People would say stuff like “Somebody should do something” when they spoke of the river.
Her response was “If we wait for somebody, nothing will happen. We have to take initiative as a community. We have to do something.”
And the people of Pictou County responded to her call to action with ideas and initiative that resulted in such things as the Riverfront Jubilee Race on the River and the Samson Trail.
MacLean will be speaking about that and more at an Engage and Empower community consultation next Wednesday hosted by New Glasgow Mayor Nancy Dicks and town council at 7 p.m. at Glasgow Square Theatre.
MacLean is the longest-serving mayor in the history of New Glasgow and its first female mayor. She was also a president of the Union of NS Municipalities and President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. She will be interviewed by Danny Graham of Engage Nova Scotia and the interview will be followed by round table discussions and a community conversation with those in attendance.
MacLean said she hopes people will leave the session with a better idea of how
they might become more engaged on the future of the town by looking at what worked in the past.
“Most of the success we achieved as a council and staff was through the engagement of citizens,” she said.
She said when they looked at developing the river they started by engaging residents. They talked to the seniors about what activities had been popular in the past and others about new ideas.
“Hundreds and hundreds of people came out to help design a plan,” she said. “The citizens then drove the next stages of development.”
MacLean believes the best way to engage a community is simply to ask. She points out that if you ask a volunteer how they got started they will most often say that someone asked them.
Mayor Nancy Dicks said when they were thinking of speakers for New Glasgow's Engage and Empower Sessions, MacLean was one of the first to come to mind.
"While serving on council and now as a new mayor, I recognized early that Ann is viewed as a visionary leader among residents and a role model by municipal officials and staff both across the province and the country,” she said. “Our citizens and business community hold her in high regard and still remember the impressive work she did for New Glasgow and Pictou County. She has been a trail blazer in municipal government, accomplishing things such as negotiating the gas tax for municipalities across Canada that ensured investments for critical infrastructure.”
MacLean empowered citizens to make their mark and was also prepared to stand behind long-term plans that achieved integrated goals, Dicks said.
“She was at the helm for major infrastructure investments such as critical improvements on major thoroughfares, the building of a state of the art water utility and police station and growth of the commercial service sector,” she said. “She led the way for the creation of our trail system, redevelopment of the riverfront, Glasgow Square Theatre, and downtown revitalization. These initiatives changed the face of New Glasgow and were an impressive combination of supporting infrastructure improvements with building quality lifestyle options.”
