I had the pleasure of attending the Mayor’s Economic Council on behalf of Emerging Leaders last Thursday. I’ve been asked by lots of folks for my opinion on the whole thing - so thought I’d share here and also hopefully engage ya’ll in the process. You can only cram so many people into the Lamplighter for coffee and pastries, so we were all asked by the Mayor to reach out to our groups (that’s where you come in!) to widen the base of opinion. This is part of my effort to do so.

Before we get into your part I’ll offer some commentary. First, change is always an opportunity to question assumptions, push boundaries and generally say things that would have been taboo only a few months ago. That’s healthy for a city or an organization - and it gives license to all of us, not just the mayor, to be part of it all. After a change election our elected politicians are taking a second look at our economic development strategy and that isn’t a bad thing. So try not to be troubled or excited by specific ideas at this stage (401 development outside urban growth boundary, stop funding UWO/Fanshawe), instead take the big picture view and see this as an opportunity to express what is best for your business, organization, your family and neighbourhood and for London as a whole.

Second, in any change process there are usually 10 per cent with you no matter what, 10 per cent against you no matter what (and who will never be with you, no matter what), and a huge chunk in the middle that will swing to either poll based on how the change process shakes out. The decision I made at the outset is to be an active member of the middle group. To keep myself to this promise I wrote down four goals the night before the meeting: “Be an active and positive contributor. Push back where necessary but don’t be stubborn. Keep an open mind and stay positive. Work to make this work.” I think I achieved those goals and hope you will too.

OK, now on to your part. We were asked to answer three questions during the morning session - I’ll give you the same set of questions. You can e-mail your responses to mec@london.ca. If you don’t feel comfortable sending responses through official channels, you can send them my way: scott.courtice@gmail.com and I’ll make sure your opinions are heard.

Oh, if you’re not a ‘stay within the process’ kind of person please feel free to add ‘other’ comments…but only if you make a good effort to answer the questions asked by the Economic Council and keep those four goals I shared above in mind. ;)

1. What can the City of London do to be more welcoming and attractive to business?

2. What do you see as the ‘low hanging fruit (easy stuff)’ in the area of business expansion and job creation?

3. How can the City of London improve how it does business with business?

4. ‘Other’

That’s all friends. Next meeting is March 10th, so please comment away.