EDITORIAL: New council, new initiatives, a promising future…maybe

The elections are over. The new council members take their newly elected positions.  [Swearing in ceremony, Nov. 21] Where do we go from here?

ADDENDUM includes:
photos of the swearing-in ceremony
photos of the new councillors
New commentary about the council

There are many questions worth considering in regard to these new councillors:

1. How will they respond to their constituents now?
2. How will they communicate with their constituents?
3. What issues will receive priority on their political agendas?
4. What issues are they concerned about? In their constituency? In Pickering-Durham?
5. How will they deal with development in Pickering-Durham?

Here are some issues of concern in the region:

• Rising number of homeless in the region;
• Increasing use of Foodbank;
• Many job availabilities postings remain unfilled;
• Drug problems are on the rise;
• Neighbourhood car theft increasing.

Councillors need to keep in touch, communicate with constituents, and keep citizens informed.

Are councillors concerned about keeping the citizens informed? Mayor Ashe has some positive ideas about this kind of communication but right now the city staff seem very hard-pressed at keeping up with the changes on the city website and keeping the information current. For example…have you visited pickering.ca recently?

• Ashe is no longer a councillor: he’s the MAYOR;
• Brenner no longer is a councillor; he is a regional councilor;
• McLean is retired;
• Doody-Hamilton has taken a leave for health reasons;
• Linda Cooke? Mara Nagy? Emma Cunningham? Lisa Robinson?

Are we asking too much of city staff to keep this information current? Are we expecting too much from elected representatives if we ask all these questions?

Are our expectations too high or are we just too impatient?