Cochrane’s youngest member of council is certainly not shy about looking like a lone wolf.
Councillor Morgan Nagel has made a habit of voting on the opposite side of several issues council has faced since the Oct. 21, 2013 municipal election, including approval of the new aquatic/curling facility, $45,000 for a new ice resurfacer for Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre…Nagel even refused to accept as information a plan that would bring recycling to multi-family dwellings, because he felt the path being suggested would compel affected residents to hire a private company to collect their recycling, and the town would have no power as to which company and at what price the service was provided.
Accepting something as information does not mean that a policy or a plan has been approved, it simply means that more work can be done by town administration to see if the idea is viable…if it would work.
Once administration has put in what it feels is sufficient due diligence and has completed a plan they feel would be successful, it is brought to council for approval. If a councillor does not like the plan, they could then vote against. Not even accepting ‘information’ is a rarity.
Coun. Nagel’s steadfast approach to his duties as a councillor is surely seen by some in the community as a breath of fresh air, and perhaps by others much differently.
The soon-to-be 24 year old, Morgan ‘Justice’ Nagel does not hide his political stripes, and in fact flaunts them wildly for all to see.
Open his Facebook page and the first thing you would see is Nagel next to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
It is not Nagel’s party leanings that are the issue, and those leanings certainly are not a negative…it is the fact that it seems like the first-term councillor votes under the Conservative Party of Canada umbrella rather than as a Town of Cochrane councillor.
There is no doubt that one day Cochranites will see Nagel’s name on the federal ballot, hoping to represent the Banff-Airdrie constituency in Ottawa; the question is only when?
But this also raises the question: Is Morgan Nagel voting for the best interests of the people he currently represents, or is he voting for a future run in federal politics?
A councillor’s job is to do what is best for the community you represent; to ensure there are enough services for its residents, infrastructure is maintained so people are safe and to be a face of the municipality you have been elected to stand for.
Much of what Nagel stands for – low taxes, fiscal responsibility, only spending money on necessities and not on luxuries – is admirable to many, and it should be. But there are times when municipalities, provinces and countries have to spend money to provide for its residents.
Cochrane is one of the lowest taxed municipalities in the country, and its current debt limit is 28 per cent of the maximum council has approved…in other words, we’re in pretty good shape.
Does this mean council should spend, spend, spend? No.
But, considering the fortunate position the town is presently in, it would be hard to explain to Cochranites that they will have to go to Calgary to spend their money on recreational services, that our current sports centre will have to rely on and spend money to repair old machinery, or that recycling services will not be provided to all Cochrane residents.
As they say in the wide world of sports: Don’t look ahead, concentrate on the series currently at hand.
Good advice.
