Council 'clicking': Kilger

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

Trevor Pritchard

Monday, December 11, 2006 - 10:00

Local News - That sound you might have heard coming from the Cornwall Civic Centre this weekend was the new city council, in Mayor Bob Kilger's words, clicking.

Kilger, CAO Paul Fitzpatrick, and the city's 10 councillors spent Friday evening and all day Saturday on a private weekend retreat, as part of a team-building exercise put on by a local skill development company.

"It was an opportunity to learn a great deal more about the colleagues around the council table - and at the same time, for them to learn a little bit more about me," said Kilger.

The two-day session, run by "change catalyst" and Breakthrough Strategies president Gail Kaneb, put the 12 municipal officials through a number of exercises designed to build bonds and improve communication before their first council meeting tonight.

In one exercise, they had to navigate their way through an obstacle course with their eyes closed, relying on directions from a partner. In another, they were each given a number from one to 12 and, moving about on a chessboard-like layout, had to arrange themselves in numerical order.

After each exercise, there would be a "debriefing" session where they'd talk about what worked and what didn't.

"I think (the workshop) helps us gel as a group right from the very beginning," said Coun. Bernadette Clement, one of the new councillors elected to city hall in November.

"It took us out of our comfort zone. When you do that, you really learn."

One point that was stressed over the course of the workshop, said Clement, was that councillors need to know how to disagree on major issues without having the debate turn personal.

"We all realize that we're going to disagree over the next four years, but we want to disagree respectfully, and then move on from there," she said.

For Coun. Andre Rivette, who was re-elected to council after failing in his 2003 mayoral bid, it was the first time he'd been to a team-building workshop with his fellow councillors. Describing the new council as "a very good mix" of personalities, Rivette hoped the willingness on the part of seasoned veterans to help newcomers like Clement would be a boon to the community.