A move by MidlandToday to tap the mood of local elected officials has brought a simple survey request to the council debate floor.
Over the past month, Community Editor Andrew Philips sent along a short survey to all council members in North Simcoe. The survey became a topic of discussion at Penetanguishene's council meeting Wednesday.
The question: Should councillors be given the freedom to respond to it on their own or should staff craft an answer with council input?
"I have had discussions through the mayor's teleconference with neighbouring municipalities and it's kind of a mix," said Mayor Doug Leroux. "We all know that Midland has been doing it individually. Tiny Township has decided they don't want to do it individually. They want to send in a response as council as a whole.
"In Tay's case, they were hoping to do the same," he added, "but Mayor Ted Walker informed me that a couple of them wished to do their own and then he was also told that there were two of them that had no intentions of responding at all."
Leroux said he was bringing it up at council to ask council members how they wanted to proceed.
"If (you) want to do a combined one or if (you) want to do one on your own, or there might be those that don't want to do one at all," he said. "It's up to each councillor what their wish and desire is."
Coun. Brian Cummings was the first one to speak up.
"These questions are personal opinion, personal political views and I don't believe staff really should be providing answers that members of council are providing," he said. "I think we all have our own little ideas of what's going on, even though we are united with our strategic plan, there are some things that may come up. I believe we should be free to answer on our own if we choose to."
Deputy Mayor Anita Dubeau and councillors Debbie Levy and Michel Mayotte showed support for what Cummings said.
"I will be doing my own, thank you very much," said Levy.
Leroux said this was exactly why he asked the question.
"If you all want to, you can just go ahead and proceed all do your own," he said. "If there are those that don't want to do one, then you're free to do that as well."
Leroux did add a clarification: "It's not staff's ideas or recommendations. It's input from members of council that staff would prepare."
The survey Philips sent out to council members in the four municipalities is a common year-end practice in newsrooms. It gives council members a chance to reflect on their year in office and focus on the gains and losses. It also helps in realigning their ideas moving forward.
Five responses to the survey by Midland council members have already been shared on MidlandToday's website.
Philips received a call from Tiny Township staff indicating all of council will provide a combined response to this individual exercise.
So far, four Tay Township councillors have also sent in their responses, but a Thursday committee discussion indicated they still sought clarity around how council members should deal with members of the media. (Story to follow.)
The Penetanguishene motion around the survey died on the floor as there was no mover or seconder.
The survey provided to councillors (question #4 varied by municipality):
Question 1. What are you most proud of, personally as a councillor, that you/council have been able to accomplish in the first half of your mandate?
Question 2. What is your biggest disappointment as it relates to a council decision/direction or issue?
Question 3. Nobody saw the pandemic coming. Specifically, as a councillor, what is the biggest challenge the pandemic has created and how have you tried to tackle that challenge?
Question 4. What is your vision for the area known as Midland Bay Landing (i.e. a full park, half a park and the balance development, mostly development)?
Question 5. Are you doing enough as a council to be transparent, to encourage public input and to listen? How so? How could that be improved during the second half of your mandate?
Question 6. What is the biggest challenge council faces in the second half of its mandate (ie. Staff retirements, promised tax freeze, capacity) and what are your top priorities?
Question 7: Lastly, do you intend to seek re-election? Why or why not?
