2012 grade: B-
2011 grade: B+
2010 grade: B
2009 grade: C+
2008 grade: C+
This year Jackie Barkhouse came into her own. Four years' experience has crystalized into a deep understanding of the way the bureaucracy frustrates sensible action and how secret meetings are used to facilitate undemocratic agendas, and she found the courage to voice that understanding pointedly.
Barkhouse especially shone during the St. Pat's-Alexandra debate and during the transit strike, when she threatened to hold a press conferences directly after a secret meetings if anything improper was discussed. (Evidently, she finds many improper discussions at secret meetings.)
So why is her grade coming down? For several reasons. It's a relatively small matter, and can't be laid entirely at her feet, but Barkhouse should've been more aware that the surfing competition slated for her district was a sham, and that local surfers didn't want it.
And on principle, nobody on this Worst. Council. Ever. should get an A, and any kind of B, even a B-, is pushing it. Certainly Barkhouse was part of the discussion around evicting Occupy, and should wear her fair share.
Moreover, she too voted against censuring Kelly. She has gained the courage to call bullshit, but then failed to find it when it mattered most.
