Photo: Monique Napier Photography
- Coun. Ted Prior wants Mayor Rob Kirkham to share more information and take councillors to private meetings with investors, etc.
- Council recently voted to have weekly reports from the Mayor, a step up from the bi-weekly reports Mayor was presenting to the council.
By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: July 7, 2013
The Mayor of Squamish could do a better job of sharing information with his fellow councillors and the community, says Coun. Ted Prior.
Coun. Prior says Mayor Rob Kirkham should include one or two councillors in private meetings with investors, business people etc.
The Mayor rarely takes any councillors with him to a business or investor meeting, Prior says.
“He could take Susan or Bryan or whoever is the acting Mayor with him so we know what is going on and we can work as a team.”
Last month, Prior introduced a motion asking for weekly reports from the Mayor, a step up from the bi-weekly reports the Mayor was submitting to the council.
With Coun. Doug Race and Coun. Ron Sander opposed, the motion was carried to have weekly reports from the Mayor.
Prior says the weekly reports are better than the slimly written, bi-weekly reports.
While the weekly reports are a step in the right direction, the Mayor owes it to the community to be more open and transparent by bringing along a councillor with him to a business meeting, Prior insists.
“I sometimes learn about things in the newspaper that I should have learned here.” Ted Prior.
Prior said Squamish could learn from other towns in the province.
The Mayor of Victoria, Prior said, never goes into a meeting without a councillor with him.
“I don’t think I have ever been invited to a meeting, but I’m available and I would like to participate,” he said.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman said the intent of Prior’s motion is altruistic.
“He (Prior) just wants to create a more conducive way of communicating amongst all,” she said.
Heintzman also said a lot of Mayors put their meetings on the website for the public to see.
“I think it’s all about transparency.” she said.
Not everyone on the council shared her view.
Coun. Doug Race said the Mayor is the point man of the community, and he could be dealing with sensitive issues in these meetings.
“Some of them could be extremely sensitive for political and business reasons,” he said.
Race voted against the motion, along with Coun. Ron Sander, who didn’t speak to the motion.
Mayor Kirkham said he was willing to submit weekly reports to the council, but refuted the suggestion that he was deliberately hiding something from the council.
“It sounds to me that there is a sense that there is backroom deals or negotiations, or moving business forward,” Kirkham said.
He said the business of the council is conducted in the council chamber, and no business can move forward without council approval.
Prior, meanwhile, said his intention in raising the issue is to ensure the council works as a team and no business opportunities are lost.
dp says
Looks to me like Teddy wants some inside information to get a jump on the developers… sort of like Chicago type politics. Surely one can get an independent opinion or feel of the community without including all the neigbours. Does Teddy invite the Mayor into all his off the record discussions with the public ?
David Lassmann says
The Mayor has all the responsibilities that the other members of Council have, plus some additional ones. He has to be selective about how to use his time, and that is up to him. It would be pointless for an individual to waste his time with a matter that will have to go through due process in any event and the Mayor cannot cook up a sweetheart deal anymore that a Councillor could. It would be a good idea for the Mayor to communicate with Council however, and likewise with the voting public. He does, after all, represent the whole community.
Jeff Cooke says
Dear dp, I think your comments are irresponsible and the fact that you have not disclosed your identity confirms it. It is not unreasonable to ask for more transparency from our elected officials at all levels. Furthermore, I would think more smart minds on a problem might contribute to better solutions. We have elected the councillors as well as the mayor to govern. Doesn’t it make more sense to include them when they feel they have something to offer and want to contribute to making our community better?
Jaspera says
Anyone ,who follows closely what is happening in politics at any level in any area in Canada, should be well aware that the lack of transparency, the lack of inclusion, the lack of communication with the general public leads to bad, secretive decisions and poor accountability that frequently, detrimentally impact the tax-paying public. This has led to an outcry across the nation for more openness, transparency, and thereby accountability. Let’s assume that Ted Prior is urging such openness, transparency and therefore accountability for all the right reasons. Then he is right to be urging the mayor to be more up-front, more inclusive, more communicative, and therefore accountable to not only the councillors but even more importantly to the tax-paying residents of Squamish. Likewise it is incumbent on all the other councillors to be and do so. Race and Sanders may believe that “sensitive” subject matter should be treated secretly, but such situations are relatively rare and should not vitiate the absolute need for openness, transparency, communicativeness, and again accountability. They seem sublimely unaware of what is happening across Canada, whether with the Feds (Senate, The House), provinces, or other communities where other politicians are finally waking up the fact that the public is fed to the teeth with secretiveness and poor accountability by politicians of all stripes,, and that includes Squamish. They are demonstrating a gross insensitivity, verging on arrogance. to the concerns of not only Prior but all locals in Squamish. We should all be trying to ensure that genuine democracy prevails here.
Lisa Princic says
Well said Jaspera. I agree that a democratic government should be 100% transparent. It’s a different ball game than the business world. It doesn’t mean that everyone has to attend every meeting but it should be open to those who are interested. Let’s move forward on a basis of trust rather than secrecy. A foundation of trust is worth building on.
Auli Parviainen says
This is a much needed conversation that should not prompt comments like DP above. A local government that embraces transparency, openness and true collaboration is what the community and people are looking for. Of course all reasonable people understand that not all details can be made public but as Jaspera notes, those are few and far between. There is more expertise and power in 2 than there is in 1 not to even mention that it builds safety for elected representatives and other parties to have two in any meeting. While I hope this weekly reporting would do the trick I suspect that we are still somewhat mired in antiquated attitudes about what true leadership looks like. Smart leaders in the new era empower others to success and embrace the collective and collaborative.
Alexandra Suhner Isenberg says
Wow – can’t believe this is really how Squamish’s politics works. Sadly, the people reading this and the ones annoyed by it are the ones educated enough to have voted (against Kirkham) and/or will be able to make more educated decisions next time. I wish more people cared about local politics.