The municipal councillors and the strategic plan: a window to the northwest.

With the municipal elections just over and many new councillors starting their four-year mandate, I thought it would important to discuss the changing role of municipal councillors within the context of the challenges facing Northern Ontario. This role can be summarized in the three key areas of the representative role, policy making role, and the managerial role. In this and future articles I will go into a bit more depth about each role while trying to put it into context so readers can draw valuable conclusions and be better informed about the job of their municipal representatives.

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While many challenges await those who seek political office, especially at the level of local government, the rewards can be many. The major one is being able to make a meaningful contribution to the well being of the community and its citizens. However, after a few weeks in office a councillor may think that getting elected was the easy part. He/she will likely feel overwhelmed by the variety of matters demanding their attention and the little time available to deal with them. To make the most effective use of that time, councillors need to have some idea of their duties and the time those duties should take.

The Municipal Councillor and the Strategic Plan

A councillor will be called on to consider and make decisions on often complex and controversial issues. Most of those decisions will have long-term consequences for the municipality and should be made in the context of the municipality's long-term direction. A strategic plan is an essential part of the management process. It is a document that looks to the future, clearly setting out the municipality's vision and priorities and how it intends to achieve them. It is very important for councillors to become familiar with their municipality's strategic plan in order to effectively understand both the organization and the broader environment in which he/she will be working.

All of the administrative, financial and planning decisions should reflect and support the strategic plan. Decisions, both popular and unpopular, are more easily made when seen in the context of the municipality's broader long-term strategy. While councillors may disagree on how they will get there, they should all be moving in the same direction. If not, there will be a lot of wheels spinning. If our leaders do not have a clear vision for our community, it is also unlikely that they will provide a clear sense of direction.

The missing link

In conclusion, most municipalities have a community plan or strategic plan that may have been in existence for a few years and ideally it would have achieved broadly-based community support from a large number of organizations and agencies. In view of the importance of the strategic plan in a councillor's role, it is my humble opinion that there exists a need for a municipality (especially the larger ones) to also develop a corporate plan that would be consistent with and build on the community plan. The corporate plan would create a framework that encourages consistency in municipal decision-making among both councillors and staff. When developed with public input, the plan should represent a shared view of the municipality's future and encourage public commitment to achieving it. If properly developed and implemented, it would provide councillors the vital public support they need and help create a clear sense of direction in a world of uncertainty and confusion. Northern Ontario needs it.

Frank Pullia is the Principal of Pullia Consulting. He can be reached at 767-6579 or via e-mail at HYPERLINK "mailto:[e-mail]" [e-mail] Questions or comments are welcome.