Tag Archives: Cynthia St. John

11.20.10
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Good luck, good night and goodbye . . . Barwick bows out

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The forty-fourth meeting of the one hundred and thirtieth council of the Corporation of the City of St. Thomas proved the last hurrah for out-going mayor Cliff Barwick.

Love him or leave him, Barwick had a way with words and could contort his face in a particular fashion to drive home a point or simply defuse a tense situation.

That’s a gift that comes from 23 years of service in an elected capacity.

In a night of tributes and remembrance, Ald. Gord Campbell perhaps summed it best, “We come to chamber as new recruits. We come to do what is right for the citizens of St. Thomas.”

Sage words of advice to be heeded long after Dec. 6, when the in-coming council is installed.
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11.06.10
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Curbing debate now prescribed for health unit meetings?

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It was quite the mugging this week over at Elgin St. Thomas Public Health. Attempts by Central Elgin Mayor Tom Marks to raise uncomfortable questions at Wednesday’s board meeting were hijacked at the pass by the city contingent on the seven-member board.

Although Marks didn’t follow the prescribed protocol for new business, silencing a fellow board member seeking answers to the same questions asked numerous times in this corner illustrates the depths to which the health unit has sunk.

So, to what exactly was Marks seeking clarification?
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10.30.10
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Dialing out for votes turns the tide on mayoral race

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It was a game-breaker. It, being news that broke last Thursday of the law suit by London developer David McGee, filed in August, against the city, Mayor Cliff Barwick and numerous other defendants.

Did the timing of the $3 million suit, and the hiring of political strategist Suzanne Van Bommel, impact the mayoral vote in the final weekend of the campaign?

A study of the advance polling numbers would appear to indicate the front-page story filed one week ago by the T-J’s Kyle Rea, and picked up by the Free Press in London, took the wind out of Barwick’s campaign sail.

As of last Friday, Barwick led the advance polls with 585 votes, followed by Heather Jackson-Chapman at 454 and Al Riddell with 432 votes.
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10.23.10
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Will St. Thomas survive this bitter election campaign?

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In this corner we have developer Bob McCaig. Staring him down is Warren Scott, president of the St. Thomas Professional Firefighters’ Association.

At stake, whose slate of candidates will sit in the council chambers come December.

In a letter to the Times-Journal this week, in response to an opening volley from McCaig, Scott emphasized his association will continue to “be active in this municipal election and future elections supporting those candidates whom we are confident support public safety.”

McCaig has responded, “I am sure the community appreciated the reply of Warren Scott pointing out there are in fact seven candidates that the association supports and not just three. I stand corrected.”
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09.25.10
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Naming names, pointing fingers, seven years later

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Almost seven years to the day, (Sept. 22, 2003 to be exact) municipal council unanimously approved a motion calling for an independent review of council and its working relationships at city hall.

The damning overview, known as the McCarthy Tetrault report, was delivered just prior to the municipal election. It held back little, naming names and pointing fingers.

The report concluded all those interviewed agreed “this past term of council has been extremely troubled.”

Flipping through the pages, you can’t help but dwell on those players still in the running, or hoping to make a comeback, and the brush they were painted with.
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08.28.10
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Boil water advisory players caught betwixt and betweet

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Put aside the finger pointing for a moment, here’s what really came down the pipe in the aftermath of last week’s boil water advisory.
Neither the city nor Elgin St. Thomas Public Health can keep up with today’s lightning-fast social networking.
If you remember, it was Ald. Heather Jackson-Chapman first out of the gate late in the afternoon of Aug. 19 with her tweet advising all followers of the need to boil your drinking water.
This was fully two hours before the general advisory was made public on the city website. That’s because the city and the health unit have not bought into instant communications.

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07.31.10
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A lifestyle challenge to all municipal candidates

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“It’s not only a struggle, it’s degrading.”
After little more than an hour wrestling with a wheelchair and peering through vision-impairing glasses, Ald. David Warden declared it’s time for the city to “put a concentrated effort into addressing accessibility issues.”
Several months prior to the 2006 municipal election, City Scope teamed up with accessibility advocate Ed McLachlan to challenge members of council and mayoral/aldermanic candidates to experience frustrations encountered by city residents dealing with accessibility issues in their daily routine.
Warden was joined by council hopeful Carol Van Rooy and the pair warily agreed to proceed from the city hall parking lot to the public library then return to city hall.
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07.17.10
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A little dash of former mayor and the barbie is now sizzling

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If you attended the Chamber of Commerce Business After 5 soiree Wednesday, you couldn’t miss council members and mayoral/aldermanic hopefuls working the crowd in grand fashion.

There’s no mistaking the 2010 municipal election campaign, like the backyard barbie, is starting to warm up nicely.

Marvelous how the dynamics have taken on a new intensity with Jeff Kohler’s announcement this week he is seeking a return to council as one of seven aldermen.

Let’s do a little gazing into the City Scope crystal ball.
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07.10.10
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Where’s the furniture, not to mention the agendas and minutes?

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As we noted in this space last week, Ald. Dave Warden intends to throw the spotlight on Ald. Bill Aarts when council next meets on July 19 so that the chairman of the Elgin St. Thomas Public Health board of directors can bring all of us up to speed on the comings and goings at 99 Edward St.

Ald. Warden informed City Scope he wanted to thoroughly research details of ESTPH’s lease arrangement with Elgin county, along with other areas of concern, before engaging Aarts in any dialogue.

Ever diligent, this corner has already undertaken that research, which we presented on June 12, and in the meantime had a face-to-face with CEO Cynthia St. John and presented her take on office space, her increase in salary, staff cutbacks and office morale of late.
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