Cuff's Guide for Municipal Leaders - Volume 1: A Survival Guide for Elected Officials

Chapter 2 - So, Now You've Been Elected

by George B. Cuff

This is a sample chapter from the book, Cuff's Guide for Municipal Leaders.
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Welcome to the very interesting, challenging and rewarding life of an elected official in local government. This experience will be unlike anything else in which you have been involved in terms of its variety, complexity and role change. There is little that can realistically prepare you for your new status as an elected official, although the experiences and surprises of life are as good a “school” as anything else one could do!

A Basic Problem

You are not expected to “manage” this “business.” This has been the number one failure of elected officials across Canada. And, regardless of how often the same message is proclaimed at conferences and seminars, this will continue to be the case. Many people simply fail to learn by either their own experience or that of others. Being elected, in fact, requires the learning of a whole new way of seeing issues, and accepting a new role.

Regardless of how successful you have been in your own business or career, this experience offers few parallels. In many instances, you will be frustrated by the glacial speed of decision making, and wonder why everyone cannot move as quickly as you can – or perhaps thought you could. Perhaps you will argue that the municipality should be run as a business, only to recognize somewhat later that its basis as an institution representing the public requires that it approach decisions from a very different perspective.

Public Business

Public business must be done (and be seen to be done) publicly. While most candidates for municipal office are keen to support such a notion as they campaign, the tone often changes after the election. When, or if, the public’s desire for information (or to be a party to the decision-making process) is vocalized and becomes insistent, then the public may be viewed by at least some members of council as a nuisance. Such an attitude on behalf of a member of council (or council as a whole) generally signals an abbreviated tenure. This extremely important and sensitive matter is dealt with in more detail later in this book, particularly Chapter 7.

Becoming an elected official constitutes a new role. It will take some time to learn its intricacies. As a new member of council, you will be expected to “hit the ground running,” but not as the expert on governance or on the administration of a municipality. To believe otherwise would reflect a lack of maturity and judgment. Most people have a genuine dislike for the “instant expert.” There is nothing wrong with an admission of not being conversant with a particular topic or the arguments surrounding a contentious issue. The public is more likely to find such an admission refreshing.

Basic Principles of Elected Office

In order to be successful as an elected official, there are 15 basic principles that need to be understood:

1. The whole notion of elected office is based on two fundamental points: the rule of democratic representation, and the principle of accountability. The former speaks to the right of citizens to expect their elected members to reflect and represent their views on the issues; the latter speaks to the notion that those elected are accountable for their actions to those by whom they were elected.

2. The role of an elected official is unique. It is distinct and different from any other role. It needs to be learned and consciously applied if a council member is to be successful.

3. The public is, and always will be, the key to success. They alone determine the success and failure of political leaders.

4. Communicating out to the public is as important as receiving input from the public; both should to be valued.

5. Council is the servant of the public, and holds office at the pleasure of the public.

6. The will of the majority (as perceived by council) must be the most significant consideration in any decision making.

7. The opinions of the minority should be considered carefully before decisions are made.

8. Council and the administration should serve as a team, each with distinct roles, yet working together in the interests of the public.

9. Criticism of the administration, particularly on an individual basis, should never be tolerated by a council.

10. Council deals with the organization through one employee – the chief administrative officer (CAO). Any other course of action in attempting to guide the work of the administration should not be tolerated.

11. Council and its members cannot rest on their laurels. Each election campaign must be addressed as vigorously as the last campaign.

12. Each new council should determine its own priorities based on the input received during the campaign and subsequently (and supplemented by the advice of the administration), and should effectively communicate those priorities to the public.

13. Each council, regardless of the size of the community, needs to find ways of communicating its messages to the public, and should not rely exclusively on the media to perform that function.

14. Council members need to respect their colleagues on council as being the duly elected choices of the voters. While unanimous agreement need not be the case, respect for the opinions and votes of these colleagues is essential to the functioning of council.

15. Even leaders need a leader. All members of council are encouraged to uphold the office of head of council (or chief elected officer), even if they are in opposition to a particular statement or position taken by that official. Respect for each other is the hallmark of a mature council.

DISCUSSION GUIDE

1. What reasons prompted you to run for elected office at the municipal level?

2. What have been your greatest surprises to date?

3. Where do you turn to in attempting to find the answers to the problems facing your municipality?

4. What has been your most difficult learning experience as a member of council?

5. Which of the principles discussed in this Chapter do you consider to be most essential to the governance of your municipality and why?

Page last modified on May 24, 2007, at 09:33 AM