Metro mayors embrace co-operation
How well the three mayors get along will make or break the next four years in Metro
When the final tally came in, acclaimed Riverview Mayor Clarence Sweetland found himself sandwiched between two LeBlancs.
How well the new LeBlanc-Sweetland-LeBlanc mayoral triumvirate works together over the next four years will determine if that combination equals a sweet cookie treat or a sandwich best left at the lunch counter.
Sweetland jokes he may have to change his name just to fit in, but says he expects the relationship between the three to be a good one.
"I do know George LeBlanc and I know Jean LeBlanc slightly and they are both gentlemen. I don't anticipate any problems working with them," Sweetland says. "I just think we'll carry on where we are."
Newly elected Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc is even more hopeful for the future of the new tri-community team.
"I think my relationship with the new mayor of Dieppe and the mayor of Riverview will be fantastic," he says. "I'm looking forward to working with them. I know we can work well together. I intend to work with them in a spirit of co-operation with them to make our tri-community area even better than it has been before."
Although there was certainly co-operation between Sweetland, Moncton Mayor Lorne Mitton, and Dieppe Mayor Achille Maillet, their relationship was definitely different from the days of the Three Amigos, Brian Murphy, Yvon Lapierrie and Bruce Fitch, who reigned in Moncton, Dieppe, and Riverview respectively before Mitton, Maillet, and Sweetland took over in 2004.
The Amigos seemed to have a chemistry their later counterparts did not, though Maillet, Mitton and Sweetland certainly had a very cordial relationship, one that led to a number of tough issues being resolved between the three communities.
Incoming Dieppe Mayor Jean LeBlanc says he is going into this new relationship with an open mind.
"I don't go in with any preconceptions," he says. "What I'm going to go in with is a positive attitude and a willingness to look at things with a fresh set of eyes, to make sure we look at all the issues and our region's best interests as well as our community and our own city's best interests."
The closeness Murphy, Fitch, and Lapierre shared is not likely to be duplicated -- such a meeting of like minds is rare -- but neither will the new mayoral team have the same dynamic as that of the outgoing team, where all three mayors were long-time council members who came to the job already having some idea of each other's political makeup.
Sweetland will bring a balance of experience and maturity, and LeBlanc and LeBlanc fresh perspective, but it will no doubt take a little while for the three leaders to take the measure of the others as they are not all well known to each other.
However, all three appear to understand the importance of making the relationship work and work well.
"Our population base here is only about 120,000, 125,000... that is a pretty modest size," Jean LeBlanc says. "We have to make sure that where we can co-operate on regional issues, then we should do it."
But LeBlanc goes on to make the point that each community needs to keep its own identity, something that sometimes becomes a stumbling block between the three, particularly in Riverview and Dieppe as they struggle to keep from being lumped in with their larger sister.
When push comes to shove, if community interest triumphs over regional interest, it could spell problems for the tri-community area.
Luckily there is nothing of regional interest that needs to be immediately dealt with, so LeBlanc, LeBlanc and Sweetland will have some time to build the relationship before they have to tackle any truly divisive issues.
Sweetland says many of the important regional co-operation issues are already running smoothly -- things like Codiac Transit, the solid waste commission, the water agreement, and funding for Codiac RCMP.
He says the cost-sharing agreement for Codiac RCMP will come up for renewal again during this term and expects that will be one of the biggest things the three mayors will have to work through together.
"Other than that I can't think of too much that is a high priority between us," he says, "other than general day-to-day co-operation."
Sweetland, as the senior partner of the triumvirate, took the first step toward establishing good relations by visiting both of the LeBlancs Monday to offer his congratulations.
He also had an ulterior motive -- to plant the seed that co-operation has worked well for the region in the past and is something he'd like to see continue.
"I hope we'll be getting together sometime soon," he says.
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