The first thing I noticed was the seating plan.
As a former teacher, changes to seating plans were almost traumatic events for students since they had no idea what neighbourhood of the classroom they may be calling their new home, and, of course, had no idea of who their new neighbours might be. No matter the intent behind the seating shift, it was inevitable that some students would be delighted by the change, with others less so. And the major determining factor as to whether you were a “winner” or a “loser” was entirely social, and having to do with friends, or possibly a lack thereof.
I tuned in to the Renfrew Town Council live-feed after-the-fact, viewing it this morning rather than putting myself through the whole death by a thousand cuts experience you get when you attend in person. And the first thing I noticed was what I call the head table, the one where the big cheeses sit, the mayor — Head of Council — the CAO, and the Clerk.
I’m not sure the reason for the shift, where CAO Raybone and Clerk Errett swapped spots, with the mayor still positioned in the middle, since he’s Head of Council — by title anyways — with the two staffers on either side. Except now, Raybone was to his right and Errett to his left. This may be an effort by the mayor to balance out his neck muscles as he, for months anyways, was always consulting the Clerk to his right, and perhaps developed a kink in his neck that required placing the Clerk to his left so as to get some positive, made-at-home physiotherapy action to relieve that muscular stress. Strong mayors need strong neck muscles, it’s a thing.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that the Minister of Municipal Affairs has handed down a new procedural policy whereby CAOs must be seated to the HOC’s right, as in the whole “Right hand of the Father” thing you get at church, where the important people are seated to the right, as in the term “right-hand man,” only in this case, a woman. Maybe somebody was dusting off a copy of the Municipal Act, a premium dust-catcher if there ever was one, and the bible of municipal staffers everywhere, used liberally as justification for a myriad of things. Maybe they stumbled across a poorly-worded and poorly thought-out section dealing with the seating arrangement for HOCs and their essential staffers. I mean, if the Municipal Act says something is so, then by cracky, it’s so.
Council was busy squabbling over whose name should be affixed to the letter, a bit of minutia that reminded me of the orchestra aboard the sinking Titanic arguing over who would get the encore performance for the night. The letter is currently signed by the mayor, as HOC, and completely appropriate as is. I don’t think the staffer in the premier’s office who will come into first contact with the letter is going to get too caught-up on the signature at the bottom of the letter. Nor will whoever is responsible for intake over at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. But I suppose such discussion gives the impression of weighty discourse, to give all of us watching on YouTube a sense of getting our money’s worth.
It’s entertaining to watch all the administrative staffers in the background as this parry and thrust of debate takes place. To a person, their eyes are down and stay down, mostly on their laptops, where the crucial items of municipal governance are located, or one might suppose since nobody plays Angry Birds anymore. Imagine going to a staff meeting and being eyes-down the whole time? I suppose they all feel that certain items have nothing to do with their silos, or portfolios, so why in the hell should they be expected to listen along, and follow the discussion with their eyes, often thought of as being polite and engaged?
Who wants to watch a bunch of seagulls squabbling over a fry at McDonald’s?
Director/Clerk Errett was at her best, providing valuable and incisive insight around the Strong Mayor topic, which was kind of cool since she owes her directorship to the exercise of those very same powers. As the mayor struggled with a concept or a response, Errett was there to whip the discussion into its proper shape, and “reminding” Council of the various calamities that would have befallen the municipality had certain strong mayor powers not been utilized. Apparently, the committee structure would collapse like a house of cards in a summer breeze. Local governance would come to a standstill. The trains would stop running on time. No trains? Then the birds would stop singing and young boys would stop playing with sticks. All of this if the poor mayor didn’t use his new powers to shovel titles and riches in her direction.
Apparently, the world goes to hell in a hand-basket if Ms. Errett isn’t a director. That is, of course, the positioned articulated by Ms. Errett.
Before this all gets completely out of hand, somebody needs to signal Noah to get that ark out of storage. Sadly, with his two-by-two travel policy, there’s a real possibility there may be no room for Carolynn on the boat. So much for being indispensable.
According to Errett, a doomsday scenario emerges if the mayor doesn’t use those powers. As she said, completely with a straight face, “You have to sometimes use the powers if you don’t want to use the powers.”
Kind of a head-scratcher, that one.
I believe she was quoting a municipal affairs expert who had come in, via Zoom, to “educate” Council on SMPs. Which absolutely figures, because he was all over the map as well. And there is nothing more professionally exquisite than to watch somebody make an attempt at defending the indefensible, twisting themselves into pretzels with the effort.
I had forgotten the value of attending in person, but the YouTube thing is valuable as well, and I thank the tech/media gentleman for his efforts at providing it and producing it. While it can never replace the fashion cues I used to get from the snappily-dressed Director Eric Withers, it still plays a key role in offering commentary on Council affairs. And, of course, the ability to re-visit a discussion and really hone in on certain things is more than valuable.
I’m surprised the mayor didn’t use his super powers to strong-arm it out of existence.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 