City Council holds retreat

Communications issues

There were also discussions about the ways councillors communicate with each other and other bodies.

Ward 5 Councillor Debbie Amaroso starting things off by talking about discourteous conduct during Council meetings.

Mayor Rowswell observed that the previous Council had a problem with people holding side discussions or slipping out of the room while delegations were addressing the meeting.

It's better with the current council, Rowswell commented.

Former Mayor Steve Butland took a hard crack at Councillor Manzo, pointing out that phone calls at 5 a.m. and threats of legal action don't necessarily contribute to a harmonious working environment.

The two Ward 3 councillors, Bryan Hayes and Pat Mick, expressed concern about information leaking out of Council's closed-door 'caucus' meetings.

Manzo refuses to be professional

One issue raised by participants was need for "professional" conduct by councillors, with Councillor Manzo strongly objecting, pointing out that if he ever described himself in that way he'd be voted out in the next election.

When the issue of a councillor calling other councillors at 5 a.m., Mayor Rowswell expressed hope there would be consensus that calls would be restricted to reasonable hours.

However, Councillor Manzo protested that he gets calls at 3 a.m. and at 5 a.m., and he told Rowswell he should be available to voters 24 hours a day.

Pride and grandstanding

Other comments entered anonymously by councillors into the meeting's computer log refer to "pride" and "grandstanding."

Further disunity emerged when councillors got on to the subject of the City's vision statements.

It emerged that the City actually has two vision statements, one for the community and one for the municipal corporation.

Council is divided over whether the vision statement should be printed on the backs of their business cards.

Councillor Manzo indicated that he refuses to use cards that include the statement.

It also doesn't appear on Councillor Amaroso's cards.

Economic Development Corp.

Councillors also let their hair down in a discussion of the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp.

Mayor Rowswell said that good economic growth prospects are overloading Bruce Strapp and himself.

"This is getting to crisis proportions where there's so much going on," Rowswell said.

The EDC has doubled in size in recent years but isn't able to handle all of the opportunities, he said.

Councillor Manzo argued that the EDC should report to Council or the head of council, but Mayor Rowswell said that discussion should not proceed in a public meeting and it would be necessary to meeting behind closed doors to discuss the issue further.

It was proposed that Council hold a joint meeting with the EDC board to discuss improving communications.

Facilitator Jaehrling promised to arrange to have a copy of action items from the meeting E-mailed to SooToday.com as soon as they were completed, which he expected would happen on Sunday.

We're going to post them as soon as they send them over.