Mayor is in China: Lancaster serves as deputy Mayor - loves the job and her Mother approves.

By Pepper Parr

September 29, 2015

BURLINGTON, ON

“Oh yes, you do that” was the comment from Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster who was serving as the Deputy Mayor at a city Council meeting Monday evening.

The Mayor has in the past appointed a Deputy to represent the him at an event; should he not be available for a Council meeting – his Deputy fills in. This rarely happens in Burlington.

Councillor Blair Lancaster serving as Deputy Mayor and chairing a city council meeting.

Lancaster needed to get a grip on the job of serving as Mayor and chairing a Council meeting. She stepped a little outside the rule book when she began to call a recorded vote and surprised city Clerk Angela Morgan who is the person who calls the roll when a vote is being recorded.

Blair Lancaster, serving as deputy mayor gets her paper work looked over by her Mother, Donna Lancaster, after the Council meeting.

Lancaster did a fine job. She brought her poise and politeness to the task and explained to the view audience (Council meetings are broadcast live via Cogeco Cable) what was happening each step of the way. She did a better job at that task than Mayor Goldring does; he often appears strained when he is explaining something.

Lancaster was just loving the job – the only thing she didn’t get to do was wear the Chain of Office.

The event was big enough in the Lancaster household for Blair to have her husband and Mother Donna in the Council Chamber to witness the event.

Are the pictures they took part of some future campaign literature?

As for the Mayor – well no one is saying where he is other than that he is away on “official business”. The Gazette had learned that the Mayor was in China and his office was able to confirm that the Mayor was on an out of town trip. Which when asked they added he was in China and due back on Wednesday.

Municipal government rarely, if ever, works directly with a foreign government. One can speculate that the city’s economic development department has put together a deal with a Chinese company and that the Mayor has travelled to welcome the company to the city.

The Executive Director of the Economic Development corporation is away on vacation and not due back until October 5th; the Gazette understood the McKeown vacation was planned some time ago.

Mayor Rick Goldring in China on “official business”

The Mayor’s communications adviser and his Chief of Staff are not on the trip to China.

It is all a bit of a mystery – but something is up.

Burlington takes has a different definition of community engagement – ‘tell them what they should know when we feel they should know’ just about sums it up.