By Pepper Parr
April 11th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
We published a three part interview with ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte.
The earning curve was the steepest Stolte had ever experienced.
This has not been an easy council to interview. It has been difficult to get a clear sense as to how well they work together and the kind of leadership that has been available to the newcomers.
One said to us early in the term of office that he had been told “not to talk to you” – this one has always been easily swayed.
The five newcomers are certainly a mixed bag – each of them has struggled with the size of the job they got elected to – every one of them will tell you – if they are honest with themselves, that they are way in over their heads – but they work hard and do their best.
A situation has arisen that has the potential to tear this council apart. It should break in a few days; it is expected to be on the city council agenda for April 19th. It might be on the agenda as a Closed session item because it relates to the behavior of a person that we are choosing not to name at this point.
Councillors Stolte and Kearns tend to work together and support the positions each takes.
The collegiality that Councillor Stolte thought existed does not exist. Mayor Marianne Meed Ward has turned out to be a very divisive Mayor – who has not been able to create a council, made up of people new to the game, and turn them into independent operators who buy into the big picture and work as a team to end up with a city that is going to see massive population growth requiring literally hundreds of high rise towers.
Meed Ward has chosen the photo op and social media route. A woman who consistently talks up her background as a journalist has yet to hold an open press conference.
She favours situations, such as her perch at CHML where she is never pressed on serious issues or Cogeco where she has a program of her own.
Posing as a journalist is just plain phony – she knows better but up until recently Meed Ward has had a tribe of supporters who believe she can do no wrong.
Marianne Meed Ward didn’t do all that much to mentor the new members to Council
I was once a fan; she was a strong council member who really knew how to go for the juggler. She taught former Councillor and former Mayor Rick Goldring a tough lesson during the last meeting of that council. She was the best choice for the city in 2018
There is a lot in what Shawna Stolte said during our interview – she was always careful to ensure that she didn’t talk about natters that were debated in Closed sessions – she did say that she has very strong views on the way the city chooses to slip into a Closed session.
Teaching the members of this council that they have an obligation to communicate with their constituents has not been easy. Most feel that their Newsletter is how they can speak to their constituents – the obligation is to open themselves up to media that can ask informed questions.
Stole has taken a first bold step. Her Father would be proud.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
