Category: Council

Collingwood’s Mystery Councillor

Collingwood / Council / Ethics and behaviour / MusingsLeave a comment

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Who is Ian MacCulloch? We were only told by the town that he’s the newly-appointed councillor, chosen this month by council to fill the seat vacated by Brandon Houston, who quit his responsibilities and resigned back in January. But unless you dig deeply, you won’t know anything more about the newbie other than his appointment. The town’s announcement about him was vague and insubstantial, although not surprising for a townhall that prefers secrecy over openness. In fact, the town said nothing about MacCulloch’s experience, his past, his relation to the community, his qualifications, his plans and priorities, his family — … click below for more ↓

Sidewalk Ethics and Etiquette

Collingwood / Council / Legal issues / Planning & Policies / Publicity & CommunicationsLeave a comment

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There is a theory that a person’s moral compass may be judged by how they deal with shopping carts. Those with even a modicum sense of ethics and morality return them to the store or its corral. Those who leave them in the parking lot or steal them are immoral and unethical, and probably sociopaths who support Trump or PoiLIEvre. Back in 2020, I wrote about this theory, and quoted from a website that included this statement: “The shopping cart is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing.” And another site I quoted had this … click below for more ↓

Dither, Dally, and Doddle

Collingwood / Council / Ethics and behaviour / Municipal elections2 Comments

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If I were looking for a single word to succinctly describe Collingwood Council, it would not be ‘decisive.’ Nor would it be progressive, capable, innovative, or enterprising. I would not even apply the word ‘adequate’ much less ‘competent.’ No, the word that comes to my mind is ‘inept.’ At the November 18, 2024 meeting of council, Mayor Hamlin announced that Councillor Brandon Houston was taking a leave of absence for an unspecified period of time and an unspecified personal reason. This didn’t set off many alarms because Houston’s lacklustre presence at the council table has not been noteworthy and I … click below for more ↓

Council Screws Collingwood Residents. Again.

Collingwood / Council / Ineptitude and bungling / Planning & Policies / Wacky WTF ideas5 Comments

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Like many other residents in council chamber yesterday, I was deeply disappointed but not surprised by our council’s decision to continue with staff’s anti-resident/anti-environment plan to deforest Sixth Street to make it a better speedway for cars passing through town. The council chamber was full to capacity with people upset with the plan, hoping council would recognize their anger and distress, hoping council would listen, would prefer 21st-century pro-resident, green-street planning, and reconsider the previous pro-vehicle/anti-tree plan. But they didn’t. The majority of council sided with the archaic 1950s’ cars-before-people staff plan to chop down all the beautiful, mature trees … click below for more ↓

The Litter That’s Killing Everything and Everyone

Collingwood / Environment / Ineptitude and bungling / Manners & Civility / Politics / Social Order & DisorderOne Comment

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Four and a half trillion. That’s how many cigarette butts are estimated to be littered every year on our streets, sidewalks, parks, downtowns, parking lots, lawns, and everywhere else smokers feel entitled to leave them. That’s 4,500,000,000,000 pieces of toxic, non-biodegradable, chemical-soaked plastic waste that smokers — and smokers alone — pollute the earth with every year. That’s litter deliberately left to poison the water, kill plants and wildlife, and remain in the environment for more than a decade, doing their damage. An estimated 1.69 billion pounds (845,000 tons) of cigarette butts are littered into the environment, every year. EVERY … click below for more ↓

Pro-Car Planning is Destroying Collingwood’s Environment

Collingwood / Council / Environmental issues / Ineptitude and bungling / Wacky WTF ideas11 Comments

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I warned you: Council would support the anti-resident/anti-environment/pro-vehicle attitude that pervades town hall. I warned you they would deforest Sixth Street to make it a bigger, faster speedway for vehicles. I warned you they would add more pollution, more noise, and more traffic on Sixth Street. I warned you that they would lower property values there. I warned you they would make it more unhealthy for residents, for our water, and for trees and wildlife. And they did. CollingwoodToday has the sad story of how our council has voted in favour of cars, not residents, with a headline that says … click below for more ↓

The Anti-Environmentalists in Town Hall are at it Again

Collingwood / Council / Ineptitude and bungling / Planning & Policies / Wacky WTF ideas7 Comments

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WTF is wrong with town hall these days? Why do they dislike trees so much? Last week town staff presented another plan to make Sixth Street even more of a speedway than it already is, and in doing so they want to remove three dozen mature trees along the north side. The technical term for that is “deforestation.” You might remember how last term, staff had more than 50 mature trees chopped down along Hurontario Street so they could build a sidewalk on the east side because it was too inconvenient for one of the councillors to cross the street … click below for more ↓

Higher Taxes, But Fewer Services in Collingwood

Collingwood / Council / Financial follies / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

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Collingwood Council is currently debating some major changes to the town’s bylaws, many of which appear to mean fewer services and less support for our residents. This council has once again increased our property taxes and user fees (while giving themselves yet another pay raise as their reward for doing so!). There have been annual tax hikes in Collingwood every year for the past decade. And where has all that money gone if not to providing more and better services to residents? The town is proposing a gobsmacking 26 changes to the way bylaw handles calls and complaints, all of … click below for more ↓

Hamlin’s Letter-Writing Debacle, Part Two

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Hospital / Publicity & Communications4 Comments

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Collingwood’s mayor’s arrogant refusal to cooperate and collaborate with our regional neighbours to support the long-overdue redevelopment of the General and Marine Hospital continues to make local news and infuriate residents. While her autocratic behaviour in refusing to sign the letter of support backed by all other neighbouring municipalities throws egg all over her, it also blackens the reputation of the town. But does the feckless Hamlin care? Not a whit. Let them eat cake! The original letter as signed by five other local mayors says the redevelopment at the proposed new site has “garnered overwhelming support from Collingwood, Clearview, … click below for more ↓

Our Arrogant Mayor is At It Again

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Hospital3 Comments

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For me, I didn’t see the need for another letter at this time. Things could change,” Mayor Yvonne Hamlin sniffily replied to CollingwoodToday in her best “Let them eat cake” manner. “For me.” It’s always about me, me, me. It’s almost like she took selfishness lessons from Councillor Jeffrey. Hamlin was responding to a question about why she, representing Collingwood, refused to sign a letter about our hospital being sent to “provincial health minister and deputy premier Sylvia Jones indicating the desire to see the new hospital built at the Poplar Sideroad location.” A letter Hamlin didn’t want discussed openly … click below for more ↓

Councillor Shits on Democracy

Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Staff and administration / TaxesOne Comment

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In a recent story in CollingwoodToday, Councillor Jeffrey is reported shitting on the democratic process. Rather than respecting a previous decision of council as policy requires, she chose to bring back a vote to add another staff person to our already overstaffed townhall. In doing so, I am confident she was well aware that she was voting to further burden taxpayers, simply because she didn’t like the way the vote went when she wasn’t at the table. Coun. Kathy Jeffery noted that the Nov. 20 meeting occurred while she and Doherty were absent. The two Saundersonite councillors who feel they … click below for more ↓

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