Attendance figures

"A politician should have three hats. One for throwing into the ring, one for talking through, and one for pulling rabbits out of if elected." --Author Carl Sandburg While Sandburg took a somewhat cynical view of politicians (as many do and often with just cause), the fact remains at the very grassroots level-- municipally-- being a politician is a very unglamorous job. In today's edition, we examine the attendance record of the current council for this past term, which began in December of 2003. As a whole, the 11 members of council have a pretty good record when it comes to showing up for work. To date there have been 64 regular council meetings and, combined, council members have missed only 29 of those meetings. That's a marked improvement from 2000-2003 when councillors combined to miss 63 meetings of the 66 held. This term, Ward 3 Councillor Moya Johnson had the poorest attendance record, missing seven meetings. However, her unusual absenteeism was the result of a health problem and, in fact, during the 2000-2003 term she had tied for the best attendance. Rookie Ward 3 Councillor Mike Davis had perfect attendance while Regional Councillor Clark Somerville showed the biggest improvement, missing only one meeting after being absent 11 times in the previous term. At the regional level, Halton Hills' three representatives-- Mayor Rick Bonnette and regional councillors Jane Fogal and Somerville-- have each missed only one of the 34 scheduled region meetings. Along with regularly-scheduled meetings, councillors also sit on an variety of special committees and boards and a look at those attendance figures also indicate solid attendance by our elected officials. While the mayor and regional councillors pocket reasonably comfortable salaries, local councillors earn a little more than $21,000 a year for attending the above meetings, accepting late-night phone calls about potholes, or the need for stop signs, and turning out for new business openings. As we said, it's an unglamorous job, but each councillor knew what it entailed when they chose to run. With this being an election year, we hope all candidates putting their name forward fully understand the commitment it takes to serve on council and that showing up is only part of the job.