Guest Column: From the Mayor’s desk

Lisa Holmes-WEBI’m very excited to be writing my first edition of “From the Desk of”! It is an honour to be serving you, the residents of Morinville, as Mayor. As part of my promise to make Council and myself more accessible, I will be holding scheduled office hours: Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (2nd floor, Town Hall). Drop in to chat, have a coffee, and keep the lines of communication open. You can also find me on Twitter @lisaholmes and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LisaHolmesMorinville.

We’ve got an exciting four years ahead of us. Let’s work together to continue to make Morinville the best place to live, work and play.

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9 Comments

  1. First step in the accessible promise is to have the town website updated, to include the new members of council on the link to communicate with them. Still has old council there.

    Next should be a link to the Mayor/councillors DIRECTLY. I do not wish to be screened or answered by a staff member, or have them see my communications.

  2. Hi Joe – There has been problems with the town’s server (Shaw) that caused some delays and technical issues for the website and the town’s email. I just checked and there is some new information up there now on Council so I’m sure staff are in the process of getting it all updated.

    To contact any member of Council directly, you can email them. Email addresses are their first initial last name @morinville.ca. For example, mine is lholmes@morinville.ca. That will reach them directly without it going through anyone else. The form on the website also sends an email that reaches us directly, but that one is copied to the CAO. We put that process in place as some members of past Council were checking their email less frequently than others and there were delays in response times. All communication processes are being discussed and evaluated during the new Council’s orientation sessions this week and next.

    Thanks!
    ~Lisa.

  3. I have two points to make:

    First – I believe your response to Joe is INCORRECT.. The CAO advised some time ago that copies of all emails, addressed to the Mayor and Councillors which used the Town email addresses, went to her. If I am wrong about this, please advise – writing.

    Second – When had you planned to release to the Public information on those options discussed with Alberta Transportation concerning the Cardiff Road / Highway 2 interchange? You have had this detail for a significant number of months now and I would submit that it is LONG overdue for release. There has NEVER been a valid reason to keep this a secret, so what’s the problem?

  4. Lisa – I recall when you were first elected for Councillor 3 years ago, and you were having coffee with us, you told Cliff and I and Jim that if we wanted to send emails directly to you that only you would see, then we should use your personal email address. I believe that is why you gave us your personal email address and I’m assuming that it is the same. If we are wrong, please let me know!
    Thanks
    Linda Lyons

  5. Instead of whining and complaining on Morinvillenews why dont you PICK UP THE PHONE or EMAIL(since you are ON THE COMPUTER) the person. I have never had a problem with either.
    Sick and tired hearing you three crying and complaing all the bloody time!!!!!

  6. Jim/Linda – any emails sent to Town email addresses are not copied to the CAO. The only emails that are copied are the ones sent via the form on the town’s website as I mentioned above.

    As for the information on the Cardiff Road/Highway 2 interchange options, Mayor Krauskopf and I were told, in person, at the meeting with the Minister of Transportation by the Minister himself that the options were to be deemed confidential until he relayed otherwise. I have not received any word otherwise at this point. If a member of the Minister’s staff relayed different information to you, then they are misinformed. As we are in the middle of discussions and negotiations in regard to the interchange, I will respect the wishes of the Minister in the interest of good faith. Now that the election is over, we are planning on meeting with the Minister again and you can be sure that I will request that the information be made public (after it has been reviewed by Council). I am not voluntarily withholding any information – it is not my decision as to when to give this information out, it is the Provincial Government’s.

    If you have further questions about this, feel free to email me.

  7. Dear Amber:

    The last I heard, one of the principles of ‘Free Speech’ is just that – the freedom to rant and rave to your heart’s content… if this NOT be correct, I would assume that the editor (or indeed, the publisher) would just not reproduce the statement.

    I’m really sorry that you’re “Sick and tired hearing you three crying and complaing all the bloody time!!!!!” – NOT!

    Besides, the whole idea of having a comments section for the reader is to allow comments. Nobody ever said that all comments had to be acceptable to all people, right? ‘Free Speech’ – remember?

    By the way, Her Honour’s response was good – at least now ALL concerned know where she’s coming from – which PROBABLY wouldn’t have been the case had my original “whining and complaining” comment NOT been made!

    Just trying to keep the general public informed… Have a nice day.

  8. Congratulations Lisa on your win and I look forward to your term as our Mayor. As shown in response to those who made comments before me I feel that you are indeed accessible which is commendable to say the least. The fact that I can drop in on a Wed. for coffee and chat reassures me that at least I can bend your ear for a few minutes if needed. I’ve never lived where a mayor gave the public that kind of access before – well done! Even the nay-sayers can get a cup of coffee – now how great is that?

    Shelly

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