Consider this scenario: Winnipeg needs Sam Katz to perform some dire mayoral duty but he is out of town. What happens?

In his Feb. 6 Winnipeg Free Press article “Where’s The Mayor?” city reporter Bartley Kives noted that a number of times a year, the mayor flies to Phoenix, both for personal reasons and to work on city business.

Kives discussed the implications of having a mayor that spends too much time away from the city he runs, and questioned whether city hall could operate adequately in the absence of mayor Sam Katz.

The article prompted an averse public reaction, leaving many to question Katz’s mayoral liability.

Taking Kives’s cue, The Uniter investigated the logistics of just how city hall would work if the mayor took a hiatus.

Christopher Leo, professor of politics at the University of Winnipeg, said the mayor’s presence is not so essential.

“The power picture is this: the mayor gets to appoint seven members to the executive policy committee,” Leo said. “He influences the council with leadership skills, charisma and intimidation. If the mayor is called out of town, I assume he will leave instructions for the committee.”

Brad Salyn, spokesperson for mayor Sam Katz, stated that there are procedures in place to ensure city hall can function in the mayor’s absence.

“It’s a kind of chain of command,” he explained. “If the deputy mayor (Justin Swandel) is not around, then the acting deputy mayor (Gord Steeves) takes the role. If all three of them are unavailable, the mayor can appoint another member of council to take on the role.”

Salyn said that in the right circumstances, all members of council can be given mayoral authority.

A delegated acting mayor will have the same power as the mayor. There are no restrictions.

If documents – such as flood papers – need to be signed, a number of other members of parliament can do so.

Leo notes that any significant parliamentary changes would require more than just mayoral authority.

“To take any new action, you need to get it passed by council and the provincial government,” he said.

Salyn also noted that technology has influenced the way city hall communicates with a mayor.

“The mayor can communicate over long distances,” Salyn said. “Cell phones have made a difference and the mayor can be immediately contacted at all hours.”

Andri Shchudlo, a politics student at the University of Winnipeg, contends that it’s important for the mayor to operate inside the city.

“In a leader, perception is so important. Even if he can maintain his duties while he is gone, Winnipegers are still entitled to feel that the mayor should be among them and engaged with them,” Shchudlo said. “It is difficult to imagine Canadians being comfortable with Stephen Harper spending enormous amount of time at unspecified locations. It should not be any different for Sam Katz.”

Leo purports similar views.

“A great deal of what makes a leader effective is that they can present themselves in a way that makes people take them seriously,” he said. “It kind of looks like Sam Katz has two jobs at times.

“I have to interpret what I’ve seen in the last several years as he is not all too focused on his job as mayor.”

Published in Volume 65, Number 21 of The Uniter (March 3, 2011)