You only get what you pay for!

There was a case of vandalism in Hamilton Township on Sunday, a schoolbus had its windows smashed. But because of municipal pennypinching the victims have never seen a policeman to date. In what seems to be the norm in rural policing the incident was phoned in and a statement was taken over the phone.The police didn't have much time to look at the scene, even if they wanted to as the bus was towed away on Monday.

The way Hamilton Township is being policed may be cheaper but it certainly isn't very user friendly. Besides did the Township really get what they paid for. The Cobourg detachment was beefed up by 12 transferees, that works out to three extra on each shift, Cobourg devoted more time and attention than that.

Is the road to succession being paved?

Deputy Mayor Spooner is quietly telling the news outlets, a source in one of the news outlets confirmed this, that a "major announcement" concerning his intentions for the fall election will be issued on June 27th. Now why the big date? Perhaps that it is going to be a two part announcement: one he will be leaving and two that the senior councillor, by virtue of vote getting as opposed to longevity - Gil Brocanier, will be stepping into the shoes of the Deputy Mayor.

Such a move would obviously please the Mayor as stability will be assured. He, I am told, will be stating his intentions after his vacation in a few weeks time.

This week's happenings

Apart from the media gushing about the budgets of the local municipalities, not much else to report. But what about those budgets? It seems that the Province has made everybody look good. The County gets money for roads and bridges as well land ambulance and the Town gets R&B money too. So without doing much the Town's budget drops to 2.5% and all the pols are happy. But look a little deeper and you will find that spending has gone up 4.7% so much for frugalism! The last report had the much maligned seniors centre costing us $40,000 a year to operated and a 3% tax increase to build. I did hear that the way through Council is not quite as smooth as Councillor Brocanier thinks it is.

Another wrinkle in the Cobourg Police saga - the Acting Chief is going to retire. That leaves us with a real chief and somebody who is going to be chief. I wonder when the Board will settle this? Perhaps they are waiting for the lawyers to come back to Council, as the final approval agency, with a palateable settlement. Again more money spent to correct human foibles.

Oh to be the local MPP

One of the problems of being a local MPP is one of relevance. The fact that one sits on Parliament and acts as well as a trained seal does nothing for the reputation of being a free spirit. Take our own MPP Lou Rinaldi, as the Mayor of Brighton facing a Tory MPP he was a veritable pit bull. Arguing for more money from the Province, complaining about the Provincial rules imposed by a high-handed government and always, especially during the election campaign, implying that things would be better. So what has Lou done since he became the grand poobah at Queen's Park? Not much!, but that all changed this week when he pushed a private members bill past second reading. This bill mandates that all outdoor swimming pools must meet Provincial standards. When asked for comment he admitted that this bill will not supercede Municipal bylaws and when also asked he admitted that he knew of no Municipality that doesn't have a bylaw. So the question is asked why do we need a bill! I guess because Lou needs a legacy, the problem is that this legacy like Lou at most times is redundant.

So whose ox was gored?

Today it was reported that local businessman Stan Jarvis, of Lakeland Multitrade, wrote a letter to Council wherein he complained about the activities of local activists, Keith Oliver and Manfred Schumann. He extolled the virtues of free enterprise and asked that Council proceed full steam ahead with large projects like the Home Depot project activists be damned! Well the question being asked today was,"Is this businessman worried about the loss of big development or the loss of a big steel contract?"

Who's going to run for Council in Cobourg?

Interesting question as we now have one person who wants to be a Mayor, the real Mayor isn't saying if he wants to run again, though I do know that the 4 year term is a daunting prospect for the grandfather at the helm. But on the other hand I keep hearing rumblings that there is money for "winnable" candidates. People out there want change and some of them are willing to pay for it. So if you know of anybody who wants to run and needs sponsorship just email me and I'll pass the name on.

What's next in the papers?

The funny "truth is stranger than fiction report" is here

Another dilettante (?) researching minumum wage jobs

In 2002 Barbara Ehrenreich wrote Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, which chronicled her efforts to survive in low income America. The upshot was that she could only do it by living in her car and having two jobs. Now without being too critical and reserving judgement, we have G & M journo, Jan Wong doing the same thing.

Saturday's edition has the first of five parts describing her adventures as a "Molly Maid" paying $7.45 per hour. To give Jan credit she is doing the job properly moving her two boys and herself into a basement apartment for the month. BUT she still has the safety net of her job at the G & M.

Let's watch, with an open mind as Jan writes over the next five weeks.

Just a quick question

With the orgasmic flow of print about the "Businesswoman of the year" one wonders why are we singling out women. Surely liberated women would want to be compared to the total population when competing for business honours?

The first candidate

So the first candidate has registered to run in the Cobourg election in November. It's telling that the person has his cap set on the mayor's chair. So Mr Delanty will not have a free ride; however he may underestimate the fact that his opponent is a relatively unknown person. The protest vote now has a place to go.