Steve Cordes

November 13, 2026

We are back with more from Mayor Josh Morgan, just re-elected for four more years.

This is the second part of my extended conversation with Mayor Morgan. Part One of that conversation, posted last week, focused on the election campaign, Strong Mayor powers and the importance of engaging Londoners who didn’t vote for him. This week, in Part Two, we turn to the challenges ahead: fulfilling campaign promises and how he intends to work with Council to tackle London’s most pressing issues.

One surprise for me in this conversation was that Morgan didn’t back away from his campaign commitment to limit tax increases to 3%. Nor did he suggest that achieving that target would require service reductions. Instead, he spoke about how he intends to meet that goal without cutting services. I’m interested to see how that plays out.

One thing that stuck with me after our conversation was the conviction with which he spoke about building a team among London’s incoming councillors. It was an emphasis I hadn’t heard from him before, and it left me wondering whether the challenges and divisiveness of the recent election have influenced how he intends to approach his second term as mayor.

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I’ve said it before (and those who know me probably assume I’ll say it again): we need a more fully engaged community if we’re going to tackle our challenges and build London into the great city it can be.

Morgan’s comments left me hopeful that this new term offers an opportunity for a reset with Council. One that encourages vigorous debate and differing perspectives, but also builds a greater sense of shared vision and consensus about what London needs and how to move it forward.

On this, I was reminded of two former mayors I’ve had the opportunity to work with. Joe Preston, former mayor of St. Thomas, often spoke about the consensus model he worked within throughout his tenure with that city’s council. And Tom Gosnell, a former London mayor, who pulled me aside in my early days at YOU and shared something I’ve never forgotten: “You don’t have to be disagreeable to disagree.”

It’s advice I often reflected on during challenging conversations throughout my time at YOU.

Both Preston and Gosnell understood the importance of vigorous debate. But they also understood that, at the end of the day, being a team matters.

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There’s a lot ahead for London’s new Council. And while the decisions they make will matter enormously, so too will the way they work together to make them.

London doesn’t need a Council that always agrees. It needs a Council that knows how to disagree, work through difficult decisions and ultimately take ownership of the direction in which our city is heading.

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