Anyone considering running for city council in Winkler or Morden has a chance to find out more about what might expected of them in the role.
Both communities are holding information sessions for prospective candidates. Winkler’s takes place next week, on May 13, at 7 p.m. at the Winkler Centennial Library while Morden’s is set for June 18 at 7 p.m. at the Morden Civic Centre. You can pre-register on the city websites.
Each session will help people understand the roles and responsibilities, involved in serving on council.
Morden Mayor Nancy Penner stressed that potential candidates need to appreciate it requires a significant commitment.
“It is a big time commitment,” she said. “You need to be taking the role of a councillor very seriously because we are running a $26 million budget. When you look at all of the components of that, when you look at our utilities budget and our capital budget, it is a big role they play as councillors.
“It’s something that you don’t come into with one issue that you want to resolve … and I think you have to be a team player when you come on council.”
She hopes potential candidates come to the role with realistic expectations.
“Council members have to remember we can’t make promises at large. We always bring those concerns back to council … so we also have to remember council’s role. We don’t run departments within the city. We provide governance, we set policy … our city manager takes direction from council and then cycles that down to her staff.
“It’s very rewarding work, but it’s also very challenging work,” she noted. “I would encourage anyone who would like to work to the future of the next generation … we’re building for today, but we’re really building for the future when we look at municipal governance.
“We’re setting up the city for the future and hopefully leaving it a better place.”
Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens observed that being properly informed is critical to good decision making on council.
“I think a lot of the time people aren’t familiar with what exactly council entails,” he said. “Many people are interested in serving, and they have a desire to try to improve their community, but they don’t know exactly what’s involved in it.
“You need to understand what being on council looks like … these are some of the time commitments you should expect. These are the types of work you should expect. These are the types of skill sets that are needed around the table, and it helps people to recognize there is more to this role than just those couple meetings.”
And there are also the demands that come with residents feeling like they can call you at any time for any reason.
“There is that expectation from people that we are accessible,” Siemens said. “Obviously, if we asked for the role, we’ve asked for the opportunity to make decisions for our community, that also means we’ve asked for people to be able to share their opinions with us and their thoughts with us and their concerns with us.
“You have to be prepared to make decisions. You have to be prepared to hear both sides of an issue and then to make a decision even when it’s hard,” he said, noting council often struggles significantly with some decisions, but they need to act and serve as a team.
“Each one of us is one voice of seven,” he pointed out. “As council, the biggest thing that we do is set strategic direction for our staff. Our staff actually do all the work, but we provide the strategic direction. We provide guidance … we are the representatives of the community as a whole.”
