Bill Marra considering run in federal politics after more than 20 years on Windsor council
When Windsor's city council meets Monday night, it won't just be the last round for the current term. It will also be the final meeting for Windsor's longest-serving councillor.
Bill Marra was first elected to council in 1994 and has spent 21 of the last 24 years at the council table. His only break came in 2003 when he was defeated in the mayoral race by Eddie Francis.
And, with a report from the Council Compensation Review Committee being put forth to council Monday night, the demands of the job have been top-of-mind for a number of residents. Marra, who was first elected to represent Windsor's Ward 4 and currently serves as Ward 8 councillor, said the job is "incredibly demanding."
"I have found the last couple of terms to be the busiest of my entire career," said Marra. "Social media has created a significant change as well. It's almost a requirement to be frankly through social media, which means a little bit more time required."
One example he points to is Gary Kaschak, who retired from his position as a Canada Border Services Agency administrator after being elected as city councillor in Windsor's Ward 8.
Possible run in federal politics
In an interview on the CBC's Windsor Morning, Marra said he's been approached about staying in the political realm — at the federal level. But there are some things he wants to accomplish first at the municipal level.
"I really want to fulfil my commitment at council ... I have a Standing Committee meeting later on this week. And, I want to clean up some constituency work," said Marra, adding he still has "significant responsibilities" at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, where he serves as vice president of external and government affairs.
But that doesn't mean he's pushing off those discussions indefinitely. He said talks of a federal run will happen "later on in the future" — most likely, once the calendar turns to 2019.
"We'll see what makes sense."
Council should be a part-time job: Marra
For Marra, sitting on council should not be a full-time job because it limits the amount of people who can run. He said if individuals have to leave their jobs to serve the city, it's a "tremendous risk."
He said one remedy for the large list of tasks required of councillors is to "create less demands."
"Members of council shouldn't be sitting on 14, 15 or 16 committees. We could reduce that, increase the number of citizen appointees, reduce the number of members of councils — and I think the other area where we could support them is through council services," said Marra.
"We've had two, full-time executive assistants to 10 members of council. If you improve that ratio and reduce the committee work, that would go a long way in mitigating some of the workload pressures."
Impact on personal life
"My oldest who's 24 and a half years old was born while I was campaigning in 1994."
For Marra, his involvement on council had a great impact on his family life. He said a lot of sacrifices and compromises had to be made and added he's lucky to have a spouse who has been supportive of his political endeavours.
Hear more from Bill Marra on the CBC's Windsor Morning:
"Not withstanding the fact that Rita had her own career in banking for 23 years, we had to juggle ... It comes at an expense. You will miss events. You will miss certain family functions," said Marra, adding he was also active as a board member for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities from 1999 to 2003.
He does leave council with some regrets. For one, he wishes he could've done more to "protect the integrity of the agreement when it came to Canderel." Additionally, he feels Windsor city council was victimized in the computer-leasing scandal involving MFP Financial Services.
"We've never been able to look back in a positive way. That's a regrettable, unfortunate piece of our history as well."
