COBALT - Cobalt Mayor Angela Adshead asked members of council to reaffirm their oaths of office at the town's August 15 council meeting.
She also called for greater respect among council members and for staff members, and apologized to the public that they have not been well represented to date, and asked for council to "roll up our sleeves" to do the work needed in the remainder of the term, which she said will be challenging.
To date in this term some items have been "inappropriately added to the agenda without providing proper notice to the public or providing municipal staff the time to prepare reports to help our decision making," she said.
"We have allowed micromanaging of the town manager and municipal employees who report to him," she continued.
Adshead reminded councillors that "there is no place at this table for personal agendas or to air personal grievances. This is a place for respectful debate of a matter or an issue before us and making decisions that are in the best interest of the town."
She also stated that the council table is not the place "to performance-manage the town manager or his employees."
The council table is a place "for us to adopt service-level policies and set performance expectations for the town manager."
She said that council members "need to come to council meetings with an open mind and be prepared to be persuaded. From now on we have to focus on the overall success of our town, not what we believe is best for ourselves or our families, even if that means we have to make decisions that negatively impact ourselves or our families."
Adshead stated that she believes in the community.
"I want to see us be successful years from now. For us to do that we need to stop tearing each other apart, undermining our staff or sticking our noses into matters that are not for us to be involved in."
She asked council members "to put aside petty resentments or long-term grudges. This is the time for us all to roll up our sleeves" to help Cobalt be the best it can be.
She later noted that a comment made in a past meeting about potential cost-saving measures "caused considerable concern from the public and the town staff."
She stated that council has not considered cost-saving strategies nor endorsed the ideas put forward by a councillor at a previous meeting.
Darlene Wroe is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with the Temiskaming Speaker. LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.
