A reluctant advisory committee chair would rather not talk to candidates.

News 100 blueBy Staff

September 18th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Howard Bohan, Chair Heritage Burlington said he is “most reluctant to enter into any discussion with municipal candidates during the election campaign process.

He adds that “In response to a recent opinion piece, I would like to point out that Heritage Burlington continues to follow the policies set out in 2012 and approved By City Council.

“They are available here: https://www.burlington.ca/en/your-city/heritage-burlington.asp .

“All of our meeting minutes are available on-line. All you have to do is google “Heritage Burlington Minutes” and links to our minutes will pop up.

“I encourage any resident of Burlington who has an interest in maintaining the city’s built heritage to join the committee. This November, like every year, we will be seeking new members. While we especially encourage owners of heritage properties to join, it isn’t a prerequisite. You can have a say in the deliberations and have a vote on the committee’s recommendations.”

Quite why the Chair of an Advisory committee would be reluctant to talk to any and every candidate escapes this writer.

Bohan can be reached at: hb@burlington.ca
He tweets as – @HeritageBurl

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1 comment to A reluctant advisory committee chair would rather not talk to candidates.

  • Since the opinion piece was mine, I just want to clarify the following.

    Heritage Burlington is a volunteer committee, and I never, ever, wish to criticize volunteers who give time freely, some of whom I happen to know on a personal level and who are some of the most dedicated and engaged citizens in this city. It is the current direction of the committee as a whole, as directed by the city’s terms of reference, and as influenced by the current procedures and selection process which were revised approximately eight years ago at the direction of certain councillors, that concerns me.

    I cannot emphasize enough that my position is not a criticism of the committee members’ intentions or their very hard work.

    I also know that citizens on committees, although free to express their opinions, may not want to be pulled into election debates and quite justifiably don’t wish to comment publicly.

    I wish all members of Heritage Burlington the best and hope we can have productive and friendly discussions after October 22nd.

    The minutes certainly can be found on Google. It would be better if we could rely on the city website to properly catalogue and index minutes in an appropriate amount of time. As it is, the most recent meeting minutes are not yet to be found on the website or Google, and nor, as far as I could see, were many older minutes.