By Pepper Parr
January 15th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
How hard do they work ?
How big is the work load is another way of asking basically the same question.
A look at the pile of reports they have to wade through is one indication as to just what is involved when you are a member of city council.
The Mayor says she reads all these reports on-line. Others work with the thick agendas that get delivered to their offices. That is a three inch pile on the right. The pile on the left is for January – and we are only half way through the month.
The pile to the left is just for the month of January and we are just half way through.
The pile on the right measures three inches high, printed on both sides of most of the pages but that doesn’t make it any easier.
The salary is basically a little over $100,000 annually. The vacation schedule is very good – but it has to be stacked up against the many evening meetings – which can now run to as late as 11 pm.
Some of reports are pretty simple – easy to get the sense of what was written.
Other are long, complex and will, for most of this council, result in a phone call to a Staff member asking for some clarification.
Then the Council members have to think about what they’ve read and if they are good politicians, reach out to ward residents for comment and feedback.
Add to this the numerous vested interests who want to bend their ear.
The job is not easy and there are a few that struggle and are perhaps wondering why they went after the job. Of the five – newbies – how many will run again in 2022? There are at least two, maybe three, that will decide it just isn’t for them.
