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There has been much controversy at city hall during the past six months. First there was the coal tar issue, and then a direct spinoff â€" council secrecy â€" has been debated, with opposing sides rarely reaching a middle ground. The current threeâ€"year term of office for this council now heads into its final year. The Chronicle will interview councillors in alphabetical order to ensure fairness. Today Robert Henry is featured, and the next councillor to on these pages wil]beMu'yJanemwhinney. Robert "Bob" Henry, 64, was first elected to Waterloo city council in 1967. A retired school teacher and viceâ€"princiâ€" pal Henry moved to Waterloo in 1949 from Toronto. He was soon involved in minor hockey, then the arena commission, and was the original chair of the Waterloo Communâ€" ity Services Board â€" "the first on in the province" he says proudly. Bob Henry is a laidâ€"back and softâ€"spoâ€" ken man. You don‘t seem to have a high profile at city council meetings. No. I‘m not the high profile type. I‘m here because I like to see things get done. If I‘m working to get them done, I don‘t think I need that high a profile. There‘s the influence I have on other counciliors, and so on. Working with staff and other councillors to get things done for the city. I have an image of the city. I came here for a short period of time and I stayed here 40 years because I like the city. I brought a family up here, who incidentalâ€" ly live in the Twin Cities â€" three boys. So I‘m interested in the community. It may sound corny, but I don‘t think I need a high profile. There‘s a perception about city hall. There‘s the ‘old team‘ versus the ‘newâ€" comers‘ and the newcomers at the last election campaigned largely on what they called "opening up" city hall. Where do you fit in? I think your key word is "perception". And I don‘t think that perception is quite as broadly based as people think it is. I was at all the election groupings. And the new people, prior to being elected, didn‘t emphasize it either. The emphasis came after they were elected. I don‘t see us as not being open. But I agree that perceptions are funny things. One of the things about the city of Waterloo that anybody tells you is they have access to city hall and get things done. Unless you‘re an open administraâ€" tion, that can‘t happen. Nobody thinks twice about coming into a counter and talking to someone. They expect to get it done, because it usually gets done. Now sometimes it doesn‘t get done, and those people are unhappy. If you make everybody happy, you‘re not doing a very good job for the city because there are times when you have to say no. I don‘t agree that there is an old guard. When all of us first came on council we had things that we wanted to do. For instance when I first came on council, one of my projects was to get more money for community services and parks and recreâ€" ation. Do you see yourself then as fitting in with the "old guard"? So I worked. Not with a high profile, but I‘ve been successful. I didn‘t get my own way all the time, but I didn‘t ever get discouraged. I don‘t think there was ever a closed club. People were welcomed in. It‘s how they perceived themselves. I‘ve been around a while, and your perception of yourself is what counts. If someone says "no‘"‘ to me on an idea, I don‘t feel that I‘m on the other side. Someone just disagrees with my idea, that‘s all. Do you like some of the changes that are happening on council lately? The fact that some of the councillors are not fitting into the group the way that past counciliors have this far into a term? I don‘t like that. We‘re in a representaâ€" tive democracy. We were put in there to make decisions. But we‘re put in there to make a group decision. We‘re not an oligarchy where we elect one person. We‘re there to make deciâ€" sions. I think that when a decision is made, that should be it. If you disagree with it very much then you have to convince the people on council or the process breaks down. Dissent has to be within the process or it becomes anarchy in the long run. There seems to be a constant dissent, regardless of what the topic is, it seems. And that doesn‘t make sense to me. Something has to be going right. We don‘t operate on the principle that they do at the provincia!l and federal election, and I hope we never do. If you‘ve been in either houses of parliament, you wouldn‘t want it either. At one point the schools quit taking youngsters because of the asinine behavior of the people. Do you think that a change to a ward system and this debate about secrecy and trying to get a more open council is part of the maturing process from a smallâ€" town feel to political structure of a larger city? system and this debate about secrecy and All you have to look right next door. I trying to get a more open council is part â€" don‘t know how many wards are won by of the maturing process from a smallâ€" acclamation. People did not run. And in town feel to political structure of a larger some cases some of the pe?le who did city? ;'l::b were discidenrm-; one fellow had a T lem with ing in an apartment As l said, I don‘t think we‘re a closed â€" he owned and Lfi::'l why he ran for office. council. That part I don‘t see at all. So it doesn‘t guarantee that you get a Robert Henry has served on council since 1967. Henry is proud of the ‘"‘quality of life‘ offered Waterioo citizens. an Kirkby photo Bob Henry likes to get things done Council Profile The ward system â€" I‘m neither for it or against it. I understand the ward system. I grew up in the ward system. I‘ve seen the worst ward system and I‘ve seen where it does some good. I think the major thing we have to do in Waterloo â€" I don‘t think there‘s any question that we are headed toward a ward system, we‘ve known that â€" but the thing is we (and this includes all council) have talked about it in private and public and felt it was very important in how we went to it. _ So that we don‘t just jump in, and all of a sudden, you‘ve got what you don‘t want. _ So it‘s just a matter of getting there. I don‘t think that we‘re not going to a ward system. I don‘t think that anyone on council ever thought that Waterloo would always stay at an atâ€"large system. But to say that a ward system is going to cure it, or get more people running, or what have you, is really nonsense if you look at it. f _ WATERLOO CHARONICLE, WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 1987 â€" What are you especially proud of accomplishing while you‘ve been on council? better representation. Taking that aside, I still think we‘re going to a ward system. But I think («l have to take time, and really think it out, and give the whole of Waterloo, everyone in it, a chance to see the different types of alternatives and then make a decision. Rather than just say, ‘we‘re going to a ward system‘, and then get into a controversial and adversarial situation before the Ontario Municipal Board. That‘s silly. Most recently, this (city centre) buildâ€" ing. Not the building itself, but the fact it‘s here. And the lead taken in certain areas, like community services. Like taking a hodgeâ€"podge and putting them together into one. I was more involved in that, therefore I‘m happy about it. The fact that we have grown from a community of 12,000 to a community of 65,000, and when you ask the people why they live here, they give exactly the same answer that they did when it was a community of 12,000. They‘re here beâ€" cause they like the quality of life, the lifestyle they can live in this community. I don‘t think anybody feels we are not going to some form of a ward system. I don‘t think we need to be in as big a hurry as some of the proponents want. Now to grow that big that quickly, with the development we‘ve had, I think has been a real accomplishment. It took a lot of work from the councils that were involved, and a tremendous staff which have given 125 per cent all the years I‘ve been here. I have heard that you spend a lot of your time in Muskoka. I don‘t think it solves all problems or makes you any more in the 21st century. (Laughs)In recent years, yes. I retired seven years ago. I have a place in Muskoka that I really enjoy. So, when I retired, and when the weather is right, I‘m in Muskoka. I have never missed a meeting because of Muskoka, but I have come down into the city for it from Muskoka. They have my phone number. Most of the time I spend there is in the summer months, when people are on holidays and so on. But I‘m always available. Do you think you can adequately represent the city when you spend a lot of your time up there? There is absolutely no question I spend a lot of time there. I have a beautiful cottage on Lake Rousseau. I really enjoy it. You should ask the people who send me to city hall. I do certainly, or I wouldn‘t be here. I don‘t feel that they lose a thing by the fact that I‘m there. I think all you have to do is go over the attendance at meetings, committee or otherwise, and you‘l find that I‘m there. What political party are you involved with? Are you going to run again in the next election? No. I will miss it. But I‘ve been around a long time. I‘ve got a background that helps out a lot. ____ _ _ e But one of the big things for anybody is knowing when to call it quits. I think it‘s better to do it when you‘re ahead, and I think at this point that I‘m still ahead (laughs). Have you any special plans or projects planned for your retirement? N;thmg is carved in stone, but right now I am not going to run. No.!‘ve always had many interests. I work with my hands â€" I‘m a woodcrafter. I have a place in Muskoka (laughs). And I‘m still young eneugh and spry enough to crossâ€"country ski. |____ _ I will miss being involved. There‘s no question of that. It‘s much harder to quit something like this than it is to get in it. Once you‘re in, you‘re in. For me, it‘s time. None. I vote for the person.