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About 74 of New Brunswick’s mayors and deputy mayors were part of a new training program hosted by the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick (UMNB) — called Mayor’s School.
President Brittany Merrifield said the organization came up with the idea to help better explain the role of the mayor.
“We have to run the meetings,” she said. “We generally are the spokesperson for the municipality, so it’s a little different. It was an opportunity to focus on some training on what the role is and how to make the most of it.”
She said there is no handbook for being a mayor.
“When the mayor and council are successful, the municipality is as well,” she said.
Last year, as part of its annual report, the Local Governance Commission (LGC) recommended mandatory training for elected officials and staff.
The commission asked for training on code of conduct, conflict of interest and the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
In the end, the province did not make the training mandatory, but provided a voluntary option that saw good uptake.
Merrifield said training was important for understanding good governance.
“We need to know the best way to manage the council and make sure that each councillor has been heard, and that their priorities are moved forward in conjunction with everybody,” she said.
Mayors must also be advocates for their communities through the orders of government, she explained.
She said some of the mayors elected are new to the role. Merrifield said the training also discussed the different relationships that exist between the mayor and staff.
“Getting together in a room with your peers like that from all over the province, it’s just such an incredible opportunity,” she said.
Grand Manan Mayor Bonnie Morse agreed.
“It was a really good experience. I wished I’d had it when I started as mayor five years ago,” she said.
She said she feels there are always other things you can learn, especially from other municipalities. Her biggest takeaway was a session on communication.
“It’s always a struggle just because of the times we’re living in,” Morse said. “As mayor, you find yourself in the role of spokesperson for the municipality, which sometimes is a little daunting when you’re in something like the Washington water crisis.”
Morse said taking the time to get answers to questions the public and the media are asking was a point the presentation emphasized.
Former Halifax mayor Mike Savage was the keynote speaker.
“Clearly, the mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality is very different from Grand Manan, but to hear him reflect on some of the challenges … it was really good,” Morse said.
Eastern Charlotte Mayor John Craig has been elected to three different municipal councils, but attended to ensure his continued learning.
He said it was a valuable opportunity to meet with other mayors and learn that many of them are facing the same barriers.
“There was a whole bunch of stuff thrown at us really quickly,” he said. “It was very well done. I had five pages of notes when I was done.”
Craig said some did ask why he would go given his nearly three decades around the horseshoe.
“This job is like every other job,” he said. “You’re constantly learning and it is hard to keep up with because the rules change, policies change and the way things are done every day. If you go in with the idea that you know everything, you shouldn’t be doing the job.”
Meanwhile, Merrifield said UMNB received a lot of feedback from the Mayor’s School and would love to see the continuation of training.
“There just aren’t enough opportunities for training and this was a great event where there was peer-to-peer connection and peer-to-peer learning,” she said. “It was a great opportunity.”
Several other Charlotte County mayors and deputy mayors were present including St. Stephen Mayor Steve Backman, Saint Andrews Mayor Steve Neil and Fundy Shores Mayor Denny Cogswell.
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