I had an interesting conversation with a voter today. He's unhappy with the incumbents for their (lack of) representation of the ward, but he also asked, "how are any councillors supposed to keep up when they don't get the agenda until a few days before the council meeting?"
Although I see his point about the need for agendas to be distributed earlier, I also know that this presents its own challenges with respect to getting delegations on the agenda, etc.
My response to/position on his question is simple.
When you run for City Council, you go in knowing that there will only be a few days between receving the agenda and attending the council meeting. If you're going to commit to representing the people, then you simply make the time to ensure you've familiarized yourself with the agenda.
That's it.
Now, maybe this is easy for me to say, as I've always successfully juggled several projects/responsibilities. I am constantly complimented on my time management abilities.
Right now, I'm a wife, a mother of a 5- and 3-year-old, a student, a teacher, and a volunteer. I make it all work. Going into this, I know that I will be required to attend meetings on Monday evenings, as well as some committee meetings and special events.
I know this, so I will make the necessary arrangements to make it work.
If one cannot fulfill their responsibilities because they are too busy, maybe they should think twice about running for Council.
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