By Pepper Parr
November 16th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
During the Inaugurations of the 2022-2026 city council last night Mayor Marianne Meed Ward announced the creation of Deputy Mayors with each member of Council having a specific portfolio.
She likened these to federal Cabinet level portfolios
Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith being sworn in
Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith will be responsible for the removal of red tape, better delivery of permits and working with the agricultural community to ensure a robust agricultural economy.
Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns has been given the Community Engagement and Participation portfolio where she will review the current community engagement model and the Advisory Committee model. Working with the Recreation portfolio Deputy Mayor is included in the work Kearns is expected to do.
Rory Nisan is Deputy Mayor for Environment will focus on the role of Conservation Halton, overseeing the Climate Emergency matters and transit.
He will wok on the Climate action plan and restart conversations with the Boards of Education on free transit for students.
Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte has the Affordable Housing portfolio which is a natural extent ion to the work she did during her first term. She will work on the implementation of the housing strategy and liaise with the Region on affordable housing.
Paul Sharman, Councillor for ward 5 will handle the Budget and Vision to Focus, which is the four year focus on the 25 year Strategic Plan. He will also focus on KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) and other measurements on how will the city is doing. Multi year budgets will also be part of that portfolio,
Councillor Bentivegna will be Deputy Mayor for Recreation and community service and the city’s relationship with the hospital. He will also oversee the Recreation and Culture Master Plan which Council expects to complete this year.
What Mayor Meed Ward did not expand on is how the work each Council member does as a Deputy Mayor will be integrated into how Council operates and how they will work with Staff.
Mayor Meed Ward after being sworn in. City Clerk Kevin Arjoon on the right and Justice of the Peace Mark Curtis
She did say that there will be close collaboration between her and the Deputy Mayors.
Meed Ward has worked to create stronger roles for the members of Council. During her first term she was not able to get the support she wanted from the members of Council who seemed to see being Deputy Mayor as the first step to eventually becoming Mayor.
Her announcement is an interesting evolution of the role members of Council play in the creation of policy and program initiatives.
The Inauguration was actually a meeting of Council that was certainly not what the public has been used to seeing. The Burlington Teen Tour Band led the parade of Councillors in the Main Theatre of the Performing Arts Centre and led them out when the meeting was adjourned.
Hayley Verrall sang the National Anthem – it was very well done.
The 2022-2026 City Council. Councillor Shawna Stolte was absent, taking part virtually while she recovers from Covid18
Really silly way of trying to manipulate her council. Easy way out.
Biting my tongue on this one.
This is a good idea. It will require each of the deputies to work with each other, and draw on various strengths. It also gives Paul Shaman a pivotal role in keeping the team on track.
A Deputy Mayor title suggests a greater role in government entitling the DM’s for a larger pay cheque. How much more?
This is not unlike a Prime Minister appointing their cabinet members with Portfolios!
I would like to see specific goals for each DM and the measuring device for each task.
Absolutely Grahame, but don’t hold your breathe – that would just be too much common sense. 2014 – 2022 Burlington did not do well with measuring performance. Rather they irefused to consider well referenced professionals’ audits that show they are non-compliant with duties of their Audit Committee; minutes not matching Municipal Act requirements (Ombudsman Amberley Gavel called them out on this one and were ignored); set Special Council Meetings on the Calendar when their Procedural By-laws definition of such forbids it; inappropriate alteration of Commissioner of Oaths Stamp and use by non-owner on Nomination Forms: allow the policies required to properly administer the city to expire over and over again; all of which were never addressed. So, of course, lead to more of the same issues and questionable authority of decisions made; and then last but not least, remove the evidence as set out in city webcasts, that they are not doing the job they ran for.