Controversy and city council might not be fast friends, but they’re well enough acquainted to get together once or twice a year and pick up where they left off. It’s a complex relationship that’s served this ’burb well over the years. St. Albertans are engaged enough to know when to sit back and trust council to do its job, and when to stand up before (and often, during and after) they really foul up. Council holds up its end by doing a lot of unglamorous yet important work that goes largely unnoticed by the masses and then, two or three times a year, stumbles mightily on the high-profile issues.
Sometimes those stumbles are council’s own fault: the non-transparent Starbucks fiasco, the mayor reaching out to Stephen Harper as a judgmental pen pal, six-figure art purchases weeks before an election, photo radar that’s more like a cash cow than ever (OK, the last one isn’t a full-fledged controversy yet, but here’s hoping!). And sometimes council gets into trouble for seeing the big picture and holding firm to its principles: waste pickup, Arlington Drive. I’m sure there were times during some of the above where you would have liked to know just what the heck was council thinking? Well, this is your lucky day, because coming to a newspaper near you: Deputy’s Corner!
That might not be the actual name of city council’s soon-to-be-launched “newspaper column” but essentially that’s what’s in store for St. Albert newshounds six times a year when they pick up their Gazette. Coun. Cathy Heron got a head start by penning the terms of reference for the bi-monthly deputy mayor’s column, which will be a public engagement vehicle that allows councillors to express individual views to the public “when it is not picked up by the newspaper.” Topics are up to the deputy mayor, a role each councilor fills two months a year, but could include council agenda items and decisions (read: messaging on how Starbucks will provide “value for money” and “to better serve our customers”), progress on council priorities (read: your council at work for you!), emerging municipal trends (read: tax rates are higher in Grande Prairie, so it could be worse!), reports on conferences or courses (read: your tax dollars actually pay for me to schmooze!).
While the above contains a hint of cynicism, it does illustrate the careful line councillors must walk to avoid the council propaganda label that some critics previously hurled. If done the right way, I’m interested in hearing a councillor’s explanation for voting how he or she did, say for the industrial lands need study, what they learned from the Starbucks decision and how they see it improving Servus Place’s fiscal picture. If it isn’t overly “messaged,” it might even interest non-politico types. Of course, that will be harder than most councillors realize, especially when the format is a paid ad dressed up to look like editorial space. This type of “column” can easily come across as a disingenuous public relations exercise. Of course, there are exceptions, like Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s guest column in the Calgary Sun (which isn’t advertising), and less formal, unfiltered opinions offered through a well-used Twitter account (think Coun. Don Iveson in Edmonton) or even a personal blog (again, think Iveson or even Grande Prairie Mayor Bill Given’s blog).
The worst mistake a councillor could make — aside from thinking anyone wants to read about what they learned at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference — is to use the deputy’s corner for damage control or spin. If that’s the case, don’t waste readers’ time or money.
Bryan Alary is a former Gazette editor and city hall reporter.
