The Blue Agave Forum: The Blue Agave Forum -> The turn of the screw?

My, oh, my. Was I surprised when I read Councillor McNabb's vituperative column in today's Enterprise-Bulletin.

Titled, "Now is the time for mayor to roll up his sleeves," McNabb takes a double shot, one at his fellow councillors, the other at the mayor. The latter certainly takes the brunt of it.

What surprised me was not the criticism of the mayor, but criticism from someone who for the past three years has been described as "the mayor's man" - not merely an ardent supporter, but an apologist for and defender of the mayor at almost every turn.

These columns are a new feature cooked up by editor Ian Adams (aka Scoop) to give every member of council an opportunity to publicly and individually address issues, or simply outline his or her ideas and goals. I'm sure that annoys the mayor, because he sees himself as the sole voice of council and the town and has been very critical to date of my blog.

So far, council has responded with fairly mild content: none of the articles have been even vaguely controversial until now (well, I haven't had my turn yet, but I have this blog to vent my spleen, so I don't need the paper to do so). This changes the texture of the spot. It's now not merely a space for civilized expression: it's become a forum for dissension and criticism.

Viva la revolucion!

Well, he's no Che or Fidel. There isn't much of a sense of solidarity here. McNabb begins by slapping his fellow councillors:

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Of course, he doesn't mention names, nor does he identify what that "baggage" consists of. I would think the baggage has a lot to do with who on council didn't like the former mayor and who tried to trip him up at every turn then discredit him after he had gone. Then there's the baggage that led to the mayor and his supporters (including Councillor McNabb) repealling the approvals of the Admiral Collingwood development downtown that resulted in a main-street hole in the ground these past three years. But I'm not the writer of this polemic, so I can only guess at his meaning.

A bit later he adds,

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I'm sure from his previous comments that a fair portion of his criticism is aimed at me. He has publicly griped about my blog.* You can tell this isn't one of those Maoist 'self-criticism' sessions.

McNabb, however, lays the blame on a dysfunctional council squarely at the feet of the mayor:

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Pretty strong stuff, Tim. I'll bet you're scratched off the mayor's Xmas card list this year. I'm not sure how well the mayor received a visit from a councillor who proceeded to tell him how to do his job. I do know how well the mayor received me when we had our first meeting after the election. I hope your reception was warmer.

But he doesn't stop there:

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Is he suggesting the mayor would be directing staff without council's approval or input, in violation of the town's Code of Ethics we all signed? Hmmm.

But then there's this:

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Ouch. That's got to hurt, coming as it does from someone who has positioned himself as one of your staunchest supporters these past three years.Eh tu, Brute?

McNabb ends with the recommendation that, "It's time for our mayor to roll up his sleeves and embrace Collingwood's values. I for one would be happy to follow." Which begs several questions. First, does he mean the mayor hasn't embraced those values these past three years (if not, what has he been doing?)? Does he think that the mayor can do an end-run and rebuild his and council's credibility and consensus - and restore those lost values - in the final year of this term? Does he mean the mayor hasn't 'rolled up his sleeves' to work at being a good leader since he was elected? And why couldn't McNabb follow those values himself without having to follow the mayor's lead?

Ah, but for all the questions, it's an entertaining piece. Gotta love this sudden and unexpected sense of openness. Maybe accountability and transparency will come next? But it's a hard act to follow - and I seem to recall my turn is next. Maybe I have to revise my plan for a staid piece on the tree preservation bylaw and take a more aggressive stance.

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* When the consultant was helping redesign the town's Web site, last year, I recommended that councillors all be given a blog space so every member could have a place to have his or her say, to defend or criticize decisions. But that was apparently too 21st century for some folks and the idea never saw fruition. I also recommended a public (moderated) forum for residents to engage in debate with and ask questions directly of staff and council. Another suggestion that was not implemented. And don't even think about council doing any online social networking this term!