Working as a Democratically Elected Team
At our Council meeting on November 22nd, we had to deal with a very complicated and potentially divisive debate that could have divided Council. During the public hearing we had about 20 people come forward to speak and we received numerous written correspondence. Needless to say there were many opinions and positions on this decision. However, our City Council worked as a team and respected each other’s point of view.
In a world of real time news and political turmoil from all levels of government from all corners of the world, last night’s debate was an excellent example of a government having to make a tough decision in a respectful manner. Each member of Council had a strong position and some differed greatly, but we were able to keep focused on the facts and the details of the decision and not at each other. I realize that this should be the norm but as we have all seen too many times, public debates move away from the topic and into personal attacks.
Of course you will not read in the newspaper about how well Council debated and worked through a difficult issue, you will read about our comments and the vote. I think you should also know how well your Council performed and respected democracy.
