To me, accountability is more than being available to answer questions. It’s about owning the responsibility that comes with being elected.
When residents elect someone to Council, they are trusting that person to make decisions on their behalf, ask difficult questions, scrutinize how public money is spent, and represent the community to the best of their ability.
That responsibility doesn’t end when a Council meeting is over - and it certainly doesn’t end when an election is over.
Accountability means being willing to:
- Stand behind your decisions. Not every decision will make everyone happy. But residents deserve an explanation of how and why a decision was reached.
- Ask the tough questions. Being accountable to taxpayers means not simply accepting recommendations because they are presented. It means understanding the issue, asking questions and making sure the decision is in the community’s best interest.
- Follow through. If a resident brings an issue forward and you say you will look into it, you should. And if you can’t resolve it, you should still let them know what you found.
- Own mistakes. No one gets every decision right. Circumstances change. New information comes forward. Sometimes something simply doesn’t work as intended. Accountability means acknowledging that, learning from it, and adjusting when necessary.
- Be responsible with public money. Every tax dollar represents money contributed by someone in our community. Council has a responsibility to treat those dollars with care and make decisions with both today and the future in mind.
- Keep showing up. Accountability isn’t something that should only be visible during an election campaign. Residents should be able to reach their elected representatives, ask questions, and expect communication throughout the entire term.
And there’s something else worth considering when choosing who to vote for.
You don’t have to wait until someone is elected to see how they approach accountability.
Watch how they campaign.
When a candidate is asked a difficult question, do they answer it - or avoid it?
When they make a claim, are they prepared to explain it?
Do they acknowledge when they don’t know something, or do they have an answer for everything?
Are their promises realistic and achievable, or are they telling people what they think they want to hear?
And when someone challenges their position, do they listen and engage respectfully?
Because a campaign can tell us quite a bit about how someone may approach the responsibilities of public office.
Accountability isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being responsible.
It’s about being willing to answer for the decisions you make, to listen when people disagree, to learn when you’re wrong and to keep working on behalf of the people who entrusted you with the job.
And that responsibility belongs to every person who sits around the Council table - not just on election day, but every day they serve.