Last July, when Joe Cimino’s youngest daughter, Vania, was born, the day was memorable to him for several reasons. As his wife Luisa was in recovery with their new daughter, the Ward 1 councillor decided to take his oldest daughter Vanessa for a walk to Science North. He checked his messages, and realized several residents had phoned him as they were concerned about a gas leak at Vale that happened the same day.
He spent the rest of the day tending to his constituents, in addition to his family.
“It’s setting priorities and family does come first,” he said. “But serving my community is a very close second. If I can be there immediately, I am.”
City councillors in Greater Sudbury are considered part-time positions. Cimino said, during a regular week, he spends about 25 hours in council and committee meetings, as well as neighbourhood meetings and events. He said during budget deliberations, the number of hours rises upwards to 35 often resulting in 16-hour work days combined with his teaching job.
“I don’t have any regrets,” he said. “I know it’s a sacrifice, I know it takes time to balance, but I don’t have any regrets doing what I’m doing.”
I’m definitely looking forward to the restructuring system.
Ward 1 Coun. Joe Cimino
The latest Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative indicated that city councillors in Greater Sudbury are spending far more time in the council chambers compared to other areas — 430 per cent more time to be exact. Next month, city staff will present a revised report to councillors on what can be done to shorten meeting times and make them more efficient.
Suggested changes include limiting community delegations or presentations put forward by community members and organizations and moving to a committee structure that would essentially “parallel the organizational structure,” according to a report prepared by city staff.
Cimino said the changes would be beneficial for councillors and the city as a whole. He said he was elected to be in the community.
“When you’re spending so much time in committees, it becomes tedious,” he said. “You’re out of your community and away from your family sitting in meetings. I’m definitely looking forward to the restructuring system.”
Cimino said the secret to his success now in terms of balancing all aspects of his life is finding a routine that works, along with having a very “understanding” wife.
“She knows that she’s driving the kids to karate ... and to swimming and she’s taken on a lot of the duties and in fact she hasn’t gone back to work after this last maternity leave just to make it easier,” he said. “I’ve also set routines myself. I put my daughter on the bus every morning.”
Cimino also said he aims to be home every night to put his children to bed, and if not, he’ll call home.
“That’s why you might see me at council meetings leave sometimes,” he said.
Cimino said he knew going into municipal politics that his life would change and balancing his political duties, along with his full time teaching job and family life would be a challenge.
“At this time in my life, I thoroughly still enjoy it,” he said. “I enjoy being in my ward. One of my big things is being accessible.”
Being involved in the community is something Cimino said he will always do.
“Right now I can see myself continuing to serve the community whether it’s elected office or some other way,” he said. “It’s not to the point where I’m overwhelmed nd that my family (or) job is suffering. I’ve found that balance.”
Long and frequent council meetings are not the reason why Janet Gasparini said she decided to leave politics. Gasparini, the executive director for the Sudbury Social Planning Council, was the councillor for Ward 11 for two terms before the municipal election last year. She said if the city moves to a committee structure, it will be “more effective.”
“The other areas of the city could really benefit, then, from having a much more intense conversation about the areas within those councillors bringing those recommendations back to the full table,” she said.
“I think when you try to discuss everything at the full table, it doesn’t surprise me that we were spending more time than other communities doing that.”
Gasparini said when she became a councillor, her intention was “always to run two terms.”
“Your first term is a learning process and your second term, you’re certainly more experienced and can contribute,” she said. “It was always my intention to do that for two terms and then take what I learned from that and move on the community and try to make change in other ways.”
She said her children were older when she ran for politics, but still said it was a family decision for her to run.
“I’ve always been busy (and) I’ve always been active and engaged in things,” she said. “My children were raised in that environment.”
Gasparini said being a city councillor was one of the “best experiences” she’s ever had, and said although it would have been nice to have the meeting structure system set up differently, she regrets nothing in terms of how she balanced her personal and professional life.
“You arrange things in your personal life in such a way to make sure that your family time is kept precious and separate,” she said.
-Posted by Heather Green-Oliver
