So You Want to be a Councillor?
Ron Bolin: Nov. 25, 2014
It’s time for our newly elected Councillors to attend boot camp and be indoctrinated in how best to represent us. Staff and contract personnel are preparing to show them their places and to tell them about what they should, perhaps, have known about being a Councillor before running for the office, but perhaps do not. We must remember that the only requirements for the position are an age of 19 or more and residence or property ownership in Nanaimo.
While recognizing the incongruity of the comparison, all religions -and surely politics is a religion- provide experiences for their novitiates which will impress upon them the mystery of their ordination and their mission. Nanaimo Council is no exception. The following orientation schedule has been arranged for their benefit which will hopefully then be transferred, by them, to the rest of us. It is surely no mean task which faces them in the next four years.
Council Orientation Schedule (click)
It is to be hoped that some past Councillors such as Sherry and Holdom who have both played the game and have both been out of it for a suitable period will be available at one or more of these sessions to bring a touch of the real to the ideal.
It is also to be wondered whether the public, perhaps through the media, might find a number of these sessions of benefit in aiding our public understanding of what makes our body politic tick.
As an aside, I am not sure how to interpret the fact that the very first element of their education will be a presentation on “Council Remuneration & Benefits” and thus leave it to you to ponder at your leisure.
In the meantime I am sure that you all join me in wishing our new Council every success in representing us in the Community of Nanaimo.
Posts and Comments on Nanaimo Governance 
When look at the agenda I miss anything about “Robert’s Rules Of Order” unless it’s an obvious topic within the larger scope. Rudy HiebertAbbotsford
When one examines the program on governance to be presented, one can see that one supposedly significant element of governance has been dismissed: the governed.
Hopefully, Sukh Manhas will cover Human Rights Law under “legal issues”. Although three of its enablers are still on Council and probably uneducable on the topic, he could educate the others. Nanaimo does not need another Leadercast debacle.
Shouldn’t the first item of the agenda be ‘The Roles & Responsibilities of a Councillor’