It was a difficult pill to swallow, and a lesson learned, but Muskoka Lakes councillors are finally taking control of their municipal affairs.

After a lengthy and often heated special council meeting last week, it was decided to change some of the wording in the township’s procedural bylaw in order to gain more control of the direction and decisions made by the municipality.

While it was a lesson of trial and error, and thank God that lesson was learned sooner rather than later, councillors should never have permitted such control over the coffers to be held by someone who is not accountable to the public.

Councillors should know the inner workings at town hall and should be able to answer questions of fiscal significance when asked by constituents.

Councillors need to be more involved in land acquisitions, building leases, etc., and approving tender documents before they are publicized.

While councillor Mary Grady is right, it is not up to councillors to micromanage township staff, it is councillors’ responsibility to ensure they know how our money is being spent, and are able to answer questions on how and why tender documents are being put together such as they are.

If council is not vigilant and processes are not transparent and accountable, we run the risk of having a rubber-stamp system.  Mayor Susan Pryke makes reference to the Carver model of governance being used in Muskoka Lakes. If you do a little homework, you will find many people who extol the virtues of the model, but there are others who see it as a system which allows elite bureaucrats to serve themselves at the expense of everybody else.

Yes, Pryke is right, it’s not township staff we need to blame for the “disconnect,” it’s council. They are the ones who agreed to this Carver policy governance model, and now it is up to council to right that wrong.

And if council needs a golden rule to ensure they don’t stray down this path again, just remember the municipal food chain. The CAO and township staff work for council and the taxpayer, not the other way around.

KF