Aim higher

It’s hard to give money away. Not so much the letting go of the cash, more the decision- making about who is worthy and who isn’t. Or rather, which group or initiative is worthier than all the rest. For there is only a finite well of money to give away.

It’s hard enough for individuals. It is much more difficult doing so as a local government. Especially one like ours. It is, as one council member quipped, a Sophie’s choice, forced to select which of his children to sacrifice, to prevent losing both.

We, in Prince Edward County, don’t have enough money to fix our roads or waterworks, yet we, or more accurately, our council representatives, feel compelled to help out those raising money for other important projects or services. Things like hospitals, rinks or volunteer projects serving the most vulnerable in our community. With taxpayers’ money.

Which is why council tends to get balled up on the subject. Not just this term of council— though last week’s performance was special in its fury, confusion and torment. Every mix of councillors, in my observation, has wrestled awkwardly with this task. Typically, after a few frustrating bouts of it, council tends to change up the process in hopes of navigating more gracefully around the prickly bits of choosing who wins and who loses. And why.

No matter what they try, however, granting money seems inclined to devolve into personal recrimination along the lines of: My love of the County is more pure, more true than yours. The things I care most about are the things most County residents care most about too.

It didn’t help last week when Mayor Robert Quaiff switched up the rules midway through deliberations about what would stay and what would go.

Quaiff assured his fellow council members that once they had completed an informal survey of support for each item on the list, he would, indeed, come back for a more formal deliberation on each item. After a particularly rancorous discussion about funding Kingston University hospital, however, Quaiff reneged on his agreement. The mayor abruptly asked for a motion that the entire list be approved.

The motion passed. Debate was over. Discussion ended. The money was spent.

Several councillors sputtered in disbelief. They had asked specifically—with reasonable wariness—to be allowed to return to the list. Mayor Quaiff said, repeatedly, they would be permitted this opportunity. Then he took it away. Their wariness, it turns out, had been justified.

Rather like Charlie Brown running to kick the football and Lucy yanking it away at the last minute. Rats.

The point is, however, that it has always been hard. It turns out the business of generosity can bring out the less attractive aspects of our character.

It raises uncomfortable questions: Should council give taxpayer money away at all? Shouldn’t property taxes fund municipal things and deeds? If I believe XYZ group warrants my support, I can commit my dollars to it—why do I need the County to be an intermediary in the transaction?

Personally, I believe there are three broad but distinct categories in which it is critical that our local government continue to help fund.

They are: cultural initiatives; community based institutions; and municipal or community proxies. Cultural activities are the arts and heritage organizations and events—the heart and soul of community. Without these events and activities, we risk losing track of who we are as a community, where we came from and why it matters.

Community-based institutions include the Picton hospital, our schools and such facilities that are funded on a provincial or federal level, but need municipal skin in the game to measure demand—who they can ignore and who they can’t.

Municipal proxies are the things individuals or groups do to provide services or facilities the municipality can’t. Cemetery maintenance. Sports and recreation organizations and facilities. There are scores of examples where volunteers and community leaders fill the spaces where the municipality falls well short.

Recommendation: Establish three committees of council members to consider each category of requests. Let council decide how much to accord each category. Return to principle-based decision making. Resist the temptation to descend into trade-offs between one group of volunteers and another.

It isn’t foolproof. There will be some hard feelings. It is part of the exercise.

We can, however, do a much better job of this. It begins with leadership that understands the sensitivities represented around the table, and indeed around the County. It requires leadership that appreciates the inherent frailties of the process. We need leadership that embraces the fact that we come to these deliberations with passion and deep-seated values.

Deception and impatience ensures only that it will be harder to reach a consensus next time. This is the opposite of leadership.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca