What are the Disireable Qualities, Education, Skills and Abilities?

Social Issues are issues or processes, administrative procedures that directly impact residents quality of life that can be addressed by Council if there is a willingness to amoung councillors to improve life for Owen Sound residences..

Some examples of disarible qualities are:

1. Honesty We seen on many occasions how candidates for council make promises during the campaign only to fail to deliver once elected.  A couple of good examples come to mind. I recall Ian Boddy saying at the end Harmony Center All-Candidates Meeting something like: "this was good we should do this more often" It was just a few months later that a planned Town Hall for members of council was turned into an open house for staff. Then there was Scott Greig promising to have a budget committee if he was elected as Duputy Mayor.  Well, it's now been over two years and he has yet to table a motion to make good on this promise.

2. Transparency: Being open with residents is essential. There are many examples where our current members of council seem to be hiding things from residents. A good example is how council cancelled the Remuneration Committee before it held its first meeting. They surprised us with this and never really explained why it was necessary to cancel the committee.  Read more here: Remuneration Committee Cancellation.

3. Ability to See All Residents: Currently most members of Council are in the top 50% when it comes to household incomes.  This is not necessary a bad thing but when we see that the challenges facing those households taking home less than $57,600 are ignored by Council then it becomes a bad thing. If a member of Council lives in a million dollar Barry-House they need to take steps to educate themselves on how residents who are financially challeged are coping. Similarly, a member of Council from the lower income level needs to educate themselves of the needs of those who are not - particullarly senior citizens.

4. Financial Knowledge and Experience:  Idealy Owen Sound needs at least one member of Council with a financial credential or significant financial experience. Currently almost every member of the current Council defer to City Staff when it comes to city finances. This has resulted in decisions that may be good for city staff but are not in the best interests of taxpayers.  A good example of this is staff persuading a committee to hire a consultant to do a job that could have, and should have been done by city staff.  check this out: Staff Controlling a Committee.