Opening/Chair: Audrey Jo was the chair for the day.

 

Happy Mug: Happy Rotarians today included Alana (TLC Training for Leaders of Clubs) - While there had been limited participation by club members there had been lots of DG time. Kevin was happy about club participation in the Coldest Night of the year event., The club still second to Dave in donations. There were lots of birthdays this month in the family. Ken was celebrating a kid fest of a birthday and his daughter’s engagement.

50/50:  Matt had the winning number but couldn't find the joker. The pot builds.

 

Member Health:  No report.

 

Committee Reports and Announcements: 

Speaker:  Speaker for the day was the Rotary Club of Truro member and past president Christine Blair. Councilor for 11 years, Village Commissioner for 15 and Christine is now 4 months in to her 4-year term as Mayor of Colchester County.

A new mayoral system came into effect in 2009 and works much the same way as it does for towns. Colchester is now governed by the Municipal Governments Act.

Christine described the duties of mayor, such as communicating and recommending to council rather than directing council.The CAO oversees operations. The Mayor is the face of the municipality at meetings or with media.

Early in her mandate Christine set up meetings with peers, Bill, Wendy, Bob, and has been working to establish the Regional Enterprise Network (https://novascotia.ca/programs/regional-enterprise-networks/), a modern evolved board of business professionals intended to promote economic growth.

She sees her role is to provide leadership, ideas, inspiration and service and is ultimately about relationships. 

In term of challenges, while the RECC is now more successful in organizing significant events and membership is over 2500, it was recently advised they need a new dehumidifier costing an estimated $600,000. Councils have faced this challenge and the necessary upgrades will move forward and RECC will become even more significant.

Park St. is another concern. There have been significant fluctuations in weather and traffic and  the county is faced with the question... Why aren’t you doing something? Steps have been taken, but ownership does not fall on the municipality. Repairs would represent a significant expense for something that would alleviate issues that impact fewer than 13 days per year.

Christine also spoke on the challenges of running an election.

Rotarian Mike Dolter thanked Christine for providing some insight into her role and the challenges faced by municipal governments.

 

Attendance:  

 

Closing: 1.06 pm