Stolte announces she will not run for the ward 4 Council seat in October

By Pepper Parr

April 19th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte announced she would not be running for the Council seat in October.

Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte announced during the Integrity Commissioners report that she had come to the conclusion that she was not cut out for this kind of work and said that she would not be running for Council in October.

Council has yet to determine what the penalty would be for the two breaches of the Code of Good Governance.

Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman asks her to reconsider the decision.

 

 

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16 comments to Stolte announces she will not run for the ward 4 Council seat in October

  • Mitch

    Shawna was a big improvement over the multi year incumbent. I hope she reconsiders.

  • Carol Gottlob

    “Peace, order and good governance”. These are the principles of our Canadian constitution. How shameful this council cannot live up to them. Thank you, Shawna, and best of luck. No doubt you will land well.

  • Darrell King

    Weird. My dissenting comment wasn’t posted…

  • Gayle L

    I moved to Burlington 2 1/2 years ago, living in Ward 4, and am extremely impressed by Councilor Stolte. I attended a Council meeting and observed her and others in person. I attended her town halls, read her regular newsletters and concluded she was a hard working councillor who really cared about the citizens in Burlington and did her homework on the various issues. I am so disappointed as how this was handled– that two councillors decided to launch an investigation on these matters and did not have the courtesy to address her concerns about the closed door meetings. That the rest of council voted to dock her 5 days pay– outrageous. She is a professional in her behaviour and actions, and has not done anything that she is personally benefiting from- which is what the integrity commissioner should be dealing with- investigating elected officials who are truly acting inappropriately and against the public interest. Talk about taking a hammer approach unnecessarily. I do hope she reconsiders, as Burlington as a city will feel the loss of her tireless efforts to make our city a better place to live. This whole episode really saddens me as democracy is already in peril, and we need more people like Councilor Stolte to represent us.

  • James

    Good, don’t run for Ward 4 Councillor. This could be a blessing in disguise. Unleash the beast, run for Mayor!! An honest Mayor would be a refreshing change!! Wouldn’t that make for an interesting turn of events.

  • Darrell King

    There are rules to be followed. We do not want councilors deciding to which rules they should abide and to which they should not. No matter that Stolte ostensibly acted in the name of greater transparency; the governing process must be adhered to and there are, rightfully, consequences. You cannot ignore rules for reasons which you believe are justified. In my assessment of Stolte’s performance over the past 3 1/2 years, she has struggled with policies and procedures and is not a representative for all. She instead is just a mouthpiece for specific interests.

  • Alfred

    Elan.

    She was helping those experiencing infill trauma? Really. Trauma caused by the construction of one house in a neighbourhood? The rest of the 11 million people in Ontario are fine without any other forms of construction standards. She was put up to this by those people who live in Roseland. She is considered their lap dog.

    She only released information that served her cause. Other meetings with Council and staff revealed council was breaching many Provincial Government policies. Where were her released secrets then?

    Elan.

    Do yourself a favour. Go pick up a gun and go serve with the Ukrainian army for 4 or 5 months. You need some serious toughening up and a taste of life and reality. Your whimpish comments confuse me. In fairness I’m not sure if you are a man or a women. The name Elan does not sway me one way or the other. If you are a woman it might explain things. If you are a man seriously, go to the Ukraine.

  • Bonnie

    A wise person recently said to me ‘there is no such thing as a honest politician’. I think the above article shows what happens, when a politician attempts to be honest with the residents. Hopefully, in the upcoming fall election, we will see these current council members challenged by a new brand of politician who will fight for transparency.

  • Penny Hersh

    WHY would anyone who has been treated so badly want to remain in this position. How can anyone hope to accomplish anything when this ward system sets everyone apart from each other.

    Things move extremely slowly at City Hall and if some or all of the councillors sitting on council now are elected for another 4 year term what are the chances of change? As Councillor Sharman indicated in his comments that “when elected it is a difficult learning curve and councillors have to depend on staff reports etc”. This was a very telling statement.

    Three councillors last evening indicated that they felt there was no reason to investigate the closed session procedures but did so as “being part of a team”. It will be very interesting to see the report of this investigation and more importantly if any changes of value actually take place.

    Yes, councillor Kearns did vote in favour of the report, but she did it in a way that did NOT demean her fellow councillor and to her credit tried on more than one occasion to bring light to some of the issues that Councillor Stolte had been advocating for, and had to endure criticism as well.. On more than one occasion she was told that she was to discuss only the report itself, while other councillors were allowed more latitude.

    As a resident of Burlington I feel that what transpired last night was not what the integrity commissioner indicated with regard to the report. ” The purpose of the report is not to punish but to provide knowledge for good governance”.

    I will leave it up to others to decide if this indeed was what happened last evening.

  • How unfortunate. Politics is a blood sport. I hope she reconsiders. Burlingtonians are better served with her remaining at the table.

  • perryb

    yes, please reconsider. No need to retreat st this point. Your antagonists have only damaged their own cred. Or run for region chair.

  • Elan

    Shawna Stolte will not compromise on truth. The rest will. Sad loss for Ward 4, for a Councillor that was out there, in the trenches, trying to make a difference. help those experiencing infill trauma, trying to get standards set for construction for infill. inneffecive and resistent city staff (Manager) and MMW narcissism makes any real progess on that issue impossible.

  • Elan

    Those who believe in truth to power will crowd-fund Shawna for the financial loss. But, truly, I can imagine no worse penalty for Shawna than her dissapiontment realizing the Mayor and Council Members (including Kearns) believe hiding relavent facts from the public discourse is good. Thus, her resignation. The City Manager and, expecially this inept and defensive City Clerk, are very much to blame. All is not well at Burlington City Hall. Your best hope for transparancy just resigned,

  • Anne-Marie+Tywonek

    Ms. Stolte does not represent my riding but I feel Burlington will be poorer for the loss of her work and efforts. That said, I !00% respect her decision to protect her sense of well being and, dare I say, sanity.

  • Wendy

    what a shame, Shawna is a wonderful person, open, honest and approachable.