Tom MacEwan, CAO for the Municipality of Kings, continues the struggle to put Kings County on track.
Completely new governance structures have been recommended within the "Now or Never" Ivany report where commissioners "... heard frequent complaints about multiple levels of government, each with different strategies and programs, without any apparent consideration for aligning policies."
Perhaps, real change won't come until there's a clean sweep of council to eradicate the iron grip of the status quo.
Kirk Starrat provides his overview of the current change: "County of Kings Cuts Two Management Positions" and he has linked this streamlining to a previous 2010 restructuring: "Huge Shake-Up at County of Kings". The outside counsultants in 2010 noted the need for restructuring is "not unusual in municipalities, but the severity of the issues in Kings is not typical."
Friday 27 March 2015
Saturday 14 March 2015
Young Women and Local Politics---Increasing Participation
In October 2013 with funds from the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities Councillor Bishop, VanRooyen and I organized a forum to celebrate Person's Day. Over fifty elected women and girls in from local schools, universities and municipalities attended.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has just published a great piece of participatory action research!
Removing the Barriers to Young Women's Participation in Local Government
This guide is addressed to young women who would like a "head start" group in their community and to municipal councillors with an interest in seeing more (young) women enter politics.I recently bumped into a travel writer who travels the globe and watches politics in Europe and North America. He offered this as the greatest problem in local governance:
"The iron grip of the status quo."
The status quo is not good for communities, for women, and for young women in particular. There's a democratic and demographic deficit. What would change look like if a good number of young women entered council chambers in the years immediately ahead?
The presence of Councillor Emma VanRooyen at the County of Kings is a demonstration of the wisdom that brings and the types of change we could see if more "Emmas" ran for political office.
I've sent the guide off with a note to all those who attended in 2013. I hope it will inspire interest in exploring this topic and using this guide. It was great to have a database of young women to contact. Now, my fingers and toes are crossed that a few will get in touch.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has just published a great piece of participatory action research!
Removing the Barriers to Young Women's Participation in Local Government
This guide is addressed to young women who would like a "head start" group in their community and to municipal councillors with an interest in seeing more (young) women enter politics.I recently bumped into a travel writer who travels the globe and watches politics in Europe and North America. He offered this as the greatest problem in local governance:
"The iron grip of the status quo."
The status quo is not good for communities, for women, and for young women in particular. There's a democratic and demographic deficit. What would change look like if a good number of young women entered council chambers in the years immediately ahead?
The presence of Councillor Emma VanRooyen at the County of Kings is a demonstration of the wisdom that brings and the types of change we could see if more "Emmas" ran for political office.
I've sent the guide off with a note to all those who attended in 2013. I hope it will inspire interest in exploring this topic and using this guide. It was great to have a database of young women to contact. Now, my fingers and toes are crossed that a few will get in touch.
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