Category Archives: Municipal Affairs

09.13.14
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Of buzzers, boycotts, barbs and boarders

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The buzzer has sounded, the counter is closed and the nomination deadline has come and gone for the 2014 municipal vote.
By choosing to withdraw his aldermanic papers and instead seek to become the head of council, Mark Cosens makes it a three-way race with Cliff Barwick and Heather Jackson.
In the aldermanic race, a total of 19 are in the running thanks to a final week blitz.
Voters have the opportunity to elect seven from the following candidates: John Allen, Brett Bear, Ken Boe, Mark Burgess, Gary Clarke, Jaqueline DeLeebeeck, Rose Gibson, Walter H. Green, Tom Johnston, Jeff Kohler, Frank Lattanzio, Mike Manary, Todd Rowley, Joan Rymal, Beverly Splane, Linda Stevenson, Mark Tinlin, Phil Thomson and Steve Wookey.

BOYCOTT
Late last month, Times-Journal reporter Ben Forrest wrote a factual account of an interview he recorded with Cosens announcing his intention to seek re-election.
While several of Cosens’ comments could be considered inflammatory in nature, there was no attempt by the alderman to question the presentation of the story or the accuracy of the quotes contained within the article. Continue reading →

09.02.14
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Bob McCaig’s St. Thomas Municipal Election Report

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Here is the full copy of Bob McCaig’s 400-respondent 2014 municipal election poll conducted in August.

Just click through on the links.

no-reply.scan2l@sunmedia.ca_20140902_104247

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page. Or by email at ianscityscope@gmail.com.

08.30.14
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Forget slamming and trashing, get out and vote

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He is the first to admit when people hear Dave Warden will not seek re-election this fall there will be no shortage of fists pumping the air in jubilation — those of ratepayers and several peers on council.

Citing a loss of passion and the desire to spend more time with family, Warden made the announcement Friday after serious deliberation.

“I’ve lost the passion for politics and, basically, I want my life back,” Warden advised. “I’m leaving politics with my head held high. And, I’m leaving on my terms.”

The story on page 3 of today’s Times-Journal fills in the details so we’ll get to the candid stuff.

Regarding Ald. Mark Cosens’ alluding to corrupt dealings in the council chamber, Warden says don’t go there.

“Don’t accuse me of things I was accused of the other day. But I won’t lower myself to his level. Instead, I am very grateful to the people who supported me. And, it’s been an honour for me to serve the people of St. Thomas.

“To turn around and resort to this mud-slinging bullshit, I’m sorry. Municipal politics has changed. You think St. Thomas is immune to this? You wait until this election heats up. It’s started already.”
Continue reading →

08.16.14
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Out-spoken activist sparks homeless dialogue

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After a short time-out in St. Thomas, homeless advocate Jason McComb is back on the road — continuing his Walking in the Free World cross-Canada trek.
On his lay-over, he met with MP Joe Preston, MPP Jeff Yurek and St. Thomas Mayor Heather Jackson to draw attention to the plight of the homeless in order to get them back contributing to society.
He was encouraged to approach all candidates in the upcoming municipal vote to peg them down on homeless initiatives.
During a similar round table discussion back in January, Jason made the following observation about the city’s seasonal shelter, Inn out of the Cold.
“Get them in, get them fed, get them showered, get them to bed. Then it’s here’s your breakfast and now out you go.
Continue reading →

07.26.14
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Potential difficulties with police HQ renos?

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It has been strangely quiet on the police headquarters front, albeit the petitions are still available to sign in city businesses and, no doubt, hundreds of individuals have registered their opposition to construction of a new police building.
Oddly, few if any of these ratepayers have attended the bi-weekly police building committee meetings at city hall, where both sides of the picture are being presented in a fashion that will allow an apples-to-apples cost comparison.
At the July 16 meeting, a representative from the Ventin Group confirmed a presentation will be made to council on Aug. 11 which will include the best estimate to date on the cost of a new police HQ adjacent to the Timken Centre.
Most revealing, however, was the update from Sean Panjer of SPH Engineering, which is in charge of detailing the cost of renovating the existing police station.
Continue reading →

05.10.14
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The naked truth on conflict of interest

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If you’ve read the Page 3 story in Saturday’s Times-Journal, you’ll discover determining when to declare a conflict of interest can become quite the ethical dilemma.
Mayor Heather Jackson is living that now after being challenged by former St. Thomas resident and 2010 aldermanic candidate, Bill Sandison in a letter forwarded to the T-J.
The mayor steadfastly believes she was not in a conflict situation – according to the Ontario Municipal Act – when she debated and voted on the awarding of an Information Technology contract to Ascent (formerly St. Thomas Energy) in spite of the fact she is romantically linked to an employee in that very same department.
We consulted with a pair of municipal governance experts who argue perception is reality to most constituents and taking the high road would be in order when there is the least whiff of a conflict.
“There is no question that the cautious thing to do would have been to not vote,” advised Western University political scientist, Andrew Sancton. Continue reading →

03.01.14
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How much can you milk out of nickels and dimes?

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After documenting the plight of a desperate young mother and her plea for milk and bread to tide her over until the end of the month, we talked to her this week on the heels of Monday’s annual general meeting at The Caring Cupboard.
The ten or so board members, concerned clients of the food bank and representatives from several community agencies who attended the session agreed on one thing: there are issues at the Talbot St. operation in the manner in which data is collected and the perceived humiliating fashion in which some individuals are treated.
One user went so far as to warn The Caring Cupboard “has lost its credibility.”
One positive recommendation – it’s time for the food bank and the various community organizations to build partnerships to deal with individuals whose daily needs require the expertise available through a cross-section of service providers.
The mother, whose plea sparked an outpouring of emotion from readers and individuals facing an all-too-similar future, vented her frustration with the process she believed had been followed to the letter. Continue reading →

02.15.14
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Has waste contractor got act together?

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The city’s new waste contractor takes to the streets in a couple of weeks and we can only hope the launch is a smoother affair than the day-to-day operations up in Whitchurch-Stouffville, north of Toronto.
The new contractor, Green for Life, takes over from BFI in St. Thomas, which in turn replaced Green Lane Environmental.
Green for Life not only serves Whitchurch-Stouffville, but several other municipalities in York Region where it has been experiencing mechanical issues with its trucks, leading to missed collections.
That has been compounded by a lack of communication from GFL on the service disruptions.
Continue reading →

01.18.14
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October is a good month for pruning

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Progressive by nature is a catchy marketing slogan employed by the County of Elgin that, unfortunately, is not readily applicable to all members of St. Thomas council.
That was painfully evident Monday when a motion to allow internet voting during a portion of the advance polling period in the October municipal election was defeated on a 4-4 vote.
Aldermen Cliff Barwick, Tom Johnston, Gord Campbell and Dave Warden presented some of the flimsiest arguments possible to maintain the status quo, i.e. the traditional paper ballot.
Had this been evidence in a court case it would have been dismissed as not germane.
The concern seniors would not vote because they prefer the traditional ballot over computer voting is a smoke screen since the paper ballot would remain as the primary method of casting one’s vote.
Continue reading →