At a City Council meeting on January 20, 2013 Côte Saint-Luc Mayor Anthony Housefather unveiled the portfolios he and members of city council will oversee for the present mandate, which began last November.
Mayor Housfather will retain responsibility for the Agglomeration Council, Legal Affairs, Purchasing, Human Resources, Inter-governmental Affairs and take on Inter-cultural and Inter-community Relations.
I will assume responsibility for Library and Culture while retaining Sponsorship and expanding my role from the Côte Saint-Luc Cats Committee to Animal Protection.
Naturally, I am very excited to move forward with my new portfolios.
Our Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library is a true jewel within this province and I would go as far as saying our country. Chief Librarian Janine West and her staff contine to do a magnificent job. Our Library is a lot more than books: We are DVDs and videos, concerts, lectures, musical performances, an art gallery and a Library Express at our Aquatic and Community Centre.I have met with Janine and we have many new objectives to explore over the next four years so stay tuned.
I wish to thank the Mayor for introducing the Animal Protection portfolio. For the past three plus years I have overseen the birth and the subsequent day to day activities of an all Volunteer Côte Saint-Luc Cats Committee. However, I also end up getting calls about dogs, raccoons, skunks, squirrels and pet stores. I do not know of any community that has such a portfolio. In fact, I have suggested on a few occasions that our provincial government create such a Ministry. That has not happened. Once again, Côte Saint-Luc is ahead of the game.
Meanwhile, I am pleased to retain the Sponsorship portfolio. We have come forth with a number of new initiatives and I look forward to working with the mayor, each councillor and our senior staff to see where we go next.
Moving on to my colleagues.
- Councillor Dida Berku will assume responsibility for Public Works and Railway Relations, co-chair Environmental issues with Erdelyi and retain responsibility for the Cavendish Boulevard extension.
- Councillor Glenn J. Nashen will assume responsibility for Communications and Information Technology (my previous portfolio). He will retain Emergency Preparedness and vCOP (Volunteer Citizens on Patrol).
- Councillor Sam Goldbloom will assume responsibility for Public Security, Dispatch and EMS .
- Councillor Allan J. Levine will retainresponsibility for Seniors, the Legion and Tennis while adding Urban Agriculture and Hockey.
- Councillor Mitchell Brownstein will continue to oversee Parks and Recreation.
- Councillor Ruth Kovac will continue to oversee Urban Development (Engineering and Urban Planning).
“I think that all members of council are excited about the challenges they are taking on or retaining,” said Mayor Housefather. “I believe that all members of council agree that the portfolio system I introduced in 2005, when first elected as Mayor, should continue as it has given councillors heightened responsibility and ensured a specific member of council was accountable for each activity within the city in addition to the council as a whole being accountable.”
