https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Sep-28-Joyce-ONeil-retiring.wav<\/a><\/audio><\/figure>\nTranscript:<\/em><\/p>\nERICA BUTLER:
\n<\/strong>First off, I will ask you to tell me a bit about your career on council. How long did you serve?<\/p>\nJOYCE O\u2019NEIL:
\n<\/strong>I have served for 16 years and four months.<\/p>\nEB<\/strong>: Wow. When you started did you think you would be on council for that long?<\/p>\nJO<\/strong>:
\nNo I certainly did not. As a matter of fact, the first year I ran, it was for three year term, right up until almost the time of the election when the government decided that no, it was going to start being four year terms. So it\u2019s been four year terms ever since. And after each term, then I would run again and get reelected.<\/p>\nEB<\/strong>:
\nAnd so what brought about your decision now to step away and not re-offer?<\/p>\nJO:<\/strong>
\nWell, after 16 years, I just decided that it was time I stepped down. My age doesn\u2019t help any, although I feel well.
\nAnd it was just time I guess. I\u2019m hoping that maybe there\u2019d be some young blood that would come in and would offer to run.<\/p>\nEB<\/strong>:
\nWould you say there were highlights to your time on council, something you\u2019re maybe particularly proud of?<\/p>\nJO<\/strong>:
\nOh, there\u2019s a number of things that I\u2019m really pleased that I\u2019ve seen happen. The first thing was when we had Veolia come in and clean up our water. We had dirty water and complaints from people all over town, and myself being one. Anyway, once Veolia came in and and worked with our water people here in the town, they found out what our problems were, and it\u2019s been corrected. So now it\u2019s very seldom that we have any complaints on the water.<\/p>\nAnd the next thing was we didn\u2019t have a lot of pressure, so we saw the water tower built. And the many upgrades in the Waterfowl Park. And I guess the big thing, as well, we had the Town Hall on the corner of Main and York. And then we had a fire department that was not big enough to house our new trucks. And the RCMP building was outdated. So I was involved in the planning for our new town hall, fire, and police departments. So that was a big thing.<\/p>\n
And then after that, our work that has been done on the Bill Johnstone Park.<\/p>\n
And I guess the latest things are the Lorne Street renewal both below and above ground, and the retention ponds.<\/p>\n
So all in all, there\u2019s been a lot of a lot of things happen over the years.<\/p>\n
EB<\/strong>:
\nWhat were what were some of the most difficult decisions that you faced while you\u2019re on council?<\/p>\nJO<\/strong>:
\nI guess every one is difficult when you start looking at the cost of what it is to do these projects, and wondering if the money is there or can be for what we need done. And then we\u2019ve had changes in our staff and so on. But everything has worked out well, I think. Our staff is super and they all seem to work well together.<\/p>\nEB<\/strong>:
\nI was realizing while watching the council budget meeting when the community groups were presenting, I\u2019m sure it\u2019s difficult sometimes to decide where to put resources when you have a limited budget.<\/p>\nJO<\/strong>:
\nYes, it sure is. I guess it\u2019s just the same as when you\u2019re running your household, what you really need and what you can do without, I guess.<\/p>\nEB<\/strong>: From your perspective, what are Sackville\u2019s big challenges right now and into the future?<\/p>\nJO:
\n<\/strong>Well, I guess our big challenge, of course, is how well we can handle this COVID business. And our hospital is so needed, that\u2019s a big challenge. I know that our mayor worked really hard on that, along with other community members, so that is a big challenge. And I guess the other is that we can still receive the necessary funding from the government to help the town complete their different projects, foreseen and unforeseen, that happen.<\/p>\nEB<\/strong>:
\nWe don\u2019t know exactly when an election will be happening, but it\u2019ll be happening sometime before May 10th, next year. What advice do you have for people who are considering throwing their hat in the race?<\/p>\nJO<\/strong>:
\nWell, number one, if a person thinks they can run for council and get everything done the way they want it, that never happens. It\u2019s not just the decision of one person. It\u2019s the decision of many.<\/p>\nI know that I\u2019ve heard people say, well, boy, if I was in there, I do this or that. Well, that isn\u2019t the way it works. It\u2019s a group of people, and their decisions are the ones that really rule the day.<\/p>\n
They have to be prepared to spend time that they didn\u2019t really think they were going to have to. Special meetings are called and sometimes your meetings go a lot longer, you might think you\u2019re there for two, but you could be there for four hours. So it\u2019s, you have to really make up your mind you\u2019re going to be dedicated to being there for the next four years.<\/p>\n
EB<\/strong>: Now, what the public sees in terms of the work of councillors is those public meetings where, right now, we see you on the screen, but we used to see you in town hall. Tell me a bit about the work that happens behind the scenes, like outside of those meeting times when we see councillors in action?<\/p>\nJO<\/strong>:
\nWell, the work is all done by staff really. And then staff keeps the council up to date. And you have to be prepared. I guess you do what you feel is in your own heart, the way you think things should be done. And then also by listening to what the people, your taxpayers and so on, what they say their feelings are. And you sort of let that all help you make decisions of what should be or shouldn\u2019t be done.<\/p>\nEB:
\n<\/strong>Did you get a fair number of phone calls or messages from residents while you were in office?<\/p>\nJO:
\n<\/strong>No, not really. You get a few. You get a few that make you smile, because they\u2019re telling you how they appreciated what you did. And you\u2019re also getting some where people are certainly telling you that you didn\u2019t make the right decision, or they\u2019re disappointed with what you did. But that all goes with the job.<\/p>\nEB<\/strong>:
\nSo what are your plans now that you have decided to retire from council?<\/p>\nJO<\/strong>:
\nWell, haven\u2019t really taken time to really make any plans, because officially I\u2019m not done until the 30th. But anyway, I\u2019m a member of the Sackville Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. And my part that I play there is in fundraising. I head up a fundraising committee. And once we\u2019re through this COVID, or things change, then we\u2019ll be able to get going on some fundraising again. But right now we\u2019ve just been sitting back and and not able to meet or put groups of people together.<\/p>\nWe\u2019ve had teas and coffee parties. We\u2019ve had different histories and fashion shows, music jamborees and so on, which takes a lot of time if you\u2019re putting something like that together.<\/p>\n
And then also being a mother, grandmother and great grandmother to eight little girls. I guess that\u2019s going to help fill in my time.<\/p>\n
EB<\/strong>: I suppose so. That\u2019s a full time job, basically.<\/p>\nJO<\/strong>: Yes. I volunteered for years before I even ran for council. I believe volunteerism is so important to our town. And I don\u2019t know, I haven\u2019t really given a lot of thought. I guess my thought is just trying to realize I\u2019ve got to
\nfind something else to do now that I\u2019ll be not going to council meetings or reading minutes and so on and so forth.<\/p>\nEB<\/strong>:
\nWell, thanks very much for your time today, Joyce.<\/p>\nJO<\/strong>:
\nOkay, Erica. Thank you for thinking of me and all of the best there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sackville Town Councillor Joyce O\u2019Neil will wrap up over 16 years on council this Wednesday. O\u2019Neil announced her resignation at council\u2019s September meeting, along with mayor John Higham. Erica Butler called up Coun. O\u2019Neil for a final interview in her capacity as town councillor. Here\u2019s their conversation: Transcript: ERICA BUTLER: First off, I will ask…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":12107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,225],"tags":[1687,824,823],"radio":[227],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12100"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=12100"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=12100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}