Dennison dismissive towards citizen presenting petition to city council.

News 100 yellowBy Pepper Parr

November 14th, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Has there ever been a citizen petition that Councillor Jack Dennison thought had some merit?

He certainly didn’t have much time for the petition Joanne Arnold presented to city council last night when the decision to approve the bylaw necessary to allow the developer to proceed with the next step as being debated.

Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison always has an eye open for an economic opportunity - sees a great one for the city: sell the golf course.

Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison – not a fan of citizen petitions.

We have yet to see Councillor Dennison ever accept a petition at face value. He consistently challenges the contents of a petition – last night he asked Ms Arnold if she could verify the 144 names that were on the petition – she could not.

“Were they all from Burlington” Dennison asked. Ms Arnold said that some of the people who responded may have been out of the country and responded from wherever they were.

Dennison managed to discredit what the delegator believed was a demonstration of commitment.

He was having none of it.

So much for encouraging people to express their views.  It will be sometime before Joanne Arnold chooses to appear before city council

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14 comments to Dennison dismissive towards citizen presenting petition to city council.

  • Jim Young

    Even if a few of the signatories to the petition were disqualified that still leaves more than 1400 people from various wards in Burlington that councillors should be paying attention to. If all of them come out to vote they will be able to reaffirm that council needs to listen.

  • James

    Does counsel disclose to the public any compensation, gifts, meals etc that may be a violation of the Canadian anti corruption laws proving that developers don’t have undo influence on the vote?

    If written complaints are ignored, petitions disregarded and 100% of delegations in opposition rejected, and the vote still passes one has to wonder what else might be behind a yes vote.

  • Ron Porter

    I’m a ward 4 constituent of Dennisons and I signed the petition. If Dennison supports any of the Waterfront proposals other than the Taxpayers Plan B proposal he has lost all of my households votes next fall. We need to protect the Spencer Smith Park view to the lake and push ALL of the Waterfront development proposal to the east end of the property and open up more green space.

  • Marshall

    Jack Dennison appears to only represent himself and gives the impression that he couldn’t care less about the people in Ward 4. His numerous trips to the OMB to get approval for the house squeezed in beside his was a slap in the face to both the people of Ward 4 and the City of Burlington. This must be his last term.

  • Stephen White

    Ms. Arnold deserves a lot of credit for taking forward the petition on behalf of many residents who feel strongly and passionately about this issue. I felt really sorry for her last night when she was lampooned by Councillor Dennison.

    Whether or not you agree or disagree with the petition everyone is deserving of the right to be heard and treated with respect. The Mayor started by asking attendees to show respect and refrain from clapping and jeering, but to allow these comments to go unchecked was unfair, and in retrospect he should have called Councillor Dennison out on it. The fact that some idiots compromised the results doesn’t obscure the fact that well over 1,000 people signed the petition.

  • Brian Jones

    Well Joanne, I would not let it bother you. You challenged the issue of this structure being allowed on 421 Brant St. You amassed 1400 concerned petitioners in a short time. A comment by councilor Dennison referring to the origin of such a few still remains the vast majority are bonafide objectors. Just possibly some were Burlington previous residents or family of such.
    Being present, i still cannot believe that this motion was allowed to proceed as 23 storeys. No regard for the allowable height of 11 or 12. In fact, i always thought tbe official plan (obviously flawed) referred this area as 4 to 8. Some think that a 4 storey podium will offset the look and texture of this area. Don’t forget there are 19 more in the air.
    Our planner Tanner indicated now that the opposite corner can go to 17 but no proposal yet.
    If our councilors are so blind that this building is not precedent then look at all the other structures proposed or in planning.
    Mr Dennison even remarked that he does not know how they were able to work with just 6 (mayor excluded). What does this say.
    It is very interesting that there was no “For” delegations only “NO”

  • Hans

    A two term limit could solve the problem of having people, who are completely out of sync with those whom they are supposed to represent, make a career out of “public service”.

  • joe

    There are ways to verify the geographic location of each person who signs an on- line petition.Obviously the delegator wasn’t aware of Jacks propensity to gettchya. He also likes to ask questions or make statements that involve Torrance Terrace and he didn’t disappoint last evening.

  • Phillip

    Dennison is the councillor in my ward–at least for the next year (wish it were less). Consider that Dennison whose ward is most impacted by the New Street Lane Closures NEVER ONCE asked his constituents what their opinion was. And his reply to Eva Amos’ poll was so full of blatant inaccuracies that he should have been embarrassed by it. Dennison represented one special interest–the Cycling Lobby.
    So should we be surprised that he now represents the development industry rather than his constituents?

    • Dayna

      Do you think it was only recent that he began representing the development industry? Take a look at his financial statements from the most recent elections — the bulk of his corporate donations are from developers.
      This is the same for nearly all the councilors with the exception of a few like Marianne Meed-Ward.

      Who is council really representing?

      • Pauline

        Dayna: Fake news

        • Phillip

          Pauline, what a glib, dismissive reply! If Dayna’s comment is inaccurate, perhaps you can provide us with a list of corporate donors that Dennison used and we can determine the accuracy of Dayna’s comment. FYI, Dayna is very accurate.

          • Tom Muir

            Philip and Dayna,

            Pauline leads Burlington’s fake news factory. She is always spouting off some nonsense, like the 23 stories being occupied by child-rearing parents who will fill the schools – she actually wrote that right here.

            She is entitled to her views on her likes for tall buildings, but most often she attacks others who have facts to offer, or have opinions Pauline doesn’t like or want.

            She is usually so extreme with her own fake news or alternative facts, she can be ignored easily except she is really annoying.

            In the Meed Ward section of this page, she goes after the Councilor and her supporters with the same malicious tone, going so far as to imply they are Breitbart talking, which she appears to be a productive wing of.

  • julie wilson

    Time for the councillor to get voted out. Entrenched politicians are beholding only to themselves, certainly not to their constituents. His voting record speaks for itself.