Meikleham was the one exception. Stewart and Marlene McMaster were lone voices during the reign of the 2010-14 Espanola council. Both tried in vain to have council increase or develop further discussion on issues and items only to be overpowered and for the most part ignored by both fellow councillors and it often seemed administration staff. That scenario has ended and Stewart can now likely rest assured discussion on all issues and suggestions will be fully aired and most important discussed in depth by the new council.
Recent media exposure of council activity in Espanola is thin to say the least. Both the radio station and newspapers including an essentially advertising publication Around and About do some council coverage. However, coverage priorities likely do not dictate a large airtime or space allotment for council coverage. In the past that situation would have been much more of a concern. Today with the advent of social media such as Facebook and personal websites coverage is not a problem although facts can sometimes be compromised by emotion.
It will be interesting to discover if in-depth council reports by new councillor Bob Yocom will continue to appear on one or two Facebook sites. The new councillor will be pressed for time due to the learning curve combined with answering sought after queries from residents and new council duties that the mayor and council deem need coverage. Yocom’s reports were always factual and explicit regarding everything council discussed in open meetings. Bob’s perchance for personally commenting on the issues might be more challenging since the comments could be an asset or liability depending on public perception.
Newly elected Mayor Ron Piche will face a steep learning curve in the beginning at least. It is a known fact Piche confrontations with office management either perpetuated by the previous council direction or possibly an administration with a tendency to take charge created the tensions. Some wonder if past conflicts between the new mayor-elect and administration can be overcome through control by a strong elected council. Several unresolved issues will undoubtedly surface for discussion. Hopefully the issues will not be considered too personal and end up in closed door discussions. The issues could be a tipping point for the new council and an indication if completely open meetings were an election promise or something the new body really wants to change. Most people familiar with council procedure are aware some issues can turn into an embarrassment for individual councillors and administrative staff leading to a tendency to keep the problem from the public. It will be a challenge to be as open as almost every candidates professed is a personal goal.
The elected candidates bring a great deal of management expertise to council. Bill Foster, Bob Yocom, Ray Dufour and Stewart Meikleham all boast management background. Properly used the professionalism will rapidly control all departments displaying leadership that appeared to be missing in recent councils. Ken and Ron Duplessis bring the worker aspect to the group with Ken’s strong union experience bound to be an asset during labour discussions. Ron’s past council experience is another plus since many of the newly elected have never experienced council processes and will need another opinion from that of administration and senior staff members.
That is it for now since council needs time to begin the tasks or needs at hand. I will not comment on council action for at least three months since it would be unfair to a group of new councillors. It is time to get back to writing about Federal politics issues and situations in MY CANADA weekly articles at www.robertgordonca.com or structuring my latest short story on my published novels www.robertgordon.ca websites.
Recent media exposure of council activity in Espanola is thin to say the least. Both the radio station and newspapers including an essentially advertising publication Around and About do some council coverage. However, coverage priorities likely do not dictate a large airtime or space allotment for council coverage. In the past that situation would have been much more of a concern. Today with the advent of social media such as Facebook and personal websites coverage is not a problem although facts can sometimes be compromised by emotion.
It will be interesting to discover if in-depth council reports by new councillor Bob Yocom will continue to appear on one or two Facebook sites. The new councillor will be pressed for time due to the learning curve combined with answering sought after queries from residents and new council duties that the mayor and council deem need coverage. Yocom’s reports were always factual and explicit regarding everything council discussed in open meetings. Bob’s perchance for personally commenting on the issues might be more challenging since the comments could be an asset or liability depending on public perception.
Newly elected Mayor Ron Piche will face a steep learning curve in the beginning at least. It is a known fact Piche confrontations with office management either perpetuated by the previous council direction or possibly an administration with a tendency to take charge created the tensions. Some wonder if past conflicts between the new mayor-elect and administration can be overcome through control by a strong elected council. Several unresolved issues will undoubtedly surface for discussion. Hopefully the issues will not be considered too personal and end up in closed door discussions. The issues could be a tipping point for the new council and an indication if completely open meetings were an election promise or something the new body really wants to change. Most people familiar with council procedure are aware some issues can turn into an embarrassment for individual councillors and administrative staff leading to a tendency to keep the problem from the public. It will be a challenge to be as open as almost every candidates professed is a personal goal.
The elected candidates bring a great deal of management expertise to council. Bill Foster, Bob Yocom, Ray Dufour and Stewart Meikleham all boast management background. Properly used the professionalism will rapidly control all departments displaying leadership that appeared to be missing in recent councils. Ken and Ron Duplessis bring the worker aspect to the group with Ken’s strong union experience bound to be an asset during labour discussions. Ron’s past council experience is another plus since many of the newly elected have never experienced council processes and will need another opinion from that of administration and senior staff members.
That is it for now since council needs time to begin the tasks or needs at hand. I will not comment on council action for at least three months since it would be unfair to a group of new councillors. It is time to get back to writing about Federal politics issues and situations in MY CANADA weekly articles at www.robertgordonca.com or structuring my latest short story on my published novels www.robertgordon.ca websites.
