It’s hard to say goodbye, especially when things don’t end the way that they start.
Belleville had that moment yesterday, as Neil Ellis, a three-term Mayor and two-term MP, presided over his final meeting at city hall following his loss to Paul Fleming last month.
After nearly two decades in office, we now get to ask what is his legacy?
His loss to Fleming last month was shocking to many, calling back memories of his own win as an outsider in 2006.
Those two first terms were a time of growth and major projects and initiatives in the city. We had the launch of the doctor-recruitment program under Ellis’ watch, the building of the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre and the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge.
The doctor-recruitment program stagnated a bit while he was on the federal scene, but it was renewed when he returned as Mayor and put Karen Poste in charge, signaling an unparalleled period of growth including the addition yesterday of a new doc for the Emergency Department.
When I think of Neil is the years to come and his time on council, I will think of these victories, his ability to form relationships and get the best of out the staff and city workers, and the fact he was always available to the media when there was a crisis.
It will be tempting to some to define his career by the losses, or the homelessness challenge and the state of emergency declaration arising from it, but that sells his legacy short.
To me, he wasn’t Mayor Ellis, a Liberal MP or Neil “the Wheel” as some call him, he was just a good guy who did his best to try to make the city we love a better place, and that is a legacy enough for anyone.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
