View From The Gallery
Wow – All I can say is WOW. The view from the gallery in council chambers at last night’s council meeting was jaw dropping to say the least. I have so many opinions on The Town of Orangeville’s latest council meeting, that I don’t even know where to start… So I guess I will start out by saying that I am absolutely appalled by the behaviour of council as a whole at last night’s meeting. There is such a complete lack of respect amongst these people, that I can’t begin to fathom how the next 4 years will play out.
The Line Has Been Drawn
There is a very clear line in the sand that has been drawn…there are certain councillors who will always vote together…that has been made crystal clear in the last 2 meetings. And in my humble opinion, this is a counterproductive way to execute our municipal government body. As I say all the time to my staff at work, you don’t have to like each other, but you do have to respect each other and be open to hearing varying points of view. Whether or not you “like” the person who puts forth a motion should have no real bearing on your vote…and if it does, there are clearly larger issues at hand. As elected members of council, your job is to do what is best for the Town of Orangeville as a whole and your personal opinions should not affect your ability to do that job. I don’t know about you, but I would like to actually see some real issues in Orangeville addressed rather than petty and childish finger-pointing.
Code of Conduct
There was a motion brought forward at last night’s meeting for council to adopt of code of conduct…and the motion failed. Yes, you heard me right, the motion FAILED!!! I am sure that my facial expression was quite telling of how I felt about that…in fact my gasp of shock was probably heard throughout council chambers. How is it even possible for The Town of Orangeville Council NOT to have a code of conduct!?!?!?!? Ethics and integrity are so utterly important in all aspects of business – and probably even more so in the world of politics – and I, for one, have NEVER worked anywhere than didn’t have a code of conduct – it is pretty standard practice. What does this say about the moral compass of those who voted against this?? As a manager, if I had a new associate who refused to sign my company’s code of conduct, I can tell you for sure that they would NOT be employed by my company. And as a tax payer, who is responsible for paying the salaries of those who represent our town by serving on The Town of Orangeville’s Council, I have to ask…where lies the issue?? Is this some kind of foreshadowing for what to expect in the years to come?
Demanding Apologies
Perhaps the most astounding of all was Councillor Bradley’s “outburst” where she demanded numerous apologies from Mayor Williams on everything from where councillors were seated, to addressing a fellow councillor by his first name, to calling people up in the wrong ranking order. Really?? Was this a necessary piece of “new business”?? Is this really the maturity level that my tax dollars are paying for?? I would expect more professionalism from a Student Council…in an elementary school. I GET IT – You don’t like the Mayor – you have made that VERY clear…but to call him out in a public setting showed a complete lack of respect for Mayor Williams, his position in our Town and was a disgrace to women in politics as a whole. Can I be more clear when I say “You don’t have to like him, but you do have to respect him”. More childish games like this will continue to waste my tax dollars and I am not okay with that!! And I have to ask…Councillor Bradley, Did you take the time to speak to Mayor Williams privately about your concerns?
In my humble opinion, perhaps if we had a Code of Conduct, there would be more respect shown amongst our council? Food for Thought.
After each piece of your information can you please allow Comment lines? I wanted to so much comment but, could not remember it all. Great Job Lisa!
Shocking! Bravo to you for writing what anyone watching was thinking.
thank you lisa for taking the time for this! very interesting..i for one are glad to have your insite in the politics of our town..i think most of us know its going to a rough ride for the next 4 years with a lot of unfortunate drama.
You already know my thoughts on what happened, so I’m just going to stand up and applaud you on posting about this, because this is a joke.
Great job Lisa Post!
You hit it right on from last nights council meeting. It is troubling to see behaviour like this with our elected officials. They all our guilty.
What is MOST concerning is the code of conduct failed. I encourage everyone to see who voted for it (it was a recorded vote) and who voted against. For those that voted against, ask them this – why did you vote against the code of conduct? How are you going to be ethical in office? As a taxpayer, when you have no ethics, you have not accountability. Which means wasting your money.
Keep up the great posts Lisa!
Isn’t it appalling that we are paying this coucil a whopping amount of our tax dollars to behave like children instead of looking out for the good of this Town. Keep up the good work Lisa!
As I said in reference to the Banner article, one does not deserve respect you earn respect. Yes the title of Mayor or Councillor is an honour but the respect for the person holding the title must be earned.. I can believe, but am also appealed that a Code of Conduct failed. But in saying that the Municipal Act does have this in place. Councils can not do less then the Act but can also do more if they so choose. Guess they chose!
Greetings! Very useful advice within this post! It is the little changes that will make the largest changes.
Thanks a lot for sharing!
Respect has to be earned. Yes there is a hierarchy based on position, but our Council is literally equal, one vote each regardless of title. The new mayor has to understand this. I challenged him on this during the campaign. One vote is one vote regardless of what chair you sit in.
“What is MOST concerning is the code of conduct failed. I encourage everyone to see who voted for it (it was a recorded vote) and who voted against.”
Sorry to be a pain, but would it be possible to post a link to this? I, for one, would like to see who voted for what…
Donna, I checked the minutes to this meeting, and that one wasn’t a recorded vote…however, I was there and can tell you who voted for the code of conduct – Councillor Campbell was absent. Councillor Wilson, Councillor Bradley and Deputy Mayor Maycock voted for the code of conduct…Councillor Garisto, Councillor Kidd and Mayor Williams voted against it…So in the event of a tie, the motion fails.
It is absolutely shocking to me to say the least.
~Lisa