Town Council Meeting- December 20th 2010

I went to the second Council meeting with our new Mayor and Council.

Well, I guess I'll start with the bad news: there is a POSSIBILITY that our water bills are going to be increased by 33% next year. The actual figures will not be known until March, so the final decision will not be made until that time. Mayor Morley has instructed the Office Staff to send out a notice of the Possible increase.

Our Fire Chief Dennis Mackie was in attendance to give a department head report. Our department is in need of Firefighters. Spread the Word! FYI, you have to be 18 years old to join, but they do have a youth program for anyone who is under 18 and is interested in joining the department.

We have 4 new members on the Library Board: Dan Boggess, Cheryl Dane, Heidi Quinn, and Nel Dalcin. Morley is the Township representative on the Board.

Paul has suggested that Council use the Jackfish Journal to keep the Citizens of Hornepayne updated on the Township happenings. Paul get's my big "A+" this meeting! Sue quickly came up with a name for the article "Councilor's Corner", and all agreed with her suggestion. It was also decided that Willy would write the articles.

Willy would like to see each member of Council oversee a department within the Township. In the past they functioned in this system; some years it worked well and other years it did not. The topic of "micromanaging" was discussed, but Willy assured everyone that his intent is not to "micromanage" but to support the department heads.
Sue informed Council of the 5 departments that were used in the past. They were:

1. Recreation
2. Administration and Finance
3. Public Works Department
   
4. Health and Safety
5. Economic Development

Heather was not in attendance at tonight's meeting, and Sue thought the decision should not be made without her input.
If they were to go ahead with this, it can be assumed who will fill each role. Paul would most likely oversee Rec; Morley- Admin and Finance; Willy- PWD; Heather- Health and Safety; Laureen- Economic Development. Seems like a perfect fit to me!

I'm really impressed with our New Mayor and Council. (I'm sure I said this already, but...) Morley seems to be a bold strong leader. He does not strike me as passive or a push over. It's my opinion so far, that he cares for Hornepayne and he's going to do his best to take care of us. In a time when it might feel like we've been taken advantage of in the past, Morley's strengths bring some comfort.

Nobody would argue that Paul is one of the kindest men around, and his heart is an asset to our community. (I could go on and on and on about Paul! ☺)

I've always had good things to say about Laureen. I think she is a good councilor because she is down to earth. She looks at a situation practically and is able to come up with practical solutions. She's not governed by her emotions and she's always looking for the facts. I also consider her to be a creative woman. She constantly keeps her center fresh and new, and I hope we see that pour into our Town.

I like Willy's overall attitude. I think he not only expects a job well done by the employees, but he wants to help them achieve that goal. I would have liked him around when I was employed by the Township.

The next meeting of Council is Monday January 10th, and it will be held down stairs in the Township Office.

FIRST MEETING - December 6 2010

Our new leaders officially sat in their seats last night, and held their first council meeting.

Morley seems to be a natural leader. He kept the meeting flowing and clear. He added some humor. I don't think he will be tolerant of any B.S. and I pity the one who plans on trying!

He has already taken steps to move us forward. They passed a resolution to start acquiring information about the nuclear thing. DON'T FREAK OUT! They don't know if it's a good idea for Hornepayne or not, they're just moving forward to learn about it so they can form an opinion. They're not dragging Hornepayne into anything, but they're going to provide us with all the education they receive. We're all going to learn together, and we'll all have a chance to express our opinions. As it stands right now, Morley and Willy think it could be good, and Paul and Laureen have their reservations. Heather didn't let on to which way she was leaning.

The council meetings have been moved from Wednesdays to Mondays, and I think it's to accommodate Willy's work schedule. He was unable to commit to our local committees for the same reason. His mechanical experience gives him an understanding of the Public Works Department, and he started asking questions about their operations. He asked many questions through out the whole meeting; I don't think he's in the B.S. business either. ☺

Paul was appointed to form the new recreation committee. He will sit on it as the Town representative. This is an exciting thing for recreation IMO, but I'm sure most will agree!

Laureen got the ball rolling for our future plan. She has asked for a meeting to be scheduled in March that will be devoted to future vision and goal setting. She gets a big "A+" from me!

The meeting was over 3 hours long.They had much to go through and they were learning the process as they went.

Well, we're off!!!

Are we going left or right?

In a perfect world everyone is on board with the Leader's vision. Everyone get's behind it and doesn't question where the Leader is going. Everyone is satisfied and encouraged with the direction. But, we don't live in a perfect world.

You can't go in two directions at the same time, and it's inevitable that someone is going to desire to go on "the path not taken". In the past, Hornepayne had to decide if they were going to abandon the hunting/fishing tourist path and walk on a new path towards the nuclear industry. It has been presented recently that we can have both, but really who is going to be drawn to the nuclear town for Hunting and Fishing?

It seemed to me at the Candidates night last month that there was much support (from the town's people) for the nuclear idea. I don't know enough about this to be for or against it. What will Hornepayne gain by going in this direction, in comparison to what will we loose by abandoning the path we are currently on?

I can't see our Fishing Outfitters excited about the nuclear idea. This is the sad part of changing directions. These people believed in the past vision and got behind it. They put their money and talents behind it and built upon it. They've invested in it, and now could loose much. There is much to consider when changing directions. Are we going to gain more than we loose?

Jody and I went to the business financing meeting that was held at the Legion this past week. How can anyone start a business at this time? There are some obvious "holes" in our town, (like a hotel), but all the needs will not be known until the vision for our future is established. What are we building towards? What are we building on? I need to know these things.

Not everyone is going to like change, and not everyone is going to like staying the same. Hopefully our leaders can be strong in their vision and remain so during transition and in the face of opposition, because it will come.

In a perfect world change is easy, but we're definitely not in a perfect world!

Responsibilities and Expectations.

What should we expect from our leaders? What are their responsibilities? Can we expect them to do more than what they are responsible for?

Town Council could be a full time job, but without the full time pay. All our members, with the exception of Morley, have a full time job. They also have families, hobbies, etc. In short, they have a life besides Town Business. I understand they are each paid three hundred bucks a month, but can we call that a salary? Should we expect more than what they are paid for? Our leaders are practically volunteers; we have to be careful not to expect more from them than we do from other volunteers.

I realized the different attitudes towards the leaders while I was campaigning. Some view them as superior to the rest; which is probably why there is so much disappointment when they mess up. And others are at the other end of the spectrum: they think the elected leaders owe them something; perhaps they see it as the price for their vote. These people seem to have this attitude that the elected leaders are their personal servants, and they make life hell for the leader that does not do things their way. Leaders have to do what they think is best for the whole, not for the one! What they think may not be what you think, and what is best for the whole might not be what is best for the one. To think of the whole community and not just a small group is definitely one of their responsibilities.

Unrealistic expectations will cause disappointment within the community. And on the other hand they must be accountable for fulfilling the responsibilities of the position. We need to make ourselves aware of what their responsibilities are, and what they are not. We need to keep them accountable to what their position is, but we can't expect them to do it all. Their job is the leadership job; all the other jobs belong to the rest of us.

If you see slack, determine if it`s really their responsibility or not. If it`s not, then maybe it`s your responsibility! Remember, it`s going to take all of us to rebuild this town, and yes that includes YOU.

A New Beginning for Hornepayne

Congratulations to Willy, Heather, Paul, Laureen, and our new Mayor, Morley! I look forward to your future contributions to our Town.

I'd like to thank all of you who voted for me, your support means the world. To think, in the beginning I was fearful nobody would believe in me! Hornepayne, you're the best!

To all my fellow "runners", you are still leaders in this community! We stepped forward fueled with passion for this Town. We fell asleep many nights thinking of the ways we could contribute and make improvements; really, what's changed? We're still here and we still love Hornepayne. We still have those great ideas; we can still contribute. We may not have won a seat in the Council Chambers, but we are still needed in the building process. Our leaders can not re-build Hornepayne on their own. Don't give up on your dreams for our future; why not put your ideas forward for consideration?

To the Future Mayor and Council: if you come to a time in the next 4 years where you need some leaders, remember all those who ran along side of you in the race. I don't think you'll find any who are more courageous!

Well Hornepayne, Cheers! Here's to a new Beginning for all of us. ☺

A Good Leader Needs to have Balls

Nooooo! I don't mean all good leaders are men! What I mean is: a good leader needs to have Courage. ☺

I think everyone is familiar with the Egypt story. The Jews were slaves and God sent Moses in to free His People and lead them out of captivity. Moses fought hard for the People and eventually won. The first thing they did was sing a song of celebration. But, it wasn't long before they encountered the burden of their victory. Things had to be done differently than they were in the past; they grumbled and desired to go back to what they were familiar with.

It's easy to go back to what we know because we already know what to expect, and we already know how to do "it". Moving forward into something new is not so secure; we don't know what the future holds and we don't know if we will be able to cope with the new ways of doing things. In the above story, Moses kept the people moving forward even when they were scared. He kept them encouraged by trying to keep them focused on where they were going. Even though they believed going back was the easier option, Moses knew it was not a healthy option for them. Imagine if Moses would have agreed with them? Imagine if he was unable to keep his own focus on the goal ahead? A Good leader needs to be able to keep her (or his ☺) eye on the prize, even when everyone else can't.

It seems Hornepayne has gone backwards instead of forwards. We have been lead back to what was known, instead of moving into something new. How many of you feel like singing a song of celebration? This is something we need to change.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: we need vision. We also need leaders who will lead our Community into achieving that vision. Change is not easy; tough seasons are to be expected. We need leaders who can encourage themselves and keep the Community encouraged when we encounter the rough spots.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."
-- Ambrose Redmoon

I would appreciate your consideration at the polls on October 25th. I'd love the chance to lead you into a song of Celebration.

What Now?

One of my desires is to see Hornepayne's economy improve; one of the simplest ways to do that is to draw visitors to our town.
We have many organizations who depend on fund-raising for financial support. Why not brainstorm and come up with events that will draw out-of-town visitors to partake in your event? Their presence will not only support the organization, but also the businesses in town.
We can host all kinds of events; with the exception of facility improvements, we're only limited by our creativity.

Here are things I think need to be fixed immediately:
*We need a place for our visitors to stay. We need a motel.
*The Arena and the Legion are really the only facilities we have left. Because the Arena is owned by the Township, I will focus on it in this article.
Many events could be held at the arena, but the facility is not equipped to host big events. There is not a place for our guests to eat, drink, get warm, or gather. I think the Township needs to find money to fix the upper room, or/and add on to the building.
The canteen is not equipped to feed large crowds, so improvements are needed there also. I would like to see our canteen occupied by a business person. If we held regular events, a business could be sustained by serving food alone; leaving the vending machines available for Minor Hockey's fund-raising needs.
Curling could draw many visitors, but they need their club room back. We need to find or build a permanent home for our Weight Room.

Two things have to happen in this next bit of time:
1. We need to audit our Town's businesses and services and position everything so that it can all function together. The dust (so to speak), has not yet settled from the closure of the mall, and so we need to make sure everything falls into the perfect place.
2. We need to come up with goals for the future; things to work towards.

Your New leaders will be the ones to get the ball rolling. If I'm voted in, my first step would be meet with the businesses and organizations to see what they personally need to help improve their service to Hornepayne. I would also like to hear any ideas they have for the future. I would also create an easy way for the rest of the Town's people to communicate their ideas. Once all the info was collected, then the Town Leaders could assess their resources and support the needs. The information would also enable them to come up with a vision, and a plan to lead the Town into it's future.

I'm excited to start moving forward!