By Pepper Parr
December 16, 2014
Burlington, ON
It was a train wreck in the making. Two powerful engine going in different directions on the same track.
During the selection of the Chair for the Corporate and Community services Standing Committee WHO nominated Meed Ward as the vice chair – that vote wasn’t quite unanimous – Council Craven sat on his hands.
John Taylor to serve as Chair of Standing Committee that will handle the budget proceedings.
Then Councillor Sharman nominated Councillor Craven as chair who accepted readily. Then Councillor Dennison nominated Councillor John Taylor as chair. For a few moments we watched as the divide in Council was plainly and brutally evident.
The vote was called: 4-3 for Taylor as chair. A crisis had been averted.
Councillor Taylor did have a question. He asked if the Chair of the Corporate and Community Services Committee had to vote for the budget.
City Clerk Angela Morgan explained that the Chair of a Standing Committee normally does not vote unless there is a tie.
One gets the sense that Taylor can see problems with the budget this council may have to pass.
Councillor Craven is the best Standing Committee chair this city has – he just can’t work in the same room Meed Ward works in. Having them serve as chair and vice chair of a Standing Committee would be painful to watch.
Councillor Rick Craven, centre, with a copy of the 2013 budget on a memory stick. He lost out to Councillor Taylor for the chairmanship of the Standing Committee on Corporate and Community Services.
Many months before Burlington got itself into election mode Councillor Craven casually commented that he had been thinking about running for Mayor.
He didn’t throw his hat in the ring this time. Is he lining himself up for that job in 2018? Too early to tell – but there is a sense about him these days that makes one wonder.
