Tag: renfrew-town-council

CLERK ERRETT MADE DIRECTOR

Mayor Tom Sidney and Clerk Carolynn Errett are head table pals.

That much is evident just by watching Renfrew Town Council meetings in person, as the two are in constant and consistent sidebar discussions, which I guess is completely natural and to be expected when you have a mayor who seems not to know what he’s doing and a clerk sitting as the procedural expert.

These kinds of synergies are essential in professional environments, and there’s no reason why a small-town council ought to be an exception to that.  The mayor is still in his on-the-job training stint, over two years after his landslide election win back in 2022, when he prevailed over all his rivals in what can only be called a political magic carpet ride of euphoria not seen in these parts, well, ever.  And no doubt ever again.  Sidneymania has appeared to reach it’s end-of-use date.

With his clear mandate of 873 votes, maybe a dozen or so over his nearest competitor, Mayor Tom sits astride an empire of influence and power, especially now since our premier fell and hit his head on the barbecue and granted Strong Mayor powers to the chieftains of small municipalities across the province, including those currently swirling down the drain.

Like Renfrew.  And like Mayor Tom himself.

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NEPOTISM AT TOWN HALL?

Nepotism is generally regarded as the practice of hiring or favouring relatives over others.  It’s using personal influence, even power within an organization, to give a friend or family member a leg-up when it comes to an opportunity.

It happens everywhere.  It happens here.  And no matter what attempts are made, or lip-service offered, it’s something that’s awfully difficult to get rid of.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t try, or do our best to ensure it doesn’t become SOP, or standing operating procedure.

The staff of the Town of Renfrew is riddled with nepotism.  I’m sorry, but there it is, and there’s no point in running away from that fact.

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TRANSPARENCY IS BLIND

Renfrew Council goes into closed section a lot.  Like, an awful lot.

And how is one supposed to know if these closed sessions are legitimate?  As in some of them?  All of them?  None of them?

Of course, that last one would never apply, because there are legitimate reasons for a council to meet in-camera, a term I’m surprised I don’t hear more often from the pretentious bunch who otherwise like to stick to their in-house admin vocabulary, because I guess they feel it makes them sound smart.  Or at least smarter than us.

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PARKING REPORT TENDERED

I’ll come right out and say it, I’m no expert at parking.  And as painful as it is to personally admit such a shortcoming, I’ve never been tasked to look into parking on the scale required for a municipality of some 8,000 souls, give or take a dozen.

The working group formed to study parking in Renfrew and make recommendations has done so, and much to my surprise, it came back with recommendations and I’m still alive.  I had suggested that the whole working group thing was just another piece of due diligence, which may be a bit of an over-reach, but I suppose such steps are part of any healthy exercise by which a municipality can come to grips with its current parking policy, and adjust it to fit the emerging needs of the community.  Such gatherings usually take time, and more time, and then more time, because people like to talk, and then talk some more, and then even more still.  But this group somehow got it all done in a few months.  And I’m still alive!

With respect to parking, there’s no standing still.

Which brings me to one point, the point where it’s recommended that all prohibitions against standing — stopping your vehicle for a period of time with you still in it, often with the engine idling — will be removed.  

I think.

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COUNCIL IS NOT STORY TIME

Please, don’t read to me.

I’ve seen this phenomenon a lot over the years, mostly in education, but often enough in other spheres, like government and politics as well.

There’s no feeling of personal fulfillment greater than when you read through documents released in advance, only to have those same documents read back to you, word-for-word, by somebody tasked with giving a report or a presentation.

So if I’m a councillor in a municipal context, I’m going to get my information from the pre-meeting release of the agenda, then attend the meeting to get an in-person report from the officer in charge, whether that’s a manager, or a director, or whatever.

But don’t freaking read to me.

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PETER EMON AS MAYOR?

What makes a mayor a good mayor?

I ask this because I believe I just witnessed a good mayor in action.  The only thing is, the guy’s not the mayor.  He’s the reeve.

Peter Emon sat in the big chair last Tuesday and played the role of Master of Ceremonies for that evening’s Town Council meeting, and I have to say he didn’t look out of place, not one bit.

To some, this might have the appearance of me being a cheerleader for Emon’s mayoral prospects in 2026, assuming the man is even in the running for the position.  I recently penned an article outlining a recent integrity complaint against the reeve, the second one since I’ve taken an interest in the workings and personalities of our local government.  In the first one, he was found to be in the wrong, and in the second, he was found to be not.

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WHEN THE HOUSE FALLS DOWN

By God, they’re going to do something about the municipal garage, they’re just not quite sure what.  And they’re going to spend money on the place, but they’re not quite sure how much.  The place will exist in one form or another, just in what form, and for how long?

All of this formed the core of a discussion involving the long-dilapidated municipal garage, a structure in the midst of its slow, methodical march towards collapse and oblivion, hopefully with no town staff inside when it falls down around them.

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BARRIERS TO TRANSPARENCY

I’m back for another ride on the acountability/transparency train, not because I like the view or because I’m a train guy, but more because I feel as if I lost my wallet on a previous trip and have hopes that it might turn up.

Fat chance.

Today, I’m going to rant a little bit about agendas, as in meeting agendas, as in the ones that are released out of the Clerk’s office a few days before any general council meeting that’s open to the public.

Agendas are important, not because they’re road maps for discussion, but also because it gives the boys and girls at home and on our ships at sea an opportunity to get some idea as to what the topics for that meeting are to be.  It does double-duty as an informative and handy reference for anyone attending a meeting in person or viewing the process via the YouTube Livestream service offered by the town.

We all know, or ought to know, that accountability of public officials, whether elected or staff, is something more than merely the mouthing of words.  Words are cool and everything, but for accountability to have any meaning, those words have to be consistent with deeds, with real and appreciable evidence that efforts are made, and things done, to ensure that those words and deeds match up.

As it goes for accountability, so too does it go for transparency.

We can say transparency is a matter of critical importance to us, but then go about our business in such a  way as to render our lofty ideals as being practically useless.  No good idea is a good idea unless it’s backed-up and followed-through by good action to implement the good idea.  Anything short of this is lip-service, window-dressing, chimera, fool’s gold.

Take your pick, they’re all bad.

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THE POLITICAL EVOLUTION OF JOHN MCDONALD

I’m pretty sure that Renfrew Councillor John McDonald has always had game.  I don’t think you can be a big-city police officer without having a certain predisposition for getting to the bottom of things, and it appears that trait and that predisposition has transferred to his work on Renfrew Town Council.

All that said, at least from my perspective, the councillor has found his political and administrative accountability game, or has refined it, in the several months that I’ve been following Council.

Being a politician, and being an elected councillor, are not things that are easily done.  Like any job or endeavour, it takes a bit of time to sort out the environment, the players, the issues, and the answers involving those issues.  You don’t just open a jar of political acumen and pour it out on a plate.  Instead, it’s something that’s learned and earned, and if you’re earnest in your reasons for being a councillor, then that learning and earning are important parts of the process.

Councillor McDonald appears to be well on his way.

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COUNCIL ASKS FOR STAFF ORGANIZATION CHART

A number of councillors have made a point of requesting an employee organizational chart for the Town of Renfrew, but they’ve been somewhat stymied by a staff leadership that doesn’t feel inclined to release such a thing, ostensibly because it’s not something they “typically” do.

Which when you get right down to it, is staff-speak for we could if we wanted to, but we just don’t want to.

Which is staff-speak for you’re going to have to try a lot harder to get us to create, then release such information, and we’ll stonewall you until you and the other councillors make us do it through an explicit direction from Council.

I won’t go too much into how impressed I get when somebody tells me something can’t be done, or won’t be done, because, well, that’s not the way we typically do things. A statement like that doesn’t make me want to back off, it makes me want to insist that you go “atypical“ and give me the information that I’m entitled to.

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