2013 grade: C-
2013 grade: C-
2012 grade: N/A
Cell: 240-3330
A lot of people dislike Matt Whitman. We get email pretty much every week from people questioning his credentials, or accusing him of electoral fraud or saying he’s part of some scary religious cult. We’ve ruled out the fraud, haven’t found anything of interest in the credential department and, so far as religion goes, everyone who is not a faithful adherent to The Flying Spaghetti Monster is suspect in our eyes.
With so many people hating on Whitman, we want to like him. But mostly he just confuses us. We’re still in search of a rhyme, waiting around for a reason. We think, ultimately, Whitman ran for council because he needed a job, not because he stands for anything, sinister or otherwise.
In a year of taking notes on councillors, there is just one tiny thing of note for Whitman: He voted with Rankin, Mason, Watts and Adams to rescind the Stantec report on the landfill, which was a procedural vote for those opposed to keeping the landfill open. But Whitman didn’t seem to follow that up with any coherent voting pattern, so maybe he just hit the wrong button.
This article appears in Apr 3-9, 2014.
Whitman is by far the laziest councillor out there. If you notice, on the rare occasion he actually speaks, it’s absolutely not about the substance of the issue but some fleeting thing he noticed.
While folks like Mason, Watts, Fisher, Nicoll and Rankin (problems aside) at least delve deep enough into the issues to maximize their speaking time, Whitman’s out in a minute or less every single time.
He also uses his influences at city hall, the Greater Halifax Partnership, and other organizations to push this reverse networking cult bullshit. This is a guy looking to build a broader network, eventually build a credential he can make money off, and not a guy looking to delve into the depths of a regional plan or a budget.
Whitman looks like a lost child at council meetings. Either he does not understand the issues or is very ill prepared. Some say he wastes too much time on Twitter. I suspect the voters will send him a message next election. Everyone knows Reverse Networking is nothing but Whitman promoting himself.
Matt Whitman is a great representative of the people. His door is always open and he loves people. He is a motivator and helps build community and encourages participation in community events and organizations. These are his strengths. Elected representatives should be out in the community getting the views of the electorate to take to Council and Matt does this well. He deserves a second term. It is a sad statement about our society when we see magazines and newspapers mocking someone’s belief in God. Shame on you Coast magazine. It’s as bad as gay bashing.
LOL! Classic Bousquet!
Everyone knows Whitman only ran for council for a steady paycheck. The guy had jumped from job to job for years and council offered his first steady pay in a while. Anyone who has half a brain knows this guy is all talk and all show, while his 5,000 “followers” seem to see him as someone who can turn their life or business fortunes around. Yet he can’t even do that for himself. I suspect he will be re-elected but that isn’t because the guy has any competence in the job. But then again, what politician does?