On Safety
As we reach the beginning of the voting period, I wanted to talk about safety in Middlesex Centre, and specifically Ward 4. Over the next 10 years there is going to be a great deal of road reconstruction happening. We have an infrastructure funding gap of roughly $42,000,000 worth of infrastructure repairs that need to be addressed as soon as possible, and roughly another $43,000,000 worth of infrastructure repairs that need to be addressed over the next 10 years. In that infrastructure there will no doubt be roads that need to be repaired and rebuilt. I asked municipal staff recently
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All-Candidates Meeting Videos
The Ward 4 All-Candidates Meeting happened on October 16! Unfortunately the live stream wasn’t flawless, but you can watch a good chunk of what happened over on Livestream.com. Since we used my free account to make this work, you will need to register for your own Livestream.com account in order to view the videos. Click here to register and watch. I hope this gives you a glimpse of what we can do at council. All we had last night was my smartphone and a 3G data connection. If we had a proper camera that was wired in to the municipal
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On Bill 8 and the Ombudsman
I will make one thing very clear: I like the Ombudsman, Andre Marin. I like his outspokenness, I like his style. What I don’t like is that Middlesex Centre does not utilize the Ombudsman’s services for closed meeting investigations. Every municipality must have a closed meeting investigator. When the provincial government mandated this, as told me to by Mayor Edmondson and the incumbent, Middlesex Centre chose John Maddox (and his firm JGM Consulting). The rationale? According to the Mayor… “…the main reason that both the County of Middlesex and Middlesex Centre chose not to go with the Ombudsman at that
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On Communication
Almost every time I speak to someone about my campaign for Councillor of Ward 4, especially when canvassing, I talk about communication. Middlesex Centre does occasionally sending out the CentreLine, a small feel-good pamphlet about things happening around the municipality. It’s mostly fluff though – the last one talked about the new splash pad, public skating rates at the arena, etc. Where’s the newsletter or pamphlet about the serious stuff? Where are the public announcements (other than the website) about public participation meetings? Where is the easy-to-access mechanism for feedback on things like new subdivisions, or to see how your
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What’s your position on Arva Fire Hall?
This is a question I’ve been hearing a lot lately, especially since closing Arva Fire Hall was just put to a vote last week. My understanding is that a decision was deferred for a year, which I was thankful to hear, but it also means I’ll be voting on it if I’m elected Councillor. So to make my position very clear, I’m posting it publicly. I took the time to read the staff report and recommendations. While I tend to appreciate the effort that staff and consultants put into such reports, I must say that I cannot bring myself to agree
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“Do you have any signs?”
The more people I talk to, the more frequently I hear the question, “Do you have any signs?” I’m flattered that people are asking, but for several reasons the answer is, “Sorry, I don’t.” Here’s why. My platform includes talk of fiscal responsibility. It is something I truly believe in, especially when you are spending other people’s money. We have all seen too often, whether here in Middlesex Centre or around the province, just how easy it is to be flippant with funds provided by others. When I talk of fiscal responsibility, I am talking about how I treat my own money,
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Planning Notice Signs
I would like to discuss an issue that falls under the Communication portion of my platform, that being planning notice signs. We see these fairly often around Middlesex Centre. There is one in Ilderton right now in a field at the corner of Hyde Park Rd and Ilderton Rd. They vary in size depending on the size of the land affected, serve to notify us that the existing zoning for a parcel of land may soon change, and that you can contact the municipality if you would like more information. But for such an important piece of communication between the
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Comments on Development Charges Study
Last Wednesday there was a public participation meeting at 4pm in Middlesex Centre Council chambers. Unfortunately only two members of the public (including myself) and one member of the press were able to make the meeting, but a consultant named Andrew from Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. was on-hand to give a presentation of the background study, its conclusions, and a proposed development charge bylaw to replace the existing bylaw. The most important takeaway from the proposed bylaw is that Middlesex Centre will move from varied development charges in Ilderton, Ilderton West, Komoka, Kilworth and Delaware to a single, uniform development
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Campaign Website Launch
Hello, and welcome to my Ward 4 Councillor campaign website! I am eager to get started and meeting more people in Komoka and Kilworth, and I hope you will feel free to ask me questions about my campaign, platform, and any issues that are important to you. As the campaign rolls on I will talk here about recent decisions at council, and the campaign itself. I will soon start canvassing and hope to meet you at your front door, out and about in the communities, or after setting up a meeting. Together, through discussion and good information, we can all work
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