Tag Archives: Ald. Mark Cosens

08.23.14
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Legitimate option or a case of sour grapes?

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A possible third option as a home for the St. Thomas Police Service was rejected — sight unseen — by city council back in April and a Times-Journal article Wednesday indicated there was no appetite at city hall to pursue the Silver St. location, the temporary home leased by the province for the courts in St. Thomas.

Ald. Dave Warden, chairman of the police building committee, said the decision by council in April was unanimous.

“Council was adamant the building be close to downtown,” advised Warden. “And to do the renovations (at Silver St.) you would easily be pushing $10 million.”

The owner of the building — H.D. Palmer & Associates of Windsor — has offered it to the city for $8 million and this would include “all cost required to bring the building up to today’s standard as to post-disaster construction, replace the (exterior) siding, fill in the depressed loading dock on the south side and add any minor changes to the building.”
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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.
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08.09.14
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Beware of guys with carnations in their lapels

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A municipal election campaign that had all the excitement of watching paint dry exploded into life Tuesday with Cliff Barwick’s announcement he is seeking a return to the mayor’s office at city hall.
That pits the two primary combatants in the 2010 mayoral showdown — Mayor Heather Jackson and Barwick — in a rematch on Oct. 27.
But, it is going to get better.
Over the next week or so, expect either Ald. Jeff Kohler or Ald. Mark Cosens to join the fray.
If it’s the former, that sets up a tantalizing scenario pitting the last three St. Thomas mayors in a winner-take-all smackdown.
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03.22.14
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Not knowing the price is a good thing

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Don’t fall for this scam. Someone insists they know the true cost of a new police station and they’re willing to share the figure with you.
The information doesn’t exist and it never has. Oh, there have been estimates attached to various consultant reports, but they are nothing more than that — rough costing based on a conceptual plan that has no bearing on the final reality.
That was the message driven home Thursday at the initial meeting of the police building committee. A body whose mandate is to do just that — come up with a firm price based on a concrete design.
So, who sits on the committee?
It is chaired by Ald. David Warden and includes aldermen Mark Cosens and Tom Johnston, CAO Wendell Graves, treasurer Bill Day, director of engineering John Dewancker and St. Thomas Police Chief Darryl Pinnell.
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03.08.14
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Always room for one more in this club

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The city’s most exclusive club saw its membership increase by four in 2013. We’re talking about the Sunshine Club at city hall — those employees who earned $100,000 or more under public sector salary disclosure.
Mind you, it was a modest increase from 58 select members in 2012 to 62 this past year.
A far cry from the door-crashing rush in 2012 when the rolls swelled to 58 from 39 in 2011.
Breaking the numbers down, in 2013 city administration counted 14 in the Sunshine Club, up from 13 the year previous.
The police department enrolment actually declined by one — from 17 to 16.
At the fire halls, the ranks increased to 32 in 2013 from 28 in 2012. That means the fire department membership is greater than the police and city administration combined.
Concentrating on administration salaries only, the top wage-earner last year was CAO Wendell Graves at $165,900, which is actually down from a year ago at $166,315. Continue reading →

02.08.14
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What do downtown barriers portend?

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It took a month, however we finally have had someone step up to the plate to declare their candidacy in the October municipal election.
Mayor Heather Jackson filed her nomination papers first thing Monday morning, although she has not finalized her campaign platform.
We talked with her Tuesday on what her strategy may be in a bid for a second term as mayor.
“I’m working with my team on finalizing the platform. We’ll be releasing that in the coming weeks. I don’t want to take the focus away from the work that needs to be done right now.
“We’ve been elected to a four-year term so we’ve got work to continue to do.”
The one thing she wants to avoid is a repeat of the down-and-dirty 2010 election campaign — a black eye for the city on several fronts.
“I can stand behind everything we’ve accomplished as a council and continue to do. It’s certainly not what I’m looking to do. I don’t believe that is in the best interest of anybody and I certainly hope that anybody else who runs for either alderman or mayor keeps that in mind.”
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01.04.14
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Who is in and who has suffered enough

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With the very distinct possibility we’ll undertake a couple of trips to the polls in 2014, the wind and water are coming together for what should prove to be an entertaining year in the council chamber at city hall.
Thursday was the first day nomination papers could be filed for the Oct. 27 municipal vote and, to the best of our knowledge, no sitting member of council has taken the first step on the road to re-election.
So, let’s do a little armchair quarterbacking and go around the horseshoe and speculate on who is going to do what this year.
Starting at the top, Mayor Heather Jackson will certainly seek a second term at the helm. Will she retain her voter base and has she managed to gain the confidence of a significant number of ratepayers who shied away from her in 2010?
There is a good possibility she will be in at least a three-horse race; has she the stamina and resources to fend off challengers?
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09.21.13
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Derelict building a reminder of dirty politics

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Contained in Monday’s agenda was a petition expressing concerns about the derelict building at 80 St. Catherine St., a structure referred to as “a dangerous eyesore.”
Area resident Sally Nickson was allowed to address council in an effort to paint a picture of the five-unit apartment building that has stood vacant for over a year.
As is often the case, there is more to this story than meets the eye.
And, the leading characters in this saga appeared prominently in this corner two weeks ago.
As best as we can determine, the crumbling structure may very well be owned by none other than David McGee. You may know him as the absentee owner of the equally forlorn Sutherland Press building.
Several attempts this week to contact McGee to confirm his involvement – or lack thereof – proved fruitless. Continue reading →

09.07.13
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The time Maurice told Daimler, you screwed up!

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The city lost a good one with the death Wednesday of Maurice Beaudry. The consummate community booster, Maurice loved to tell it like it is.
That was never more evident than his shoot-from-the-hip message for Daimler AG, the parent company preparing to close the Sterling Truck Plant up on South Edgeware in November, 2008.
In a conversation that month in City Scope, Maurice conveyed the following to the German multinational: you screwed up and why should St. Thomas ratepayers suffer?
And Maurice knew of what he spoke, because in his former position as manager of the Economic Development Corporation in the early 1990s, he played a leading role in convincing Freightliner to locate in St. Thomas.
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