It’s still a work in progress, however there now is the very distinct possibility late next year Elgin residents will be represented for the first time by a female MP.
The announcement Saturday of Karen Vecchio as the riding’s federal Conservative nominee sets up a showdown with former city alderman Lori Baldwin-Sands, acclaimed last month as the Liberal nominee in Elgin-Middlesex-London.
Fred Sinclair is seeking the nomination for EML NDP candidate.
Still on a high from Saturday’s victory over five other very qualified individuals, Vecchio noted the male-dominated federal playing field here is already in transformation.
“Look at our nomination, there were four women and two men,” Vecchio pointed out in an interview Friday.
“My campaign team is fifty-fifty. I find the party itself has become much more family oriented where it’s about moms and dads and grand-parents. Having a woman doesn’t change things.”
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Category Archives: Municipal Affairs
She is energized and ready for business
In her inaugural address to the new council Monday, Mayor Heather Jackson sent a clear message she is ready to embrace change at city hall.
A priority is the implementation of a communication plan, which would include a communication officer working out of the clerk’s department. Speaking to the Times-Journal, Jackson stressed this would not be a new hire.
“It’s certainly not a new position,” advised Jackson. “Wendell (CAO Wendell Graves) and I have been talking about how we can make this happen without adding to the staff. We’ve got somebody now who does most of those functions but it’s not in anybody’s job description.”
Look for the manner in which council conducts business during its regular meetings to come under review in the new year.
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My acclamation? Sorry, no comment on that
He’s the hottest and sexiest political commodity in the country right now and surely any number of eager, imaginative up-and-comers would love to be a player on the Justin Trudeau team as it readies for the 2015 federal election.
And yet we are expected to believe not one single motivated individual stepped forward to challenge Lori Baldwin-Sands for the Liberal nomination in Elgin-Middlesex-London?
The former St. Thomas alderman will be acclaimed on Nov. 20 at a nomination meeting to be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
That’s right, it was no contest.
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Time for good ideas, not absurd promises
Prior to the 2003 municipal vote, this corner checked in with the author of a citizen’s guide to electing better public officials who encouraged voters to maximize the impact of their decision when they cast ballots.
Charles Bens has consulted more than 200 public sector organizations in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Latin America, and he advocates a process he calls “quality voting.”
In the aldermanic race, voters can cast up to a maximum of seven votes, but Bens stresses there is no requirement to endorse that number of candidates.
The goal, argues Bens, is to only support those candidates “who will make good decisions on behalf of the community.”
If a voter feels they have accomplished that by supporting less than the maximum allowed seven candidates, then they should not feel obligated to cast the remainder of their votes.
He pointed out just filling up the ballot “can sometimes send irresponsible and unethical people to public office.”
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There’s no video to see here people, so just move along
Last week in this corner we tabelled the first of a two-part thumbnail summary of each aldermanic candidate’s presentation at a meeting held Oct. 1 at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
Each candidate was allotted five minutes in which to introduce themselves and their platform to about 150 people in attendance.
Here are the remaining individuals who appear in the order established by the organizers.
Ald. Jeff Kohler, Mark Burgess, Walter H. Green and Mike Manary were not present.
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‘We need a team of eight people with vision’ – aldermanic candidate Joan Rymal
Joan Rymal forwarded these thoughts for consideration as the Oct. 27 municipal election approaches . . .
“We have the money. Can we find a team of 8 people with vision to positively promote St.Thomas and make informed decisions with all the facts?
The police station issue has clearly identified the need to ensure we are not making decisions before all the facts are in.
Aldermanic candidate Joan Rymal.
The Class A & B Estimates for the New Police Station, that will give a final and complete cost, will be received by Council in February 2015.
The exact time when the Part 1 capital budget will be presented. This is a change to the usual budget process for 2015 because of the Election in 2014. This only happens once every 4 years.
What an opportunity for like minded individuals to sit down with all the facts and make an informed decision regarding this issue!
The Asset Management Plan gives direction to the city to follow and recommends spending $7,000,000 on capital projects for rehabilitation and replacement for 2015. Can that be enough for departmental capital projects to allow for council to focus budget efforts on the police issue?
We have the money to do this project the right way, the first time, making an informed decision and closely looking at budget numbers to see just how much money we can allocate. We have the potential to minimize tax increases and minimize adding more long term debt. And it will not involve any Staff layoffs or Service levels in the operating budget. The focus is on the capital budget.
What is the risk to wait and make the right decision in February 2015? Speculation is nothing but talk and only adds to citizen concerns about the future of St.Thomas.
The Police Services have been waiting 10 long years, waiting for the city to take care of their needs while they have taken care of the safety of this city without complaint about their workplace.
I think it’s time we do it.
Then, for 2016 – we’ll focus our efforts on another project.
How innovative! Imagine us taking care of ourselves and not waiting for some industry to come to town and save us!
We can do it. It is possible. Count me in to be part of this team.”
Very Sincerely,
Joan Rymal
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Council candidates and whose credibility?
With 19 hopefuls in the running to fill seven seats on St. Thomas council, it’s difficult to get a read on all of the candidates when there are few opportunities to gather them in one venue.
The first all-candidates meeting for the Oct. 27 municipal vote was held Wednesday at the Knights of Columbus Hall and it afforded the 150 or so in attendance an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the individuals seeking to represent St. Thomas residents for the next four-year term of council.
The five minutes allotted to present their sales pitch affords little in the way of meaningful insight into how each of the candidates intends to serve their constituents.
As a recap — and for those unable or uninterested in attending the meeting — here is the first of a two-part thumbnail summary of each candidate’s presentation. They appear in the order established by organizers of Wednesday’s event.
Ken Boe: He stressed the need to work strategically with all stakeholders in the city and tourism is an economic opportunity that needs to be capitalized upon. Council and city staff have to focus on customer service and St. Thomas needs to benchmark itself against other municipalities.
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If you’re not talking poverty issues, then re-think your campaign platform
Can’t say we’ve seen any reference to this in campaign literature, so the relevance of a poverty survey is timely as the Oct. 27 municipal election looms.
While candidates dwell on jobs and the economy, the impact of job losses and the proliferation of low-paying, part-time jobs needs to be front and centre on the campaign trail.
Bridges Out of Poverty St. Thomas- Elgin is asking candidates to respond to a poverty-focused survey launched this week. All candidates have been contacted regarding the initiative.
The online survey is part of a collaborative local/provincial project coordinated by the Ontario Society of Nutrition Professionals in Public Health and administered by local partners such as Bridges Out of Poverty.
“The purpose of the project is to build awareness and support among decision makers for healthy public policy which assists in reducing poverty and food insecurity in Ontario,” writes Erin Woolley, Bridges Out of Poverty coordinator.
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Trio exhibit fine form skating around park
It dropped off the radar screen more than a year ago only to surface at Monday’s council meeting. We’re talking about the long-proposed skateboard park, for which a committee was formed several years ago and which hasn’t convened since June, 2013.
Included on the committee were three members of council — aldermen Lori Baldwin-Sands, Mark Cosens and Tom Johnston — and it would appear therein lies the problem.
At least that is the opinion of Shelly Axford, one of three members of the city’s skateboard community to sit on the committee. We talked with her this week on her observations of the committee’s work.
“To my knowledge I’m still on the committee. I haven’t resigned. I don’t know what’s going on with it. The kids need something so they’re not hanging around the streets trying to figure out what to do with themselves.”
The park is supposed to be located east of the Timken Centre and that is about all that has been determined.
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