{"id":49112,"date":"2021-03-25T11:44:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T15:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=49112"},"modified":"2021-03-26T11:51:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T15:51:42","slug":"do-the-research-and-dont-take-it-personally-councillors-share-advice-on-public-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/do-the-research-and-dont-take-it-personally-councillors-share-advice-on-public-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Do the research and don\u2019t take it personally: councillors share advice on public life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Be prepared to do lots of reading and research, be prepared for things to not always go your way, and be prepared to have a thick skin. That\u2019s some of the advice that councillors had on Tuesday night in an open house talking about civic life, meant to inform people who are considering running for municipal office.<\/p>\n

Local political organizer Sabine Dietz put together the event which was attended by most of council, many staff, and a handful of citizens.<\/p>\n

Hear this story as reported on Tantramar Report:<\/em><\/p>\n\n

 <\/p>\n

You can watch\u00a0the full proceedings online<\/a>, or check out\u00a0CHMA Talks<\/a>\u00a0to hear more of what councillors had to say.<\/p>\n

Dietz asked councillors to talk about what inspired them to run for council, and why others might consider doing the same. Councillor Allison Butcher cast a wide net for those would might want to consider throwing their hat in the ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people are satisfied with things as I was,\u201d said Butcher, \u201cthen why not be a part of continuing to make it a good place to live? And if people are dissatisfied with how things are going, then what better way to effect change than to be a part of the council at the municipal level?\u201d<\/p>\n

Many councillors highlighted the need for diversity of opinions, not just to get a better quality of decision, but also to give voters choices.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important for people to run for council so that people voting have choices,\u201d said Councillor Bill Evans. \u201cIf only eight people offer then then the citizens don\u2019t have a choice in picking the kind of council they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Andrew Black and Allison Butcher described their decision process in running for council, and each noted that others had asked and encouraged them to run. Both also acknowledged that being already well-known in the community likely helped them at the polls.<\/p>\n

The consensus also seemed to be that the job required a lot of work, particularly in terms of research, reading, and meetings, but that it was manageable. Several councillors had full time jobs and young families during their tenure, and they noted that town staff made efforts to accommodate schedules and make it work.<\/p>\n

Councillor Mike Tower added that in addition to the workload, any new councillor must also be prepared for not always getting their way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever\u2019s gonna run for council should be prepared to put the hours in, to do the research, so that you can make your arguments and try to persuade members of the team,\u201d said Tower. But after that, councillors also have to be ready to accept the group\u2019s decision, regardless of whether you are personally in favour. \u201cIf council says no to a motion, or says yes to a motion which you\u2019re against, it\u2019s over and it\u2019s done. Move on. That motion was by council, and you have to accept that. It\u2019s the proper thing,\u201d said Tower.<\/p>\n

Bill Evans echoed that sentiment when he described the work of council as a team sport:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to come in and recognize that if you get elected, you have a right to be here, and so does everybody else,\u201d said Evans. \u201cYou have to work with those people. Not your friends, not with people who agree with you. You have to work with this group of people who collectively represent the people in town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you go in with reasonable expectations, that it\u2019s going to be challenging, and you have a serious job to do, then you\u2019re going to be just fine,\u201d said Evans. \u201cThe town will be just fine with a bunch of people like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councillors also shared some thoughts on the public scrutiny they face as elected politicians. Allison Butcher said she was surprised by a certain attitude when we was first elected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that shocked me most at the beginning was the people who were like, \u2018Oh, yeah, council, they don\u2019t care about the town,\u2019\u201d said Butcher. \u201cAnd I always thought, what a bizarre concept, that people would think you would run for council of a community because you don\u2019t care about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that people often get upset about things when they feel they lack control,\u201d said Butcher, \u201cor it\u2019s easier to get annoyed about something than to actually do something about it. But council is a way to make things better, to be a part of a solution. And that\u2019s why it\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill Evans also said that while, \u201cworking together to affect positive change is wonderfully rewarding,\u201d there are down sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will say, you know, unpleasant things,\u201d said Evans. \u201cThey\u2019ll accuse you of being dishonest or incompetent, and you don\u2019t believe that you\u2019re either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think more people would run if fewer people treated elected officials that way,\u201d said Evans, \u201cbut that\u2019s the reality of it. So if you\u2019re going to run for office, you will become a public figure and expose yourself to that sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though many councillors noted the negative aspect of public feedback, they also talked about the positive feedback that can come from members of the public when they feel their concerns have been represented, and the satisfaction from feeling that you\u2019ve helped make an improvement to life in Sackville.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when you get behind something, and you see it succeed, then you see the result of it,\u201d said Mike Tower, \u201cthat\u2019s a pretty darn good feeling inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tune in to\u00a0CHMA Talks\u00a0<\/a>Thursday at 6pm to hear more of what councillors had to say, or\u00a0watch the full proceedings<\/a>\u00a0online.<\/p>\n

Anyone interested in running for town council has until April 9, 2021 at 2pm to submit their paperwork to\u00a0Elections NB<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More reading:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Nominations for town council, school district and health authority boards open tomorrow<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Be prepared to do lots of reading and research, be prepared for things to not always go your way, and be prepared to have a thick skin. That\u2019s some of the advice that councillors had on Tuesday night in an open house talking about civic life, meant to inform people who are considering running for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":49123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,225],"tags":[7638,7640,7641,4596,7639,3619,7342],"radio":[227],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49112"}],"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=49112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49112"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=49112"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=49112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}