The Mayor starts a blog

Unfortunately, it's the Mayor of Guelph, where they also have 3 City Councillors with blogs. Here in Windsor the Mayor can't even manage a "Fireside Chat" email newsletter, promised almost two years ago. As far as Councillors go, they're all too afraid to join their fellow Councillor Alan Halberstadt in the penalty box to even contemplate moving into the 21st century.

From Mayor Fairbridge's first post:

Welcome!

I decided to start a blog to encourage more dialogue about civic affairs in the community. One of the goals of our Strategic Plan is to have the highest per capita municipal election voter turnout of any city in Ontario. Participation in municipal elections is usually very low - much lower than provincial and federal elections. When people are asked why they do not vote in municipal elections, the main reason given is apathy followed by a lack of understanding of the issues. This has always surprised me given how important municipal government is to our day to day lives.

I am hoping this blog will be a great way to share information and ideas, get residents’ feedback about City matters, and generally de-mystify City Hall.

I encourage you to get involved in the discussion. For the ground rules on posting comments, please see the “About the Blog” page.

It’s important to note that the opinions I express on this blog are mine, and don’t represent the positions of the City of Guelph or Guelph City Council.

Enjoy!

Related: While we can manage to push out another News Release on the Greenlink marketing campaign it seems the City can't seem to manage posting the Sptitfires deal on the website. The media package and briefing prepared for Councillors are all public documents, along with the deal itself.

Update: Here's the Mayor's News Release about her blog. I really liked this line - ""The blog is a great way to boost the accessibility and transparency of the Mayor’s office, which is an ongoing priority of mine," said the Mayor. " Something to hope for in Windsor.