Ken White: If you can’t convince anyone that you can move this intensified city then you have no business adding population in the first place.

opinionandcommentBy Staff

September 26th, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Frequently our readers make the case for change and wonder why the bureaucrats are not on top of the task?

Kevin white

Kevin White

Ken White, an Alton Village resident, makes a significant point when he comments on the push to intensify and get people out of their cars and onto public transportation or their bicycles.

Here is his comment:
“The Provincial Intensification target was in part meant to promote public transit to accommodate housing density. This was to reduce greenhouse gases and add a mix of affordable housing.

“Fast forward to Burlington and as evidenced by the Committee of the Whole council took part in on September 7th.

“We learned then that we essentially don’t have a transit plan and in fact Burlington Transit will require years of intense investment to bring it to the point of sustainability.

One of the new buses added o the Burlington Transit fleet. There were busses that had more than 15 years on their tires - those old ones certainly rattled down Guelph Line when I was on one of them.

The city doesn’t have a capital budget for transit – relies on part of the gas tax they get from the province and the federal budget.

“A total failure of project management where transit is working in one silo and planning is working in another.

“Frankly, if you can’t convince anyone that you can move this intensified city then you have no business adding population in the first place.”

Is this the first look at a citizen thinking about elected public service?

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7 comments to Ken White: If you can’t convince anyone that you can move this intensified city then you have no business adding population in the first place.

  • Marie

    I have no respect for our mayor or our city councillors, who are clearly nor responsible stewards of our tax dollars and city services.

    Burlington needs better transit YESTERDAY. The fact that city politicians are letting slick developers build towering lakeview condos for $$ instead of serving the people who elected them and pay their salaries is disgusting.

    Don’t think we’ll be forgetting that. No transit? Then I’ll uber my way to the polls!

  • Stephen White

    All the writers here have made good points. What is woefully evident is that the City and the Planning Department are conducting perfunctory consultation meetings that are essentially meaningless. The die is cast, the fix is in, and they are going to do exactly what they want.

    Key issue going forward is: how do Burlington taxpayers create a broad coalition across all wards with a different, unifying vision to turn this City around? My biggest fear is that we throw out this Council the Mayor, and then we put in a new group with widely disparate points of view. I’ve never been an advocate of political parties at the local level but perhaps we need to think about the merits of doing so.

    One thing for sure: we can’t afford another four years of being held captive by a feckless Mayor, a weak Council, and developers who see Burlington as nothing more than a money pit!

  • Judy

    The mayor and city planning seem to only have only one agenda – theirs. They have their public consultation meetings but they don’t mean anything. They are done to try to convince us to accept their plans. The city has already decided what they will do no matter what the cost to us. Burlington will be an over populated concrete jungle with poor transportation. I believe the majority of citizens are against these extra high condos, especially on the lake. The city’s bad decisions will be remembered on election day!

  • Helene Skinner

    Penny, you forgot Rick Craven’s legacy…spending millions of tax dollars to dismantle a community for a park. Wonder if they will rename it…Craven’s Beachway Park

  • Joan Bridges

    Please remember there is an election coming soon. Think before voting.

  • Penny

    Totally agree with Ken White. We have 2 legacy projects from councils – the Pier and the Performing Arts Centre. These are nice things to have ,and will drain tax payers dollars forever, but should not have happened , not at the expense of a good public transit system. Now we have another fiasco happening…The Joseph Brant Museum. Supporting the Arts is a noble cause, but benefits few. We need good infrastructure, and definitely a good Public Transit system. When will council and staff work together to make this happen?

    It is interesting how the Mayor and the Councillors have kept a very low profile and have said nothing concrete since Mr. Ridge presented his report. If they “sat in stunned silence” after the report was presented what does it say about this council. It is their responsibility to know what is happening in Burlington. The party line seems to be “they didn’t know, they weren’t given this information”. Is it not their job to know. What did they think they were elected to do?