At the end of January, members of the Town of Athabascaís council held individual teleconferencing sessions with a representative of Albertaís Municipal Affairs dispute resolution team.
And although nothing concrete was decided at the townís council meeting last Tuesday, many of the councillors look like theyíre leaning towards stepping back from those meetings.
Ironically, this is just after the councillors all fought over whether they should get paid for the time they spent at the meetings.
They are also going to wait for the results of their first meeting before they choose to scrub the project entirely or not.
To give up this early in the program would be a mistake.
Granted, there is no real way of knowing if dispute resolution will work for council, but other than the relatively small costs incurred, there is no reason not to give it a try.
These sessions will not even cost the town as much as normal counselling sessions, with Municipal Affairs covering the lionís share of the costs. But in terms of what the town could gain from it, itís really a small price to pay.
The town deserves a council that can work together ñ if not well, then well enough to not get bogged down in arguments over small issues. A well-functioning council can get a lot more done. And, really, isnít that the reason that many councillors ran ñ to get things done?
If it costs the councillors nothing but time, and it costs the taxpayers just a small amount of cash, it makes the most sense to keep working toward being a better council and continue with the program.
Even if it doesnít completely work, some conflict resolution knowledge never goes to waste. Whether it is a conversation in council chambers or a wider discussion with municipal or provincial counterparts, knowing how to nip disputes in the bud saves time and therefore money.
Honestly, thereís not a whole lot to lose and there is the potential to gain a lot more ñ both for the town and the council itself.
