Sitting in the gallery at a number of public council meetings this year, 91原创 Township mayoral candidate Jack Froese would have witnessed how meeting decorum disintegrated, both at the council table and in the gallery.

What he saw helped fashion his sense of what must be done.

鈥淥ne thing I鈥檝e been looking at is that local government is consensus building in nature, not adversarial,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he big difference is that in local government the duty of the mayor is to reflect and support the will of council,鈥� Froese said, adding that that doesn鈥檛 mean sacrificing good discussion, voting on an issue and then moving on to the next.

鈥淲hat I鈥檝e seen over the past few years is issues that are not laid to rest.鈥�

He would like to see more formality in the council chamber.

Shouting and name calling can intimidate people to the point where they are afraid to address council, and he said that what is needed is a mayor in control.

鈥淎s mayor, as the person chairing a meeting, you need to call for order and keep control, even if it means terminating the meeting,鈥� he said.

Noting that municipal staff must abide by rules of conduct, Froese said that the same code should apply to elected officials and people in the public gallery.

鈥淚 look at that as a way to restore order,鈥� he said.

Regarding the Township getting value for TransLink dollars, Froese called it 鈥渁n interesting and complex situation.鈥�

He noted that TransLink involves many jurisdictions and what 91原创 pays goes toward services across the region.

The dilemma, he said, 鈥渋s supporting projects in other areas with the expectation that we will get ours in time.鈥�

Froese believes that 91原创 has lost infrastructure projects 鈥渂ecause of what I perceive to be a breakdown in communications.鈥�

He said that one way 91原创 could get more from its contribution is through a closer alliance with mayors south of the Fraser, 鈥減ossibly leading to discussions on a South of Fraser regional district.鈥�

鈥淧art of the problem is that because 91原创 is so rural, it鈥檚 difficult to get transit there (but) you can鈥檛 run empty buses.鈥�

What it boils down to, Froese said, 鈥渋s getting people to support transit.鈥�

When it comes to keeping property taxes at or below two per cent, Froese said that is one of 91原创鈥檚 many challenges.

鈥淲e get lost in the whole rhetoric,鈥� he said.

鈥淒o we keep spending to no more than two per cent?鈥� he said.

鈥淭hat is the real question,鈥� he said, adding that 鈥減oliticians tend to put it into sound bites.鈥�

鈥淚f we want to keep spending to the rate of inflation we have to make sure that our budget isn鈥檛 increased by more than that, or we have to raise taxes.鈥�

Encouraging more economic development to bring in more businesses that will increase property tax revenue is important, but, he added, the Township鈥檚 role in setting out how much property tax residents will pay is influenced by wage contracts that are negotiated regionally, not locally, and the trend towards staffing fire halls around the clock.