For one of the newly elected Collingwood councillors, the next four years will be a continuation of a learning curve that began six years ago.
Steve Berman was elected with 3,971 votes on Oct. 23 as a councillor for Collingwood town council. This was his second attempt running for the spot.
“The first one, I really didn’t think about getting elected,” said Berman. “I was running because I wanted to get a megaphone to advocate for the things I was working on.”
The councillor-elect leaped into local politics in 2012, when council made a decision to buy two fabric membrane structures - one for Centennial Aquatic Centre and the other for Central Park arena - with the funds the town received by selling 50 per cent of its utility to PowerStream. The sale and subsequent spending decisions are now the subject of a judicial inquiry.
“The vote on the two recreation facilities was a trigger issue for me,” said Berman. “I didn’t know anything about politics. I didn’t know how to use my voice … in the last two years of the previous council (2010 - 2014 term) I didn’t know what else to do except howl at the moon.”
Berman started a blog and built a social media following, which included a Facebook page called Eye on Collingwood.
Berman said he learned more about the town’s processes, how to get information, and when and where he could address council both formally and informally.
“What I realized early on is you can’t really be an armchair quarterback because council has access to more information, in most cases, than the public has before [council] makes a decision,” said Berman. “I’ve found out over the last four years to stop playing armchair quarterback because until you’re sitting in the seat, you don’t really know what they’re going through. You don’t know what it’s like to have 50 per cent of the residents unhappy with the decision you make even if it’s the right one.”
Now, Berman looks forward to “putting his money where his mouth is,” as a sitting member of the next council.
“I’m looking forward to being part of the process and doing the things that were important to me,” said Berman.
First and foremost, that’s communication with the public and making the communication from the town hall better.
Currently, the town does not have a communications director. The former staff member in that position resigned in September for a communications job with the Barrie Police. The town had a job posting for the position, which closed Oct. 9.
“We just went through an election that I had said I thought the biggest issue in the election was going to be facts versus a false narrative,” said Berman. “In my opinion that’s exactly what the election ended up being about.”
He said there was some information coming from town hall to clarify things like in-camera meeting statistics, but suggested there could always be more.
He’s hoping the town will hire another communications director and he’s hoping the new staffer can educate council on what to do to get the word out.
However, Berman said it’s important to also know what information the public is looking for.
“There seems to be that disconnect between the information the person on the street wants to know about the town, and the information that’s being released,” said Berman. “I would hope that’s something council acknowledges and we can do what’s in our control to do a better job of it, and that includes websites, the media releases, and the way we treat the media.”
Berman said he would like to see improvements in breaking down information to make it simpler and easier for the general public to digest quickly.
“I think people should be able to communicate with somebody [on council] 40 hours a week, and not be intimidated and not have their thoughts dismissed,” said Berman. “I’ve been on the clock for six years trying to help people out, and I hope that’s the attitude that everybody takes.”
As for blogging, social media, and other expressions of opinions, Berman said he’s slowed down and switched to an approach more focused on providing information.
“I’m not as interested in giving my opinion,” said Berman, adding he’ll still be available to people who want to know about why he made a decision on council or what he thinks of an issue. “Now that I’ve been elected, I want to use every means of communication possible to keep communicating to the public. So I’m really going to have to look at what’s the right way to use it.”
Berman and the other members of the new council are attending training sessions this month, and those will include a session with the county’s integrity commissioner on council’s code of conduct.
“I’m very cognizant that I don’t become the problem I saw for the last six years, but if I can help communicate what’s going on, I will,” said Berman. “In a perfect world there wouldn’t be any need for me to have social media because the communication out of the town is sufficient, but I don’t think it is.”
The new council includes Brian Saunderson (mayor), Keith Hull (deputy mayor), Steve Berman, Tina Comi, Deb Doherty, Mariane McLeod, Bob Madigan, Yvonne Hamlin, and Kathy Jeffery. All nine will be sworn in at the inauguration of council on Monday, Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. at the Collingwood Legion. There are regular meetings of council scheduled for Dec. 10 and 17 at the town hall council chambers beginning at 5 p.m., according to Clerk Services Coordinator, Christa Carter.
