It’s Our City Government: MULVIHILL

I remember when Jim Watson was running for mayor at the end of Larry O’Brien’s first (and only) term in office. Jim, the Golden Boy returning from provincial politics, noted that he was going to spend more time listening to what local people/local groups had to say. My fondest memory of this promise was the fiasco that surrounded the new contract the city was working on concerning curbside pickup of solid waste. At that time garbage was being picked up weekly and there was a movement afoot to have it picked up every two weeks. A group from city hall attended one of our community association meetings to discuss the new plan, field questions, and listen to suggestions. Many people in attendance were concerned about the change and offered suggestions. As the meeting progressed, city representatives started looking at their watches more frequently. Then suddenly one of the representatives thanked all in attendance and noted that the decision to move forward had already been made. Although the group from city hall had listened to what was said by the attendees, they weren’t reacting in an appropriate manner (taking notes, etc.). So, why were attendees wasting their time consulting with these people when the decision to move forward as planned had already been made? There are four components to effective communication – meeting, speaking, listening/hearing, discussing. City hall should send its staff to courses so they can be more effective at steps three and four. And begin respecting peoples’ personal time.