A passionate educator faces a dilemma: follow his muse or take direction from the parents through the trustees they elected,

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

March 14th, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Halton District School Board Director of Education Stuart Miller is not wrong – but he isn’t right enough either.

Miller is an educator. He is not a sociologist, he is not a politician. He is a lifelong teacher who grew into an education administrator.

Mention a student he taught 15 years ago at a school in Oakville and he will tell you things about that student they may have forgotten.  He is passionate about the work he does.

Hammil + Miller

Stuart Miller works from his smile – open and very much the professional educator who wants nothing but the best for his students.

Whenever there is an event that will have more than 25 students on a Saturday morning and he will show up – coffee cup in hand.

He slips out of his office at noon frequently to drive over to Bateman and have the lunch that comes out of the excellent kitchens the students run. Then he sits and eats his meal with the students.

He is exceptionally open: not everyone will agree with that statement but he is a lot more open to media than any one of the politicians in the Region.  Many parents don’t feel he listens well enough; just because he doesn’t agree with them – that doesn’t mean he is not listening,

Miller with students Mar 7-17

Miller is fully aware of the world his students are going into – and he wants as prepared as he can make them.

He listens to the parents that want to keep their local high school open and he is mindful of their concerns but for Miller his job is to give the students he is responsible for the best education possible and that means offering every course he can in every school.

In order to do that Miller believes he needs larger high schools with more teachers to give more versions of the same course so students don’t lose out due to class conflicts. Those are the well-developed views of a professional administrator.

Parents appear to be Ok with their children going to a different school for some of their courses and Miller does what he can to make that possible.

He believes that a big high school with a lot of staff is the route to go – so when he says he wants what is best for the students he is talking about the course offerings.

Stuart Miller

Miller with the ever present coffee cup.

That a school has some history the students can attach themselves to is something Miller grasps but he doesn’t understand why a person would put a first class education before having a school they can walk to.

Miller doesn’t live in Burlington. He commutes to Burlington from High Park and uses the 45 minute drive to think through the day he is getting into.

Miller is all about education – he could have a stronger team supporting him but he hasn’t been the Director of Education for two years yet – the public might yet see him as the person who creates a team of Superintendents for the Halton District School Board that are second to none. He doesn’t have that yet.

The team he has is made up of decent people but they have not given Miller anything in the way of new ideas or innovative approaches to solving the problem he faces.

The lens Miller looks through is those 1800 + empty classroom seats and from his perspective it doesn’t matter how he re-arranges the boundaries or the feeder elementary schools – he still has those 1800 empty seats.

What Miller and his staff have not done is come up with proposals or initiatives for the trustees to consider. The province doesn’t fund empty seats.

While Miller has said again and again that the issue is not about money, from his perspective but it is in reality a money issue.

If the trustees decide to not close any of the high schools and to shift boundaries so that the pressure is taken off Hayden and Pearson gets back the population it once there will be more balance – but the city will still have high schools with considerably less than the 1000 students Miller thinks are needed to be able to offer a full palette of course offerings.

Trustees - fill board +

The Halton District School Board in session. Eight of the 11 trustees have just a little over two years experience. A number of them may not have the depth of experience to handle the task ahead of them. A couple have been on the Board far too long.

The trustees need to instruct Miller to give them financial options. If every high school is to be kept open the money to pay for those empty seats has to be found somewhere. The trustees need to direct the Director to find the savings within the budget they now work with.

The philosophy board staff appear to work from is bigger schools mean better educations at the high school level.

It is the trustees, serving the people who voted for them that make the final decision – and if the parents want all the school kept open so that a sense of community is kept with the schools we have and they want students walking rather than spending a significant part of each day on a bus – then that is what the trustees should be expected to deliver.

Miller is open to new ideas – he welcomes them and he listens intently – but he doesn’t appear to be a new idea kind of guy.

He spent some time in Africa with his wife but other than that his career has been with Halton where he started out as a teacher and grew into a bureaucrat who now faces the biggest administrative challenge of his career.

PARC with options on the walls

Why is this PARC not leading more instead of following a process that the smarter members believe to be seriously flawed?

The Program Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) is not coming up with much in the way of new ideas – they have become a group that is squabbling with the different high school representatives fighting for their own turf.

Board staff are leading the PARC through a process and the members of the PAR are putting up with it. There are voices on the PARC that can and should be showing much more in the way of leadership.

Miller will serve as the Director for perhaps another ten years. He doesn’t appear to be the kind of guy that will go up against the Ministry of Education. He doesn’t appear to have any aspirations to become part of the provincial government bureaucracy either.

A strong board of trustees can develop their Director of Education into the kind of person the city needs. The Director can then develop the staff that he needs.

Stuart Miller is a passionate advocate focused on giving the students in Halton the best education possible.ll about the students.

What he needs to appreciate is that those students have parents who also have a say, the say for that matter – at least in a democracy.

He is not wrong, but he is not right enough on the community element which is a large part of an education.

Parr wearing T-shirtSalt with Pepper is an opinion piece by the publisher of the Gazette who has been covering Boards of Education since the Living and Learning document was released when Bill Davis was the Minister of Education.

Return to the Front page

City hall forgets to use the words road diet or bike lanes in an announcement on the water main work to be done on New Street.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

March 3, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Here we go again.

It is hard to believe how obtuse some of the people at City Hall can be.

A seven paragraph media release with the word pilot project slipped in but not one use of the work bike or the words road diet.

Here is what the city sent out.

“Water main work with Halton Region will begin on New Street between Dynes Road and Cumberland Avenue on March 7, resulting in lane closures and scheduled water service shutdowns. The construction is scheduled to be completed in May.

“The installation of a new water main between Guelph Line and Dynes Road began in October and November 2016. The work to install the rest of the water main between Dynes Road and Cumberland Avenue will start earlier than scheduled due to mild weather.

“Residents and businesses will be given 48 hours’ notice for scheduled water service shutdowns. Water main installation will include the replacement of curbs, gutters and the boulevard to restore any damage from the water main works.

“New Street between Walkers Line and Guelph Line is the site of a pilot project that began in August 2016 for all street users.

“Completing the water main installation in May will reduce the disruption to New Street into two shorter, two-month intervals rather than one six-month construction period originally planned for the spring and summer of 2017. This will allow for longer, uninterrupted traffic data collection.

“The city is collecting data, and will continue to collect data after the water main work is done and until the end of the summer to ensure the city has the data needed to assess the pilot. That information, along with travel times on nearby residential roads that run parallel to New Street, will be included in a recommendation report to Burlington City Council this fall.

“Creating more travel options for the community means thinking differently about how our city road network looks and functions. The one-year pilot on New Street is an example of how some existing roads in Burlington could be redesigned to give people more travel options to get around the city.”

One of the most contentious projects the city has decided to do – lessen the amount of road space for vehicular traffic on New Street and put in bicycle lanes. It was set up as a pilot project and public opinion views were all over the map.

It was so contentious that the Mayor couldn’t get some personal private time at the Y – residents kept approaching him to bend his ear.

In future they should take him by the ear out to the woodshed.

New street - as far as they eye can see

New water mains being laid down on New Street west of Guelph Line.

One of the reasons for doing the pilot project on dedicated bicycle lanes was because New Street was going to have significant water main work done and then a new layer of asphalt laid down – it was thought that would be a convenient time to install bicycle lanes and see how they worked.

To not even use the words “road diet” or bike or bicycle is sneaky and only adds to the cynicism over the way city hall works.  Do they think that by not using the words that people will forget?

Transparent – accountable – please!

Transit - Vito Tolone

Vito Tolone, Director of Transportation

They transportation department should be ashamed of themselves for letting this kind of media release get sent out. The close to 3000 people at have signed a petition have every reason to be angry – city hall has been exceedingly disrespectful

Vito Tolone, Director of Transportation is quoted as saying” “A lengthy and uninterrupted time-frame to collect all the data needed for the New Street pilot will be beneficial to staff when incorporating this information into our report to City Council.” He can’t say the words either.

Return to the Front page

Is the Board of Education missing out on an opportunity to really harness the energy and creativity of the PARC?

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

February 25th, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

It is almost as if the parents who want to keep their local schools open have to do the job with one hand tied behind their backs.

Changes in provincial government legislation has reduced the number of public meetings a school board has to hold and it removes any focus on what happens to the community.

Director Miller has been saying from the get go that the interests of the students is his primary focus – that comes straight out of the provincial government play book.

PARC Jan 27 full group

Parents from different high schools watch the PARC deliberate; they have held four meetings to date.

The Ontario government is speeding up the process for closing schools, as part of a crackdown on publicly funded boards with too many classrooms sitting empty.

Ministry of education guidelines defines schools less than two-thirds full as “underutilized” and are candidates for either closing or changes to their boundaries or programs they offer. The ministry now has new guidelines for community consultations that must take place before a school can be closed. Critics say the guidelines limit public engagement and make it easier to close schools.

A committee reviewing the fate of a school is required to hold two public meetings instead of four under the new regime, and the time frame for conducting a review is cut to five months from seven. Another major change causing considerable angst for municipal officials is a shift in emphasis toward student achievement and away from considering the impact of closing a school on the well-being of a community and the local economy.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), said focusing the review process more narrowly on the interests of students might help school boards solve their fiscal challenges. But it comes at the expense of the longer-term interests of a community, including the impact closing a school could have on residential real estate values.

The new process gives municipal governments a formal role for the first time, providing an opportunity for school boards to collaborate with municipalities in making the best use of school space.

Goldring at Inspire April 2015 - hand out

Mayor Goldring may have thought he was dodging a bullet when he had his city manager sit on the PAR committee.

Mayor Golding, who sits on an AMO committee, is treating the closing of high schools like a roaring fire – something he isn’t going to get very close to – he accepted the offer of city manager James Ridge, who apparently volunteered for the task of representing the city on the PARC.  Ridge has said very little.

An AMO spokesperson said: “A school is the hub of a community. When you close a school, that community has lost a draw for anybody to ever come back.”   It is self-evident that property values in the community that loses a school will fall.

Then Minister of Education Elizabeth Sandals said that she wants the school boards and the municipalities to have an ongoing relationship where they are sharing their planning data so that the municipalities are aware of where there are clusters of underutilized schools.

The reality many school boards are facing is that there are too many empty seat and they are under pressure to address the financial drain.

The Halton Board seems to have decided it will follow the provincial guidelines and almost bulldoze the PARC parents into accepting the option the board put on the table; close two of the seven high schools.

We now have a situation where the Program Accommodation Review Committee currently looking for options it can give Director Miller is facing a board administration that fudges data and doesn’t work in a collaborative way with the PARC.  It amounts to a lost opportunity for everyone.

PARC the Aldershot delegates

Aldershot High school PARC member Steve Cussons and Central high school representative Ian Farwell on the left.

Miller is quite right when he speaks of the significant time and effort the 14 PAR committee members  are putting in.  They have had to climb a very steep learning curve and have found on too many occasions that some of the data is incorrect.

Miller seems to have lost the opportunity to harness the energy and creativity of the PAR committee.  Is it too late for him and his team to make a mid-course correction and put some substance into the words, “collaborative” and collectively?

This is a shared problem and there is an opportunity to work as a community that understands and respects each other.

Michael Barrett, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, said in many heavily contested cases in the past, it was often a municipality that was fighting to prevent a school from closing.

That certainly isn’t the case in Burlington.

 

Return to the Front page

Where is the structural change to make Burlington a truly inclusive city going to come from?

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

February 22nd 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

We recently published two articles that lead us to this third article.

In January we published the Mayor’s State of the City in full. The Gazette has done this for the past five years – it gives citizens the opportunity to review just how the Mayors sees the city he governs.

Earlier this month we did an article on the Friday Night Community event that takes place at Wellington Square United Church where some 300 people gather for an evening of fellowship and a meal that gets put together by one of the more ambitious bunch of volunteers from different faith communities in this city.

Pic 2 - ladies at a food table

Setting up a food table at Wellington Square United Church Friday Night Community event.

Lisa Lunski co-ordinates the event at Wellington Square. Glad Tiding Pentecostal church in the Guelph Line – Upper Middle Road part of the city also has a program where more than 300 people gather regularly.
St. Christopher’s Anglican Church also has a program.

These are not “soup kitchen” operations. These events are intended for people who, while perhaps marginalized, are active and have the same social interaction needs as any other group.

Some people meet regularly at the Legion, others go to one of the four Rotary clubs in Burlington – everyone needs to be part of something.

Spend half an hour at a Friday night community at Wellington Square United church and experience the caring, the sharing and the fun that goes on. I’ve never seen anyone at a Legion hand out a birthday card to a member.

Someone at Wellington Square seems to know when a birthday is taking place – and it gets remembered.

The crowd in the Wellington Square kitchen is a marvel – some arrive as early as 7:00 am to get the food preparation rolling. The menu has been worked out and most of the food has arrived – and it all gets done by people that show up regularly as volunteers.

glad-tidings-christmas-dinner-crowd

Glad Tidings runs a community program twice a month. You want to hear this crowd when they sing.

Glad Tidings does this twice each month and it becomes a placed where a man named Luke makes a point of standing by a street crossing and pressing the button that will activate a change in the traffic lights so people can cross – that’s the contribution he can make. He also walks up and down |Palmer Drive and caries waste bins from the sidewalk to the door of many homes,

When Mayor Goldring gave his State of the city address he said:

Flood Goldring with chain of office

This interview was the first time Mayor Goldring wore his Chain of Office outside the Council chamber. He was getting used to the job.

“I want to take time today to talk about the whole issue of housing affordability. When I say affordable housing, I am not talking about subsidized or social housing; I am talking about housing that is affordable for the vast majority of people, from millennials to seniors, and everybody in between.”

One got the impression that the Mayor wasn’t interested in social housing – it doesn’t quite fit the image he likes to project of the city. He seemed prepared to leave them at the curb while he does something to make “housing that is affordable for the vast majority of people from millennials to seniors and everyone in between.”

Our Mayor at the same time tells his audience that “we are all in this together”.

And indeed we are all in this together.

Shortly after we published the article on Wellington Square a colleague wrote and pointed out where she felt the need was:

“We need a dialogue on the difference between charity and social development, one meets immediate needs (food banks and food cupboards) and the other changes the structural causes of poverty and marginalization;

“We need a dialogue on community building and inclusive neighbourhoods that create a space for human interaction and belonging, a lot of that interaction starts around food.”

Gift of Giving back logo - 10th

Now into its 12th year The Gift of Giving Back is Burlington at its best.

We are doing pretty well on the charity side – much of the food used at the three churches is raised by high school students as part of the marvelous 10 year Giving Back program.  These are great band aids – what we need are fishing rods so these people can take care of themselves by fishing for their own needs – that is what structural change is all about.

The space between the thinking that was heard at the Chamber of Commerce sponsored State of the City address and the comments made about inclusiveness is very wide.

We do not yet have a table at which all are welcome.

What do we have to change to make that happen?

Related articles:

State of the City 2011
State of the City 2012
State of the City 2013
State of the city 2015
State of the City 2016

Wellington Square United Church – Friday Night Community

Return to the Front page

Committee in place to give the Director of Education advice on possible school closings: a consensus has yet to emerge.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

February 14th, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Scott Podrebarac called it dotmocracy – you cast your vote by putting dots on a chart.

It is a process used to get a sense as to where the thinking of a group of people is going.

Sort of like a straw poll.

When the dots (three to each person) were handed out to the 14 people on the PARC who vote – there are a number of advisors – there were 42 dots to be distributed.

The official tally won’t be released until the minutes of the February 9th meeting are published. The publishing of those minutes will be delayed a bit – they have to be signed off by the Chair who is going to be away from his desk for a personal matter for a day or so.

The Gazette has been able learn what the two critical dotmocracy results were:

Option 19 short

Dots shown are not the official count. The final total was 15 dots.

Option 19, which was the Director of Education told the trustees was the Staff recommendation got 15 dots and

Option 7 - short

Dots shown are not the official count. The final total was 8 dots.

Option 7 which was to not close any schools got 9 dots.

The Board staff recommendation got just a little less than one third of the dot votes that were available.

The other votes were all over the map.

So – at this point in time – after three meetings the PARC has yet to settle on a choice – things are still quite fluid.

Aldershot is very concerned about what will happen to them if Central is closed and Bateman is getting scarred silly that they might get closed.

Central and MM question at PARC Feb 9

Central and M.M. Robinson PARC members write there comments on whether or not they felt a particular option met or did not meet the Framework outline.

The Board has added another day of PARC meetings and is preparing for the first public meeting.

Given the way the December 8th meeting went and some of the hallway conversations that have taken place between parents and Director of Education Miller – it could get noisy.

Many parents look at the data and the facts that are out there and suggest “we are in this mess because Hayden was built” – and that may be so – but the school was built and it did have a significant impact on the class room capacity. There is nothing that can be done – the building isn’t going to be torn down.

The opportunity does exist for some creative boundary re-alignments – and several parent groups who seem to have more of a grip on the numbers than the Board’s Planning staff have come up with some interesting ideas that are now in front of the PARC people.

What we appear to be seeing at the PARC meetings is each set of parents from the seven schools are beginning to do what they have to do to keep their school open.

Nelson is seen as safe because of its iconic status in the city; M.M. Robinson is going to get more students.
Somewhere in all this there has to be some leadership – from either the board staff or the PARC people.

PARC the Aldershot delegates

Aldershot high school PARC representatives Steve Cussons and Eric Szyiko are both adept at speaking up and making their point. They can see a yard full of portables coming their way if Central is closed.

There are some very intelligent people within the PARC – will a natural leader emerge and come up with a recommendation that the trustees can vote for?

Don’t expect to see any leadership from the trustees. That crowd is made up of 8 people who are still learning their jobs and a couple of dinosaurs who let this situation develop. There are exceptions: Donna Danielli, who sits on the PARC as an advisor,  is in a position to give the PARC a perspective they need.

At this point the Central people are putting out a very strong case – and they are being very active.

Sharn Picken confering with a parentr at a PARC

Sharon Picken, brash and bold but she knows what goes on in the schools. She is one of the two Bateman PARC members.

The Bateman people realize that their school is at risk and they are now beginning to organize themselves.

The Pearson people are asking that they be given back the students they once had – those that were sent to Hayden where it is said that students are doing their gym classes in the hallways.

At some point a serious analysis has to be done on how boundaries can be re-aligned so that students are distributed more evenly throughout the buildings that exist.

To add to the mix of issues is the cost of the portables that are apparently going to be needed at Aldershot and the cost of transporting hundreds of students by bus.

Four trustees

The trustees sit on the sidelines taking it all in – their time will come in May.

Somewhere in all this data there is an answer. The Board staff are saying that they have put forward an option – close two of the seven schools.

The parents aren’t buying it – the trustees are sitting quietly on the sidelines figuring out what they will do when crunch time arrives for them.

 

 

Return to the Front page

Do consultants have the answers we need to decide what kind of a city we want?

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

February 1st, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Bfast – Burlington for Accessible affordable Transit, published a piece on what a consultant said to city council.

They,  Bfast,  seem to be suggesting that consultants don’t always get it right,

brent-oderian

Brent Toderian

On February 11th, noted Urbanist and Twitter phenom Brent Toderian was invited to come to Burlington to speak with City Council and Staff, as well as to present to the public as part of Mayor Goldring’s “Inspire Burlington” series.

Here are some things we picked up on from Brent’s presentation to Council:

Brent Toderian’s first point was that we need to change our thinking from being a suburb to being urban. We need to look at three dimensional streets rather than one dimensional roads. He noted that a suburb with more density will result in gridlock and congestion. In order to make this transition, and to position us for success our government needs to treat the Official Plan review as a rethink, not a tweak. Part of this is being willing to fail before we succeed.

Mobility: Brent stressed the need to prioritize transit, walking, and cycling over cars. We now have a very car-centred system meaning that we have to go well beyond the so-called balanced approach to moving budget dollars from cars to transit, walking and cycling. The car as the primary means of getting around has had a 40-50 year head start, so just seeking balance now won’t get us there. He also stressed that in urban places, balance isn’t good enough.

Transit: Brent noted that western Canada’s largest condo developer has said that the key factor in real estate development has changed from “location, location, location” to “transit, transit, transit”. Brent called improving transit “our strongest opportunity” as a city.

Strategic Plan WorkbookStrategic Plan and Budget: Brent noted that the City’s Strategic Plan was good – but the budget was not. He stated “the truth of a city’s aspirations is not in its plan, but in its budget”.

Making the transition -“pull the bandaid off quick” Brent was very critical of the slow approach re bike lanes. He said this approach maximized the controversy. Instead, he recommended rapid completion of a viable network that would work immediately. He also said that separation was needed on arterials – but not on other streets. Although he cited cycling in this approach, it would also apply to transit.

Prioritize the incentive for taking transit: Brent said that drivers need to see a benefit to take transit for example, bus only lanes that allow buses to move faster than cars.

Parking: Brent emphatically said “get out of Park’n Ride” (will Metrolinx listen?). He suggested that the City constrain the supply of parking.

Tall buildiong design - material useIntensification: Brent discussed how building density right is a challenge because it can result in “the sweet spot of failure”; intensification on too low a scale will create traffic congestion but not enough density to support efficient transit. We need to have an honest conversation about the real cost and consequences to growing the right and wrong ways, with respect to climate change and public health. The starting point of “I don’t want the city to change…” is common, but ‘stable neighbourhoods’ are a lie. All cities are changing in ways beyond the control of local government, so take the word ‘stable’ out of your vocabulary. Cities should reject the idea that there is an optimal number for growth (how big should we get) and worry about quality instead of quantity.

Doing the wrong thing better: Painted bike lanes were one example of this; need to make sure we don’t mistake for doing the right thing.

Public Engagement: Your goal should be to convince the convinceable; as leaders you need to change the conversation. Just because we don’t have consensus doesn’t mean we can’t have an intelligent conversation.

Burlington Transit: It was upsetting to hear that Brent Toderian did not get to meet with anyone from Burlington Transit.

As I read through the piece I found myself asking – is this how we decide what kind of a city we want and how we build it? Do we have to bring in consultants who have never lived here, never walked the streets, never attended an event?

Toderian told city council that they need to get rid of rural names – hang on – Walkers Line, Guelph Line and Appleby Line are part of the history and a part of the feel for the city. They remind of us our rural roots.

They no next to nothing about how rich our agricultural background is.

These consultants want to come into town for short periods of time, get very well paid for their time, spout all the most recent flavour of the month in urban design and move on to the next consulting assignment.

James Ridge Day 1 - pic 2

City manager James Ridge – an old friend of Toderian who he had worked with during his time in Vancouver. Toderian got turfed by a th Vancouver city council.

Both city manager James Ridge and Director of Planning Mary Lou Tanner, both relatively new to Burlington, knew of Toderian and his work – they thought the guy was great before he had spoken as much as a paragraph. It was almost like he was a member of the club coming back into the circle.

It’s the citizens that decide what kind of a community they want. Consultants have a place and their opinions are important but the people who grew up in the city and want to see it evolve and be something they at least recognize when they are taking their grandchildren to events.

There is nothing wrong with progress and growth – it just has to take place at a pace that works for the people who live here.  Why else do we have a community?

Return to the Front page

The Wallace game plan; the first part got put into place Saturday morning.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

July 15th, 2015

BURLINGTON, ON

 

There were two meetings – both took place at the same time, in the same room.

Many people were not fully aware of the meeting that mattered to Mike Wallace.

The scheduled meeting was the Burlington provincial Progressive Conservative Annual General Meeting at which a new board was installed.  The other meeting, taking place at the same time was former Member of Parliament Mike Wallace creating the campaign team he will need in 2018.

Wallace is going to take a shot at getting the job as Mayor of Burlington.

Here is the time line he is working within.

The next provincial election is “scheduled” for June of 2018.

The next municipal election will take place in October of 2018.

At the Burlington Provincial Progressive Conservative riding association Saturday forenoon the new board was put in place.

McKenna at her AGM

Nominee Jane McKenna at the Progressive Conservative AGM last Saturday?

And it was announced that Mike Wallace as going to run Jane McKenna’s election campaign whenever the provincial election is called.

The municipal election date is cast in stone – the provincial election can take place whenever Kathleen Wynne decides to call it.  The Burlington provincial Progressive Conservatives believe they are ready.

They appear to have the money in the bank and they now have a Board and an Executive that will do what Wallace needs them to do.

McKenna’s chances of getting returned to Queen’s Park are slim unless the Premier really screws up – and that may well happen.

For Mike it doesn’t matter all that much. He will put together a campaign team and do the best he can with what he has. Running Jane McKenna against Liberal Eleanor McMahon is an uphill battle – too early to attempt to call that one – except for the fact that McMahon is the much better campaigner. She has a genuine touch for people that McKenna is never going to be able to match.

Wallace with blue maps

Can former MP Mike Wallace keep all those Tory blue votes when he runs for the office of Mayor in 2018?

That too doesn’t matter – Wallace will do the best he can with what he has. He will put together a superb team; there are some very accomplished Tory political operatives in Burlington and the party still believes that the heart of this city is still conservative.  I think Karina Gould has proven that may no longer be the case

This city has more than enough in the way of Tory party faithful who will heed the call and turn out and pull in the vote.

Mayor at Wallace election HQ Oct 2015

The night of the last federal election, which Mike Wallace lost to Karina Gould. Mayor Goldring went to the Wallace campaign offices first and then went to the Gould campaign offices later to congratulate the winner. Did Goldring misread the tea leaves?

What Mike Wallace gets out of this is  a well-oiled campaign machine that he will use to propel him into city hall where he will get to wear the chain of office.

Wallace served as a city Councillor for a number of years and was the Member of Parliament for Burlington until Gould defeated him.

The race for Mayor of Burlington in 2018 looks like it will be between Rick Goldring, Mike Wallace and Marianne Meed Ward.

Wallace will eat into the Goldring voters – the Meed Ward voters will remain firm.

 

Return to the Front page

Best words heard and reported on in 2016 - keep them in mind in October of 2018

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

January 1st, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

One of the reasons we do what we do at the Gazette is to record what happens in the city. That doesn’t always result in our making a lot of friends – that isn’t our job.

At times it is tiring – Burlington has been poorly served by media in the past ten years – it doesn’t have a radio station, the one local television station tends to focus on Hamilton – its home base.  While there was a time when print was very evident in Burlington- that is not the case today.

In the five years plus we have been publishing, first as Our Burlington, then we re-branded and now use the name Gazette, we have listened to hundreds of citizens delegate to their city Councillor’s

News is news – at times it is fun to publish; on other occasions it is disappointing to report on what city council has decided to do or what an agency decides to do.

But there are times when ordinary people who care, who are passionate and have no self interest in what they are saying or writing comes to the attention of the public.

It was our pleasure to write about and report on what Tom Muir and Jim Young had to say during a debate on the amount of time citizens would be permitted to speak when addressing city council.  Their words were, without a doubt to this writer, the wisest words heard in the council chamber during 2016.  Something we could all be very proud of.

My colleague, Joan Little at the Spectator, described Tom Muir as “acerbic”. That would be about right.  Tom does his research and as he said in his delegation – he has been doing this for more than 20 years.

The issue before council was a motion to reduce the amount of time a citizen could spend delegating before a standing committee be reduced from 10 minutes to five minutes.

In November 2016  Muir said the following:

Muir making a point

Tom Muir: Acerbic for sure but still one of the best delegators the city has.

“I would hope that Council votes in favor of the 10 minutes unanimously, as a show of good faith. I will say that a vote to reduce to 5 minutes is something I see as an insult to citizens and their possible contribution to what we do as a city – our city.”

“Further, if Councillors still want to vote down the 10 minutes, I say this. If you are so tired of and frustrated by, listening to the views of the people that elected you, then maybe you have been doing this job too long and should quit. I mean that, and will not forget how this vote goes tonight. “

“This Council is not your Council; it is the people’s Council.

“And these Council Chambers are not your Chambers, but are equally, the people’s Chambers. All the Councillors and Councils hold these offices and chambers in trust.

“So to vote to reduce the people’s time to speak in these chambers is to fail in that trust, in my opinion.

I ask therefore; herein fail not.”

No doubt what Muir was saying.

Jim Young, a man with a delightful Scottish brogue made his point very clearly. Jim was a little more philosophical but his words were no less pointed.

Jim Young

Jim Young – delegating to city council.

“When you deny constituents the reasonable opportunity to advise you during council term at meetings such as this, you leave them no other option but to voice their frustrations through the ballot box at election time.

Look at recent election results, where voters vented their frustration at the perception that politicians are not listening, do not provide the opportunity for citizens to be heard, a perception that has given voice to the Fords, the Trumps and the Brexiteers who, bereft of policy or vision or even civil discourse, at least pretend to listen, pretend they will be the voice of the people.

Then proceed to undo all the good that has been done, the community that has been built by that slow and frustrating democratic process.

So far this delegation has taken about 5 minutes, and with more to say, I hope you can understand how limiting 5 minutes can be.

I will finish by challenging each of you who wish to limit the participation of citizens in the affairs of our city:

Will you please explain to this gathering tonight how limiting delegations to 5 minutes is good for our democracy, good for our city?

Will you then publish that explanation in your Newsletter for all your constituents to see and to judge for themselves?

Will you stand at your regular town hall gatherings and tell the people of your wards why you want to silence their voice?

Because you will stand before them in 2018 and they will demand to know.

If you cannot, in conscience, address your constituents on this issue, then you have accept an amendment to rescind that decision and restore the full 10 minute allotment for citizen delegations, or better still do the right thing and propose such an amendment yourself.

The opportunity to listen to these two men and then report on what they had to say made all the trials and tribulations of the past few years’ worth every minute of it all.

Craven with gavel and papers

Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven

Council voted 6-1 to maintain the 10 minute time allocation for delegations at Standing Committees. Councillor Craven was opposed.

The motion to limit the time to be available came out of a committee made up of Councillors Craven, Taylor and Lancaster. Craven is what he is; Lancaster doesn’t know any better, Taylor should be ashamed.

Return to the Front page

Are the parents of high school students having a number done on them? And if that is the case - what are they going to do about it?

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

December 11th, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

 

There was a line in the Saturday Globe & Mail editorial that might resonate with the several hundred people who took part in the first public meeting of the Program Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) at the Gary Alan School on New Street Thursday evening.

The editorial was about the seriously flawed on-line survey being conducted to learn what Canadians have to say about how we elect our leaders.

Much of the editorial was “tongue in cheek” but the following paragraph comes pretty close to reflecting what many people felt when they left the school Thursday evening.

“As you answer the questions, remember that there are no wrong answers, because we don’t care what you say. This is a different way of consulting Canadians – in the sense that we’re not actually consulting anyone. We are just collecting data on our imposed preferences and sorting it by your demographic profile for unclear purposes. Thank you for participating.”

For those at the Thursday evening meeting we expect many to cringe after reading the paragraph.

scot-p-hdsb

PARC Chair Scott Podabarac – a Superintendent with the Halton District school Board

Data was collected – the Gazette provided the questions asked and an early cut of the audience responses. The data we provided has to be verified – it wasn’t possible to get it all down – the data on the screens was moving pretty quickly and one of the women sitting in the row behind me seemed to need to chatter incessantly.

All the data needs to be analyzed by the parents who really care about how many schools will be kept open and if schools are closed – which will it be?

The Board of Education may not be able to do better than this – but this is in the hands of the citizens. They are the steel in the spine of the PARC and they can ensure that the report written reflects their views. They can hold Chair of the PARC, Superintendent Scott Podabarc’s feet to the flames – he is there to serve them.

The PARC could also choose to summon Domenico Renzella, Manager of Planning, Halton District School Board and put questions to him and demand all the data they need.

live-qa

Director of Education Stuart Miller and Manager of Planning Domenico Renzella during an on-line Q&A

Several parents have come up with boundary change scenarios that they think will solve at least some of the empty seat problems.

PARC policy is that:

The PARC is an Advisory body; it acts as the official conduit for information shared between Trustees and school communities. It provides feedback on options considered in Director’s Preliminary Report. It can seek clarification on Director’s Preliminary Report and provide new accommodation options and supporting rationale

The Board of Trustees is responsible for deciding the most appropriate pupil accommodation arrangements for the delivery of its elementary and secondary programs. Decisions that are made by the Board of Trustees are in the context of carrying out its primary responsibilities of fostering student achievement and well-being, and ensuring effective stewardship of school board resources. The Board of Trustees may consider undertaking pupil accommodation reviews that may lead to school consolidations and closures in order to address declining and shifting student enrolment.

The final decision regarding the future of a school or a group of schools rests solely with the Board of Trustees.

There are a couple of ways to interpret that statement. There is an opportunity for the members of the PARC to be aggressively proactive and take the lead on this and not sit there like stooges while the board runs circles around them.

The PARC might even consider having some original research done and require the board to fund it. There is nothing in the rules that says the PARC cannot call witnesses and ask questions.  For any of this to happen to parents have to stand up on their hind legs and demand what is rightfully theirs.

They also need to keep their trustees fully briefed on what is happening and lobby like crazy.

The trustees were elected to make decisions on or your behalf and we would like to believe that those decisions are being made in your best interests as well.

It might get a little messy – but it can’t get any worse than it is right now.

The senior staff at the board are intelligent people and they have the capacity to adapt to changing situations – the parents can determine that this is a changing situation and expect their board to adapt. The phrase innovation and imagination was tossed around several times – bring that to ground and be imaginative and innovative to solve this perplexing problem.

goldring-at-council

Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring

The disconcerting part in this situation is the way the city has decided to steer clear of what they feel is a little too political for them. The parents at Central understood fully the need for a political element and placed Marianne Meed Ward, their ward Councillor on the PARC – she does have a son who attends the school – so she is legit.

Mayor Goldring chose not to take part and instead sent James Ridge, his city manager, who is new to Burlington and probably hasn’t been anywhere near one of the high schools. He does not have the legitimacy Meed Ward has on this file.  He was not at the first public meeting – it was his birthday. Happy Birthday James.

The data

The Mayor’s choice

Return to the Front page

Does Burlington need a larger city council? Have some of the current members served long enough?

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

November 20th, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

 

There is chatter about a larger city council.

It began with a column in the Hamilton Spectator by Joan Little and was followed by a piece written by Brian Heagle.  Links to both are below

The significant seven we have now are not that interested in anything bigger. Mayor Goldring has pointed to Portland Oregon which has a seven member council which he thought was great.

Goldring - Christmas picture

Mayor Goldring’s 2015 Christmas card photograph.

Goldring doesn’t manage people all that well; his career path has not included any significant management roles. He prefers small groups of people that are like minded. Much of the thinking the city has seen the Mayor take up has come from a book he read and then invited the author to town for a speech.

There is going to have to be some form of leadership from the current Council and then a citizenship that rallies to that leadership and says it wants a different size Council.

The public is going to have to hear from past members of city council to talk about the deficiencies of a seven member council.

The people on city council now don’t get along all that well but they each have their alliances and know who they can go to for support. There are – it is not fair to call them cliques – but groupings that come together.  Councillors Craven and Sharman are frequently joined at the hip and Lancaster will listen to almost everything Sharman whispers in her ear.

Councillors Sharman and Lancaster: both part of the Shape Burlington committee who seem to have forgotten what the report was all about - civic engagement

Councillors Sharman and Lancaster: both part of the Shape Burlington committee who seem to have forgotten what the report was all about – civic engagement

Taylor is wearying of the game and doesn’t want to be challenged by any upstarts who might have some new ideas.  Dennison is comfortable with what exists now.

meed-ward-at-council

Does she still want to put her hat in the ring for job of Mayor in 2018?

Meed Ward used to be ‘gung ho’ on change; we haven’t seen that much of the Marianne Meed Ward who delegated ferociously before she was elected to council and was a thorn in the side of most during her first term – something the other council members needed. The fight seems to have gone out of her.  To a considerable degree she is still ostracized.  Her public comments on the seniors situation were disappointing.

Political organizations need new blood – that is part of why we hold elections.

Municipal politics is complex business. Its financial statements are not like those in the business world. A municipality cannot have a deficit – if they are short they have to dip into the reserve funds – there are more than fifty of those with millions of dollars sitting in bank accounts.

The Finance department to its credit does a good job of getting the city a good return on the investments it makes – given that there are a lot of things the city is now allowed to invest in.

For a newcomer to get elected to council the learning curve is very very steep. It takes a full term to get a feel and understanding for the way the city works and how staff relate to council.

Two of the city councillors were not at the table and one didn't ask a single question. Councillor Craven chose to be mute.

Councillors Craven and Taylor live on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Each has their strengths – along with a considerable amount of time on city council.

For those new to municipal politics having to learn how city hall works and how the Regional Council works is more than most can manage.

It makes a lot of sense to have two levels of Councillors; one who is just a ward Councillor and the other who is both a ward councillor and a Regional councillor.

The comments we are seeing about what these ward only level councillors should be paid is insulting. Those who do the job work hard; the issues they have to deal with are not simple. To pay someone $30,000 to serve as a ward only councillor is going to get you someone stupid enough to accept such a pittance.

If you are not prepared to pay well – you are going to get very little in the way of talent. That $115,000 – give or take a bit – we pay our city council members now is money well spent. They make mistakes and they could tone up their attitude when dealing with the public – especially with delegations to council meetings.  But they are fairly paid.

The view that they were elected to run the city and the public gets to decide if they like what they got only at election time is an idea that went out of style in the late fifties.  This lot trots out the words accountability and transparency without understanding or believing what they really mean.

Dennison LaSalle

Dennison has the best understanding of the dollars and cents side of civic administration.

It is up to you the public to hold them accountable every chance you get. They are no better than you are. When that OPP cruiser slides by you on the 403 your foot comes off that gas pedal – that is you being accountability to that police officer. It’s the way the world works.

If the current council chafes at that it is because you have let them get away with far too much.
Just don’t insult the institution of public service by not paying them adequately and fairly and providing them with the staff support they need.

A trained administrative assistant could serve two Councillors in the same ward – it wouldn’t be a bad idea to recruit those people from outside existing city hall staff.

If there are people out there who want to run for public office they have to have started their campaigns by now. The rules have changed giving the incumbents an even better chance of winning.

How good it is for the incumbents?

Marcus Gee, a Globe and Mail writer who focuses on municiapl politics wrote on the weekend asking:

Imagine a high-school student council whose members never graduate but stay on year after year, growing older and crankier as the student body they govern evolves. It shouldn’t be much of a strain for residents of Toronto to picture. That’s what their own city council is like.

Councillors hang around year after year – sometimes decade after decade – aging in place as the dynamic city they govern changes all around them. The same old characters have the same old quarrels over and over in a repeating loop of futility.

Like any group or organization that doesn’t renew itself, they have become inward-looking, inbred, ingrown. Voters tune them out. Cynicism about politics grows.

How do we break out of this trap? A small group of reformers has an idea.

The Open Democracy Project announced it was putting together a DemocracyKit, “a crowd-sourced, crowd-funded resource to equip the next generation of city-builders.” The plan is to give newcomers the tools they need to break into the restricted club of city politics.

The democracy kit would include such things as fundraising plans, a guide to door-to-door canvassing, website templates and contact-management systems.

open-democracy-now-maire

Democracy at work – people planning on what they want to see done.

It’s all aimed at counteracting the power of incumbency. Sitting politicians have overwhelming advantages. They have name recognition, especially critical at the municipal level, where most voters aren’t paying much attention. They have access to the big-name spin doctors and campaign managers who dominate the election game. They have a web of contacts in unions, community groups and local business associations that help them get re-elected. They know the ropes.

No wonder that so many manage to stay on and on. The Open Democracy Project says that incumbents won 92 per cent of the time in elections held in three cities – Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa – since 2001.

Burlington has Councillors who have warmed their chairs in the council chamber for more than twenty years.

Related articles:

Little in the Spectator

Brian Heagle with his view point.

Open Democracy project

Return to the Front page

‘You know this is pretty good stuff – we need to listen to these people.’

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

October 19th, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Stuart Miller is the kind of man who enjoys a challenge.

There isn’t all that much bureaucrat in the man – he likes people and he loves the job he has been dropped into – even though at times it does almost overwhelm him.

Hammil + Miller

If there are a bunch of teachers and students doing something on a Saturday – chances are Stuart Miller be with them.

He is the kind of Director of Education who will slip over to Robert Bateman High school for lunch – one, because there is a great cooking class over there and two, he just likes being around students.

You will find him at some kind of student event on a Saturday when most of the senior board people are chilling at home.

He has some major administrative tasks in front of him but for Miller the administrative part isn’t the challenge that has him tossing and turning – it is the impact the change is going to have on the students he is responsible for – and make no mistake about it – he feel responsible for them and takes great pride when those students do well.

Six months ago he was struggling with how his board was going to handle the very significant increase in parents wanting to get their children into French Immersion almost from the day they walked into a school.

He faced several issues there – and he doesn’t have those issues resolved yet. He couldn’t find enough highly qualified teachers and he had a real concern for that small number of students who were not ready for French Immersion in the early years – if at all.

Stuart Miller

Always engaging – always listening. Stuart Miller, Director of Education for the Halton District School Board.

The best and the brightest in a student population always catch they eye of senior board administrators. Miller has an eye for the kid that is perhaps a little slower and needs a little more time or who doesn’t fit in all that well socially but is razor sharp.

Students aren’t the only concern for Stuart Miller. Wednesday evening he is going to hear delegations from half a dozen parents who are going to hand him a 12 page summary of the concerns they have over the thinking that is going to go into a PAR Review

In less than a week, a group of about ten parents – maybe less – pulled together loads of input from parents, did a thorough review of a long document the school board staff have had months to prepare and have come back with their thoughts on what the board thinks it should do.

That the senior bureaucrat could be as productive.

To be a fly on the wall of Miller’s office as he flips through the pages of the report the parent’s prepared.

Miller has an at times wry look on his face and my bet is that when he completes his reading of the document he is going to smile and say to his staff:

‘You know this is pretty good stuff – we need to listen to these people.’

That’s the kind of Director of Education we have in Halton.

Let’s see how he handles the situation on Wednesday evening.

Salt with Pepper is an opinion column written by the Publisher of the gazette.  we invite well thought out opinions from others in the city.

Return to the Front page

Can high school students become philanthropists? Foundation Board member thinks so.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

September 19th, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

 

An interesting idea cropped up during our interview with Tim Cestnick, the newest member of the Burlington Foundation, which most of you will remember as the former Burlington community Foundation.

New members of any board need to take a little time to settle in and get a sense as to how the board has run in the past. Tim Cestnick and Tim Hogarth go back some time – both are polished senior executive types that know how to think through problems and take a strategic look at what the objective is. And both are now board members of the Foundation. Hogarth has been on the board for a period of time.

foundation-lansberg-speakingThe Foundation recently went through a re-branding and is well into the roll out of their Mental Health Awareness work they have been doing the past two years. They have a major speaker. Michael Landsberg,  in town in October.

The number of Endowments they manage grows steadily as does the assets under administration – $10.7 million now.

The organization is readying itself for its Annual Gala that is being chaired by Rick Burgess this year. The event will be held at the Performing Arts centre on October 22nd.

foundation-gala-2016foundation-gala-dateThe Gala is a major fund raising event that covers the operational costs of the Foundation.

Every organization that relies on the public needs to constantly refresh itself and while a brand change perhaps perks things up a little, the meat is in the ideas they come forward with. And this is where Cestnick’s thoughts on just what philanthropy is all about are very relevant.

The vast majority of the people out there would say that people with a lot of money can become philanthropists – Cestnick doesn’t see it that way. He thinks we can tech people at the high school level to think in terms of being philanthropists.

“Why can’t a high school student can’t set aside a small sum each year and make that their philanthropic donation – something that would be built on each year?

We have United Way for that might be a response – and it is a good one.

If one looks at the annual Terry Fox run that takes place in Burlington every year you get a sense of how a public will take to an idea; how they will respond to something that changed the way they see the world.

young-philanthropist

Others are already involving their youth in philanthropic ventures.

Philanthropy allows that kind of thing. The United Way seeks funds to provide services. The Burlington Foundation came to the realization that we need to look at Mental Health differently and bring it in out of the cold where it wasn’t talked about – we just felt sorry for those who were experiencing bad mental health.

The Foundation now has a program in place that has people talking about mental health and what has to change in the way we deal with this now growing social problem. That hasn’t been the kind of work that organizations like the United Way are doing. This is not to take anything away from what the United Way does – we could not survived as a caring society if we did not have the United Way in place.

cestnick-cropped

Tim Cestnick newest Burlington Foundation Board member.

Tim Cestnick talks in terms of people needing to “feel” it when they are donating money. You give something up, you do without something you enjoy when you choose to make a philanthropic donation.

If I understood Tim Cestnick correctly he is interested in introducing people to the idea that there is something biblical about philanthropy and I got the impression it was something he might try to get on the Foundation agenda.

It will be interesting to see if this goes anywhere – it should.

 

Related article:

Cestnick appointed to Burlington Foundation board.

Return to the Front page

Are we past the tipping point? And if we are - what do we do now?

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

July 21, 2016

BURLINGTON ON

Is it already too late?

Have we passed the tipping point and are at the point where the greenhouse gasses already in the environment is going to continually increase the amount of CO2 and ice caps will continue to melt – the sea level will continue to rise and places like parts of Florida will just be under water.

maldives-map

The Maldives Islands are expected to slip under the water as the sea level rises.

The people who study this stuff seriously are believed to being preparing plans for the changes that are going to take place. There are parts of the American coast line that are being given up to rising water levels.

There are places in Burlington and the surrounding community where concrete docks that boats used to be tied up to are now several feet under water.

And at the same time there are lakes in Northern Ontario where the wooden dock sits in the middle of dry lake bottom with the water tens of yards away when it used to lap at the edge of the dock while children jumped into the water from deck.

Are the scientists and the emergency planners telling the public the truth about what we are really up against?

There is a part of Burlington where there are some 72 homes that are in a flood plain and will eventually have to be removed. Those homes are clearly marked on a map that the city has not hidden – nor is it something they have talked about all that much.

Burlington knows that it is going to have to have a lot of money in reserve funds for the next flood. The people who do this kind of work don’t use the word “if” when talking about the next flood – for them the key word is “when” followed by “where”. Burlington

Tony Bavota - fire chief

There are parts of Burlington that are very threatened should the city experience another 190mm + of rain in half a day. The Fire department managed the Emergency Measures.

Fire Chief Tony Bavota said at a public meeting that given what we know today – Hidden Valley would not have been built. The flood potential in that part of the city is “something we could not handle”. For the fire chief Hidden Valley is a potential ground zero.

We know these things today and yet the best we seem to be able to do is work harder at recycling those plastic water bottles when the things should be banned.

Use public transit that doesn’t yet meet the needs of people who need to be able to get from place to place in a reasonable amount of time.

New street paving

The focus in Burlington is on re-building roads.

Burlington spends tens of millions repairing the roads so that people can drive comfortably. This is a city that has an ageing population that was raised on the automobile during a time when gas was cheap and they are never going to give up their cars until someone takes their driver’s license away from them.

And they are a large enough cohort to scare the daylight out over every politician at every level; appealing to them to make the change for the sake of their grandchildren? They want that car so they can visit their grandchildren and they aren’t going to make that trip by bicycle or public transit.

When MP Pam Damoff asked people what they thought could be done – the true believers, the ones who belong to Burlington or Oakville Green, talked about the time they spend planting trees and cleaning up the ravines each year and do the ongoing persistent advocating. But in Burlington there still isn’t a private tree bylaw.

Some serious mistakes were made with the way most of the planners did things in terms of land use planning – they didn’t seem like mistakes at the time but we are now at a point where it is close to impossible to correct those mistakes.

We have lost a lot of time.

At best it is going to take bold action to bring about any change – and it is all three levels of government that are going to have to take those bold steps.

They can’t begin to do much of that until the public is ready – and that isn’t going to happen until the public realizes the wolves are at the door.

Return to the Front page

Art gallery sale was a social success - were the buyers in the room to get a great deal or to financially support the AGB?

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

June 6th, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

It has been a busy couple of weeks for Robert Steven and his crew at the Art Gallery of Burlington.

They sponsored an event that took place at the Performing Arts Centre; held their AGM and then pulled off a reasonably successful art sale.

AGB live auction wall

Patrons reviewing the art that was up for sale. The prices were great for the buyers.

The annual Art Sale is a critical part of the fund raising the gallery must do to remain viable and offer the full range of some impressive programming.

Art Sale chair Cheryl Miles Goldring mixed thing us up a little and had all the art in the one room and the bidding done in a separate room. There was a pleasant light jazz combo playing for much of the evening. The schmoozing, and the networking were going full tilt.

AGB - Duff and wife

John Duffy, designer of the Art Gallery of Burlington logo, and his wife chat up a friend

The art gallery crowd brings a different level of sophistication to their events – the mix in a different way than the theatre crowd.

The Art sale had some surprises – they had an auctioneer, Rob Cowley, who had sold a Lauren Harris (Group of Seven) painting for just under a million dollars a few days before but he wasn’t able to pull very many impressive numbers from the Burlington crowd Friday evening.

AGB live auction - closer look

A possible buyer taking a close look at a piece of art.

There were some very disappointing prices drawn from the audience that basically filled the bidding room. A number of pieces were withdrawn when they didn’t reach the reserve.

Grifiths - crow

“It’s Been a Long Day” by Helen Griffiths went for a disappointing $900.

A Helen Griffiths went for a disappointing $900 and an E. Robert Ross  was pulled when it didn’t come anywhere near the reserve.

The Bateman did ok – but the price wasn’t outstanding.

There appeared to be someone in the room who either has a lot of bare walls or was there as a dealer picking up some art work at very good prices.

One wondered if the event was an opportunity to get some very good art at close to bargain prices for those in the Burlington community or if it was an annual event where people paid close to top prices to raise funds for the work the gallery does.

It looked like the former last Friday at the AGB. One wonders what might have happened if some smart tour operator brought in a busload of people from say the Annex in Toronto or the Beach community or perhaps North Toronto – served them a private dinner at Spencers and then walked them across Lakeshore road to the AGB and an opportunity where some very very good art was available at hard to believe prices.

Auctioneer  Rob Cowley, started every offering by mentioning a suggested price and then immediately dropped it a good 25% and then struggled at times to get to get that price. He didn’t succeed all that often. The auctioneer was skilled – it was the audience that had forgotten why it was there.

Ykema - cows in a row

“Cows in a row” by Janice Ykema

The “Cows in a row” by Janice Ykema was shown at $800 with the bidding starting at $500fetched $600. Cowley sensed that the room wasn’t going to go much higher and quickly moved on to the next piece.

There were a few points at which the bidding got vigorous. A piece that started at $800 got worked up to $1100 – with the comment from the auctioneer “killing you isn’t he” bringing a chuckle from the audience – the eventual buyer wanted the piece badly enough.

The Anna Kutishchev “Warm evening” had a suggested price of $2200 with bidding started at $1200 – no takers so the auctioneer dropped it to $1000 and then managed to get the selling price up to $1400 – along the way he did have to remind one bidder that he “couldn’t read your mind”.

Guild Fibre art

Fibre Art done by the Burlington Fibre Arts Guild. The Rebeca out on the pier.

A large piece of fibre art by that Guild placed the Rebecca sculpture outside the art gallery on the pier. It had a suggested price of $2500 – bidding started at $1000 – then skipped along rather briskly through $1200 – then $1400 – then $1500 – to $1600 – then to $1700 – $1750 – $1800 – $2000 – you could feel the tension – dare I ask for $2100 asked the auctioneer – and he got it – and it was sold – the audience burst into applause. It was the only sale that drew any applause.

That pier is solidly embedded in this city’s DNA.

The E. Robert Ross landscape didn’t get anywhere near the reserve and was withdrawn.

Brian Darcy - swan

Brian Darcy “Summer reflections”

The Brian Darcy “Summer reflections” didn’t get any traction either and was withdrawn

The most brisk bidding was for a modern acrylic piece “Sentinel Falls” done by Joel Masewich was suggested at $6000 – bidding was started at $2000 – the auctioneer had no idea what this audience was going to pay for a piece of modern art. He soon caught the sense of the room and managed to get it up to $3200.

The Bateman piece – always the object of a lot of attention. Robert Bateman has been donating a piece of his art to the gallery for the past 38 years.

Bateman - red fox

Bateman’s Red Fox

As I watched the bidding I had this feeling that the community was going to embarrass itself and let the work go for a pittance. It was suggested at $10,000 – bidding started at $500 and was sold for $7000. Barely acceptable.

The total take for the gallery wasn’t available – I wasn’t able to keep a running total.

Return to the Front page

The creation of a series of parks that will blend the more manicured Spencer Smith into the more natural Beachway will begin this fall.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

May 12, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

Staffers at city hall are there to carry on the business of government – they are there to do the things that council has decided are best for the city.

That Council, which you elected, hired a city manager who directs the bureaucracy – who – and this is something they tend to forget – are there to send the money that you the tax payer give them.

They are there to do your will – and that of course is where it gets a little tricky.

Whose will? There are many “wills”. There are those who want bicycle lanes everywhere; there are those who want to see less money spent on buses because they feel no on uses the things.

There are those who want calming bumps on street and there are those who want the speed limits lifted.

This is where the politicians have to sense what the public wants and then actually lead rather than react to three people who show up at council meetings to complain.

LaSalle Park - bring about a boat on its way to the water.

LaSalle Park Marina – boats getting put back into the water.

Trumpeter swan - wings wide

Water that is shared by the Trumpeter swans.

One of the more interesting conflicts is what the environmentalists and the boating people are going through at LaSalle Park. The environmentalists want to ensure that the trumpeter swans have a safe place to live – the boating people wants a safe place for their craft.

Both have legitimate arguments – and both have rights – finding a balance that will work for both is proving difficult for this council – it remains to be seen how this one gets worked out.

Spencer Smith Park is one of the city’s gems. It is used by thousands and taken care of by staff who have a real challenge on their hands.

The park is going to be extended west towards the canal that separates us from Hamilton. There was a lot of controversy over the decision to create a park that was a huge upgrade from what is in place now.

Ingrid Vandebrug - landscape planner

Ingrid Vanderbrug – a city landscape planner

During a Jane’s Walk put on by the Sustainable Development Committee last weekend we learned a lot more than city hall was telling people.

The Gazebo which is a significant part of the park – might be seeing the end of its life – the city has plans for something that is accessible and will allow for significantly different uses – there wasn’t any public discussion that we were aware of.

With the technology available today it is so easy to get opinions – the city spent hundreds of thousands on the software that allows them to get a response on any question in a matter of days – add that to the soundings the members of council have and it doesn’t take long to get a sense of what people want – and it is their city – it is their park.

Beachway Shaded area Pebble Beach

The plan is to grow some vegetation behind the benches which we hope planners will have some wood on top of the concrete – creating a comfortable place to rest.

During that same walk we learned that the patch of land in Spencer Smith Park where the original Brant Inn used to be located is going to get an upgrade which will be one of the first steps in the creating of the several parks that will appear in the Beachway

The landscaping people in the planning department have realized that there aren’t many places in that stretch of the park to sit in shade.

A set of benches are going to be put in with a trellis to shade the area and plants that will stop the geese from coming into the park from the water.

Terry Fox rendering with size

A very attractive monument marking a point in the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope run 35 years ago will be unveiled in Spencer Smith Park this weekend.

The benches will give a very clear line of sight to the Terry Fox marker/monument that will be unveiled this weekend.

Preparing the existing Beachway community for the major changes coming to that part of town are slowly coming about.

The sand dunes in the Beachway are significant and sensitive parts of the ecology of the Beachway.  Seedlings are being planed and invasive plans being pulled out – all under the guidance of the Regional planners who are designing and will implement the plans.  The city will operate the park once it is completed.

Earlier this week the city began the task of raising Lakeshore Road where it curves around the Joseph Brant Museum and leads to the new entrance to the hospital expansion that is under construction.

Beachway home - security guard wth attractive wife

This home is in a location that just doesn’t fit with the plans that have been created for a much different Beachway community. Do plans ever get changed – and if they were changed how would this home be integrated into the existing plans? Don’t expect the couple that live in this home to go quietly into the night with a big cheque in their pockets. Would you?

Beachway home - with new insulation

The owner of this home is putting on insulation – perhaps with a federal or provincial grant, which would be ironic. This owner doesn’t look like a willing seller.

All this takes place while the delicate back and forth of property purchases takes place.  The Region has what they refer to as a willing seller/willing buyer policy that has them buying the 25+ homes in the Beachway from any seller who wants to part ways with what they own.

Beachway - two storey + roof deck

Why would a home like this be torn down? For a park?

The implication here is that every property owner will eventually sell.  Wait for the really nasty fights when the last three or four hold outs meet wit the power of local government.

Return to the Front page

Whiskey and a coiffeuse of my own - this was going to be a good day.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

April 1, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

The phrase “he got a haircut” has little to do with the the world of hair salons.  It usually means there was a financial matter that didn’t work out the way you wanted it to work out.

I was at the point where I was in desperate need of a real haircut – I was beginning to look like something out of an orchestra that played classical music.

I trotted over to my usual “salon” and while I would have liked to have gotten the young lady that does my hair most of the time – the length was so bad I would have settled for anyone.

Walked in – and the place was empty – I’m in luck I thought – all the stylists are in the back yucking it up. No so. There wasn’t a stylist to be found – just a receptionist answering the phone.

Would you like to make an appointment she asked – “No. I replied I am here to get my hair cut.” “Well everyone has gone home – they left at one o’clock:, I was told.

Now there was a time when merchants closed on Wednesday afternoons but that as a long, long time ago – well before most of the woman who work in the salon I frequent were even born.

I needed my hair cut today. Hmmm.

I walked out the door and across the street to my favourite variety store where Omar continues to sell me lottery tickets that don’t pay off. He insults me by asking if I want to add Encore to what is a losing situation to begin with.

I complain to Omar that my favourite hair salon isn’t operating. You are in luck Omar tells me – there is a place a couple of doors over that will cut your hair for $10 if you’re not too fussy.

So off I go. I walk in – nice enough place and they are packed.

Kristen hair salon

Kristen – my coiffeuse.

Rob the owner is sympathetic – he looks at my head of hair and clearly sympathizes and asks me what he can do for me.

“A whiskey would go down very well just about now”, I explain. “I can do that for you” and he disappears and returns with a generous portion of whiskey that he didn’t ruin with ice.

Meanwhile, the receptionist takes down the vital information – she doesn’t give me hers – and asks – “what else can we do for you.”

I explain what I like done with my silver locks and she looks at her list and tells me that Kristen can handle me and with that a leggy lass walks over and asks me to sit down so she can run her hands through my hair to get a sense of what she has to work with. I am liking this new place.

Good whisky and a coiffeuse of my own named Kristen.

She is chatty in a really nice way and constantly asks me if I am getting what I want. We carry on our conversation through the large mirror on the wall where the eye contact isn’t exactly complete but we are able to exchange information. Sort of like the way the kids these days chat with their friends on their cell phones – they never get to actually see each other.

With the job done Kristen holds up the mirror – I’m happy, she’s happy. She takes off the cape thingy she had draped over me and walks me to the reception desk and proceeds to book my next appointment. First telling me when she is available and writing everything out on a card.

This is service – the haircut is ok – need a few days to see how it looks.

Do I book another appointment or do I go back to the shop that wasn’t open on a Wednesday afternoon?

The Scotch did the trick – will they pour me another couple of ounces the next time I drop into Teo’s on Brant Street.

 

Return to the Front page

ADI Municipal Board appeal gets adjourned until Wednesday so the city can instruct its lawyers on what they want to see done.

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

March 14, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

The fat is in the fire and there are deadlines out there that will be hard for some of the parties to the ADI Development Group Ontario Municipal Board appeal hearing to meet.

The Chair of the appeal to the OMB that ADI made is one Susan Schiller. Ms Schiller was one of the Commissioners who heard the Nelson Quarry appeal for an expansion to their quarry in North Burlington a few years ago. That Joint Tribunal found in the city’s favour. That decision was based on the habitat of the Jefferson Salamander – see the link to that story below. Ms Schiller is a no-nonsense chair – expect her to keep counsel on their toes.

The opening of the OMB hearing was in some doubt when Burlington city council announced on Thursday their would be a special council meeting on Tuesday at 1:30 pm to hear a legal update on the ADI appeal. The city said nothing other than it was related to a property at 374 Martha Street – which is the address of ADI’s 26 story Nautique development.

Martha Street bungalow

The eastern end of the site ADI wants to put a 26 storey condominium on and the bungalow to the north of the property at the Martha Street and Lakeshore Road intersection.

That was all we knew on Friday. At the hearing this morning we learned that ADI had purchased the small bungalow tucked in behind the property ADI had assembled for the Nautique project.

And here is where the differing interests come into play.

ADI Nautique detailed sketch

The ADI development group purchased the property at 380 Martha Street and has asked for a delay of their OMB appeal while they work with the city to figure out how to integrate the property into the original development. Some argue that the purchase of the property makes the development a whole new ball game.

ADI wanted the hearing delayed until the fall while they worked out how they would fit the newly acquired piece of property into the larger development. The lawyer for the city said he couldn’t agree or disagree with the ADI request until he had directions from his client – the city of Burlington. The meeting at which the city will work out its position is to take place on Tuesday at 1:30 pm

Burlington City Council Group

Can this council make a critical decision in the 120 minutes they were given by an OMB commissioner? Don’t bet the mortgage on it.

Chair Schiller said she was fine with adjourning the Monday meeting until Wednesday morning but she needed a decision no later than 3:30 pm on Tuesday.

It will take someone with a big magic wand for that to happen. The city has 120 minutes to arrive at a decision – with seven council members they each get 17 minutes – that won’t happen. Add in the staff comments; the comments from the lawyers and there goes that deadline.

The decision the city has to make is – are they willing to go along with the ADI request for an adjournment until the fall?

The complications get thicker.

There are those who want to argue that the Chair of the OMB hearing should throw the appeal out right now because the addition of a piece of property to what is an appeal means that this is in reality a whole new development.

ADI appealed because they weren’t happy with the city’s inability to approve or disapprove of the application within the 180 days required under the planning act and wanted to the OMB to make the decision.

The addition of that piece of small bungalow at the north end of the property means this is really a new development.

Nautique ADI rendering - sparse

Has the ADI Nautique development reached the point where it has entered that “will never see the light of day” zone?

What ADI will argue is that the chair does not have the jurisdiction to refuse to go forward with the appeal application. The city and the owners of a condominium across the street from the bungalow (Sun Life Insurance) will argue that the Chair cannot hear the ADI appeal because the project has had a substantial change made to it.

Patrick Devine, the lawyer representing the Sun Life interests argued that a new project proposal should be submitted by ADI to be followed by the requisite public meetings and a review by the planning department.

He also complained about the short notice he was given by the ADI lawyers on their decision to buy the bungalow – which is reported to have been owned by Nick Carnicelli, the developer behind the Berkeley project on Caroline and John Street that is getting closer to putting a shovel in the ground. Carnicelli also has other property holdings in the block bounded by Martha, Pearl and Lakeshore. A number of years ago Carnicelli bought the Pearl Street Café and a critical strip of property in behind those two buildings.

It is all a bit of a mess – there are pretty good grounds for throwing the ADI appeal application out; that argument will be something to watch.

ADI seemed to be suggesting that with the acquisition of the really small bungalow many of the objections the city had to the development could be worked out. The current zoning for the property ADI wants to build on is for 8 storeys – how a small bungalow is going to impact the 26 storeys ADI wants to put up is going to be an interesting legal argument.

Would it be reasonable to come to the conclusion that the ADI decision to purchase the bungalow at this late date is pretty close to “flying by the seat of your pants” decision making.

For those who have made deposits on units in the proposed development – it’s going to be a while before you can move in.

Chair Schiller advised the meeting this morning that if the hearing is adjourned – there is no room on the calendar for a resumed hearing until sometime in the 1Q of 2017.

Return to the Front page

Public involvement in getting ideas from the general public got left out - all the stakeholders got a chance to promote their interests. Wasn't this new Liberal government going to be more open?

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

February 2, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

“In keeping with the Liberals’ commitment to ensuring an inclusive and open government” said the media release, “Burlington MP Karina Gould and Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff continued the Finance Minister’s collaborative approach to budget planning by participating in a large number of extensive pre-budget consultations across the ridings in January to gather input from a variety of individuals, groups and organizations on the key issues that should be addressed in the federal governments’ upcoming budget.”

In early January, Minister of Finance Bill Morneau officially launched the Government’s pre-budget consultations and called upon Canadians to share their thoughts on how to better support the middle class, create jobs, and set the right conditions for long-term prosperity and stronger economic growth.

Levee Gould welcoming a new Canadian

Burlington MP Karina Gould works very well with people – she listens well. Not widening the pre-budget consultations to include more than the stake holders might have been a lost opportunity.

Throughout the month of January, Damoff and Gould participated in consultations with a large number of groups including both Oakville and Burlington Chambers of Commerce, the Town of Oakville and City of Burlington, the Region of Halton, representatives of local unions, businesses, social service providers as well as other local MPs and MPPs. They also invited all residents in their ridings to have their say on the budget through their Facebook and Twitter pages.

And that’s the rub – social media is not consulting with people; it’s sort of like a placebo – something you put in place hoping that the person swallowing the medicine will never know that it isn’t the real thing.

The input the local MPs received during pre-budget consultations covered a number of broad themes, including economic growth, climate change, social infrastructure – particularly housing , public transit, youth employment, a national transportation strategy, local infrastructure including active transportation like cycling and walking, and green infrastructure. Of particular importance to those who offered input was improved local infrastructure to assist and improve economic growth.

Examples of local infrastructure put forward in Burlington included grade separations, LED lighting conversion and active transportation links over the QEW. The Burlington Chamber stressed the importance of small and medium –size business to not only our local economy, but national economic growth. The need to focus on local transit, and integration between municipalities was brought up a number of times. Both Oakville and Burlington were clear that they need stable and sustainable funding for infrastructure, and that the process needs to allow for transformational change in the riding.

Damoff polar ear dip

Oakville North Burlington MP Pam Damoff takes part in the annual polar bear dip – she’s capable of doing things differently.

“I was very impressed with the high level of input I received throughout the pre-budget consultation process and was particularly pleased to see such a collaborative approach taken to addressing our local and national economic issues,” said Ms. Damoff. “I look forward to continuing to consult with constituents across my riding as the budget process continues.”

“Our government was elected on a platform that promised extensive consultation throughout the legislative process,” said Ms. Gould. “It’s positive that many of the issues stakeholders raised during our pre-budget consultations are in direct correlation with our government’s priorities which I’m confident will translate into results for Burlington and Canada.”

All input received has been shared with the Finance Minister to inform the decision-making around the budget.

Both Damoff and Gould are superb political campaigners – they have a very real capacity to listen to people and they are part of that new wave of politicians who don’t take themselves too seriously and have fun at the same time.

Both members of Parliament could have and should have held an open mike evening where people would have been invited to speak – but out there ideas and see how the meeting reacted to them.

Det

A grade separation is important and when this one on King |Road was completed it made a difference – but it has yet to result in any new business development along King Road

They went to the stakeholders – this with vested interests – did you expect the Chamber of Commerce to advocate for a $20 minimum wage and does anyone think that Community Development Halton is going to get excited about a grade separation at a rail crossing?

There was an opportunity to have them all in the same room where they could mix it up and perhaps, just perhaps hear each other and begin to understand each other.

A missed opportunity. Maybe next time.

Return to the Front page

Putting the Mayor’s State of the City in context.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

January 29th, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

He is getting better  as a speaker; one of his council colleagues suggested he was getting some training.

Another council colleague said “he went on to long”.

Ok – but what did he say?

There were no “announcements” – he just ran through the things that had been done, mentioned several of the senior staff additions and got one decent joke in.

There wasn’t a standing ovation.

Flood Fairview plaza

Business people know that problems like this need a resolution – all they heard on Thursday was that more money was going to be thrown at it.

The Mayor made very small mention of a possible storm water tax levy – his audience was a combination of senior city hall staff and business people.

Intensification got several paragraphs. If we understood the Mayor correctly, Burlington has already reached its 2031 target.

The Mayor made much better use of good visual aids – at one point he put up three pictures; one of Waterdown Road as it is today – with its widening and a nice new coat of asphalt; a second on what is possible in terms of height under existing zoning and told the audience that if the people of Aldershot wanted a supermarket all they had to do was go along with those higher buildings.

It is clear that the Mayor hasn’t taken in a planning meeting in Aldershot – those folks want to keep their bungalows and streets without sidewalks.

There was quite a bit of time spent on the strategic Plan – he did mention that it was late – made no mention of the cost and didn’t touch on the content – not even a couple of tease lines. The audience he was talking to Thursday morning is going to be very disappointed when they see the final document – unless there are massage changes from the draft versions.

It was a dull speech – the Mayor doesn’t do barn burners – but gosh, golly, gee could he not have said something that would have the business men and woman in the room sitting up in their chairs?

The city planning department has been working on the concept of mobility hubs and there are still those prosperity corridors being talked up.

Mobility hubs

While the city council has not actually said that the |Aldershot GO station is where the first mobility hub is going to be located – all the signs point to that location.

Those start ups the Mayor is so hungry for got another mention and the Advanced Manufacturing Hub that former Prime Minister promised us is still in the works. But he didn’t drill down into just what this would mean for the business community.

The Mayor did mention the newest speaker he has coming to town – this time it is going to be Brent  Toderian who has said  “good planning is not a popularity contest.”    Toderian will talk about the need for city’s to grow “up” and not out at the Royal Botanical Gardens February 12th.

Mayor Goldring seems to want to go back to the Burlington of the 1970’s when he knew everyone in Roseland where he lived at the time – he longs for that “small town fee”.

He touched on the Community Investment Plan that is going to put small amount of money into community groups and let them plan and run recreational event in their communities.

“We are an engaged city” said the Mayor – it would be really wonderful if the he expanded on what he means by “engaged” because Mayor Rick Goldring certainly didn’t engage his audience Thursday morning over breakfast at the Burlington Convention Centre

Return to the Front page

The budget debates settled on an increase higher than the accepted rate of inflation - some significant problems on how to manage the costs have become evident.

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

January 27th, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

Is it a good budget?

There are few taxpayers who are happy about the rate of increase over last year – and the 20 year projection calls for more of the same.
While the increase year over year is above the rate of inflation – the numbers have to be looked at carefully – they aren’t going to get much better. The biggest thing that appears to have come out of the budget exercise is a realization on the part of council members that they don’t have a tight enough grip on what they need staff to do.
Council seems to be continually blinded sided by one catastrophe after another.

wefrt

Repaired at a cost of $380,000 in 2012 – the bridge is going to have to be replaced in the near future.

The Drury Lane Bridge had to be repaired at a cost of $380,000 – that was for a five year patch – the estimated cost of replacing the bridge was something in excess of $2 million – which comes due any day now.

The Nelson Pool had to be closed because of problems with the steel structure and is now not going to be re-built and repaired until sometime in 2018.

The families with children that make use of the Nelson Stadium took matters into their own hands and began working with the school board to upgrade the facilities. The Stadium is on property owned by the city and the school board – two organizations who are not known for how well they get along with each other. They don’t even have a structure that has them meeting regularly to resolve shared concerns.

When a citizen’s delegation spoke at city hall they knew more about what was happening than members of council. That was not a pretty picture.
Council members expect staff to do the ongoing analysis that tells when an asset is due for an upgrade.

How did the city not know that the Drury Lane bridge needed work and how did staff did not know that the Nelson Pool was due for a major upgrade. There is asset management software out there that works all this out – and Burlington spends a fortune on software.

Do we have the right people managing this software and the way it is utilized?

Flood Fairview plaza

The one thing we know about the 2014 flood is that it has cost us a small fortune – think in terms of $40 million so far. We also know that climate change is likely to cost us even more in the years ahead.

Managing the financial cost of the 2014 flood and coming to terms with what has to be done in the way of storm water management had $20 million thrown at it. Council has realized that it is going to take an additional $20 million to make the changes that were recommended by the consultants the city hired.

Storm water - flood mitigation map

The scary word in this graph is “initially” It will probably take an additional tax levy to handle storm water.

The Mayor commented that the city was going to have to take a serious look at a special tax levy for managing storm water. The realization that climate change is upon us and we no longer know what our weather is going to be – here we are at the end of January and you could be wearing shorts on some days.

As for city hall and the media people over there – they are doing it again. Messing with the numbers – and totally trashing there commitment to transparency and accountability.

The city’s media release said:
“The City of Burlington has approved the 2016 operating budget with a 3.14 per cent increase in the city’s portion of property taxes, which will result in an overall property tax increase of two per cent when combined with Halton Region and the boards of education, or $17.10 per $100,000 of home assessment value.
Highlights of the approved budget include:

• The base budget increase of 1.28 per cent is aligned with inflation (Toronto CPI 1.86 per cent) which is consistent with the Long Term Financial Plan objective of competitive property taxes.

• The base budget maintains the $4.8 million contribution towards the Joseph Brant Hospital reserve fund to meet the city’s $60 million commitment to the redevelopment project.

A 1.44 per cent increase dedicated to the renewal of the city’s infrastructure.

An additional $20 million in funding has been provided to accelerate roadway renewal needs over the next four years.

An additional $20 million of funding has been provided over the next 10 years for surface water drainage projects.

$613K in funding (0.43 per cent) to increase service levels in areas such as winter maintenance and stormwater management.

For those that qualify, the Senior’s Property Tax Rebate has increased from $450 to $525 in this budget.
“There are many competing demands for city tax dollars as well as an urgency to find inefficiencies and minimize tax rate increases,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “We have tried to balance all the city’s needs, prioritize them and forecast with great thought and care to deliver a responsible budget that serves everyone.”

“This budget continues to provide funding to priority areas of infrastructure renewal, the city’s contribution to the hospital redevelopment and maintaining existing services,” said Joan Ford, director of finance. “In key areas, service levels have been increased.”

That’s their story and they are probably going to stick to it.

You won’t get another viewpoint on the budget – the print newspaper distributed in this city didn’t have a reporter at the meeting. My colleague Joan Little who writes a column for the Spectator will undoubtedly make a comment.

Financial impact 20 year

Is this an acceptable rate of tax increases? Does this Council think it can get re-elected in 2018 with these numbers?

Take a look at that 20 year projection again. Did our city Councillors deliver a good budget?

The Mayor has asked the city manager to look for new revenue sources.  Until he has a much better handle on how to manage the problems he has on his table now there isn’t much James Ridge is going to be able to do in the immediate future.\

He needs to get his strategic plan passed – it is close to a year overdue.

Can the current Council provide him with the advice and direction he needs?  Two of the seven members have been on Council for more than 20 years.  Will they run again in 2018?  Will their constituents re-elect them?

2017 is going to be an uncomfortable year for this council.

Return to the Front page