Editorials
May 08, 2008 02:28 PM
Well, well, well. You can read it yourself on the front page of today’s Citizen, but Vaughan politician Alan Shefman sure did set the record straight on Mayor Linda Jackson’s whining and complaining about her colleagues being out to get her.
Mr. Shefman says the facts just aren’t there to support Ms Jackson’s claims that some members of council are hell-bent on discrediting her and seeing her fail.
In fact, he says, “Linda Jackson has never said any of these things directly to me. I don’t know if I’m one of the so-called disloyal or unco-operative members of council. But because I don’t know, what she says is even more destructive and hurtful”.
It is good to see that Mr. Shefman understands how damaging it is to a healthy relationship to be caught unaware of something important.
But that is exactly what he did to Ms Jackson this week when he delivered a prepared speech to a packed council chamber.
Unlike her council colleagues, Ms Jackson was not given the courtesy of a heads-up that the Thornhill councillor would deliver a stinging rebuke about comments she made on the workings of council in several recent news stories.
We don’t know about you, but hanging your boss out to dry in a public forum is, at the very least, most decidedly uncool.
Ms Jackson handled the situation better than most folks would, displaying a strength of character and leadership her critics have been claiming that she desperately lacks.
She has also built up the thick skin that has saved many when swimming with sharks in political waters. She’s a big girl, she can take it, she says.
Mr. Shefman suggested what was needed to make this council work better was more open and direct communication.
Even more importantly, he says, leadership on Ms Jackson’s part was badly lacking.
He’s got a good point. Ms Jackson would do well to make the first move, invite Mr. Shefman to dinner and read him the riot act face-to-face about the importance of integrity in municipal politics.