Collingwood – Page 15

Are facts inflammatory?

Inflammatory is the word I was told the Connection used this week in rejecting an ad by mayoral candidate John Trude*. That ad challenged some of the claims of one of his opponents by stating what actually happened at council this term in four areas: open and accountable government, the hospital redevelopment, working together with our municipal neighbours and sole-source contracts on major expenditures. All of Trude’s comments are backed up by facts taken from the media, town agendas and town staff. Take for example, sole sourcing. You may recall back in 2014 that deputy-mayor candidate Brian Saunderson promised when ……… click below for more ↓

Robocalls and smear campaigns

2018-09-30 2018-09-30 Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Election 2018Leave a comment

Have you received the robocall yet? Many Collingwood residents have, and every one I’ve spoken to thinks they are in appallingly bad taste. And they are right. It starts out pretending to be a survey asking who you will vote for in the municipal campaign, but after three questions it turns into a nasty attack ad against mayoral candidate John Trude. As nasty as the candidate for whose campaign it was created. How low, how cheap and immature a tactic this smear campaign is. Well, not inexpensive – these are a huge campaign expense for a small-town candidate. But money ……… click below for more ↓

My answers to AWARE Simcoe

2018-09-24 2018-09-24 Collingwood / Council / Election 2018 / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

Candidates throughout Simcoe County were sent a series of questions by AWARE Simcoe, which describes itself as “…a citizens’ group with members in all Simcoe County municipalities as well as in Barrie and Orillia. We work to protect water, the environment and health through transparency and accountability in government.” I have included the questions and my responses, below. 1. Water is a finite resource. Do you feel there is a need to protect water, wetlands and recharge areas from development, aggregate extraction and other intrusive activities in your municipality? If so, how will you achieve this? ANSWER I currently sit ……… click below for more ↓

Ten points on affordable housing

2018-09-23 2018-09-23 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Planning & Policies / TaxesOne Comment

I was invited, along with the other candidates for this municipal election, to address residents at Rupert’s Landing this week. Each candidate was provided a list of ten questions and given three minutes to respond to one of them. I will comment on the other nine in a future post, but for now, I wanted to talk about question two, which I chose to answer: There is insufficient affordable housing in Collingwood. What are your plans for increasing affordable housing for low-income adults? Three minutes is a very short time in which to address a complex, challenging issue. I had ……… click below for more ↓

Red light cameras for Collingwood?

2018-09-19 2018-09-19 Collingwood / Council / Election 2018 / Planning & Policies / Staff and administrationLeave a comment

A small but very irate number of residents have broached with me the topic of installing red light cameras at Collingwood’s traffic intersections. I hadn’t really thought about it – except to acknowledge that traffic seems to be getting busier. I’ve seen traffic backed up for 500-1,000m at numerous intersections in town – even on weekday afternoons, and seen it enough times to recognize it is the future here. More cars means an increase in the number of bad, inattentive or aggressive drivers will also go up. Although I don’t know if the percentage remains the same, the number of ……… click below for more ↓

Time and conflicts in mayoral politics

2018-09-17 2018-09-17 Collingwood / Council / Election 2018 / Entitlement / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

Being a mayor today, even in a small town like Collingwood, takes time. A lot of time. Time that working people are hard pressed to find in their busy days. I know from the experience of three terms that even councillors who work cannot attend every meeting, every event, every activity they are invited to. Mayors have to be on call, doing town business and dealing with residents’ calls during every day, and many, many evenings. Even on weekends they have little to no free time outside their mayoral duties. They have to attend meetings with staff, with residents, local associations, ……… click below for more ↓

The campaign’s moral compass

2018-09-15 2018-09-15 Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Election 2018 / EntitlementLeave a comment

Every politician – in fact, every human – has a personal moral compass that helps guide the way they act, debate and vote in office. While a politician’s may not be the same as the compass that they use as civilians, as family members, as employees, or as a friend, it operates similarly to direct their actions. For some, their moral compass is a strong internal force that is the same regardless of circumstance or role. For them being a politician is not morally or ethically different from being a member of the community, from being in a service club, ……… click below for more ↓

My answers to residents: 5

2018-09-14 2018-09-14 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Planning & Policies / TaxesLeave a comment

This is a somewhat edited response to a resident who asked about a splash pad. The resident also commented that, “As nice as Collingwood is, we feel that this town is falling behind the times compared to other towns close by and the advancements they have achieved.” Here’s in part my reply: Yes, we need a splash pad here. The WaterFront Master Plan has a proposal for one at Harbourview Park (along with a winter skating trail) for about $3.6 million. See here: http://www.collingwood.ca/files/2016-11-09%20Collingwood%20Waterfront%20Master%20Plan%20Final%20Report.pdf I have not had the opportunity to discuss this plan with the current PRC director, Dean ……… click below for more ↓

My answers to ACO

2018-09-13 2018-09-13 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Local history / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

The following questions came from the local chapter of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO). They were sent to all mayoral and deputy-mayoral candidates, but I am unsure whether council candidates also got them. My responses are below. The questions were preceded by this: Questions regarding Collingwood’s Heritage Members of the Collingwood Branch of the ACO have prepared the following questionnaire to ascertain candidates’ positions on a number of important issues regarding the future of one of our town’s most valuable resources – our historic architecture and cultural heritage. Once compiled, your responses will be posted to our Facebook site. ……… click below for more ↓

My answers to SOS

2018-09-08 2018-09-08 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Ethics and behaviour / Hospital / Planning & Policies / Publicity & Communications / TaxesLeave a comment

The following questions were sent to all candidates by the local citizen’s group, Save Our Shoreline (SOS). These are my answers, below. I have formatted my response for better online reading. The questions are in italics. 1.) In order of priority how would you rank the top five (5) priorities for the Town of Collingwood over the next 4 years? Financial sustainability. We cannot build, we cannot create, we cannot start new projects if we cannot afford them – and we have to keep the impact on the taxpayers at a minimum and reduce town spending (but not to lower ……… click below for more ↓

More traffic woes

2018-09-05 2018-09-05 Collingwood / Council / Election 2018 / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

Another place we need a traffic signal in Collingwood is at Third and High. On busy days – and there are many more of them now than ever – it’s almost impossible to turn left from Third onto High Street. Today, for example, while I was driving around town, I found myself one of eight cars lined up waiting for the first one to turn left. Even turning right into oncoming traffic at that intersection is difficult because of the volume and speed of the traffic. There is currently a light at the Home Depot entrance, but that only operates ……… click below for more ↓

Water: Our most precious resource

2018-09-04 2018-09-05 Collingwood / Council / Election 2018 / Utilities: electricity and water2 Comments

Did you know there were water restrictions in Collingwood this summer? No? Well, there were. And that underscores the vulnerability of our community to climate change when a community situated on the Great Lakes has water restrictions. The notice on the town’s web page said we were “experiencing drier than usual conditions” this summer – without explaining what “usual” conditions means, and whether the condition still applies. Well, the failure of communications this term and the need to communicate better and more effectively next term is the stuff for another post. This one is about water. The Ontario Ministry of ……… click below for more ↓

Internet voting this election

2018-09-02 2018-09-02 Collingwood / Council / Election 2018Leave a comment

This election will see Collingwood’s first use of internet and phone voting (the latter includes both smartphone and your bog-standard touch-tone phone). Eligible voters will be mailed a PIN early in October, and voting will be open Oct. 12, with the final tally on Oct. 22. Before you vote, however, you need to make sure you’re on the voters’ list (you can do that here). Collingwood town hall has a full page on the process here. I’m torn about the online method. On one hand it offers opportunities to engage voters through the convenience and ease of online access, and ……… click below for more ↓

Traffic lights on Highway 26

2018-09-01 2018-09-01 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018Leave a comment

After looking at the increased volume of traffic on Highway 26 in the recent weeks, I have become convinced we need a set of signal lights between the Pretty River Parkway and the Blue Shores/Pilkington lights. I suggest Elliot Street might be the best location, although that would have to be confirmed by local residents. I don’t know how anyone can turn left from any of the streets along the water side when the highway is that busy. It’s hard enough trying to turn right into the traffic flow – there are so many cars travelling so quickly there’s hardly ……… click below for more ↓

Heritage icon or white elephant?

2018-08-24 2018-09-18 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Local history / Planning & PoliciesOne Comment

Everyone recognizes the Collingwood terminals, one of the iconic (albeit unused) grain elevators on the Great Lakes, but it is actually the fourth on our waterfront. The first three were wooden; the first one was built in 1855 and burned in 1862, the second was built in 1871 and also burned down (date unknown); the replacement third was demolished in 1937. (I’ve got pictures of the first and third, but not the second – although I have seen an early photo showing two elevators on the waterfront together). Built in 1929, the existing elevators heralded a new era for Collingwood ……… click below for more ↓