The Diary volume eight
November 11th 2001 to December 16th 2001
Sunday 16th 2001
Column
37
Ramblings
Congratulations to Valerie
MacDonald of the CDS on her coverage of the "Kyle Foster" case.
The first word this week goes
to the 'case' As Don Horne, of the Cobourg Daily Star, wrote on Friday
unless you had been on Mars for the last two years you must know something
about it; the case of the Deputy Chief of Police and his breathalyzer test.
He was found not guilty of having more than .08 despite the fact the machine
was never challenged, and now the discussion really hits the street.
But the buzz
in this case is about the acquittal. Most people have expressed amazement,
disgust and cynicism and in the same breath wonder if they could have beaten
a similar charge given the same circumstances. But as with everything else
these days this case is not about a failed breath test. It is about the
ethics and work habits of senior staff, it is about nice guys getting caught
up in the death throes of a changing political fieldgame and it is about
the failure of our civic leadership to be transparent about the problems
and their ability to produce change. More in my column here.One
last point about the public reaction. The day after the verdict the local
radio station CHUC opened up its opinion line and was blown away. Of all
the calls received 50% came before 9am and only 50% could be used on the
air (you figure out why). Also the Chair of the Police Services Board has
asked for copies of those aired (again you figure out why).
I guess Lloyd Williams is
letting his academic background out with his plan to debate the issue of
'Train Whistles'. He has devised a plan which can be summed up as the "Oxford
Union of the North" however it is fundamentally flawed. He obviously cannot
make up his mind whether he really wants to get the points of view of the
public or be in showbiz. His plan, according to local papers, is to ask
people to write to him and outline their positions, pro or con, about the
issue of whistles and then he will pick one person in favour and one person
against and then they will face off in debate at a public meeting. The
problem is this - who will Lloyd choose to debate and because it is a stagemanaged
thing will people take it seriously. All I know is that it is over
a year since the election and we are still waiting for a letter from the
railway companies. Perhaps a couple of interested politicians camped out
in the lobbies of CN and CP rail might lead to more than a letter!
So the Red Lobster is getting
closer, the siteplan for the Jubilee Park area was presented last week,
it still looks bad. If LinMac wants to get people on side they should be
offering to move "Whitehall" onto the park site with the money they will
make from the windfall rezoning profit.
Mayor Rick Austin was back
in the news this week. He cast the final vote for Jim Williams in the Warden's
race at the County. With only seven people casting votes friendship becomes
very important. I just hope it was the perceived level of competence that
moved Williams higher than his opponent, Fred Holloway, in Rick's mind
as he cast his vote. I hope it wasn't the age old reason for not voting
for people, (dislike) that motivated Rick? But I am told that Holloway
is not a favourite of Austin's.
A brown envelope dropped in
to my mailbox has revealed just how the Downtown merchants are going to
screwed by Council. A little history; by promising to be all things to
all people this Council pledged to revitalise downtown by all means. One
of those means is the Official Plan. In that Official Plan there is a stipulation
that any building that is planned to be over 15,000 sq. ft. in size should
be accompanied by a market study that would show the impact on existing
commercial and retail space. In the new commercial area of Strathy Rd,
the site of Walmart, there has been an application to expand the Walmart
site onto a patch of land that has been planned to be a "Special Shopping
Node". One of the restrictions in that node is that buildings under 15,000sq.
ft should not be allowed. The reason for this is to protect Downtown and
existing retail from big-store competition and encourage growth downtown.
Royal Cobourg naturally appealed this and is now contesting the rule at
the OMB. The Town, up until now, has defended this ruling 'vigourously'.
But last week at the OMB hearing the Town solicitor disclosed that "New
marketing information has lead to discussions that may lead to a settlement".
Having seen the
"new marketing information" - a study prepared by PriceWaterhouseCoopers,
a famous consulting firm with an international reputation, I am sceptical
about the strength of this vigourous defence. This document was paid for
by Royal Cobourg and guess what the conclusion is; "It is our opinion that
the 15,000sq ft minimum should be reduced to 3,000sf, as requested by Royal
Cobourg. Surprise surprise! Can we now expect Council to commission a study
of their own or will they accept another study paid for by an applicant
as proof positive? Basically the argument put forward to justify the opinion
is that the Mall is full and the area needs retailers that don't need 15,000
sf, 24 examples are cited, Danier Leather, The Shoe Company, George Richards,
Rogers Video, Roots, Pier 1 Imports, Penningtons etc.
The burning question
here is this. These stores are established Mall stores why are they not
in the Northumberland Mall already? Kinda makes you think about this study!
Still Council loves paper and this one will be taken as read and the Downtown
be damned!
Want to see a
picture of the siteplan (click here)? Be
patient it is a PDF file and will load slowly, and then rotate it in your
reader it may be upside down.
Does anybody really believe
that arch-conservative Roy Rittwage (Brighton) resigned from the local
Liberal party's Agricultural Committee for 'health reasons'? More like
a case of the party faithful finding out the enemy got in under the radar!
Monday morning quarterbacking:
I have just had a phone call from Ryan O'Grady who pointed out that Roy
Rittwage is really sick - he has colon cancer (hope you get better soon
Roy) but he did confirm that the appointment to the committee which is
Paul Macklin's committee not the Liberal Party's was greeted with howls
of protest from local liberals!!
On the topic of
Liberal party politics. the list of people wanting the nomination gets
longer (nothing like the smell of victory to get 'em out), add Rick Austin
(this choice is inspired: puts the boots to Cobourg; the East End's ambition,
and picks up those missing Port Hope votes at the same time) and Dick Maloney
(School Board guy with a big pension) has been heard to muse on the quest.
Another link
to an assie opinion piece about the dangers of 'emergency legislation',
this one from the president of the NSW Bar Association.
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Sunday 9th December 2001
Ramblings
Column
36
How about that Don Morrison
guy, the Chair of the Northumberland Hospital Board. Supposedly a savvy
business type guy he sure knows how to tee off people. I suppose he must
be an Engineer! What he did this week was to lecture the Port Hope people
once again about their perceived lack of appreciation for the new hospital
and their reluctance to support the request for equipment for the new hospital.
In return the Mayor of Port Hope, quite rightly in my opinion fired back
asking for more respect for the people of Port Hope. A letter is published
below, from Mike Wladyka of Port Hope who disagrees that Bill Patchett
should have been congratulated for going to ask Port Hope Council for money
for equipment:
Subject: Bill Patchett @
Port Hope Council
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 20:20:06
-0500
From: "Mike
Wladyka"
To: <ben@eagle.ca>
Sorry Ben... Your congratulatory
tone on Patchett's visit to Port Hope Council doesn't wash with me. More
so when you suggest that Aldo's position on the hospital issue is based
on a desire to be more than deputy mayor of Port Hope. When Patchett says
that he "wonders" where all the animosity comes from he is as ingenious
as the best of the spin doctors who tell us that the withdrawal of services
and institutions from communities is a good-efficient thing. Your veiled
threat that Aldo will suffer for going against the Patchett grain is a
low bit of Bill butt smooching at the expense of one of the most effective
and intelligent members of Port Hope's council. I guess representing the
will of mere working slobs like myself does not sit well with philosopher
kings who believe its okay to lie to the public in a good cause, but I
never cared much for Plato's Republic.. and I don't care for a hospital
built on the bones of what used to be mutual respect and understanding
between two of the most beautiful towns in Ontario. The cost is more than
Patchett will ever be capable of paying off, whatever fund raising consultants
he brings to the table..
Mike Wladyka
Good points Mike and the subject
of Aldo's future is speculation by me and I stick to it. I expect to see
him on the ballot for Mayor next time! Still I could be wrong - I usually
am!
Well I see one of the requirements
of the successful candidate who becomes the County CAO will be to train,
motivate and lead managers. That seems to be a pretty easy job now that
there appears to be none left - another one resigned this week. Hiring
new managers is a lot easier than turning old ones around.
Anyway back to this Morrison
guy. I was at a focus group the other night where the group was being asked
for its suggestions about increasing economic development. When more than
one person suggested that the new hospital could be a catalyst for attracting
health sciences businesses he replied, "I don't see what else the Town
could do to help us out. I think we should just let the normal course of
events happen" OK Don you have all your toys and goodies in a new building
and you don't see any obligation to help the Town become a major employment
area using your toys and goodies as bait. A lot of people do! But a shove
from you guys would help.
So the OMB hearing kicked
off on Wednesday. Two days have been booked and at the appointed hour the
Chair, Mme Hubbard, strode in. Presented with the fact that Mr Oliver's
lawyer has appendicitis she had no choice but to adjourn until another
day. The next hearing date, February 11th 2002, will consider five motions:
• one is adjournment of the
hearing to another panel
• second is motion to quash
the motion to dismiss
• third is motion to seek
the Chair to be removed
• fourth is motion to review
case 518 joined by Schumann
• fifth is motion to stay
the case 518
The OMB did agree to a settlement
of the issues brought about by the Bothwell's, so the people left in the
process are: Oliver, Burd, and Schumann with their issues of land use planning
and Royal Cobourg who disagree with the minimum building size contained
in a zoning bylaw.
The Town's solicitor told
the OMB that they and Royal Cobourg are near a settlement, according to
reports in the local paper that settlement may be based on new marketing
information.
Having always
been of the opinion that this Council will give away the store and drop
the minimum building size requirement, which is the Downtown's only protection
in this affair, that news came as no surprise. However a big spanner may
have thrown in the works as Keith Oliver had the foresight, blind courage
or stupidity to get into this one. He asked for and received permission
to become a party to the Royal Cobourg objection. That means he, and anybody
else who wishes to do the same, must be consulted in any settlement.
In the same vein
there will be a big credibility problem for anybody who wishes to bring
more marketing information to Council. The last marketing study claims
that 215,000 square feet, "In conclusion, we find that the addition
of a 60,000 sf supermarket, a 105,000 sf department store, 50,000 sf of
other DTSM space within the secondary plan area and the addition of an
expanded Home Hardware, retenanting of some of the vacant space in Downtown
Cobourg and an allowance for retenanting the CanadianTire store after it
relocates can be added to the Town of Cobourg without jeopardising the
viability of existing commercial nodes and in particular the Main Central
Area." MGP market study page 66 June 13 2000 is the maximum allowable
at the Strathy Rd site. So if that is the case how can the proponents of
growth fill up the available 270,000 sf available within Royal Cobourg's
site when the study maxed out at 215,000? Perhaps the writers of the last
study - MGP - will now claim that the study was not complete, but that
would lend credence to Mr Oliver's claim that it was flawed. Or they could
state that due to an extensive study of local shoppers in the County people
in Campbellford, Stirling, Madoc, Orono and Belleville will now choose
to come to Cobourg and thus a new marketing base has been discovered or
they could just give the empty space at the old Canadian Tire store to
Royal Cobourg. Thereby creating another set of problems. Either way the
Downtown merchants (DBIA) will get shafted and Council by following the
dictates of Royal Cobourg will suffer a "credibility gap". I would suggest
that the DBIA get attached to the appeal as a party or they are going to
go under without a whimper.
But what
can be expected from a Council that has been paid by Royal Cobourg to dismiss
citizen objections and consists of members who have accepted campaign contributions
from the very same Developer.
Writing about the excesses
of Government and the new anti-terrorism laws has garnered email
and here are two: one (click here to read) is
about a person chased down by the police for having a poster on her wall,
in the USA, and that elicited an email response, I emailed it to him for
his enjoyment, (click here to read) from our Australian
correspondent about a journalist in Oz (that is a very apt handle, Dorothy
would be amused!) who is the subject of a very very peculiar charge.
So hands up anybody who thinks
that the unseemly haste with which Council is dealing with the demolition
of the four storey Diversy building has anything to do with making the
site look nice for the occupants of the soon to be built condominiums!
If Bill Finlay thought he
could quash enquiring minds with his remark that he didn't want to talk
about the exit package for the CAO of the County he didn't guess right.
Another Freedom of Information request has been filed about it. That makes
three.
I also hear rumblings of a
"big name" sniffing around the local Liberal nomination race. Nothing like
the sweet smell of victory to make the big ones come out to play!! Interestingly
enough I was at a function where the local MP and the MPP were in the same
room. Alphonse and Gaston had nothing on these guys trying to make nice.
now some email, posted with
permission:
Subject: The Scar Wars
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2001
12:50:09 -0500
From: "William Hayes"
To: ben@eagle.ca
Hi Ben,
Your persistence with The
Burd Report amazes me and, I am sure, many others, Ben. Before I say any
more, let me heap heaps of praise on you for pasting the "white guys" moniker
onto the Seven Swordless Samurai of Northumberland.
What got me up and
typing this week was the remark Bill Patchett made (did he really make
it?) about the war zone over there, i.e. in Port Hope. Now I'm gonna'
give you my pathetic point of view on the Cobourg--Port Hope hospital wars
(The Scar Wars as I call 'em) once more, so listen up."Society is now one
polished hoard composed of two tribes: the bores and the bored."
I don't recall
who the heck said that (maybe GB Shaw), but ain't it so?! On the
one hand, we have middle class whiners from Port Hope complaining about
the closing of their old hospital; on the other hand, we have middle class
whiners from Cobourg crowing about the construction of their new hospital.
In the face of one and one-half billion people in the world who have no
access to medical care whatsoever, aren't these two tribes just too much?
But I have
a suggestion for dealing with both of these tribes and their whining: land
mines. Yessiree, land mines. I suggest that, under cover of
darkness and dressed in hospital scrubs, you and I and (any other civic-minded
citizens we can round up) deploy (I believe that's the appropriate word)
land mines in both the old Port Hope hospital site and the new Cobourg
hospital site. In one night we could deploy enough of those little
critters to shut down the whining completely. (After all, look at the effect
on middle class whining about health care that the equivalent of 5,000
flying land mines had down south, to say nothing about the concomitant
reduction in greenhouse gases. Now that's really killing two birds
with one stone, eh?)
Best of all,
Doug Galt, a..k.a. The Good Doctor, will support the idea
wholeheartedly: though
the cost to remove a land mine is about $1,000.00, the cost to manufacture
one is only $3.00! And since I'm proposing deployment by volunteers
... -- wonder if we could get the good doctor to assist with the deployment.
That's about
it from me, Ben, except for the good old advice from the good old Dead
Dog Cafe:
"Stay calm, Be Brave, Watch
for the signs."
Bill
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Sunday December 2nd 2001
Ramblings
Last week's story of the County
Council happenings has become more intriguing to the watchers - the seven
white men actually did something else (I wish I was a shareholder of the
consultant's company) they commanded the consultant to supply an interim
CEO. Just how much is this costing us, we know that the replacement search
will cost at least $17,500? The big question, and that is the subject of
at least two pending Freedom Of Information requests, is how much has it
cost to get rid of Lynda Mitchell? The Warden, big bill, refused to answer
such a question, "I will not discuss that, not even go there at any time"
Hey Bill all you had to say was "It won't cost us a penny" But obviously
it will be a pretty penny!
Well I went to the media event
for Carolyn Campbell and what an event it was too. Three things happened:
Carolyn Campbell announced that she 
was
running for the nomination of the local Liberal Party, a new way of handling
press events was tried and an outbreak of journalistic ethics broke out.
Firstly the candidate
bit. Carolyn's off and running and despite rumours of other candidates
she is determined to get the most Liberal votes. No wonder she has taken
time out of her career for this, it will take plenty. I hope she spends
a lot of time in Trenton cause that's where she will have to make up the
votes.
Secondly the
venue for the announcement was a "press round-table". Organised by Cynthia
Amsden it was a bit of a surprise for most of the local media that attended.
Press round tables, so Cynthia told me, are common in larger centres. Basically
the press are invited to a place, offered lunch and refreshments and given
access to the person pushing an issue. 
Not
quite a press conference but more of a chummy get together. Thirdly the
get together bit really confused the Northumberland Press Corps. Accustomed
to standing back and asking formal questions the idea of chatting over
lunch and writing a story seemed to make a couple of reporters uncomfortable
and they said so. Equating a free lunch with the corruption of journalistic
ideals seemed to be the feeling for some. One even attempted to pay after
the event. Hey I got the message - Carolyn's a candidate, and she thinks
that Doug Galt has been a bad representative "We need a member from Northumberland
to represent Northumberland, not a member from Queen's Park to represent
Northumberland!" and she wants to be the Liberal standard bearer. The free
lunch didn't go down so badly either. If Doug Galt or the NDP guy wants
to buy me lunch so they can tell me they are going to be candidates and
do I have any question that's OK by me. But they should know they get the
same treatment as Carolyn - reporting of the story. Personally I think
that the Northumberland press corps should take the time to develop mature
relationships that can allow both on and off the record stories and realise
that a free lunch is just that - access to the candidate. I thought the
whole affair was a pleasant way to spread the news and also it was pleasing
for the Burd-Report to be recognised for what it is; an internet publication.
Talking about internet affairs
I have been asked to plug a seminar being held by Horizons of Friendship.
This is to explain their new internet project "IDEALS" and its use of 'open-source'
technology. What it really means is that for small organisations that need
software and can't afford to buy licenses for their computers there is
an alternative. Horizons will be explaining just how to avoid giving great
gobs of money to Microsoft for bad software. It is on Friday 7th at Horizons,
on Covert St in Cobourg at 2.30pm
The main activity for me this
week has been the response to the motion to dismiss the appeal to OP 54.
This appeal states that I, and two others, think that the land in question
should not be rezoned from Business Park to Shopping Node. However the
work for a non-lawyer is formidable and time consuming. But the paperwork
has been done, arguments prepared and now all we have to do is to show
up in Wednesday morning at 10am to hear the OMB member hear the motion
to dismiss. The first order of business will be to establish a fair hearing
for the appellants.
The two tenets
of natural justice are the right to a hearing and the right to heard by
an unbiased adjudicator. In the this case one matter of concern to the
appellants is that the member hearing the case may be perceived as biased
by some. For you see the Chair is none other than the illustrious Madame
Hubbard. She has already ruled in favour of the previous motion to dismiss.
I can understand how some people would think that a person who has ruled
against two of the three appellants already is incapable of listening objectively
a second time around. But she's the chair and it's up to the appellants
to make the case that she should recuse herself because of perceived bias.
A most interesting situation that requires an audience to see. So the appellants
are asking that the Council Chamber be filled with observers. The big question
these days is why the Town waited until the last possible day to file their
motion to dismiss, gossip says that the Council, behind closed doors (where
else), made a motion in October to take this action. The image of the legal
machine rising up to squash citizens' appeals does not match the pledge
to run an open government. It has also been mentioned that a high level
of personal animus exists behind this action.
So where were the members
of Council the other night when Councillor DeVeau was swinging in the wind
at a public meeting that appeared, by some, to have got out of hand at
times?
Congratulations to Bill Patchett
for entering the lions' den of Port Hope Council to ask for some money
for the hospital. As was quoted he said "It was like War" Yes Bill, and
anybody who expects that cooperation on the question of the hospital must
be mad. I put it down to a Deputy Mayor, who wants to be Mayor who is using
the situation to cultivate votes. The problem for wee Aldo is that he has
upset Bill and that will not auger well for Aldo's future.
cc
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Sunday 25th November
Ramblings
Column
35
A big political shocker this
week; the seven white men, a.k.a. County Councillors actually did something
other than shuffle items off to a committee. They fired, it was called
a resignation but then it always is isn't it?, Lynda Mitchell the control
freaking CAO of Northumberland County. LM has been at the County since
1995 and has replaced all of the senior staff but one in that time. I guess
the councillors finally realised that the problem was her not the incompetent
people around her brilliance!. I am shocked the the seven white men had
the cojones to do something, especially get rid of her. Now we will watch
to see if anything startling will happen; like a decent replacement who
will instill a sense of purpose into a level of government that spends
wads of our public dough!. I hear that the decisions being made these days
are being made in meetings held in the Hamilton Township offices, the last
one where she (LM) was made to wait about an hour outside a room where
her fate was being decided.
Talking about the decision
to fire her (lynda Mitchell) I received a tip about 11am on the Wednesday
of this week that she was gone, "She went to a meeting last night and was
told to clean out her desk" were the words used, "They are waiting to announce
it after they have told senior staff this afternoon" So my 'Drudge Report'
mentality kicked in and I immediately composed an email to all of you on
the mailing list which announced what had happened. It never was sent as
I thought that I had better get a second source. I couldn't find one. So
only I know the satisfaction of the scoop!
Still with the County how
about this fiasco with ECON. ECON, for the readers that have not been following
the story is the name given to a putative committee of the County that
is looking at ways of promoting economic development for the County region.
It all started
a couple of months ago when (the acronyms will kill you) the NEP (Northumberland
Economic Partnership; an organisation set up to administer the RJS
(Rural Job Strategy; a Provincial funding initiative that funds County
tourism and cultural entities 50%) went to Council and said "We can become
your economic development department because we have the expertise and
also access to OSTAR-RED (another huge Provincial funding initiative).
We can, if you fund us to the tune of $160,000 per year leverage that to
$430,000 with both Federal and Provincial matching funds." Well that encouraged
another group, the Northumberland Economic Council we have met these folks
before, they used to be the West Northumberland Economic Council (a self
appointed group of right-wing free marketeers convinced that nobody except
them have the right ideas about anything!) to ask to speak to Council and
make the same offer. The difference being is that these guys wouldn't do
any real work they would just contract out the contract once they got it.
Being great admirers of the GPAEDC (the Greater Peterborough Area Economic
Council) and its CAO Susan Cudahey (hope the spelling is right) they, the
NEC think that the answer to economic development is to hire a wonderperson
and then sit back and wait for the results to pour in. Anyway up to a couple
of weeks a go these two groups were vying for Council's attention. Then
in a surprise move another agency based in Coboourg went to the County
and said, "Look at us". The NBA (Northumberland Business Assistance; which
is an agency devoted to helping and nurturing small businesses by means
of a Federally created loan fund) had just received funding under the Community
Futures programme another Federal fund used to develop local economic development.
The difference being is that the County would get free services from the
NBA and all they (NBA) want to do is a strategic plan that would
outline what the future should hold for economic development in the County.
So guess what the County did in the name of progress? They allowed the
NBA, at no cost to them, lead a committee that would consist of all the
other interested agencies. A politically perfect solution: get something
for nothing, appoint a committee to study the issue and not make a decision
right away.
As mentioned last week the
Town has made a motion to dismiss the citizens who appealed against the
Strathy Rd phase two. Stay tuned this time they, the citizens, are
forewarned and more legally savvy than last time.
Congratulations to Joe Sheffer,
Cobourg's Economic Development Officer, who has been promoted to the position
of Director of Community something. Anyway I believe that this is the position
that Wayne DeVeau has occupied for some time (or at least it started out
that way years ago but has lost lots of bits of it as Wayne keeps losing
responsibility for his original job all the time), except that now Joe
is a real Boss as he has Tourism and ED reporting to him as well as having
to keep the community groups happy. All of this done without an increase
in the budget because the Town does not intend to have a Director of Finance
anymore just a Manager so the difference in pay goes to Joe and Steve Robinson
is really the head honcho and his financial wizardry will be done by a
manager. The natural questions that arise are: Was Joe underpaid
and underworked to begin with (he assumed Cindy Symons-Milroy's position
on the grid) or was Steve Robinson overpaid for what he was doing?
Moving on to Provincial news
I hear that local Tories are in a horse race for as predicted the 'red
tories' are lining up behind Ernie Eves and the others are all over the
place. I was even talking to a person who is supporting Witmer, (I think
that's because she comes from Bob's home town Kitchener-Waterloo).
This fearless
publisher has been invited to a media lunch on Monday by the organisers
os Carolyn Campbell's campaign, thanks folks at last this non-traditional
media is getting recognition, either that or they like me!. A full report
will be in next week's edition. I did hear a murmuring from the chattering
classes about the discomfort caused by the location; the Grafton Village
Inn. Two problems for some; it is not handicapped accessible and the owners
are rabid tories!
For those lucky people who
are on cable I guess the political event of the year (for some) was televised.
I am talking about the national NDP convention. You know you just couldn't
get away from this thing it was on all day. I had a couple of tow calls
in the middle of last night and switched on the box to unwind when I got
in and both times there was a rerun of the days events. Nobody can complain
about the lack of coverage in this case. I did find it ironic that on Newsworld,
in the afternoon, the director decided to cut away for a break not knowing
that Ed Broadbent was next up to speak. Rather like deciding to switch
to the hockey game in the bottom of the ninth. I thought the proceedings
were well run but being an NDP convention a little procedural. True to
form there was a point of order in the first few minutes over the adoption
of the agenda!! I deal with the main subject of the one member one vote
issue in my column.
The last word in the public
speaking/delegate status fiasco at Cobourg Council goes to Keith Oliver
in a letter to the paper (yet to be published) pointing out with delicious
irony the way it has been handled by the Mayor. When asked how the Council
will handle the topic of greater public access to Council by the masses
he replied, "Council has listened to the the suggestions and we will now
talk about it amongst ourselves!" Isn't this where the whole problem starts?
Talking amongst themselves in their private little club! Talking to Councillor
Williams this week he acknowledges a problem, "You know Ben that when certain
people are always talking to Council on many different topics some members
of council tend to ignore them and not listen." Well I'm sorry about
that attitude but we pay these people $8,000 a year to listen AND they
promised to listen as a campaign promise. They can't have it both ways:
campaign on greater public involvement and then making it clear that that
involvement is only for the chosen few.
It has been reported that
both the Town and Royal Cobourg have had their claim for costs reduced
in the Oliver hearing. Reading the report it seems that Madame Epstein
rapped their collective knuckles for gouging on their invoices. Keith Oliver
now only has to pay $3,000, a much more realistic sum.
Reprinted here
is an article that appeared in the local media this week. Jack Foote has
consented to its reprint for your enjoyment. It is his opinion of the planning
process that is being undertaken in Port Hope as we speak!
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Sunday 25th November
Ramblings
Column
35
For those who are not following
the local media, The rules of journalism this week were broken. When the
news was created rather than just being reported. This came about
because of an incident at Council meeting on Monday night.
The siteplan
for the Strathy Road commercial complex (Walmart) came up for approval
and I wished to say something about the Council approving this siteplan
in the absence of proper zoning. However the way that Council dealt with
the delegations became the issue not what the delegations wanted to say.
And I decided to do something about it. To cut a long story
short two delegations were not allowed to speak because they had not complied
with standing rules. They, the delegations, said it was impossible to find
out what was on the agenda for the meeting and then ask for permission
to speak within the rules. The rules state that delegations must request
on Thursday to appear on Monday. Last week the agenda for the Monday meeting
was not published until Friday. So three people asked to be added to the
agenda after the deadline. Every Council that I have known has always entertained
late comers. This Council decided to do something else. They had a poll
amongst the members to decide who they would listen to. Naturally the two
people they didn't want to listen to didn't get permission to speak, the
other one, who spoke about a topic that Council wanted to approve did get
permission. At home
that night I just rolled my eyes and settled down to watch TV and thought
nothing more of the incident; if that's what this bunch of councillors
want to do let them do it. But in the morning resignation turn to indignation
and I decided to email the Mayor and tell him what I thought. Here is a
copy of the email:
Dear Sir:
As you know I attended
last night's council meeting and made a request to speak before the assembled
body. You explained to the Council, by way of asking for indulgence "Since
he agenda has been published there are three requests to speak before us,
what are the Councils' wishes" The request was denied for two of the three
speakers.
As you also
know I interrupted the meeting to try to seek redress. You told me, in
your capacity s Chair of the meeting, "You know the rules you have to ask
by Thursday to speak tonight"
Well sir,
that is the rub, the agenda was not published on thursday but on friday
this week so several points arise from this event:
1. If the Agenda was not
public until friday morning how could I as a potential speaker get on the
list if I have to place my name on the list by thursday?
2. I was notified, and
I thank him for this, by Mr McGlashon on Friday afternoon by email, still
too late to get on the list. I considered that to be an invitation to participate,
not just to listen.
3. Council was asked to
approve three applications, with the identical circumstances, to speak
and denied two, this demonstrates bias.
4. I know the rules and
would not have broken them if I thought there was a better way.
In conclusion
the actions of Council, I exclude you as you did not vote and appeared
to be going through the motions of approval, were undemocratic, unresponsive
and callous to the process.
The facts
in this case are indisputable and clear: to get on the list you make an
application on a thursday in response to items on the agenda. The Agenda
was not made public until Friday. To be told I have to abide by the rules
is galling to say the least.
I think that
the matter can be redressed by an acknowledgment of the facts and also
an apology should be issued to the people who were denied the opportunity
to speak because the rules made it impossible for them to do so.
yours sincerely
Ben Burd
I copied the email to the local
newspapers and bcc'd a few of my friends. The following day I heard on
the radio that the Mayor still considered it our fault that we couldn't
get on the agenda, "They knew that the topic was coming because it had
been announced in last week's executive meeting" he said in an interview
with CHUC (sure it was announced but no date was given!). However after
interviews with the print media he acknowledged the event and "Feels badly"
it happened. However the apology hasn't been forthcoming. I don't expect
it and the point has been made by others, most notably the "Northumberland
News" - a local newspaper with a circulation of over 20,000, that what
happened is wrong. Here is the editorial:
"Cobourg council's public
relations took a punch in the belly Monday night when councillors refused
to hear two opponents of the proposed Wal-Mart.
Before a rare
packed house in council chambers, Ben Burd and Keith Oliver, both long-time
opponents of the big-box development, were refused permission to speak
to council before voting was to take place on the design of the new store.
On the agenda for the evening was a bylaw approving the design of the new,
100,000 sq. ft. store. The agenda was not made available to the public
and the media until Friday, two days before the council meeting. After
seeing the agenda, both Mr. Burd and Mr. Oliver made requests to speak
to council on the issue. However, when it came time to vote on allowing
the two men to speak, Mayor Peter Delanty noted it was Town policy that
any request to speak before council must be made the Thursday prior to
the Monday meeting.
Just how were the two men
supposed to make their requests on Thursday if the agenda was not available
until Friday? Making the PR debacle even more sour was the fact a representative
from the local health unit was allowed to speak on the smoking bylaw issue,
even though she also made her request after Thursday. Mr. Burd complains
it was a popularity contest and he is probably correct. Both men have been
thorns in this council's side since the big-box development was first proposed.
And while both were going to state their opposition, again, to the proposal,
council had a duty to hear them. We have been a strong proponent of the
Wal-Mart and despite all the doom and gloom expressed by a few members
of the public, we believe the store will be of benefit to the town. It
will create jobs and tax benefits. But a municipal council is the closest
level of government to the voter, who should be able to feel they can take
their concerns to a Monday night meeting. and be heard. This council has
been open to public input and very rarely turns down a request to speak.
But this time, council was wrong. Councillors should not feel as if they
can pick and choose who speaks and who doesn't. They may not like the message,
but at least they should be ready to defend their position and give those
who oppose their views a chance to state their case. It's time council
changed its policy for hearing presentations at council. If the agenda
is not going to be made available until Friday, then residents should be
allowed to make a request to speak at council on Friday and all requests
to speak should get equal consideration."
There are so many
facts to this story I could go on all day, but I will only concentrate
on the two things that offended me. One was the statement that we "Know
the rules you have to get your names on the list on Thursday" Well, the
fact that Council did not follow its own rules (posting the agenda on Thursdays)
and then having the balls to tell me to follow them (the rules) really
irks. The second is that the mickey mouse way of deciding who got to speak
(voting on each request instead of all three at the same time) just demonstrates
imperialism. Quite frankly all I could think of at the time it was happening
was the Imperial Margarine advertisement, you know the one that shows crowns
appearing on top of people's head as soon as they take a bite of the product.
If three people were late then all three should have been disbarred, but
no the speaker from the Health Unit was going to tell them what wonderful
people they all were because they were going to ban smoking. I guess there
is no choice when the choice is to be praised or criticised!
At the same meeting "Kamikaze
Lloyd" Councillor Lloyd Williams took up 15 minutes of council time to
explain why he wants to make Orange St. a two lane thoroughfare. The very
act of posting a motion to that effect on the agenda elicited an angry
but reasoned, delegation of citizens from Orange St to say "Nuts!". Anyway
Lloyd who has made a political career very precarious with his stands of
principle (he lost the Reeveship of Hamilton Twp many years ago with such
a bullheaded stand when he wanted to impose a landfill site in the village
of Baltimore) which usually consists of grandstands that demonstrate political
stupidity did it again on Monday night. Realising that he had no seconder
to his motion he made it anyway. The cost to the taxpayer; free speech,
cost us 30 minutes of public time well spent.
Now that the spotlight has
been turned on the Provincial agreement about the 'Oak Ridges Moraine'
has brought out many faults. One of the greatest is the effect the planning
freeze will have on the rural Northumberland County municipalities. It
appears that the only land use that is allowed to flourish will be gravel
pits. Oh I smell the heavy hand of the aggregate industry and guess who
locally is a major participant? Our local school board trustee, Mr Gilchrist.
Methinks the shares of 'South Fork Aggregates" have just taken an uptick.
I hope that cynics don't think that Mr Steve Gilchrist being a sitting
MPP had any influence on the new guidelines!
For those who agree with me
that some police actions in demonstrations may be heavy handed should read
today's edition of the Toronto Star about a demonstration in Ottawa yesterday.
So what do all the people who
say "if you don't want to get hurt you shouldn't go there" say now when
this guy's job was to be there!
Congratulations to all of
those people who have celebrated the start of the Christmas season by participating
in the Santa Claus Parade, it took a full hour for the parade to pass my
reviewing spot, and especially those who have put so much time into creating
a magnificent display of lights in the parks. I can't wait to see them
all covered in snow and ice.
A tidbit of political gossip
came my way when I learned that the local MPP would have been supporting
Janet Ecker but now are full square behind the greasy head (fact, he uses
mousse) of Ernie Eves in the upcoming leadership race. The most telling
point for me so far is the refusal of Ernie to give up his day job at the
bank on Bay St.. Still it has been said that he never really worked at
his day job when he was in government so nothing has changed. The other
interesting spin is about Ernie's compassion. How compassionate was he
being when he demolished the hospitals, the welfare system and the education
system whilst he was the Treasurer and Deputy Premier for six years?
I guess that the christmas
season has really started. Having spent some time putting up the usual
lights, bows and fake pine strips it was no surprise to found, when I opened
the door first thing this morning, that the bright red bows that
adorned the stair railings (approximate value $2.75 each) had been snatched
from the front steps. I should explain that my front steps are only ten
feet away from the sidewalk and are very tempting to vandals and thieves.
I will be interesting to see just how many of the multitude of bows stay
on the trees outside the Town Hall.
There is another feature added
to the site this week; a Search button. Located at the top right hand corner
of the page layout it will connect to a company in the nether regions of
cyberspace that gives it to us free. It really does work just try it.
This just in, an email from
a couple of folks who attended the G20 demonstrations in Ottawa this weekend.
What is striking about this missive is the description of riot control
that legal protesters are now being put through by the authorities, it
is here
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