BLOG: A CHANGE OF MIND
POSTED August 5, 2010
Well, I’ve had plenty of questions & comments about this topic so I thought it would be good to cover it here. This blog is written about the entire notion of someone having a “change of heart”; or as some might simply put it: I changed my mind. This summer there was a pretty big buzz in the city; over a proposed rezoning issue involving ballfields. A surprise came when someone who initially supported the rezoning to build houses on the Tweedsmuir ballfield land had a change of heart. That someone is ME.
People are afraid to change sometimes; because they’ve committed to something or because they don’t want to be seen as unable to make up their mind. I worry about neither of those things. In the past 10 years on council I’ve learned what it means to make a difficult decision, and stick with it, if you believe it’s best for the overall community. The key phrase here is “IF YOU BELIEVE IT’S BEST FOR THE OVERALL COMMUNITY.”
In this most recent case it doesn’t bother me to have had a change of heart; because for me; it comes from being OPEN MINDED. I believe that open-mindedness;(abilty & willingness to listen) is one of the most important roles of a public servant. For me; I found that being open-minded meant that over the course of the several weeks; I’d heard and felt things from the community that convinced me a majority does not support the notion of eliminating recreation space. I make it very clear in the section of this website called “MIKE’S VISION” that I still believe we are a city that has room to grow; and we will grow!! But you’ll also notice in that section that I mention such GROWTH MUST BE BALANCED WITH PRESERVING OUTDOOR AREAS.
In the future I’ll still be willing to listen; and if I hear something that makes me think there’s a better way for the community, you can bet that’s the way I’ll go. Even if it means changing my mind.
