Though new to members of Minto council, its new meeting investigator and integrity officer is more than familiar with the turf.
As councillors welcomed Norm Gamble into the chambers, Mayor David Anderson presented him with a municipal pin and offered him a chance to introduce himself and speak about his background.
Gamble noted that the majority of Wellington’s municipalities have appointed him for the role.
“We want to make this work,” he said.
But for Gamble, Minto and northern Wellington County is a part of his past.
“It’s where I grew up.”
He was born in old Minto Township just north of Teviotdale, and his family later moved to Mount Forest.
While his teenage years were spent in Walkerton, his bride ‘was an OPP brat’ from Mount Forest.
“I feel comfortable in this neck of the woods,” he said.
Gamble’s municipal background started off as the parks and recreation director for Cambridge, before moving north to become the Chief Administrative Officer for Grey County. When he retired three years ago, “it was with considerable regret,” considering he had been with that county through some interesting times.
Gamble had expected to get a chance to be out golfing, but a month later was approached to become chairman the Local Health Network for Southwestern Ontario. Then, he was asked to take on this role – as a meeting investigator
Over his 30 years involved with municipalities, he has observed the relationships between various councils and the public. He quipped that if council members feel the role is new, “It is new to me as well.”
He pointed out that often closed (in camera)] sessions “are an allowance – it is not something you have to do [in every situation].”
He explained there are times when it is required for certain aspects of the discussion. Problems, he said, arise when a council goes in camera for a specific issue and the topic sways into other areas.
Gamble said the issue, then, is the management of that closed session. He said his experience suggests that councils run into that issue more by accident than design.
“In general, I have not seen councils who snub their noses at the law of the land.”
Gamble said he has had some frank discussions with Wellington County’s warden and CAO, John Green and Scott Wilson.
“Municipal government has been good to me over the years. If there is no business out of this, that is fine with me.”
Gamble stressed he never intended to have the appointment become a new career or a means of generating extra income. The reason I’m doing this is to give something back,” he said. “But, if there are no complaints … it is good for you, and it is good for me.”
Anderson quickly joked that the pin presentation earlier in the meeting was not a bribe.
Gamble quipped that prior to the meeting a member of council, while wishing him well, hoped never to see him again in his official capacity.
Gamble’s appointment as meeting investigator was made necessary when the provincial government decided it needed to make municipal councillors more open and accountable.
They had an option of appointing an investigator, and, if the municipalities chose not to act, citizens were given the right to file complaints with the provincial Ombudsman.
