It has become a tradition that my last column each year expresses a big ‘thank you’ to a particular segment of the municipal family.

The choice this year is to honour the women and men who serve on the many boards, commissions and committees that every local government utilizes.

Generally, these are unpaid positions, particularly for community task forces or committees. Perhaps they receive a city hall sandwich at lunchtime, but that is scant compensation for the time and expertise volunteers and appointees generally bring to such positions.

These people offer their time because they believe that they should be giving back to their community. They want to make it better, be it serving on the Police Services Board or on a small neighbourhood committee to deal with a local traffic calming issue.

The collective wisdom of such entities is that usually better and smarter decisions are made. Often many hours of work go into these meetings, and that takes time away from family or personal activities. Public service at all levels is one of sacrifice and dedication.

And our towns and cities are better for their work. As young politicians quickly learn, decisions that have broad community support are almost always the correct decision and will be broadly supported.

Serving in such a position is sometimes a way to introduce people to the mysteries of what goes on at city hall. The experience might encourage some of them to become more deeply involved, or even run for public office.

There are a lot of very smart people out there who believe in helping to create better neighborhoods and communities. Yet the biggest reason many people never get involved is because they never get asked. It is tragic to lose this kind of resource. Civic governments can always do a better job of recruiting community volunteers for their many boards and committees.

So as 2025 begins its slide to becoming ‘so last year’, and we look with some trepidation at the approach of 2026, let us say a big "THANK YOU" to our civic volunteers. Their time, effort, knowledge and skills create safer, smarter, more creative and more enjoyable places to live.

I wish all of you an incredibly Happy Holiday, and a wonderful New Year.

And, if I am allowed in closing, a personal thank you to the people who stood beside me this year at a time of personal health crisis. Your caring, support, notes and emails have meant so much to me during the past year.