Council – Page 2 – Scripturient

More Oppressive Budget Bullshit

Council is still eyeing a massive hike to Collingwood property taxes, proving they lack any concern about the problems facing seniors and others on fixed incomes, low-income earners, and the many working-class people simply trying to make ends meet in an increasingly expensive town. Every tax increase, every utility increase, every user fee increase makes their lives harder. No one at the council table seems to have the spine to stand up to staff demands for more money, more employees, more stuff in their offices and parking lots. In a time of inflation, the town should be trimming costs and … click below for more ↓

Council’s Affordable Housing Con

2023-12-04 2023-12-06 Collingwood / Council / Housing / Planning & Policies / User fees and costsOne Comment

A recent story in CollingwoodToday has the headline, “Town considering increases to development charges.” Everyone knows that increasing the development charges (DCs) adds to the cost of a new home, making housing even more expensive and less affordable. Right now, it’s extremely difficult to find anything even close to “affordable” in Collingwood. Apparently, the town wants to make it even harder and more expensive to buy new homes… unless, of course, you’re already a millionaire with money to burn.* The proposed increases include (emphasis added): For urban rates development charges for single/semi detached dwellings will increase by $2,653 to $42,855, … click below for more ↓

Why is Collingwood So Secretive About its Salt Use?

2023-12-02 2023-12-02 Civic engagement / Collingwood / Council / Environmental issues / Planning & Policies / Publicity & CommunicationsOne Comment

Road salt is a huge concern in Ontario for its destructive effects on the environment and the infrastructure. Progressive municipalities across the province have been exploring alternatives for years, cutting back, looking for safer ways to manage winter roads and sidewalks. But Collingwood? Try typing “salt management plan” into the search bar of the town’s user-hostile website. Nada. You don’t get any documents; you have to wade through more of the town’s poorly-designed click-fest web pages, trying to find simple information like “how much salt does the town use in winter.” But let me save you the effort: that information … click below for more ↓

Council’s First Year, Part 4

2023-11-18 2023-12-02 Civic engagement / Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Publicity & CommunicationsLeave a comment

The final piece in the series in CollingwoodToday begins with an egregious error: “Collingwood’s Town Council, elected one year ago on Oct. 24, 2022, is celebrating their first year in office as a group.” Council’s first year in office began with their inauguration on Nov. 15, 2022. Before that, they had no official status. But local media, eh? Maybe I’m being too picayune to expect accuracy from them, but where TF is the editor? The final part of the series is supposed to be about how our council “look[s] toward the future.” Before I comment on their responses, to me … click below for more ↓

Council’s First Year Continued Part 3

2023-11-17 2023-12-02 Civic engagement / Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviourLeave a comment

The third part of the series in Collingwood Today asked members of council what “surprises they’ve experienced so far in their terms.” As a former councillor, I appreciate how stepping into the role for the first time is a bit of a shock; it takes a while to learn everything, everyone, all those policies, bylaws, processes, reports. And, most importantly: how to stand up to staff and represent the residents. Being on council is far more demanding, complex, and challenging than most people expect when they get into office. Right from the first meeting, councillors are expected to deal with … click below for more ↓

Council’s First Year, Part Two

2023-11-13 2023-12-02 Collingwood / Council / Ethics and behaviour / Publicity & CommunicationsOne Comment

Part two of the series in Collingwood Today about our council’s first year asked “how councillors felt this council has set itself apart from previous Collingwood councils.” As with the previous piece, the article brought more face-palming moments as some of the council tried to justify their place at the public trough. In the article, DM Fryer is quoted saying “councillors attending many more community events, such as a regular spot at the Collingwood Farmers’ Market, this time around” sets this council apart. Except, maybe not the mayor? I never saw her at the Farmers’ Market once, and I was … click below for more ↓

Council’s First Year Considered

2023-11-11 2023-11-11 Collingwood / Council / Ethics and behaviour / Planning & Policies / Publicity & CommunicationsOne Comment

I did a few facepalms while reading CollingwoodToday’s four-part piece on Collingwood Council’s first year in office. CwoodToday approached each of them with questions “about their accomplishments so far, to how this council feels they’ve set themselves apart, and to surprises they’ve experienced so far as elected officials.” No similar coverage was in the increasingly irrelevant Collingwood Connection. Given the ineffective communication techniques the town currently has to reach residents (not to mention the abysmally awkward, user-hostile website…) it is good for readers to hear from the council members themselves, although I think the reporter could have questioned them a … click below for more ↓

4.25% Tax Increase! WTF Is Council Thinking?

2023-11-08 2023-11-08 Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Financial follies / Taxes5 Comments

A story in CollingwoodToday says the latest draft of the town budget puts a 4.25% increase on property taxes for 2024! WTF is council thinking, adding more costs to residents during a period of high inflation? People are already struggling with rising costs for food, electricity (the Saunderson-privatized EPCOR got a 5.23% rate hike this fall*), gas (vehicle and natural), water, clothing, mortgages, transit, lumber, vehicles, and just about everything else. A property tax hike this size will send our already-steep rental prices soaring even more. This will be a huge burden to the most vulnerable residents: those working low-income jobs, … click below for more ↓

The Subservience of Council

2023-11-07 2023-11-07 Collingwood / Council / Ineptitude and bungling / Planning & Policies / Staff and administration / Wacky WTF ideasLeave a comment

Late last month, council was presented with a revised, six-page council-staff relations policy, which, according to the story in CollingwoodToday, “seeks to formalize how council and staff should interact with each other.” The story notes the first draft of the policy, a 14-page document, was presented to council in mid-September, but approval was deferred while councillors considered if it meant their impending emasculation.* Councillors Jeffrey and Doherty, and DM Fryer expressed concerns about the policy when it was first presented, mostly about the size it had ballooned to. Jeffery commented, pointedly, the new policy was “building walls instead of (adding) … click below for more ↓

The Affordable Housing Myth

2023-11-06 2023-11-06 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Taxes3 Comments

Let me start with a few basic, uncomfortable truths about housing. It’s a myth that municipal politicians can, without a coordinated and regional approach that includes private developers and upper-tier levels as well as stakeholders and advocates, solve anything related to housing. And even then, it requires the involvement of provincial and sometimes the federal governments (as well as possible funding from them). Affordable housing is one of the biggest and most challenging issues for municipalities across Canada. A lot of councils (or at least politicians) have jumped onto the bandwagon and waved their hands. After a few pretentious promises, … click below for more ↓

The Worst Plan for the Terminals

2023-05-15 2023-05-15 Civic engagement / Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Wacky WTF ideas4 Comments

The proposal for a 24-storey waterfront tower with condos, sticking like the proverbial sore thumb above the skyline, well higher than any building permitted by the town’s height bylaw, simply doesn’t fit. And, frankly, it’s big-city ugly. Boxy. Style-less. Drab. Collingwood deserves better. This is our historic waterfront, after all, and the building will be seen from the hills and Blue Mountain, as well as from many places in town. As a former councilor and newspaper editor/reporter, over the past three decades, I have seen many presentations and proposals about re-purposing the Collingwood Grain Terminals. I’ve seen proposals to turn … click below for more ↓

The Challenge of Citizen Engagement

2023-03-11 2023-03-11 Civic engagement / Collingwood / Council / Municipal elections / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

I recently read a good opinion piece in The Meaford Independent, titled, The Challenge of Remaining Informed & Engaged in Municipal Governance in Our Busy Modern World, In it, editor Stephen Vance opines about the difficulties of engaging the public in municipal issues and government. It’s refreshing to see an independent paper in a nation where almost all media is owned by corporations, and even more to read a salient, locally-focused editorial, something sorely lacking in our own local media (among other things).* As a former reporter and later editor of the local newspaper (when the town had a real … click below for more ↓

An Odium of Politicians

2023-03-05 2023-03-05 Collingwood / Council / Ethics and behaviour / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry2 Comments

The proper collective noun for a group of politicians is “an odium,” at least according to James Lipton in his delightful book, An Exaltation of Larks (Ultimate Edition, Penguin Books, 1993). I was thinking of how appropriate that term is, this week, when I read the odious comments from our mayor in the Connection. Odium, the Collins Dictionary tells us, means “dislike, disapproval, or hatred that people feel for a particular person, usually because of something that the person has done.” Another apt term that could be best applied to our disgraceful previous council —arguably the worst and most corrupt … click below for more ↓

Vindication At Last!

2023-02-23 2023-02-23 Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Legal issues / Local media / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry7 Comments

The headline in CwoodToday reads, “OPP concludes investigation into JI events; no charges laid.” After ten years, the OPP finally shut down the investigation that actually concluded several years ago. And even then we knew the results: no one under investigation broke any laws. Not even the Municipal Act or the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. Ten years during which innocent people were under suspicion, had their lives and work affected, were accused of wrongdoing, had reputations ruined, and suffered defamation. Why did it take so many years for the OPP to close this and clear their names? The story … click below for more ↓

The Municipal Voting Debacle

2022-11-21 2022-11-21 Collingwood / Council / Election 2022 / Legal issues / Publicity & Communications / Staff and administrationOne Comment

On voting day, Oct. 24, Collingwood’s online voting system suffered serious problems that prevented residents from voting. This happened not once, but twice in the same day. Voting had been open online and via paper ballot (at the library) since Oct. 3, but apparently many people decided to wait until the last day to vote. Yet on the last day, Oct. 24, barely an hour before voting was to close (8 p.m.), candidates received this message from Becky Dahl, Manager, Legislative Services/Deputy Clerk, in the clerk’s office (received by me at 7:03 p.m.): This notice is being posted to our … click below for more ↓