Questions and Leadership

Year Two on municipal council in Collingwood has begun with a pair of opportunities to learn how to lead. I have been elected Chair of the Corporate and Community Services Committee in Collingwood, and Vice-Chair at the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority.

Since I had been Vice-chair of C&CS, I expected the nomination to the Chair's role, and spent the weekend before the meeting re-reading Collingwood's Procedural Bylaw and the amendments we passed just a couple of months ago. I wanted to be ready, just in case. Even so, plopping my bottom into the chair at the front of the room, I was very certain I was about to make some terrible gaffe. Sure enough, the Clerk had to bail me out with some hastily written post-its.

My habit so far has been to take notes throughout our meetings: points that occur to me, reminders to look something up afterwards or to get in touch with someone affected by the outcome of a decision. I show up at committee meetings with a list of questions, and cross them off as they get answered during the presentations or if my question is asked by someone else. I also jot down new questions that sometimes bubble up as presentations are made or I write follow-ups to other councillors' queries. Now, as a Chair, I still get to ask questions, but I also have to keep track of where we are in the agenda, be ready with a response to anything that happens and direct other councillors' questions to staff members. It's a different kind of listening, and while I only have half a meeting under my belt, I can report that it's a more intense experience.

It seems there are two divergent philosophies about the flow of municipal council meetings. The first I'll call Quick and Quiet: the thought is, we councillors should not have questions at an actual Council meeting, since anything factual we need to know about a topic coming to the table should have been answered at the Committee level or through emails to staff or other council members after the Committee meeting. An extreme adherent to this philosophy told me, there shouldn't really be councillor questions at the committee level, either, since council members should read the reports trying hard to understand where staff is coming from, and then to be in contact with the relevant staff member to have any questions answered in advance of the meeting. If a question occurs to the council member during the meeting, the Q&Q think, "Well, that's too bad since the councillor clearly didn't think things through enough in advance." Q&Q people suggest meetings should be very short, with presentations made and discussion containing only debate among councillors.

The second school of thought I'll call Long and Loud: under this philosophy, meeting time is for thorough and fulsome discussion with staff and among councillors. L&Ls figure it is the responsibility of our senior staff to be ready to answer anything under their purview, even without much warning. L&Ls see committee and council meetings as an opportunity to educate the public on the topics at the table, by giving staff a chance to explain what's going on with a certain project or program. Extreme adherents to the L&L philosophy figure there is no such thing as an under-prepared question, never a wrong time for even simple questions. Some L&Ls ask questions they know the answer to, in order to get the information into the public realm. They also think a meeting should take as long as it takes, and that we councillors should be prepared to stick around, listen, and have our minds changed.
The cynical journalist in me notices that closer to election time, some councillors who are usually Q&Qs become L&Ls, perhaps to demonstrate to voters how hard they work and how engaged they are. Some might even jockey for a late-term Chair position to shore up their bona fides with the electorate.

I'm all for efficiency, but I'm also a fan of transparency, so I'd like to think I'm in the middle of these two philosophies. But, I confess I likely lean toward the L&L group for reasons to do with spontaneity and a career interviewing people with an ear for not only what's said, but what's NOT said. I'm torn when raising my hand, though, because right from the orientation sessions in November of 2018, we councillors were told repeatedly that meetings were never supposed to be a 'gotcha' moment. It was said several times: councillors were not to ask questions that might put staff members on the spot or in a difficult position. I can see the point, but I can't imagine any question of mine could stump our deeply knowledgeable staff. That said, I cannot forget the CEO I once worked with who told me, right out loud, that they would use or withhold information to manipulate their Board of Directors. I have not seen manipulation of this council, but the concern remains on my mind, especially in light of the testimony at the Judicial Inquiry.

In a perfect world, the best case scenario would be somewhere between Quick & Quiet and Long & Loud, with councillors carefully reading all the prepared material in advance of meetings and seeking answers beforehand, but also free to ask something that only occurs to them at the time of the meeting. Perfect presentations from staff would not only make recommendations, but also fully explain any and all points the councillors want to make constituents aware of even while providing positive or detrimental effects of all possible choices. But, we live here and now and not in any kind of perfect world. (plus, those would be some very long reports...sheesh!)

Several people have told me there have been Collingwood town councillors who opened their agendas only as the meeting got called to order, and we know from the JI testimony there have been councillors who were emailed directions on what to say at the table even while meetings were underway. I am pretty sure those days are over, but I suspect there will be at least one Committee Chair who somehow lets a meeting get out of hand, in spite of their best intentions and a stack of sticky notes.

What Avril Said

Avril Lavigne famously sang, "Why's everything got to be so complicated?", and in a year of getting up close and personal with how municipal government works, I frequently found myself humming that song. I'm starting to understand why and I'm sorry to report, there is almost never an easy or quick way to solve issues and complaints, mostly because of rules and agreements that are already in place.

I've actually started to tune out a bit when people say to me, "Why can't they just..." As soon as anyone whips out the word, just, I just... realize they may not know the ins and outs of how stuff gets done and who's responsible for what.

For example, "Why can't we just say no to every and all new developments, and declare that Collingwood is full?", as a few people have suggested to me. Well, because municipalities exist entirely 'at the pleasure of the province', and we have to do what they say. We are allowed to make plans about what development goes where and how much of it we will allow, but those plans have to conform to the plans of the province and the county when we make them. Not just the province, but a whole whack of things at the province, like the Places to Grow Act, and the Provincial Policy Statement and the Municipal Act and several other pieces of legislation, too. So, if the province says Collingwood can have 62-thousand people by the year 2041, then, that's how many people we have to be ready to accommodate. Which is what they say, by the way. Sort of. It's complicated. The county's plans, which were passed this past year, go to 2031, but the province's plans, which are still in the making, go to 2041 and the allocations for population are different in those two documents so far. In addition to the plans is the LPAT, formerly known as the OMB, which developers can complain to if their plans get rejected by the town, costing us lots of time and planners' and lawyers' fees and there's no guarantee who will win.

Another example is, "Why can't they just... pick up my garbage every week like I want them to?" Not surprisingly, the answer to that one is... complicated.

First of all, garbage is not the town's job; it's the County's job.

Secondly, the trouble with trash in our area comes partly because of the economy, partly because of some zealous negotiations and perhaps because of some misunderstood circumstances. Once upon a time (about seven years ago, I think. Maybe 10), Simcoe County made a deal with a waste company to contract out its garbage and recycling services. A few years later, another company bid on and got the job, in what at the time was seen as a helluva good deal for the taxpayers of the County (that's you and me). The deal was so good, it was almost too good to be true. Well, last year, the too good to be true part started coming true, when the company that was doing the job, started not doing the job so well. They couldn't get enough drivers. Even with pretty great wages, they couldn't live up to their contract; even with bonuses and some pretty impressive incentives, there still weren't enough people willing to do the work of slugging your trash and recycling and driving the truck they slug it into. To be clear, there are a lot of people who are simply not strong enough to do that work. Furthermore, the economy is good enough that people who would take such a job unwillingly, don't have to, because there are so many other choices. If a person can get paid almost the same amount of money to work somewhere warm and dry without having to leap into and out of a big truck to lift heavy, smelly, disgusting items into that truck, which they also have to drive on snowy tiny country roads and wee small town streets, many of us would take a lower but still livable wage and choose the warmth and comfort. That extra five bucks an hour, for a lot of people, is not worth doing a job that is, in the case of the green bins, literally, shitty (diapers and dog doo now allowed!). What would it take, pay-wise, to lure enough people into the difficult jobs? 60 dollars an hour? 80? What would you say if trash collectors were paid more than your kids' teachers? Also, remember the company with the contract is a for-profit company, after all, and you'd have even less service if they go bankrupt to fulfill the contract.

So, because of these complicated factors, we have blue bins left out in the snow for days and garbage not always being picked up, and frustrated, complaining people. There will be more complaints next month when we start to get trash collected only on opposite weeks to recycling. You can just take your recycling to the dump yourself; it's free and no one's stopping you, but will you? Most of us won't. The question is, how many of us will start scouting out private bins or illegally dumping trash in the countryside? It remains to be seen.

So, that's two examples. And here's a third: "Just who am I supposed to blame when I can't get you what you want?" Well, that one is really not complicated: municipal politicians blame the other levels of government. As seen above, sometimes it's even true.

What do you get for 1.09 +.75? Another explainer.

We finished the budget on the 17th of December with a 1.09 percent tax increase. That's on top of the capital levy of .75%

What do you get out of it? Well, among other things: the beginnings of a waterfront splashpad, a revamped park at Sunset Point, a rescue boat, flush toilets at Fisher Field, a sidewalk on the east side of Hurontario south of the public high school, and water and sewer works redone on Napier south of Hume. Oh, and your roads and sidewalks plowed pretty promptly and firefighters at the ready.

What do you pay? It depends on the assessed value of your house, but if it's $324K, the town part of your tax bill last year was $2191.80, and will go up $42.53, or about four bucks a month. To put it in context, HGTV on cable is 7 dollars a month.

How did we get to the final numbers? At the end of our first two meetings, on Monday the 16th, with all the things on the 'big list of things we'd like to do', the increase was edging toward 4 percent, plus the levy. I would not have supported that.

Through the next day, there appeared to be a lot of discussion between the CAO and the Treasurer, along with the department heads, and the original base budget was cut a bit, and several items on the 'big ask list' (29 service enhancements) shaved away. As we sat down for the final meeting, a new set of numbers was presented, with a 2.04% increase. After much discussion about the price of trees and the width of sidewalks, a suggestion was made by one of the councillors that we use some of the interest from the asset sale cash to pay for some of the desired items. There is $18.6M in the bank until we decide what to do with it. It's earning 2.3 percent interest, which, over a full year, adds up to more than $400K. We voted to pull $200K of that interest into this year's budget, and voila, a few more things were afforded with a smaller increase.

When it appeared we had consensus, someone asked for a recorded vote, so we had to literally stand up for this budget. The vote was unanimous.

JUST FYI: -every- vote at Collingwood Council is now a recorded vote. As of January of 2019, if you want to know how anybody voted on any item, there's a tab on the website that lists it. You can search by member, by meeting, and by motion. So, any time a councillor asks for a recorded vote at a meeting, they are grandstanding making a statement.

Some bottom lines from the notes I took during the budget process:

-The town will tax its property owners $33,933,028 in 2020, which is $1,360,375 more than last year. Of that, we're putting $1,771,500 back into reserves.
-We should find out at the end of January the size of the 'surplus' from 2019, as mentioned last time, with a report some time later.
-The town has about 60 million dollars in reserve funds at the end of 2019, down from 65 million at the end of 2018. (that would be the Judicial Inquiry) Another $800K was approved in the 2020 budget to pay the bills from the JI.
-I did not love that the improved sound system at the Eddie Bush Arena was jettisoned; as a somtimes host of the skating carnival, there are years I have to put down the microphone and just... shout, which is not cool. However, we were told there might be things that can be done to get that particular project underway, so I'm hopeful on that item.
-Of the 12 items that survived the chopping of the 29-item 'big list', 9 were on my personal 'protect' list, so I'll call that a win.

*an earlier version of this post said the tax increase this year was 1.84: the 1.09 plus the .75 capital levy. After some back-and-forth with a member of the local media, I can see why Ian took umbrage was irked at my doing the math that way and I revised the headline. $42.53 on the 'average' bill is still correct, though: 24.68 from the tax increase and 17.85 from the capital levy.

Town Budgeting 201 - a second year explainer

Back in the days when I was reporting on municipal budgets rather than voting on them, there was a predictable set of headlines that would accompany the stories.

The first set would be something like: "Staff suggest tax hike of XXX percent, council to review" "Your taxes likely to rise in first look at budget" A few days or a week later, the council would meet and jettison some of the items requested, and new headlines would read something like: "Council whittles down requests" and, "Elected officials rein in budget spending" Finally, at the end of the budget season, the headlines would be more like: "Small tax increase to pay for essential services" or: "Council acknowledges small tax hike necessary"

But, that's not how the story plays out any more, at least not in Collingwood. The budget is unveiled gradually and in pieces with additions rather than subtractions.

I'm not entirely sure why, but, here in Collingwood, the first step (after the town staff do a whole bunch of figuring and behind-the-scenes work) is: town councilors receive a large budget document. In this big binder, there is discussion and a lot of figures, but there is no suggestion of a final total or a final ask. We're also given an additional set of pages which does include some figures and some scenarios for taxation.

Next, we (most of us) read through the documents and have a meeting, at which we are provided with presentations from the various department heads and staff members about the things they did last year and the things they were supposed to do but didn't, and why, and the stuff they want to do this coming year, and how much that will cost. This first meeting is what's I call a 'listening only' meeting. We're not encouraged to ask a lot of questions; just listen. After about three hours of the presentations, we councillors are sent home with an additional package of papers, this one with figures containing all the 'extra' spending hopes and dreams of the staff. I learned last year that I could anticipate the big final ask by listening carefully to the presentations for words like, 'we hope' and 'if council agrees,' and jotting down any number discussed as a 'service enhancement'. Last year, that 'enhancements' package totaled about 1.7 million dollars, this year, it was $2.2 million.

Then, over the next couple of days, we councillors were supposed to email the CAO and the relevant department head, any questions about the proposed budget and the requested additional spending.

Next, at a second meeting at which about an hour was spent on the budget, the emailed questions were addressed verbally, during a 15 minute period at the end of the meeting. Again, this part of the budget meeting was for listening, not asking questions or for councillors to discuss things amongst ourselves. There has been some question in the days since whether we were going to receive written answers in addition to the verbal answers.

And now, a third meeting has been added, to be held tonight, after our regular council meeting. Several items from the 2.2 million dollar wish list have been removed by staff, but one big item has been added, so it's still close to 2.2 million dollars in 'additions', and this is where the discussions among councillors and motions to remove or add items will take place.

Through this year's process, the headlines have been: "Guess what Collingwood? Your taxes could be going down in 2020!", and "Council questions inquiry costs, asset sale proceeds, and mobile parking in budget session" (Collingwood Today). Also: "Feeling the pressure: Collingwood's 2020 budget to address town growth, says CAO" and "What will be the final bill for the Collingwood judicial inquiry?" (Simcoe.com).

Right now, if we councillors vote yes to every single thing that's in the base budget plus the 'service enhancements', you're looking at a tax increase of about a hundred bucks, if your house is assessed at $324K. Except, we in Collingwood added a few years ago, a 'capital levy' of 0.75%, to save up money for projects. So, even if we get to a zero percent tax hike, you're still adding .75% or about 17 dollars for roads and so on. Some of it will be to put back the money we dipped into from our savings (aka reserves) to pay for the Judicial Inquiry.

But, wait, there's more complication!

There are numbers that we don't know about yet, and while they are nodded to and hinted at, they're not final: the growth numbers. More houses were built here in Collingwood in 2019, and people moved into them and started paying their property taxes, but those taxes aren't included in our budget yet because MPAC doesn't report them to the town until early next year. In a growing community like ours, it was about 1.7 million dollars in what's called a 'surplus' last year. The final figure may well be more than that this year, or possibly less; we councillors don't know and yet are being asked to set a tax rate to provide enough money to provide all our necessary services. So, even while we're debating the budget numbers, we know those numbers are not really... well, real, because the so-called 'surplus' is coming.

And finally, to be clear, there's virtually ZERO chance your actual tax bill is going down, even if we pass a zero tax increase, because a) your house is very likely worth more this year than last year, and b) the tax rate we councillors set tonight or tomorrow isn't your whole bill: the school board is in there (rates set in May or June), and the County passed its budget earlier this month, with a 2% increase.

Elected to Collingwood Council -- One Year Later

It was a year ago this week I took my oath of office. A year ago this week I started a job I would have vowed, years ago, I would never sign up for and wasn't cut out for, couldn't do because of my past, my career choices, my early bed-time, my curling career, my...you name it.

And yet, here we are.

For the first few months after the swearing-in, I didn't have time to write because I was reading provincial laws, municipal bylaws, budgets, agendas, minutes, staff reports, supporting and ancillary information, emails and booklets, books about municipal governance, treatises on good planning and so on; all the stuff that I felt I should learn, being a rookie municipal politician.

Of course, I knew there would be a ton of reading if I were going to earn a spot on council, and I was prepared for it with about a dozen new pairs of reading glasses. But hooo, boy, it's a LOT of reading. For instance, the budget book I got on Tuesday afternoon is more than 250 pages, with 47 pages of supplementary content. In October, I attended the County's budget meetings, with about 380 pages of reading in advance. Easter weekend was spent with a County document which contained more than 500 pages.

This isn't ordinary, everyday reading: I want to truly understand what's being conveyed and develop an opinion on it. I wasn't hired by voters simply to know stuff. I am on council to help make good decisions on behalf of citizens, so I have to absorb and also react to the information in front of me. It's a whole different kind of reading from Outlander or any other fiction, that's for sure.

To get through the work, I do what my sweetheart calls, 'The Agenda Olympics': start at the dining table and read there for about 45 minutes, until my butt gets sore, then move to the squishier, more comfortable chairs at the kitchen island for another 45, then get antsy and move to my desk in the upstairs hall for the half hour it takes for the stool to get too uncomfortable.

The final place in the circuit is a chaise lounge that one of my friends insists on calling a 'fainting couch'. That's where the dog cuddles up and I generally give in to a reading-induced nap.


I'm not complaining; it's just that some things have to fall by the wayside when you take on a new job, and this blog, this particular form of self-expression was what I chose to jettison. But, sometime in the spring, Sweetie started to talk to me about blogging and being more active in social media. He thought I should make sure the people who elected me, heard from me, and not just from yelling, "Sweep! Please!" at the curling club. Even with the procedural bylaw under my belt and several months of council meetings behind me, I became -afraid- to write in this space. OK, terrified, to be honest. I thought I would put my big foot in my big mouth, get looked at askance, get...embarrassed, get...in trouble. Plus, town hall procedures are pretty clear about who speaks for council, and it ain't me.

But then, testimony from the Judicial Inquiry wrapped up, and I had a good hard think about what I had read and watched in the testimony over the last several months, and my fear started to melt a bit. Ultimately, I'm doing this job to be of some use. I'm not lining my own pockets, I'm not looking for my next political job; I ran because I thought I could be of some help. Explaining how things work for me might be of some service. Shining a light on the process behind town hall decision-making may be useful. So, I'm going to start sharing.

Quite likely oversharing.

Undaunted, but, well, Daunted

Here's what I had to say at the inauguration of council:

"They said we were to talk for about two minutes, but in light of where we are, here in the Legion, and in honour of the recently late Reverend Ian Stuart, I thought maybe 40 minutes would be more appropriate.

I really only need about 40 seconds.

First point: if you ever have trouble puzzling out how to pronounce my name, because of its strange spelling, lean toward Robin Hood, and stay away from Gilligan’s Island.

Next, thanks to my amazing husband, Charlie Rentner, for his unfailing support and sage advice.

Also, thanks to my tiny terrific team, who believed right from the start that I might be of some use to the town. They went alone and with me on the alternately frying and frigid days to convince other people of the same.

I would particularly like to thank my sister, Darlene Elliotson for her relentless positivity and enormous faith.

And to the voters of Collingwood: thank you for agreeing that I might be helpful to you. It is a tremendous honour to serve and I will do my level best to deserve it."

Our ceremony on December 3rd was the first of five inaugurations I attended: Collingwood, Clearview, Wasaga Beach, Springwater, and Simcoe County. I've been to orientation, my first Committee meeting and last night, my first full-on council meeting. I am still working on exactly how everything works from a formality of the proceedings point of view, but I'm not the only one who's getting used to things being different or new, so I'm feeling fairly sanguine about any screwups. (Oh, who am I kidding - I'm nervous as I can ever remember being)

I'll be serving on the Corporate and Community Services Committee and the NVCA and will act as an alternate at the County Council if there's a time the Mayor or Deputy Mayor can't attend.

Since deciding in July to run for council I have worn makeup more days in a row than I can remember in my adult life. When I was on radio, my co-hosts were lucky if I remembered to brush my teeth, and I could go months without donning a pair of high heels. For the inauguration, I dug out my only remaining suit following a closet purge some years ago. It's 24 years old and I won't say it still fits; it fits again, thanks to all the walking and knocking on doors during the election campaign.

I'm planning to keep this page updated, but I'm still reading and re-reading the rules and recommendations about social media use along with reams of minutes, agendas, reports and bylaws. I want to be sure I do right by you and make the best choices. It's daunting, although I'm undaunted at the same time; my confidence that I can figure this out comes because you voters told me so. I don't want to let you down.

Voting Starts Today

Thanks so much to all of you who have met me at your door, at the candidates' events or who have sent emails and notes and otherwise expressed interest in your local democracy!

Voting is underway as of today and continues for the next ten days. We'll know shortly after 8pm on Monday, October 22nd, who you've chosen to represent you at the council table for the next four years.

I'm happy to serve and if I'm on the team you pick, I'll work hard to represent you. We will not always agree on the decisions I help make, but I can promise I'll listen and vote based on facts to help make our town even better.

I'm especially happy to have had the support of my tiny terrific team. I did not ask for donations and I did not ask for volunteers, but I gratefully accepted all that was offered in the way of help. I am proud to say that every sign on a supporters' lawn was put there by request. So, I'm confident my support is spontaneous and authentic, just like me!