The Sundre councillor who recently sparked a passionate discussion about the municipality's viability withdrew his notice of motion to initiate a sustainability study through Municipal Affairs.
However, Myron Thompson still urged his colleagues on council to consider working on a comprehensive internal review.
"I'm going to suggest that I withdraw the motion and that we immediately put into place some ideas for a full-day workshop to get started on how we are going to address this with an in-house session," he said during the regular Jan. 30 meeting.
He also responded to statements previously made by fellow elected officials that his notice of motion reflected a lack of faith in council.
"That's the furthest thing from the truth. I've trusted this council ó I've had full confidence in this council right from the very beginning," he said, adding that a disagreement on an issue with another member of council won't stop him from having coffee with that person the following day.
But the procedure to initiate such a discussion through the notice of motion as governed by the Municipal Government Act leaves a lot to be desired, he said.
"Needless to say, I'm not happy with the process that's in place."
The councillor further expressed dissatisfaction over being unable to verbally communicate his perspective at the time he originally tabled the motion on Jan. 16, which led to a certain amount of negative speculation about his intentions. Official procedure dictates a councillor may present a prepared statement to accompany a notice of motion but cannot actually discuss the matter verbally until it returns on a following agenda.
"I have a weakness," said Thompson.
"I've always found that when I try to explain myself, I like to look people in the eye."
The councillor said writing prepared statements isn't his strong point and that he instead simply prefers expressing his point of view through open discussion.
But even that did not bother Thompson so much as the phone calls he started receiving from people who seemed to be under the impression the councillor was embarking on some nefarious plot to "destroy the town," and he expressed a desire to dispel any such notions.
"I have always believed that we are viable and that we are sustainable. I recognize that the councils of the past and that the council of the present have always lived within their budget. We've never run a deficit," he said, adding that in recent years the municipality has even managed to maintain modest surpluses.
"All of those things I think relates to pretty good management."
But even if council is confident in the municipality's sustainability, it is the duty of elected officials to always be mindful of the economic impact their collective decisions are going to have on voters, he said.
"We have to really get deeper into that issue."
Thompson said that since making his original notice of motion he has learned of alternative routes to pursue a path to demonstrably illustrate Sundre's sustainability to potential developers and residents. After withdrawing his motion, the councillor encouraged his colleagues to immediately come up with a process to deal with this issue internally while keeping the public engaged and informed.
Council was not opposed to pursuing such an approach, and Mayor Terry Leslie indicated filling out an in-depth self-assessment questionnaire that Municipal Affairs provides might be a good starting point.
The mayor asked his colleagues permission to work with administration and come back to council with ideas and options on moving forward perhaps using the self-assessment as an internal document to begin addressing the questions that have been raised in light of Thompson's notice of motion.
"Let's get on with it," said Thompson.
"Let's get some things done that we've talked about for a long time. Words are words ó action is action; it's time for some action. Let's do it."
With support for the mayor's suggestion, Leslie encouraged other members of council to think about what they consider to be the most pertinent issues to establish a starting point for that discussion when it comes.
