By Pepper Parr
July 8th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The Mayor was in a bit of a bind.
She was, uncharacteristically, tip toeing around the issue of face masks.
Mayor Meed Ward at a council meeting before things went virtual
In her most recent public comment the Mayor set out a lot of rationale and examples of what other municipalities were doing. But she still hadn’t taken a strong position.
She followed that up by saying that the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) wasn’t on side – so she, the Mayor, wasn’t going to take a position.
The Gazette published a very strong opinion piece on that.
When it became evident that there wasn’t much in the way of support for the Mayor’s indecision (Social media was crucifying her) she announced that she was going to put forward a motion requiring people to wear face masks in specific situations.
Hold on chimed in ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stole, who is proving to be a rather strong first term councillor. She was the one who pushed for turning some of the road space over to pedestrians – and that is what we have.
Stolte felt very strong that face masks should be required in public places. Transit requires that riders wear a mask; one 9f the major supermarkets asks people to wear a mask.
Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte: bringing a stronger sense of purpose to council that was not seen when she was elected.
Stolte felt that the Mayor was undercutting her initiative and she decided, after a flurry of emails between the two, that a face to face meeting was necessary. That is believed to have taken place last Sunday.
Prior to the Sunday meeting, in an email to a resident Councillor Stolte said:
“I am sitting in my office as we speak finishing my Motion to Council seeking Mandating the Wearing of Masks in all indoor spaces that are accessible to the public.
“I had advised the Mayor and other Councillors repeatedly since June 23 that I would be advocating for a Mandatory Mask Bylaw as I am completely on the same page as yourself and 85% of the population of Burlington.
“The decision announced by the Mayor this past Tuesday was a complete surprise to all of us on Council as there had been no input or conversation about the issue prior to the announcement.
“This has resulted in very intense conversations between the Mayor and myself about respect and the decision making process.
“My Motion will still be coming forward this week, there is certainly not consensus on Council, so not sure how the vote will go.
The Mayor announced this morning that she will be bringing her own Motion (different theme than mine) to Council as well this week, so I just finished an email to the City Clerk asking what the procedural process is for this particular conflict.
“We continue to be in interesting times, but I promise you I will be pushing for this.
“By the way, if you have (name redacted) email could you please forward this message to him as well.”
The two worked something out – because today we see a very lengthy motion sponsored by the two woman (with the name of the Councillor placed before that of the Mayor (and that stuff matters in the worlds of politics)
“We have heard from our community and together” said the Mayor in her Newsletter, “we are bringing forward a proposed mandatory mask bylaw for Burlington. It will be discussed at the July 9 Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability (CSSRA) Committee, with a final vote at council Monday July 13. The proposed temporary bylaw would mandate the wearing of face coverings in all indoor, public spaces in the City of Burlington.
How did they get to his point and are the issues between the Mayor and her Council patched up? Hard to tell.
They all loved her on election night.
It looks as if the Councillor and the Mayor ironed out the differences. Those differences are not between just Stolte and Meed Ward. There have been concerns about the Mayor not working with the Council members and not giving them the respect they believe they have earned.
The five members of council elected in October of 2018 wanted to pull together and not only be seen to be working together but actually working together.
How did the Mayor square things with the Councillor who was not a happy camper. We may never know – only time will tell if the Mayor has the capacity to listen to the members of Council.
Not what we thought we were electing as Mayor that October 18th was it?
