Thank you, Mr. Wark, for keeping us informed:
In the article above, entitled “In 7-1 vote, Sackville Town Council appoints Jamie Burke as CAO”, we learned what we already knew:
First, Mr. Burke will be the continuity of Mr. Phil Handrahan and his gang that specializes in shenanigans.
Contrary to what our Mayor wrote: “No, he will not bring any innovation”, as it will be rather “more of the same old”.
Second, Councillor Bruce Phinney is faithful to himself. No one is perfect. So, surely not him neither. However, one thing seems to be a consistent, regardless of the story: Councillor Phinney is one of those rare principled politicians and public servants. Bambi is saying this, with all due respect to everyone in our town, province, country, and even beyond…
Councillor Phinney is an independent mind. History will remember it… Thank you.
Third, sometimes (especially after a certain age), new fulfilling roles in life offer an opportunity to some to become better human beings. They may surprise us with a good learned leadership, especially when we would be expecting the worst (power abuse). They may even surprise themselves before surprising us all.
It is Bambi’s hope that Mr. Burke will be one of these people who will discover that they can lead towns with respect (+ transparency). Yes, true leaders do not need to abuse, if not they would be anything but leaders.
Like anyone else in life, including deer, Mr. Burke has the potential for goodness, at the same time as a potential for harm.
May he remember that manipulation works both ways: Those who think they are manipulating to please others or in the name of others (perceived as being more powerful) can wake up one day to discover that they are pawns.
Pawns can be cleverly used, even by those they have called “friends” or “allies”.
Bambi hopes that Mr. Burke will know how to become more and more independent. It is never too late in life. This may be his chance to break away from older unhealthy patterns.
It is also her hope that he will not allow himself to become even more disconnected from citizens.
One good action Bambi noticed coming from Mr. Burke over the past months was his efforts to be a good communicator online (in the name of our town).
It may not be the most impressive achievement, but it is one where he seemed to have worked on improving his communication with the public (even he did not officially apologize to two citizens he may have insulted in the past… unless Bambi has missed the follow-up).
Bambi hopes he will expand this skill and… perhaps, with some miracle in this holy week, generalize it to his mandate as the CAO of Sackville.
