2024 was an unexpected year. I long had an interest in public service and a deep desire to run for office, particularly municipally, but it was difficult to say when the opportunity might arise. Our community had a strong councillor – one that I supported. When Tim decided it was his time to move on, the opportunity was suddenly before me. And after almost 3 months of hard work, supported by family and friends, I made my case to my fellow residents of Bedford and on October 19th, I was elected as Councillor for Bedford-Wentworth. I could not be more energized by the support I received and I was eager to tackle the issues we face as a rapidly growing community. So what has it been like and what has gone on since October 19th? A lot!
October 19th to November 5th – calm before the storm
With their decision made, understandably the residents of Bedford-Wentworth were eager for me to get to work. And so I got a flurring of emails that congratulated me on my new role and elaborated upon issues that residents had discussed with me during the campaign that should be on my radar going forward. For me, this was note-taking and feedback, as well as a research opportunity since I wanted to be productive as early as possible once I arrived at city hall. I found myself in an odd position of tempering expectations for people contacting me – as the new kid on the block, I have all new relationships with HRM staff to form, procedures to learn about, etc. It absolutely helped focus my priorities.
On October 26th, in my first official duty as Councillor-elect, I attended the Bedford Lions Charter Night. They Lions gave our outgoing Councillor Tim Outhit a lovely clock as a token of appreciation for his long service to the community. As as Tim had warned me, always be ready to give a speech, so I was called up to say a few words.
On October 29th, I attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Service Headquarters to be built at the location of the old Ben’s Bakery on Hammonds Plains. I met a few more of the leadership team of HRFE – our fire and police services are close to my heart so it was an honour to attend the ceremony marking the start of what will be the first net-new station for the oldest fire service in the country, right here in Bedford.
The Province conducted a series of orientation and training sessions for elected municipal officials beginning on October 30th. These full-day sessions represented the first organized opportunity for the incoming council members to meet one another.
On November 3rd, I participated in my second Stair Heroes challenge – a fundraiser and awareness campaign for the Lung Association of Nova Scotia and PEI – a time trial going up 38 flights of stairs in Duke Tower as fast as possible. Many of the participants are firefighters from across the province and complete the stair climb with shocking speed while wearing full gear.
I did the climb in full gear as well, alongside my gym mate and career firefighter Christie, and bested my time from the year earlier. I also bumped into Councillor Tony Mancini, who also did the climb in full gear and it was his fourth time participating!
The swearing in ceremony was held at the Central Library downtown on the evening of November 5th. It was a bit surreal, but we tried to have a bit of fun, particularly Billy Gillis (District 15) and John Young (District 14) and I, since we were at the back of the line going in order of our districts for the ceremony. We met the outgoing Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Arthur LeBlanc and were sworn in by Chief Justice of Nova Scotia Michael J Wood.
And with that, we were official.
November 6th-19th – Drinking from a Firehose
I’ve heard this term used to describe the onboarding process for just about every type of job, but believe me, it’s ever more fitting for a first-time elected municipal councillor. You quickly come to appreciate just how many hats a councillor has to wear. While municipal staff get to be specialists in their given area of responsibility, an HRM Councillor must quickly establish a working understanding of what every department across the municipality does. As a communications-focused entrepreneur, I spent my career in perpetual learning mode. There was always new technology, new thinking, new processes and new products to understand and appreciate. So the volume of learning expected of us as councillors felt familiar, even if some of the subject areas were a bit new.
From November 6th to 18th, the council support team had assembled a robust series of orientation sessions lead by executive directors and senior staff of departments across HRM. Every day was highly scheduled with a flow of sessions that kept us bouncing to new subject matter every few hours. We had lunch breaks but that was about it. The rest of the time was presentations and opportunities to ask questions. Staff did an excellent job providing us with a high level understanding of each departments place in the municipal machine – from public works, to transit, Halifax Water, public safety, homelessness, development planning, diversity and accessibility, parks and recreation, and more.
On the first afternoon, we also held a mock council meeting to give the new councillors and new Mayor an opportunity to do a dry run of a meeting schedule – if you’re not familiar with Robert’s Rules of Order, it’s a lot to take in, but at least the essence of it is fairly straight forward, even if it takes some getting used to. City Hall had undergone some technology upgrades between the last council and this new one, so it was also an opportunity to do a dry run of how meetings would run from a technical perspective.
The Charles P Allen football team battled ferociously in the league championship on November 10th at Huskies Stadium at SMU but was unable to secure a victory in spite of a series of incredible comeback plays. The players were disappointed but the crowd of fans couldn’t have been more proud.
On November 11th, my first official function after the swearing in was to lay a wreath for the Remembrance Day ceremony on behalf of HRM, held this year at the Bedford Legion due to the heavy rain that day. It was exceptionally well attended.
On November 12th, we held our first full council meeting. The agenda was light overall, which was by design, I’m sure. A couple of urgent committee assignments were concluded, with quite a bit of interest around the room in being a part of the Board of Police Commissioners – I offered myself as a candidate but I wasn’t selected. In the end I was ok with it because the people that were selected were well suited to the roles.
On November 14th I stopped into the annual fundraising auction at Building Futures Employment Society in Lower Sackville, an organization my fellow councillor Cathy Deagle Gammon has supported for decades. Building Futures is a social enterprise, helping empower people with intellectual disabilities through learning and skills development to support their ability to contribute to society. Mayor Fillmore gave opening remarks and encouraged attendees to open their wallets in support of their programs.
I then gave brief remarks at the start and then participated in the Lace Up for Diabetes walk looping from the LeBrun Centre down into DeWolf Park and back again.
On November 15th, I was interviewed by Global TV when some plots of land in the Bedford Barrens, which is home to protected petroglyphs important to the Mik’maq people, came up for sale briefly and the nearby residents contacted me to inquire about HRM or the Province acquiring the land to provide a more substantial protective zone around land protected by Parks Canada.
I also met over coffee with Councillors Deagle-Gammon, Hartling, Young and Gillis in a casual discussion to get to know one another and review the agenda for our upcoming first meeting of the North West Community Council, which is a regional grouping of five districts – 1, 13, 14, 15 and 16.
The North West Community Council Meeting on November 18th was wrapped up quickly thanks to a fairly light agenda.
On November 17th I was excited to walk the route of the Light Up Bedford Parade after some last-minute discussions with the organizers to massage the costs coming from HRM for traffic control. The organizers did an excellent job, and the turnout along the route was spectacular. I ran out of candy canes to give out before I got to the end so I will definitely stock up for next year!
The next full council meeting on November 19th was a bit more of a complete agenda, with quite a long list of committee and board assignments coming out of that meeting. Overall it seems like most councillors were assigned to what interested them most and what suited their skillset, which is ideal and I’m sure the committees and boards in question will be all the better for it.
In the end, my assignments wound up being:
- North West Community Council, Member
- Audit & Finance Standing Committee, Member
- Community Planning & Economic Development Committee, Member
- Grants Committee, Chair
- Discover Halifax, Board Member
- Acadian & Francophone Community Liaison
- Accessibility Advisory Committee (pending confirmation in a January meeting)
Selection of a deputy mayor was deferred to the meeting scheduled for December 10th.
The biggest challenge with this 14 day period following the swearing in ceremony was the absence of time in the schedule to actively do much of anything outside of the onboarding process. With little time between sessions, it was a matter of extending the notetaking and task prioritization I had been doing in the lead-up to being sworn in and holding onto those actionable items until later, or attemping to get some answers by emailing the relevant department leaders. There was no opportunity to get into the weeds in person with staff during the day and they were gone for the day by the time we were done. Even one day of a lighter schedule during that onboarding period would have been beneficial, in my view. I’ve noted that for the next time!
November 20th-December 10th
On November 20th, I was energized to get back into the community. With orientation/onboarding sessions complete and two council meetings wrapped up, it was the first time I had direct control over my schedule. It was a busy first week with a series of in-person and virtual meetings and phone calls with members of the community – residents, businesses, developers, planners, and departmental representatives.
On that very first day “in the wild” I attended the launch event for the Shannex Bloomsbury expansion on Larry Uteck, and then the HRFE Exemplary and Long Service Awards ceremony at Ivany Campus of NSCC in Dartmouth. The next day, I had another smattering of meetings and in the evening I walked around and spoke with multiple businesses and volunteer organizations at the Charles P Allen Job and Volunteering Fair.
The following week was similarly full of meetings, along with a few official events to attend. November 27th was a memorable but long day with my first meeting at 7am in Bedford, the Halifax Police Promotions Ceremony at City Hall at 10am, meetings and calls throughout the afternoon, and then I reported to the Bedford police station at 7pm for the start of a 7 hour West Division ride-along with a veteran police officer. Even though it was a Wednesday night in the suburbs, there was still much to do – we attended multiple calls, with a series of traffic stops conducted in between (yes, I have first hand evidence our police officers do conduct traffic stops), and a trip to headquarters downtown for a booking, a tour and a chat with more veteran officers before wrapping up with a complete tour of the Bedford station. I’m already planning ride-alongs within multiple zones across all three Divisions.
On November 23rd and 24th I dropped in to help out the Bedford Lions Club as their tree lot sales got underway. It was rainy for that first weekend!
On November 30th, I was asked to attend an event on behalf of Mayor Fillmore who couldn’t attend, nor could Deputy Mayor Deagle-Gammon. As the newly minted HRM Liaison to the Acadian and Francophone Community, it was an appropriate fit for me to drop into a wine and cheese fundraiser for l’Alliance Francaise d’Halifax. The most nerve-wracking thing was that I opted to speak, and so I prepared short remarks that I delivered in French for the first time in more than 30 years. It went ok, but I am noticeably out of practice. I’m committed to doing better with each attempt.
On December 3rd, we had our next full council meeting. There were several lively debates, certainly none more notable than the Mayor’s motion to rescind the prior council’s motion to approve a list of designated encampment sites for the CAO to have authority to open as needed. This had come up at our very first council meeting, but for procedural reasons had to wait until this meeting for debate and a vote. I voted against the rescission and the vote was 8-7 to keep the list.
I heard from a number of residents that questioned my vote on this, and I explained it to each one the same way as I did in council chambers. First, it was important to understand what the vote was actually about, and therein it would be easier to understand my reasoning for voting against the motion to rescind. First, the vote had no effect on the city’s capaity to open or close designated encampments. The list is just that – a list of spots staff have identified as meeting certain specific criteria to support an encampment were one to be needed. It doesn’t weigh in on whether encampments are a good idea, or whether there are alternatives available either municipally or provincially. It is simply a list of locations that staff believes meets criteria for use and gives the CAO the authority to open one from the list if the need arose without being forced to come back to council for a per-location vote. We were being asked whether the list should exist and whether the authority to open an encampment from this list should reside with the CAO in the process. It was a deceptively simple but terribly difficult choice.
In our debate, I said I felt the encampments, right or wrong, are effectively the city’s version of first aid, and that rescinding the list, and thereby removing the CAO’s ability to open an encampment without having to come back to council first, would be like putting a padlock on a first aid kit and holding a meeting to decide if the person bleeding will or will not receive the key to the lock. I said as much as I respect the Mayor, the CAO and my fellow councillors, my faith that we could convene the council to an emergency session to carry out a vote to respond to an urgent need to open an encampment if the unthinkable were to happen – in the middle of our winter months – seemed like an obvious and avoidable risk to public safety. It was for that reason, and that reason alone, that I felt the list should stay. We could and should address the homelessness crisis in other capacities and in active partnership with our counterparts at the Province.
On December 5th I attended my first meeting as a member of the Board for Discover Halifax.
On December 8th, I was delighted to attend the 100th birthday celebration for Bedford’s Elizabeth Hippern. At the start of the December 3rd council meeting, I read a statement of congratulations and arranged for a certificate from HRM Council to be created and signed by the Mayor and by myself, which I presented to Elizabeth at her celebration and re-read my statement from council.
Also on December 8th, we got our first snowfall, giving me my first taste of what that particular challenge can tend to be for a councillor. While the snow didn’t last, it rained for hours afterward and then the temperature plummeted overnight, leaving icy sidewalks and roadways for the next morning’s commute, which proved especially challenging to the walking school communities in our district.
Our full council meeting on the 10th was a long one as well – our last of 2024. Council elected Tony Mancini as Deputy Mayor. A big chunk of the meeting was a robust debate about a proposal for a heritage property. We also got a preview of what the budgeting process will look like and approved a schedule for those meetings.
Back in the community to the New Year
Even after the last full council meeting, there were other committee and board meetings on the agenda in addition to meetings in the community and a lot of reading and prep work to be ready for the agenda in the new year. Audit & Finance as well as Community Planning & Economic Development committees met on the 11th and 12th respectively.
On December 13, the Mayor and several councillors attended the graduation ceremony for the latest class of recruits for the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Service.
Throughout the week before Christmas I tried to take as many meetings as I could with residents to continue to discuss priorities for the coming year, including flooding and drainage issues, sidewalks and crosswalk lights, traffic challenges, transit improvements, infrastructure planning, recreational planning and activities for seniors, roundabout safety, public beautification efforts, garbage collection, and more.
We had two significant snow events in the lead-up to Christmas, on the 21st and then again on Christmas Eve. In both cases the snow operations team made life a lot easier for residents, with just a few pockets around town experiencing trouble. The select areas that needed help were in touch with 311 and with me (and I called 311 on their behalf as well as calling residents back and visiting their streets for a first-hand look) and were generally addressed quickly.
On December 28th, I hosted my first holiday community skate at the LeBrun Centre in a bit of a throwback to the community skates that took place frequently when I was growing up in Bedford. It was very well attended with more than 100 people coming out to enjoy some time on the ice and to get a hot chocolate (while it lasted) and/or TimBits and candy canes. It was a great time, and in spite of several years of not being on my skates, I didn’t fall even once!
It was also a donation event for the Bedford Lions Community Food Pantry – and I’m thrilled that the community donated 74 items and almost $85 in cash to the cause!
Looking Ahead
The community has given me much to look forward to as councillor as we head into 2025. I have a list of items to pursue generally on behalf of residents as staff come back from vacation (some of which are already in the queue and awaiting updates), and a number of important items on my schedule.
A few items of note:
On January 6th, I’ll receive briefings from the Board of Police Commissioners on RCMP operations in HRM, and from our Roads and Active Transportation team.
On January 7th I’ll be touring the wastewater treatment facility at Mill Cove with a couple of members of the community to get to the bottom of some of the foul smells residents have experienced in DeWolf Park at times that are not explained.
On January 8th a select team of staff will meet with me and Councillor Young to discuss public safety planning pertaining to West Bedford School and the segments of Larry Uteck Boulevard and Broad Street in the immediate area of the school.
The week of January 13th, Community Council, Full Council and Committee and Board meetings resume their regular schedules, and briefings from a number of departments will begin in earnest in preparation for budget discussions.
I’m also aiming to get updates from the city and Province to share with residents about several capital projects, including the Mill Cove Ferry, planned upgrades to the Mill Cove Wastewater Treatment Facility, Bus Rapid Transit Planning, Hammonds Plains Road infrastructure upgrades, the impact of the now-open Burnside connector, and more.
This is an incredibly rewarding and challenging job and I am absolutely humbled that Bedford-Wentworth residents chose me for this role. I’ll give you my very best.
Happy holidays and Happy New Year to everyone!
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