
December 8, 2022 · 0 Comments
By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER
Mono’s new council will deal with financial pressures in these tight economic times.
That’s one of the expectations outlined by Mayor John Creelman during a special meeting Dec. 6. The town’s new council of Creelman, Deputy Mayor Fred Nix, and councillors Ralph Manktelow, Elaine Capes, and Melinda Davie were sworn in.
“We also owe a debt of gratitude to all the candidates and the residents who became engaged in the election process,” Creelman said. “They raised issues and ideas that we must be mindful of going forward.”
The mayor said it’s almost impossible to calculate the number of councils there’s been since Mono’s inception in 1862.
“I’ve tried,” he said.
There was a time when councils were elected annually. Then terms were for two years, before elections were set for three-year terms. Councils now sit for four-year spans.
Creelman said he was able to nail down that he’s No. 42 in the line of people who have led the municipality.
“And that’s a scary thing because I believe I’ve either met or worked with 10 of those 42 councillors, mayors, and reeves,” he said.
Creelman said governance of a municipality at the best of times is daunting. Mono faces significant financial pressures along with competing visions for our future. Added to that are the external pressures and “edicts from a provincial government that takes too literally our technical legal status as their creatures,” he said.
Mono has a council that’s strong in experience, despite the opinion among some residents that it lacks a mandate because only a few people marked ballots in the October election and the mayor and deputy mayor were acclaimed to their roles.
“I would argue that we very much do have a responsibility to represent all the residents of our town,” Creelman said. “Everyone in Mono, voters or not, expect us to do our job.”
He said everybody at the council table has a single vote on issues. He said it’s tempting to promise a particular result in dealing with an issue. But, ultimately, one can only hope for a particular desired outcome.
Creelman said he’d like to see council over the next four years find ways to improve the customer experience at the Town of Mono and at Dufferin County.
“Nobody should feel their question or issue is not being acknowledged or dealt with on a timely basis,” he said.
He’d like to have better communication with residents through the municipal website, social media channels, and email lists. Gone are the days when the town council published sparse minutes of meetings in the local newspaper. But, at least, people paid attention to that published information, he said.
“I’d like to see us return to that culture of engagement,” Creelman said.
Much progress has been made in how the town enforces its bylaws. Infractions and their outcomes are published. But that’s not enough, he said.
Creelman said the town needs to prioritize its bylaws for updating and adjustments.
Residents should be encouraged to participate in land-use decisions. It’s a shared desire among many people to maintain as much of Mono’s rural, small town feel as possible.
Creelman said he’s grateful for the support and friendship he’s received through his time in public office.
“No one who holds office is perfect or achieves everything they set out to do,” he said. “But we try our very best and actually get a great deal done. And that is the important thing.”
Nix said he’s enthusiastic for what the next four years might bring. But some of that enthusiasm waned when he learned about the provincial government’s Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act “and those people down at Queen’s Park who don’t seem to know what they’re doing.”
He was encouraged to see the quality of people who stepped forward to campaign for a seat on council, compared to the candidates in other municipalities.
“What a great bunch of citizens we have,” Nix said.
To the candidates who were unsuccessful in the October contest, Nix said there’ll be another election in four years.
“I have it on good authority there’s going to be some vacancies open up on council by the end of this four-year term,” he said. “So stay involved. Maybe sit on one of our advisory committees or join one of our volunteer committees.
Capes said it’s her opinion that her life belongs to the whole community. As long as she’s alive, it’s her privilege to do for the community whatever she can.
“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die,” Capes said, and borrowed something attributed to the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw: “The harder I work, the more I live.”
Capes said she’s honoured to be on council and looks forward to serving the residents and the town staff.
“I look forward to engagement with our citizens, for their participation to help us define and work toward achieving the best possible outcomes for Mono and its residents,” she said.
Manktelow said he’s looking forward to getting to work over the next four years, continuing the excellent governance that’s been a trend on Mono council.
Given current inflation, Manktelow said the municipal budget process isn’t going to be an easy task.
There are two areas of which he’s particularly interested.
“I don’t think I can recall a time in my history when the world has been so divisive,” he said. “It’s very troubling.
“I feel that our diversity, equity, and inclusion program can play a small part.”
The community climate action plan is the other subject of his interest.
Davie said there is a need for more engagement among residents in determining the town’s direction.
“My job is to be your voice as one vote on this council,” she said.
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