I have a question for Don Zurowski. How many years have you been on council, nine? If you have a plan to grow the population here, why did you never before bring this to our or council’s attention?

Another wishy-washy non answer from Hall.

This was a good question to ask. I dont know much about each person but I beleive you need a “ceo” mayor for sure. You need someone who’s willing to step up n make decisions. Good or bad and who’s willing lto live by these decisions. The answers to the questions aren’t great but I beleive don is putting himself out there a bit saying he’s a ceo style and Lynn is just trying to please everyone saying he’s both. From my personal perspective. Trying to please everyone doesn’t go well after elections ( pick a side and stick to it. It’s a yes or no style question )

If you are pro ceo style, remember that don cannot do this on his own, he needs councillors that also share the same vision. Care in councillors selection is a must. This is not a dictatorship and he will need support to move ideas and concepts through the motions. Unlike a true ceo style of management people cannot be fired if they are not the proper fit for the visionary’s master plan.

I really like Don Zurowski’s answer and confirms to me who I will vote for Mayor. Prince George needs a CEO type Mayor, not a blow in the wind Mayor, where He is a “Council Mayor” then when appropriate (and the wind is blowing a certain direction) a CEO Mayor. At the last council meeting Lynn’s comments about how the City administration is made up of professionals (who actually know what they are doing) – please, that is just a bunch of pablum. As a life member of this city, for the first time I had to pay almost a thousand dollars for repairs to tires and rims due to road conditions from last winter. That isn’t “professional” to me and perhaps to a lot of Prince Georgians.

two men who have their won adjendas…
I don’t think either will be good for PG.

I am not religious but GOD save us.

Hall intends to assign responsibility back to council members which was the practice years ago and works in other communities after all they are and should be accountable to the people that elect them.

This was a very insightful question from Garth Frizzell and I appreciate him for bringing it forth. If the definitions are correct, then Shari Green has been the only CEO style mayor that this City has ever had. Backhouse, Kinsley, and I hesitate to say Dan Rogers (his intentions were good, despite a couple rotten apples around the council chamber) certainly lead a more inclusive team during their terms. Having said that, why the heck would we want another one? Wouldn’t that be the definition of insane? Doing the same thing but expecting a different result.

Next question! Are you a counciler for the voting public or do you have your own agenda?

I like Lyn’s answer, to get things done you have to be willing to work/negotiate with council and community members. Being a CEO to push your agenda sounds like what we had with Green and that dysfunction did not accomplish much.

I think the CEO mayor that we have had for the last few years has not worked well. I would hope that we go in another direction next term. What we REALLY need here is a Mayor and Council that is willing to listen to the citizens, not just the people who paid for their campaign. This late in the campaign, and I am still on the fence about which hopeful to vote for.

And what is Frizell’s style? Never heard from him in 3 years – he did mention he likes to work in the backroom.

Zurowski has no plan to run the City,. He had 9 years to make an impression when he was a Councillor and didn’t. Futhermore he ran for Mayor in 2008 and lost to Rodgers by 2700 votes,.

Suggesting that he can grow the population to 100,000 in 6 years gives you an indication of just how out of touch with reality he is. Are we expected to vote for someone who would make such stupid statements. If he expects us to believe that line of BS, then in effect he is suggesting that we are stupid.

Unless::::::There are some people what actually believe that we can grow this City to that population in that time frame. Hmmmm.

Lyn’s answer was the best here. Different situations require different approaches. There are times to be a CEO and times where a more collaborative and tactful approach is required.

In any case, I just want a Mayor who will work with all members of council and not treat it like high school cliques. I think we’ll get that no matter who gets elected.

I like Lyn’s answer, to get things done you have to be willing to work/negotiate with council and community members. Being a CEO to push your agenda sounds like what we had with Green and that dysfunction did not accomplish much.

A Mayor needs to be a facilitator and not a CEO. He has to work with council not tell them what needs to be done. It is a basic Democratic function to work together.

There are manuy organizations that think the President or Chair needs to gud them. The chair is a facilitoro not a dictator.

To some Lynn may sound a bit wishy washy. To me it appears he is just part of a team.
Cheers

I think it is very interesting how everybody has interpreted the responses to Councillor Frizzell’s letter. I found Mr. Hall’s answer to be a bit wishy washy- trying to please everybody. He says some excellent things, but I’m not sure there is a lot of decisiveness there. I found Mr. Zurowski’s answer to be more clear cut. I did not interpret it as someone trying to push an agenda, but rather someone working with the team to determine common goals and then playing off the strengths of those team members to make things happen- the whole time willing to take responsibility for keeping the team focused on what the citizens of PG have asked for.

Palopu, not sure where you got 6 years from. If Mr. Zurowski is in for two terms that would be 8 years. He has acknowledged that increasing the population to 100,000 residents is a lofty goal. Better to shoot a little high than have no goals at all.

Retired02, a good CEO is a facilitator among many other things. Not sure how many people on here have been a CEO or worked for a good one, but if you’ve ever worked for a good CEO then you know that they are a part of the team, but are also the first to stand up and take responsibility for the team’s decisions, good or bad.

I think Frizzell accomplished his goal of getting publicity for himself by publishing this letter.

I believe, considering the current state of relationships with city staff, management and council, this is the attitude and approach that is so desperately needed:

“a good CEO “builds a strong team and relies on the strengths and input from those team members to move the corporation, in our case, the city, in the direction of the common vision.” Zurowski says over the last number of years, council has not done a good job of “fostering strong morale with city employees”, and that City Hall has not been operating “at an acceptable level.” He says improving morale will be a good first step to recreating the type of “can do attitude our employees were once known for.”

I do not see in there, anywhere, that states he has a CEO style aimed at furthering his own agenda. I see a strong leader who wants to make changes, build morale, build relationships and form a collaborative, interactive, respectful team. It is stated clearly, in my opinion, and is something that has been desperately lacking.

Hall’s response seems ok… but not very focused on a goal.

A CEO is good for leading a team of subordinates. A council is not subordinates. They are elected officials who each have a vote that is equivalent to the mayor’s one vote.

We just had a CEO mayor and look how well it went. A dictator is only good if everyone else agrees with their particular agenda. A democracy is not a capitalist dictator run company. The last thing you want is a CEO as an elected official.

The definition of an elected official is to represent the people who elected them. A CEO does not represent anyone but themselves and they do what they think is best. Not what the citizens think is best.

We need a council and mayor that does what the citizens think is best. That’s the definition of a democracy. I don’t think a CEO is a good idea.

If those who complain the loudest would take time to listen to Lyn and Don’s vision. Definition of vistion “an aspirational description of what an organization would like to ahieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future. Don has a vision and has been bold in believing in it and inviting everyone to get excited about PG’s future.

From comments made, seems some of you may be high school kids responding…you think the civic election is like voting in the class President. Lyn, well, he’s so darn nice. Guess what, so is Don. I saw him at the Cougars game taking the time to visit and listen to anyone who had a comment. Next walk by, he was carrying a little guy, think a grandson. So if you get over the school thing of the nice or cute guy thing, the one with substance to back it up is Don.

Seriously folks, this city has a big budget and needs a CEO. Someone who brings order to seriously looking at issues and knows through business experience how to bring the best out of each council person and pull it together for better decisions for our city. He was on council for a long time and I recall he was one of hardest working and was a top vote getter. Lets get over a ‘nice’ contest and make big people decisions. Do we really need a gosh darn nice guy whose only vision that i remember is to have council meetings on the Hart or College Heights OR Don who has put out a bold vision, and invited everyone in our City to get excited and be proud of growing. I’ll go for the big vision guy in Don instead of the nice one who just wants to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic!

A CEO style does not mean operating as a dictoator.

Dictator: a person exercising absolute power

CEO: advises the board of directors, motivates employees, and drives change within the organization.

Now, it is possible for a CEO to operate like a dictator, but considering oneself to have a “CEO approach” does not make them a dictator.

If the mayor is not supposed to be a leader and motivator, then why have a mayor at all? How about a room full of council members only? No, we need someone to lead. That is a position of a CEO and Don states his intentions are to have a CEO style, involving, motivating, listening and all council members, unlike our previous mayor, who operated as a dictator.

Interesting how you always say Lyn got his ideas from Don. Who responded first to Garth. Tough to get an idea when you put out your answer first. But I guess that makes Lyn psychic, cool.

If the city was functioning as it should, Don would be a strong consideration for me. It is not. Those of you who were involved in the school board closures know the school board was not a healthy place when Lyn became chair. He came in and listened figured out what was the problem, then empowered people to fix it.

I know Don is a good businessman but when has he gone and fixed a $110 million dollar organization. We had a CEO mayor, who was results focused at any price.

That works if you are building cars and you have a specific task and repeat. There are some of those types of operations the city, but the majority of workers there are knowledge workers. Knowledge workers need to be able to use their brains, to make thing happen. Most of the time, a manager does not have the technical skills of the employee but they need to listen, so they can guide the direction.

If Don or anyone thinks they have the solution without going in and figuring out what the problem is; I know a few mechanics who will be happy to help you with your vehicle. I hope you have a BIG bank account.

Charging in with I am going to do …… is short sighted and usually ends in disaster in a big organization, unless you are already in the trenches. With all due respect, Don has been out for 6 years.

Lyn doesn’t get ideas from Don, he just wishes he had a vision and ideas of his own. Doesn’t matter who responded first to a letter from a Council Guy who got more PR out of asking the questions than he could get any other way. You never know why they each got to responding when they did. Maybe Hall had his peeps send a response. Maybe Don was so busy out in the City listening to people and he wanted to respond himself that he had to do it later. Maybe Don’s way was best as seems his letter has some substance.

Posted on Friday, November 7, 2014 @ 7:53 AM by anniemartin

“I like Lyn’s answer, to get things done you have to be willing to work/negotiate with council and community members”

What are you talking about? Pardon me for disagreeing but this is exactly what we have had for the last 2 and a half years, our last mayor was into you give me this and I will give you that – back door negotiating with council members has got to stop. We need a mayor who can make council work towards a goal. Our last mayor was not a CEO by any means, had no cohesion of council except for the lap dogs that unfortunately Hall fell into for the first two years. She was a close the door and don’t talk to me mayor – and she even blindsided council while they were all out of town, more of a survivor strategy than a CEO

Another way to look at it, why not vote 9 councilors instead of 8 and a mayor? Like Garth Frizzell asked – are you one of nine, anyone can sit in your chair kind of guy or are you going to actually run the city?

That is what I love about democracy
when it works right, if you want to give input, you can

I might disagree with you but at least I can say my piece. From what I understand this is what Lyn is calling for. Don wants you to tell him if you are at the soccer game or call him. What is different from what we have now.

I want to be able to talk to everyone on council and them to have talked to the guy on the ground. If their is a problem let’s fix it and not have to hire a consult to figure it out because only the consultant can talk to the staff.

We are people not machines, if you want something done. We do it!! So talk to us not through a filter so when it gets to you I have no idea what you are talking about.

Zurowski is the consummate politician kissing babies to get votes.

This guy is the ultimate flim flam man. All hype and no substance.

The only reason that I can think of as to why he is running again, is his **ego**.

I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with me and whatever problems I may have with the City and how its run.

It’ll be good to see Mayor Hall running this city.
Anyone else notice the new folks commenting? LOL
Yep, the campaign is in full swing, LMAO!

Don’s answers to most questions being asked of him are empty, with lots of words and no substance! Heard him last night and I was truly disappointed! Let’s just wave a magic wand, sprinkle some ferry dust and poof……100,000 people livin in good ol PG! You side stepped every question Don, like a true politician would. I was also dissapointed in your disrespectful closing remarks regarding the other candidate! Don’t forget Don, you were on council for nine years, what did you do beside warm the leg of Colin Kinsley. Your affiliations with green, stoltz, and the likes certainly doesn’t help you out either!

Seriously folks, this city has a big budget and needs a CEO. Someone who brings order to seriously looking at issues and knows through business experience.
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I always thought that Beth James was the CEO of your City. And that’s the problem. The Mayor and council may approve that big budget but they do not create it.
Mayor and council need to be in tune with the taxpayer that will come up with the needs of the City. The CEO (James) will advise council of the costs and if the funds are available.

My bet is that the majority taxpayers off PG don’t even bother to vote (27%) at electioln time and then sit back whine untill the next election. We Iive in a democracy and if you don’t partisipate all you will get is sh**t.
Cheers

I always thought that Beth James was the CEO of your City. And that’s the problem. The Mayor and council may approve that big budget but they do not create it.
Mayor and council need to be in tune with the taxpayer that will come up with the needs of the City. The CEO (James) will advise council of the costs and if the funds are available.

My bet is that the majority taxpayers off PG don’t even bother to vote (27%last election) at electioln time and then sit back whine untill the next election. We Iive in a democracy and if you don’t partisipate all you will get is sh**t.
Cheers

well Retired 02
I voted last time, and I have complaned and will continue to do so when they are stupid.
at least I don’t have to repeat myself.

and I admit I am finding extrememly hard to find very many worthy of my vote, and none in the mayors run do I see will be good for PG.

Hahaha… Just saw Hall’s address on ckpg “this council has put more money into road rehab, potholes and such than any other council in history, and that is the difference” – that attracts people to PG? This council laid the groundwork to raise the population…lol

Sorry, guess they really do think they have done a bang up job

In his time on council, Garth Frizzell has ask some of the dumbest questions in my opinion. This open letter is much the same, and in the final analysis the answer is clear. The Mayor takes the heat regardless of management style. Running a City requires input from council members, consideration of the input or view points of those on council, then a decision based on the results of discussion of those view points. The Mayor is the target (as we have see with this last cast of idiots) for accolades or condemnation depending on what the out come is.
public opinion and advice from council.
The real question should be, as Mayor, are you going to listen to advice from council and feed back from the public, or are you going to do your own thing regardless of the

Here is the big question in plain english.

Are you a team player?

Well, it seems to me neither one of the candidates has a very good grasp of the nature of the municipal structure in which they propose to operate. Most Canadian municipalities, including Prince George’s, operate under the “weak Mayor” system. The reality is that our Mayor has limited powers under our current system of governance. The functions that they do perform above and beyond what the rest of Council does are largely ceremonial, irrespective of their full-time paid position, office and small staff. They are just 1 vote among 9 at the end of the day. Their position could hardly be described as that of the CEO, that would be more closely associated with the Chief Administrative Officer, or City Manager in our case. That is the individual with most of the executive powers and they are supposed to be the instrument of Council, but that doesn’t always happen clearly. You can bet the Mayor has the City Manager’s ear, but power resides within the City Manager in our structure. The administrators run this city and Mayor and Council are little more than an oversight committee in my estimation. I don’t see that changing, unless we move to a “strong Mayor” system, or a Commission style of governance, which has become hugely unpopular.

I’m starting to get the impression that neither really has the chops to lead this city well. Zurowski’s preoccupation with 100k population worries me, because either he is too naïve to realize that this lacks credibility, or he is pandering to what he thinks the common man wants to hear. Adding 25,000 people to our population in a short period of time, assuming it’s possible and I don’t think it is, will not solve our fiscal sustainability problems. In fact, I’d feel pretty confident about predicting that it would make them much worse in a big hurry, even just from the perspective of where that new construction would likely go. Hall sometimes says things that don’t seem to measure up to his voting record. It’s great to be engaged in the community and accessible, that’s absolutely important, but you need a clear vision of what you want for this community and I’m not getting that.

Retired 02

We don’t live in a democracy. We live in a parliamentary democracy, but there is a wide chasm between our system of governance and democracy.