Development & Growth – Page 3

The Block do it to themselves. Again.

Some readers may be tired of me pointing out how dim-witted The Block on our council are, how little they understand, how little they know, how they dislike reading and learning, how they don’t understand even simple consequences of their actions and how they always blame others for their mistakes and their destructive acts. So this post, let’s let a couple of them do it themselves. In this piece it will be Deputy Mayor Brian Saunderson and his lickspittle Councillor Bob Madigan. The headline on the Collingwood Connection piece reads, “Collingwood council wants reason for Clearview’s exit from airport board.” Well like ……… click below for more ↓

EPCOR and The Block’s Big Lie

2017-11-27 2022-05-25 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Ethics and behaviour / Publicity & Communications / Staff and administration / Utilities: electricity and waterLeave a comment

For all their evils and their wrongs, the Soviets did some things very well: propaganda and disinformation. As one writer commented in the Spectator, “Communist ideology dismissed the idea of truth as a bourgeois construct. What mattered was power; and you baptised as truth those doctrines which provided it.” Stalin defined truth as what he said it was. The Soviets were such masters at it from an early stage that George Orwell declared that history stopped in 1936; after that there was only propaganda. So good were they at it that their methods and techniques were copied by other states ……… click below for more ↓

The Block are privatizing our public assets

2017-09-30 2017-10-05 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Ethics and behaviour / Planning & Policies / Staff and administration / Taxes / User fees and costsLeave a comment

So Brian and his Block minions want to sell our airport. Our publicly-owned asset. And they’re doing it without even the pretence of the courtesy to tell us why. No public input, no public engagement, no open discussion over it. In the flaccid Connection story, it notes, In November, 2016, deputy mayor Brian Saunderson asked Clearview Township Deputy Mayor Barry Burton if his municipality was interested in taking over operation of the airport. As usual, the slavish local media drool over their buddy Brian, but cleverly neglect to point out that Saunderson is neither the spokesperson for the town (and ……… click below for more ↓

Brian just keeps bashing our hospital

2017-09-11 2017-09-11 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Hospital3 Comments

I see DM Saunderson continues his assault on our hospital with his motion on the upcoming Sept. 11 council agenda: Whereas the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital has received information from the Ministry providing additional comments regarding their redevelopment submission; And Whereas Council is concerned this information may be of serious significance and impact on healthcare provision in the future; Therefore be it resolved that Council herein request comments directly from the Ministry regarding the Hospital’s Phase 1A and 1B redevelopment submissions. But apparently he is unaware the answers have already been posted on the hospital’s website. They’ve been there ……… click below for more ↓

Why are they called The Block?

2017-09-09 2017-09-09 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Ethics and behaviourOne Comment

Seven members of our council are collectively referred to as “The Block” in common parlance. A fitting nickname for a group that includes its leader, the deputy mayor, Brian Saunderson, his five core minions (all newly elected to council this term), and one veteran wannabe (nicknamed the “pledge” in frat house terms). Most folks assume they are called The Block because they vote as a block. Once Brian raises his hand, the rest raise theirs like obedient little puppets. No need to think, no need to question, analyze or debate: they do what they’ve been told. For which they are ……… click below for more ↓

Taking credit for the work of others

2017-08-17 2017-08-17 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Planning & Policies / TaxesOne Comment

A short while ago, I received an unsolicited email from the interim (and soon to be departing) CAO, John Brown, with the subject, “Ideas. Observations. Musings . Opinions . Facts ?” (yes, written just like that…). Although he says he never reads my blog, it inspired me to write this post. He wrote (copied in its original form and punctuation): I was wondering if you might be interested in the towns (sic) recent building permits statistics reflective of highly positive growth in the tax base during the recent past ? As you are aware from your time on council our financial position has ……… click below for more ↓

The Block killed the hospital. They MUST all resign. Now.

2017-05-08 2017-05-11 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Hospital2 Comments

The actions of The Block and the town’s administration have resulted in the Collingwood General & Marine Hospital losing its chance for redevelopment. The province didn’t include funding for the local proposal in its budget. The next opportunity for such funding will be at least a decade away, if one ever comes along. If any of these people have even a shred of decency, of honour, they will all resign immediately. If any of these people felt even a twinge of shame for misleading the community while they pursued their own personal – and very destructive – agendas, they would ……… click below for more ↓

The DM’s height of hypocrisy

2017-05-04 2017-05-05 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / HospitalLeave a comment

There’s a story in this week’s Connection with the misleading headline, “Town asks hospital for public meeting”. The online version has it as “Collingwood asks hospital for public meeting.” Neither is correct. The “town” wants nothing of the sort. The mayor – who speaks for the town – has never expressed that on behalf of council. Actually, she voted against the request. But the real headline is buried in the opening: “Collingwood’s deputy mayor wants council and the hospital to put out a united front on the redevelopment plan.” Well, it’s clear to see why the Connection is being called ……… click below for more ↓

Another imaginary roadblock for the hospital

2017-04-22 2017-04-22 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Hospital5 Comments

In the April 24 addendum to the agenda there is a report by the interim CAO about the hospital redevelopment you should read. It seems another council hissy fit is in the making. Your first question should be: why is the interim CAO writing and signing a report that ought to come from the planning department? It’s a planning issue – was the planning department reluctant to submit it? Didn’t agree with the conclusions? It’s a political document and written in political language. Perhaps no one in the department felt they should take ownership of it. Planning issues should be ……… click below for more ↓

Council continues to attack the hospital

2017-03-29 2017-03-30 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Hospital6 Comments

If I had the choice between spending eight hours in a dentist’s chair having oral surgery without anaesthetic and spending two hours in a council meeting listening to the bureaucratic bullshit, the administration’s unfocused mumbling and meandering, the councillors’ self-justifying, self-aggrandizing, self-righteous grandstanding, boasting, empty platitudes, and argumentative whining palaver, after last night, I’ll choose the dentist’s chair any time. It’s less painful. That’s because Monday night I spent two hours in an audience of more than 325 people listening to council trying to justify its war on our hospital, simply to support The Block’s shrunken base of supporters, all ……… click below for more ↓

GIS for CGMH

2017-03-05 2017-03-05 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Hospital / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

I wanted to give you a graphic comparison for your consideration. It’s one you can do for yourself with very little effort – so little in fact, that even The Block could do it. If, that is, they had any interest in doing something that might challenge their rigid ideology. Or take their attention away from their witch hunts for even a nanosecond. But you, dear reader, are smarter than they are, and I can sense you are already intrigued. So let’s get started. Open your web browser and go over to Simcoe County’s map site at maps.simcoe.ca/public and zoom ……… click below for more ↓

EPCOR’s rate hikes create unrest

2017-02-07 2017-02-07 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Taxes / User fees and costs / Utilities: electricity and waterOne Comment

It seems EPCOR isn’t the most beloved utility service out there, despite the glowing comments the interim CAO made to staff recently. I was given a recording of his hour-long talk (aka sales pitch) for EPCOR and I can only say I hope no one listening fell for it (I’ll review his talk in another post). Despite his stumbling blandishments, EPCOR’s management style isn’t all that popular. And if you do some searching for unflattering news stories about the corporation, you can find the following online: Global News had this one on Feb. 2, 2017: Tabor took back their water ……… click below for more ↓

The Block torpedoes the hospital, again

2017-01-28 2017-01-28 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Planning & Policies2 Comments

When their sole-sourced consultant’s report failed to give The Block the high ground to oppose the Collingwood General & Marine Hospital’s redevelopment plan, the weasels on council and in the administration decided to undermine the hospital from a different direction. And they hired another consultant. That’s right: wasting $30,000 of your hard-earned tax dollars on one sole-sourced consultant to “peer review” the CG&M’s already peer-reviewed report wasn’t enough. So they hired a second consultant because the first didn’t say what The Block wanted. How much that second consultant cost taxpayers has not yet been revealed. The first consultant’s report just ……… click below for more ↓

Collingwood Council’s missed initiatives

2017-01-15 2017-01-15 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Planning & Policies / Publicity & Communications / Taxes / User fees and costs / Utilities: electricity and waterLeave a comment

The word initiative derives from the Latin word initiare “to begin.” Since 1600, it has meant “introduce to some practice or system,” “begin, set going.” While any sort of action or engagement, positive or negative, can be classified as an initiative, generally one refers only to positive enterprises when describing political or social initiatives. I know, I know: you immediately want to interrupt and say, “but Ian, The Block don’t do anything positive, and you cannot talk about a council’s initiatives when none have occurred.” I agree, but bear with me. It’s true that, when measuring the positive actions begun ……… click below for more ↓

I used to like him; not so much now…

2016-11-27 2016-11-27 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Municipal Politics / Politics3 Comments

Back in the ’70s when he ran for mayor and we both lived in Toronto, I voted for John Sewell. And when he won, I was a big supporter of his human-scale policies and planning, and enjoyed his youthful vigour and vision. Now, not so much. Sure, he’s a smart, well-spoken, erudite man with a long list of credentials. But he’s also wrong. At least about one issue: our hospital. Sewell and Collingwood resident Karina Dahlin (former Editor, executive communications, the Hospital for Sick Children, according to LinkedIn) wrote an opinion piece for TVO’s online magazine titled, “Health care gaps: ……… click below for more ↓