My faith in the political process has been restored — to a point, but I’ll get to that in a moment.
Congratulations to city councillors Donna Macdonald, Deb Kozak, Paula Kiss and Candace Batycki for supporting the Stop the Violence BC campaign. You ladies had the courage to stand up, and get counted on an issue that affects every single one of us. Well done!
Now I get to my point. Mayor John Dooley succeed in thwarting the political process by cutting the lady councillors off at the knees when he refused to support what had been passed by council when put to a democratic vote.
A presentation around the issue was made with a lot of thought and intelligence and after an informed dialogue was supported by the four lady councillors. The mayor reacted very emotionally to the situation. He seemed to be coming from a place of fear or perhaps of wanting to win the next popularity contest. Did the mayor do his due diligence on this matter? Did he research the issues and understand the motion? And most importantly did he ask his people (the community) what they wanted?
I want to see leadership that is not about popular choice but one that comes from a place of knowledgable and informed decision making. Not fearmongering. To me that is leadership.
Sue Stanger
Nelson