2009 grade: B-
2008 grade: C-
2007 grade: B-
As I was preparing to write this report card, I went back and checked Stephen Adams’ attendance record at council meetings because he doesn’t pop up in my otherwise meticulous notes very often. Turns out he hasn’t actually missed that many meetings---just three, but that includes the all-important budget meeting. So mostly Adams is just coasting through council. Maybe that’s because he’s still holding down his day job as a pharmaceutical rep.
Adams did successfully avert a total abandonment of the Sambro bus route by getting council to agree to a reduced service plan instead. No one will fault him for going to bat for his constituency, but there was a degree of disingenuous budget analysis in Adams’ argument. Reg Rankin called him out on it, but I’m not sure most other councillors understood the sleight-of-hand. This is a complicated issue, but it boils down to how we budget for transit, and if Adams’ analysis holds, it means less money for urban bus routes.
Strangely, Adams also objected to a minor boundary change in Spryfield related to the council district issue. It never made much sense, and council ignored Adams.
How to improve: Quit your day job and become a full-time councillor.
