Crankiness in the service of democracy

Do you think Councillor Jane Fullarton is cranky about being left off the Ontario Provincial Police costing committee (www.recorder.ca/2013/05/28/minister-oks-opp-costing)?
Well, she is.
In fact, “cranky” was the word she used to describe her state of emotion during council's special meeting on the 10-year capital plan Tuesday night.
As a matter of fact, Fullarton was also cranky about another proposed committee that showed every sign of being an exclusive club.
Most of council was cranky about that one, but for Fullarton it was the kind of last-straw material that prompted an outburst about that other OPP stuff.
In an effort to streamline a capital priority setting process that will now take us to a third exhaustive meeting, likely in September, city corporate services director David Dick had a suggestion.
It involved a process that included a template councillors would have to fill out to submit new proposals for capital projects.
Once those templates were filled out, they would go to an “oversight committee,” a vetting body that would include two councillors, two to four staff members and two community members.
Mayor David Henderson suggested those community members be people with the kind of financial acumen needed to evaluate whether the information on the templates is valid.
The idea of squeezing all councillors' suggested projects through this smaller club didn't sit well with Fullarton.
The current way – where staff-directed projects are vetted by senior staff, and council-generated ideas just come up at the council table – is more democratic, she argued.
“Every councillor in this room is created equal,” said Fullarton.
“Everybody that's in the room got elected because they seemed to be capable of representing their constituents.”
That last bit drew a big round of hearty laughs directed at Councillor Tom Blanchard, who was not elected, but appointed by council to replace Larry Journal when the latter resigned in 2011.
But Fullarton was not in a jovial mood. She went on to say she was already “cranky” about being left off the “contact committee” Henderson formed to deal with the OPP as it conducts its costing process.
Henderson excluded the three members who voted against the OPP costing: Fullarton and Councillors Jeff Earle and Mary Jean McFall.
Henderson said last week he wanted the costing process to be free of the political debate that would happen later, but Fullarton rebuked him, saying the 'No' voters were left out “even though we all have to own the decision.”
The mayor replied to this outburst with an emphatic “ouch!”
He also advised his colleague not to “get testy” and said the vetting committee idea was not his.
Ultimately, councillors rejected the oversight committee idea, although it looks like they'll keep the template part.
As for crankiness, well, as the OPP costing begins, we'd all better get used to it, from all sides.