The things politicians do! - a bit of Sunday fun

Last week a public unveiling pf the latest piece of art placed in a public space was unveiled and our intrepid art observer, in this case a severe critic also, was there to cover all things artistic. His review is here, not a very flattering one though but all opinions must be heard. Anybody else who wishes to provide a rebuttal - email here. But on the site was a pic just begging to be altered. I guess DM-GB was standing in for the wandering Mayor - who's been away all week doing other important mayoring stuff!

Whilst we are on a cultural kick let me introduce another facet of the BurdReport the cultural page. Contributions by our cultural critic - Wally Keeler will be presented in a very observant and fair way. Click here to see.

A bit of a fizzle

Last night's public meeting, to discuss the proposed Community Centre didn't have much of a spark. A droning performance by a consultant, a Chair who wanted to keep the meeting moving, a couple of people who asked good questions and a very good performance by Stephen Peacock, Director of Works who demonstrated why he is on the "sunshine list".

After starting late the consultant Mary, "don't forget the Catherine", Mehak ran through a PowerPoint presentation and explained the essential items like: a 2 pad arena one with 2000 seats, a mezzanine running track, rooms for seniors and youth, a double gym and a lawn bowling room all inside a 116,040 square foot building at a cost of $27.4 million.
Most people were there to hear the bits about the funding costs, a slide was presented but it didn't make too much sense to most of the older audience (the younger ones didn't figure it out either). But essentially the committee will have to do more work on explaining how the $689,700 (or was it $889,700) will compare to the existing costs. Later in the evening, in answer to a question it was revealed that the existing Jack Heenan arena will stay as ice and the Memorial arena will be converted to an indoor recreation facility that will recover all of its operating costs through user fees. However as the report is now to be sent off to the staff and reappear at Council in July there should be plenty of time to sort that stuff out.
One of the big concerns raised and was quickly put down was the early perception that there would be allocated space for specific groups inside the facility. One person, John Gear, presumably a leader of an older peoples organisation asked, "Where is the seniors space, we need more than just a small room?" Then the Koombayahs came out. Peacock stated that everybody has to learn to share and expands on the "nature of sharing", "everybody owns this place it is not a collection of group spaces." The consultant stated, "Everybody gets something!"
Bill Henry (a lawn bowler I believe) was the first up and he dominated the question period with the volume of questions. Basically he wanted to know two things: when would the public get to hear about the funding arrangements and why was the "Y" heavily involved, "In fact if you read this report it is obvious by reading it, that the Y is an integral part of the proposal - why?. Council must know that they are separate!" he asked.
The question of the lack of a swimming pool came up and the answer was "Nobody indicated a need and the "Y" didn't say that their pool was up to capacity." - oops did the swimmers not understand the process, I guess not. Someone following on also pointed out that that some people couldn't afford to go to the "Y" and stated that a municipal pool should be cheaper and therefore should be included.
Finally the last set of questions, asked by Bill Henry, "How accurate are the population projections that this proposal is based on?" That question finally stirred the lumbering elephantine personage of Councillor MacDonald who blustered his way into a rambling explanation of the housing developments (not that many) on the books and in that area of Town. concluding with, "Even the province's consultant admits that the low numbers in the County Growth Study will go up, so we will have a population to support it in 2031"
All in all an exercise in democracy for the one hundred or so people who bothered to come out, stay tuned for the next step - a Council meeting July 20th. A bit disappointing for those who wanted to hear about the funding arrangements though!

A bit of a tempest has turned up inside these pages as a result of the report of the recent raise given to the firefighters. Essentially a retired firefighter, who had the nerve to sign off with his name, made a comment about the raise being excessive and some other opinions about the workings of the present department. Predictably that elicited a response from one of the serving firefighters who questioned both the accuracy of the report of the raise and the RF's opinions. All I can say is the original report about the raise was just that, no opinion or comments about the merits of the deal or criticism of the Fire Department and those who work there, and the accuracy stands.

County Council at its most expedicious

County Council was always known in my day for leisurely sessions and long lunches. Boy have things changed. If today's meeting is any indication of how government works in the new age I'm not sure I like it. And I know Bill Finlay, Mayor Alnwick-Haldimand doesn't. First off the agenda is trimmed to the scalp, only the barest of reports of monthly or quarterly action get the eyes of the councillors, for example I never did hear how many people are on the Social Assistance rolls this month and that's a stat all councillors use to wait for. This month had no correspondence worth talking about on the agenda, there was a letter proudly passed around as it contained news of substantial funding to Social Housing. Nope the agenda was full of delegations and the bare minimum of governance bylaws. The Growth Study item was just a report on bureaucratic process and Bill Finlay stated bluntly that his municipality will not be supporting it. The presenter then retorted with the biggest news of the day, "Because the County has no planning function it cannot legally accept this report, it must receive it" Then why the heck are we spending money on it if it has no legal status at the end of the day? Especially if the members of Council have unanimously condemned the premise set out by the province as unrealistic.
In the Broadband report Bob Davey of BarrettXplornet had a PP and stated that the potential customer base was 7,279. He then went on to explain that as of yet, halfway through the build he has 193 prospective customers, and 215 people have contacted dealers and an existing customer base of 250. A far cry from the potential. But in his defense he says that it is policy not to market the program until the towers are in place. I hope so for all of the whiners about the lack of broadband this investment is looking like the GM fiasco.
The Canada Assistance Fund application was the subject of a question, "In the light of the fact that this program is designed to alleviate unemployment how many unemployed people will be put to work on this project?" The question was received by people who resembled deer caught in the headlights of a Mack truck. Mr Pyatt knew the answer - sort of, "The proposal states 13 full time people for 4 months, how many of those will be unemployed we don't know because we will be using consultants and contractors" So there you have it folks another kick in the arse for the unemployed.
In another report congratulations to Hamilton Twp residents, they picked up 153 kg per volunteer in the latest garbage pickup challenge. Either they worked really hard or the Township was full of trash!

Bizarro comes to Town

Bizarre cannot describe this move, in the Chris Garrett saga. When one gets invested by the GG it is common practise to allocate three seats plus the recipient making four. When Chris Garrett's son gets his dad's medal his grandparents and an aunt will be in the three seats, read about it here. That means someone decided that his wife won't be there, and I won't even speculate about that family discussion. But the wrinkle that puzzles all who read the story is why the Chief of Police of York Region is there instad of our Chief Paul Sweet. Why an extra seat and why LaBarge?

Just in

The overall cost of the smokies deal is 5.58% for 2009 and 4.74% for 2010. (source S.Robinson) a total of 10.05%.

Another part of the deal not mentioned!

When the Firefighters' contract was ratified on Monday DM Brocanier pronounced the deal to cost 7.5% more than the last one. However what he didn't say was that this increase was only to bring them to parity with the Police - 1st class cop = 1st class smokie. There is another cost that was not mentioned and that is the "service" increments - bonuses tacked onto the base rate for being in the service 3yrs, 6yrs and 9yrs. These bonuses originated in the Toronto police as a way to justify higher wages and the rationale being was that bonuses were necessary to stop cops from fleeing the crime-ridden streets of Toronto to the idyllic plains of suburbia. Eventually all police services have implemented the bonuses, now the smokies have decided to push for them. The cost of the bonuses has not been revealed to the BR yet but we estimate that the total package in this round was 10% increase over two years. Another nail in the coffin for support for the public services. This wage-envy is virulent in the small-business/private sector and it wants to eliminate all the goodies that the public service has. So if Council expects accolades for this contract they are mistaken in this day of forced retirements and layoffs. BTW as told to me yesterday by a member of Council the justification for not voting against it was the fact that province wide nobody has been able to stop this pattern bargaining. If you vote against the local contract you will lose at Arbitration so vote yes now and save court costs later.

County Council this morning, where the upper tier is governed in one day (per month). Highlights will be a report about the Growth Study: presumably the rubes will bitch about the small number of jobs allocated to the rurals, and the urbans will gloat that they have them all. But overall it will be a whinefest against the Province.

How much to take the pause that refreshes?Trent Hills in this story has had it with the Ferris Provincial Park. This park/conservation area has been managed by the Municipality for many years but as the province still owns it they place restrictions on the managers. The straw that broke the camel's back was a demand to help pay for a better outhouse - and it's a beaut' "It's their cookie-cutter comfort station, so the project was in excess of $300,000; we heard last it could be $500,000," Mayor Macmillan said. "This year, we're told $850,000."

I had written something in anger but,

Last night, at the news of Iggy playing silly buggers, I wrote something that would have offended most people, best of all my liberal friends. Basically it was a commentary about the folly of trying to prove who's got the biggest ego, opinion and other male appendages and attributes. If anybody is supporting an election call on Friday they must be stark raving mad, and that's my last comment on it.

Remember this, the hole in a brand new street? Well there is a good reason, and there had to be one to get around the "5 year rule" - no digging on a newly paved street for five years. All homeowners, contractors and other interested parties are asked before the road is closed about future hookups and other works that require a hole, any thing after that has to wait 5 years. The reason was simple - the Gas Company, notorious for ripping up streets, had reported a gas leak. A week after the paving, an old gas line ruptured and the street was dug up to locate it.

Now here is a very interesting idea. contract the size of Towns and Cities for urban efficiency. This article describes a movement, that has actually started to bulldoze unused houses in suburbia, reduce the service area and save money in the delivery of municipal services. Should make some planners think about current dogma about expanding areas for "growth".

Are you atwitterin' and shakin' just waiting for Iggy?

A couple of bits of local stuff first. This is all we have to show for a promise of $29 million - a drawing. But we can have more. On Thursday at Vic Hall the consultants and, presumably, the full Council will be there to present another prep session for the yokels with a presentation from the consultants. Hopefully they have more than a Power Point presentation and are prepared to face the first full session of questions from a yet to be convinced population.

One of the stimulus programmes is called the "Community Adjustment programme" and is based on the level of unemployment in any area. The premise being that if there are unemployed people there should be a programme to put them back to work. Well in its wisdom the County of Northumberland has discovered this programme (I guess that's why we pay Bill Payett the big bucks) and has decided to apply for some funds and hopefully use them to put people back to work. But in an obscene corruption of the guidelines the County has applied for funds to build a new landfill cell at the Brighton Dump. How many people will be put back to work by doing this, it a highly mechanised project and all of the heavy equipment operators and sewer workers are already back to work, so how many unemployed workers will benefit from this application?

Decision day for Iggy. Today is the day that opposition leader Michael Ignattief will declare if the Libs will vote non-confidence. He has backed himself into a corner and twisted himself around more than a ripe pretzel [enough enough - ed]. Locally no signs of heated campaign emails. the dippers all received an email from the party prez saying that an election could be coming send us more money but no serious stuff yet. Pundits figure Iggy on backing down, my money is on Bloc MPs not being around for the vote and Iggy not getting his numbers. National News Watch has put up the first of many stories to come about Iggy's moves, this one (in French) says that 'reliable sources' say no election!

A stimulating essay bound to be dismissed by the blockheads who will first read who wrote it! here An essay by Ian Brown of the G&M about the relevance of traditional Marxism in todays reality.

"Democracy isn't voting it's the counting!" Tom Stoppard from the play "Jumpers" Iran has certainly played up to that quote. All week the West has been trumpeting how close the election is and now the 'official' results claim that the incumbent has won by a thumping majority. Here's the first commentary on the numbers in the Iran election,

And the experts said it would not happen. In this era of biometrics and enhanced passport identification all was supposed to go smoothly at the border. But this story tells of a woman who was pulled aside and asked to strip because of her name. Canadian Border Officials will not explain the case or issue an apology but does admit that the woman was mixed up by an identical birthdate of a criminal in the system. So much for the enhanced stuff when the bullies at the border still rely on old technology!

Well worth the wait. Rented, in what must be the bargain of the year - $3.99 for two nights from Blockbuster, "Gran Torino" Clint Eastwood's latest movie. Nominated for an Oscar but not arriving anywhere near the podium, this movie is a traditional bad guy redeems himself to good guy. I enjoyed it but then I always enjoy the hokey complete tale.

Lots of grandparents DownTown this morning and this was a good place to take a rest from the pleas, "can I get my face painted?", "I want to try the jumping castle" as any. The act after Washboard Hank, on the centre stage was this guy - a magician with just enough skills to capture the attention of many kids. Good clean fun and a fine morning to boot. No rain and just enough sunshine for comfort. We enjoyed it.

I couldn't find my tools; are they under the street?,

What's the story here? Three weeks after paving the street someone has dug it up again. Haven't phoned the Town yard to find out the real reason but I'm sure we can come up with lots of speculation: "I had to look for my tools, I couldn't find them after the Havelock St job!"
Seriously though this has to be a major problem for somebody. The street will never be the same, and only after three weeks.

Hamilton Twp pols are POd and they deserve to look beyond that. In fact if any of them had a semblance of political sense they would be scurrying into amalgamation talks as soon as possible. But that would mean that these little gatekeepers would have to give up their fiefdoms. The sooner they realise that you can't be a rural Twp and rely mainly on the urbans for the running costs. the better. If the residents demand to be left alone on their rural manors and demand urban services without any base to a working economy then the governing structure has to change. Despite Cllr Marston's whine about "amalgamation through the back door" it is going to happen. But realistic change will not happen until Pat McCourt becomes Mayor. Growth is not going to come to places that cannot provide jobs. Lower taxes can only be achieved by expanding the tax base, you don't do that with horse farms and weekend hideaways so if Ham Twp wants in on the action there is only one word - amalgamation!

It looks as though the traditionalists lost and the folks pushing for transparency won. This little ad has caused great consternation among the local Libs as they debated the merits of placing it.
Some wanted to demonstrate openness and a new way of doing business and others, mainly the incumbents, took the position that the ad laid them prone to attack by pin-headed fools who would say, "Those guys couldn't find a candidate and they had to advertise for one!". Well I can assure them, the pinheads from the right, that the Libs, because they smell victory by about 1100 votes, have all kinds of people are coming out of the woodwork - sniffing a winner. And, I'll bet the bank on the fact that the candidate doesn't come out of a newspaper ad.


Holy Crap we're getting older, a video of that refrain here on the video page