Frank Leonard & Associates

Speak when you can improve upon silence Legend has it that one day Saanich Mayor Hugh Curtis was asked what a particular member of Council contributed to the meetings – and he replied ‘about two hours’.   I later served on Council with that individual and can verify Hugh’s assessment.   In fact, from time to time a Council or Regional Board will come across at least one person like this.   They want to always have the last word, they want to explain and show off their infinite knowledge, and they can never be persuaded that this isn’t to everyone’s benefit.   Thankfully, I’ve never run into this on a corporate board – this is something that possesses politicians. I’m not without sin here - not so much for lengthy oratories but I did seek to get in a good one-liner on most nights.   In fact since a high school chum also served on Council, we would practice our lines in advance and see who could make the paper.   A headline was a victory for sure –...

Duty as Chair & The Diary of Anne Frank It is a given that the Mayor represents the community.   To me this means the Mayor or Board Chair are in many ways an ambassador and this leads to many ribbon-cuttings and sod-turnings.   I also believe you have to take the good with the bad and that when something goes wrong, you have to step up and ‘take one for the team.’ When a road project went over budget or when a bridge took far too long to complete, I always felt I had to take responsibility and represent the municipality.   Perhaps not with too much enthusiasm, but I believed you can’t take credit when things go well but then point fingers when they don’t.   In the case of the Admirals Road bridge that took months longer than originally announced to complete, I was steaming inside and let staff know that I was extremely upset that the contract allowed this but publicly  I agreed to the interviews and provided factually updates.   Nonetheless, ...