In an information piece released on Monday, the only declared candidate so far to offer up a challenge to incumbent Jack Mussallem, touched on the perceptions of secrecy of the current City Council.
Mr. Brain addressed that theme with an observation on the frequency of this Council to go behind closed doors on any number of issues.
"With so many meetings in-camera, the people of Prince Rupert are left in the dark as to the on-goings of City Hall"
Going further on the desire to see more engagement with the community, Mr. Brain could find that his comments of today will raise the ire of the Mayor and some of his council members. Particularly when it comes to his thoughts on the handling of a pair of high profile files in front of City Council in the last year or so.
"Our current Mayor, Jack Mussallem, has failed to not only be honest with community members, but has failed to engage people on big ticket issues, such as the Pellet Plant and proposed LNG developments on Lot 444"
Offering up the theme of a lack of transparency and accountability on those issues and any others, may prove to be trickier for the challenger than providing the raw accounting numbers of how many Closed Sessions this council has held in the last year.
For those scoring at home we are at Seventeen and counting with tonight's Council session.
Introducing the topics for discussion however, should make for a lively time during the campaign race and finally provide for some real conversation on some of the key issues of this council from the last three years.
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| Lee Brain Media Release September 15 |
voters to consider.
Options that he believes will address the issue of transparency and open municipal government, providing a snapshot of his plans to make use of such approaches as:
Submitting a weekly column via print media or electronic delivery.
Host a monthly Town Hall meeting
Send out a monthly e-mail or social media newsletter
Prince Rupert residents can be excused if they're just a little cynical whenever they hear the words open, transparent and accountable as part of the trinity of the local political lexicon.
They are terms that have been proclaimed in countless elections before, only to see the follow through on the concept disappear shortly after the votes are counted and the elected officials get down to work.
Still, the terms make for a hopeful concept for governance, one that many probably would like to see in place, but most probably approach the whole theme as we'll believe it all when we see it.
Mr. Brain's Town Hall approach will seemingly get a launch shortly, with the candidate planning to use that forum to reveal more of his campaign platform prior to the November 15th election day.
However, no confirmed date for the first of those public sessions was provided with today's media release.
Those public forums could prove to be the most important sessions of his still developing campaign.
Offering up for those would be voters, who may still be uncertain as to what he stands for, a bit more background on how he would offer a different approach to municipal government.
As well, those public sessions should provide us with an outline as to how he would attract growth and opportunity for the region, as well as how he would manage the many complicated issues that continue to challenge Council.
You can review the full press release from this link to the Candidates campaign page.
Mr. Brain also offers up a few more points on the topic here.
As for the official launch of his campaign, a Kick off Party is planned for Saturday evening at 7 PM, you can learn more about that Family Friendly event here .
For more items of note on the upcoming Municipal Election campaign see our ongoing archive page.
For background on issues from City Council see our page dedicated to Municipal Government.
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