For example, much of Wednesday's front-page article on the mayor's "secret meeting" mused about improperly "doing city business," while making very little mention of the need for greater communication between city politicians, staff, and the public.

I agree that city business should not be done behind closed doors, and that citizens should be kept better informed of issues -- for example, the costs of severance packages for managers. However, The Spectator's sometimes sensational reporting of these topics may do more harm than good in that it scares off those who may want to improve disclosure.

Certainly the major concern at City Hall is the growing inability of councillors to make timely and important decisions. In the past month, council has been indecisive and laggard with regard to policies on garbage collection, smoking bylaws, and golf courses, even though they have been handed well-researched and reasonable (albeit controversial) proposals.

After doing a fine job with a difficult budget process, our councillors are now adrift and uncertain, and seem to be spending a lot of time pondering: "How will this look in the paper?"

Let's get behind councillors and insist they start taking leadership again, and not let them get away with endless discussion of frivolous issues. Source.