Good Governance

Attended a conference on Monday, October 29 called, Good Governance: Principles, Processes and Practices presented by George Cuff. Mr. Cuff has been an advisor to local governments for the past 40 years. He was the mayor of Spruce Grove, AB for 12 years and has written a number of books and articles around municipal work.

I found the conference very informative and inspirational. There was a great deal of ground covered but here are my most memorable take aways.

• Write down the concerns you heard when you were campaigning. Review those keys issues and your promises regularly. It is easy to get distracted from your electors' priorities in four-years - remind yourself why you were voted in.

• Be clear on the difference between governance and management. I was elected to lead through governance not to manage RDOS staff.

• Lead with this one question, "Why are we doing this? Is this one of our top 10 priorities?"

• "First heard, deferred."

Helena Konanz hosted a public event called Women In Politics on Wednesday, October 31. Here is a link to an article about the event. It was great and I hope there are more to come.