Category: Rebuttal

Letter from a Downtown Business re Safety Concerns: A real community debate has emerged from this latest post on CobourgNews. The 94 comments, (as at 0945hrs 20th March) reveal a few common threads. The prevailing opinion by looking at the ‘thumbs’ up or down, is that the hardline taxfighters (clean ’em up people) on the...

A long Debate on Balder CIP: A Community Improvement Plan or CIP is a tool that allows a municipality to direct funds and implement policy initiatives toward a specifically defined project area. Section 28 of the Planning Act gives municipalities that have enabling policies in their official plans, the ability to prepare Community Improvement Plans. Cobourg over...

“Affordable Housing” is an exercise in irony (Irony , feigned ignorance), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected). The reason we say this is because when most people hear the term ‘affordable housing’ they think of ‘rent...

A look at the Budget The Municipal Budget sets the tone and direction for the Town. Completed each year this is probably the only time most of the Town pays attention to Council. 2023 will go down as the year of the “big tax hike”. As pointed out here the advertised tax increase is not...

The new Mayor has dug himself a bigger hole for himself with the Council meeting of 28 Feb. In that meeting two item’s,  illustrate the political problem he has created for himself. Prior to the meeting the problem of a Council ‘split’ emerged due to his comments made at a protest about the proposed Council...

Sleeping Cabins update The discussion about the homeless problem in Cobourg has been going on for about forty years. Since a long-departed woman called Deedee Bedard camped her tent in front of Victoria Hall during the 1985 Municipal election. A motion was accepted and passed to establish a “Municipal Housing Authority” by the incoming Council...

Waterfront Parking Survey Results There are historically a couple of topics that inflame the Citizens’ opinions, one of them is the topic of Parking and Parking Fees. Councils have wrestled with the problem of parking for decades and none of the solutions offered has satisfied the majority enough to sway public opinion and that is...

Last year for community grants Community Grants (CGs) – perhaps the last connection between the local government and the Citizens. Often a last resort for cash and mostly a supplication to Council to reduce the payback for using Council owned facilities. Awarding CGs is an onerous task for the people assigned to deliver them. There...

In the Cobourg News we have a summary of the second Budget Review day. This day was supposed to be the day that the Mayor would make his stand on cutting services to reduce the tax rate. Looking at the additions to the list of next year’s expenses – centennial pool, trees, beach mat and...

County looking at Northumberland Police Force, Every few years this old chestnut appears – just like a zombie the idea of a County/Regional Police Service refuses to die. The idea may succeed this time, the proponents – the people in short pants ( those Councillors with no or little experience of local politics) have proposed...