Council life is no picnic

My back was to the stage at the time, so I don’t know if any of the non-incumbent candidates squirmed a bit when I reminded the audience that anyone offering to represent their community on city council is willing to give up a considerable amount of their privacy and leisure time, and that we should be grateful to them all for putting themselves forward to undertake what is too often a thankless job.

I only had about 30 seconds or so to make my point, which bears repeating here in a bit more detail now that the new council is in place. Being elected to a municipal council involves a serious four-year commitment, and anyone who has ever won a seat at the council table is sure to tell you that with the glory and respect comes great responsibility. Not only are there the monthly public meetings where you vote on motions, pass bylaws and answer questions from residents, but there are also regular committee meetings and dozens of community events where attendance is obligatory — not to mention hundreds of pages of reports, recommendations and other documents that have to be read in order for you to make the informed decisions your fellow residents are trusting you to make on their behalf. And then of course there is that one chronic malcontent in your district who phones you at all hours to complain about the most ridiculous problems that require your immediate attention.

And with the controversial — and at times downright volatile — arena/pool project hanging over Westmount like some massive storm cloud, Mayor Trent and the new city councillors certainly have their work cut out for them. For this we owe them our sincere thanks, as they are sure to be giving up a lot of themselves over the next four years in order to serve their constituents.