The Sunday, March 4 edition of Clarington This Week headline: "Clarington residents may see 8.89 percent tax hike".As the municipality grows so quickly, so grows the need for funding of all those new arenas, ice pads, recreational facilities that were approved over the last two council terms. Also the great residential growth without corresponding industrial/commercial growth over all those years has resulted in a horrible 91/9% tax split. 91% of tax revenue comes from homeowners and only 9% from businesses. So the addition of $100,000 to an economic development reserve fund seems to be a necessity. Besides attracting more industrial and commercial development, which will have the added benefit of adding badly needed jobs to the mix, we must also stop mollycoddling the development industry with low development charges, or waiving them altogether when it's not necessary. When approving all those subdivisions, the town must charge development fees that will support and sustain infrastructure needed for the increased population. Increasing DC's won't scare the residential developers away. They have the land and they want to build, more and more and more. Or perhaps a discount could be given for green development. Not just in name, but actual green development that will benefit us all in the long run. But growth just for the sake of growth has to be curbed or made to pay for itself.
One concern I do have with this budget is the $86,000 reduction to the municipal advertising budget. This means that the municipality will only advertise the information and notices it is required to by law (such as public meetings, for example). Now don't get me wrong - I was no fan of the "Mayor's Corner" which seemed to be of no real benefit to the municipality. I'm glad Mayor Abernethy has not continued that silly little goody. However, by not keeping that space for local group community event announcements, those groups will have to increase their grant requests from the municipality to cover those costs. OR they won't be able to advertise at all and the entire municipality loses out in that case. Take, for example, the Clarington Museum Board's ads when they have new exhibits or programs open to the public. Must they increase their advertising budget now, or will we simply miss out on all these opportunities? Or the community happenings at the Clarington Older Adult Association? Or Big Brothers/Sisters, Lakeridge Health, etc? Advertising once a week in the Orono Weekly Times and Canadian Statesman, and possibly a bit more in Clarington This Week isn't something I would have cut back on. Maybe a little (Mayor's corner is gladly gone and not missed), but not sticking to a maximum of 1/2 page for each ad. There may be more some weeks than others, and why not use whatever space is needed each week? Some weeks may need only 3/4 of a page, or 1/2 page. Others may need a full page due to events or the number of required ads. I just wonder about the wisdom of making this such a structured by-law rather than simply cutting a specific amount and going with the flow. A little more flexibility might have been a better move.
Grants will be done tomorrow morning at the GP&A meeting. That will be an interesting exercise. Some groups seem to just increase their grant requests because last year maybe they didn't get as much as they asked for. So if they increase the amount requested and get the same percentage of that amount, they will get what they originally wanted. While most of the requests seem reasonable, a few always seem a bit outrageous, and I hope they have to justify those amounts to Council. Many of these groups should look to doing more of their own fundraising instead of depending on Council for funding.
This Council has to deal with increased costs to the municipality but have to try to be fair to the taxpayer too. There are certain areas where the money will do more good than others. Lakeridge Health Bowmanville is one area. They are raising a lot of money on their own for badly needed hospital upgrades and improvements. But they have now asked Council for a substantial amount of financial help - Hospital requests $2 million from Municipality (over the next 4 years) - and I for one would be willing to pay a few more dollars a year to have those hospital improvements instead of more staffing for "Total Hockey" or giving ever-larger grants to local groups who could do a little fund-raising on their own.
I may sound harsh, but remember that this council has to make some difficult decisions. I'm sure they would love to give each and every group the full amount of their grant request, but that is not possible. And remember that on top of our 8.89% tax hike from the municipality, we will also have the big regional portion added on to our tax bill. And user fees. We have education taxes. Then we have of course provincial taxes and federal taxes. It all comes from the same taxpayer, and that is us.
Yes let's give the hospital the money it needs. We all need it or will need it at some point, and we need to be assured of first class treatment and facilities. They need to address the wait times issues too and expanding the ER is one way of doing so in that department.
ReplyDeleteDelegations were interesting today with 3 speaking on the elect the chair issue. Council didn't seem any more receptive than they have been in the past. I don't get why they don't want to hold a public meeting to let the residents talk. Are they afraid of something? No skin off their collective noses if they were to let people speak. There are smarter people than them in this municipality, but they don't want to hear their thoughts. This is frightening, and it's only the beginning of a very long 4 year term. I fear we may have made some errors in our election. This bunch doesn't even care about democracy. They openly reject it. I'd like to know why. That's a good enough reason alone to hold a public meeting!
ReplyDeleteI am outraged that this council doesn't feel we have anything of value to say to them. By refusing the public meeting request they're pretty much slapping us in the face, saying, "what you have to say doesn't matter. We know better than you do and you have nothing of value for us. You couldn't possibly understand the intracacies of the problem."
ReplyDeleteWell I have news for them. They are the ones who don't understand. They obviously don't understand democracy. They obviously don't care what we have to say. They take the votes at election time and then shit on us. Well, maybe they're right, at least about those who elected the closed-minded group who are denying us our due process. I guess we are too stupid since we elected them, including the Mayor. I, for one, won't make that mistake again and will campaign "vehemently" against those 4 in the next election.
At least 4 council members, including the mayor, are not very bright. All they had to do was agree to setting up a public meeting(s) to hear what the mainstream taxpayers have to say. By denying this, they have set them selves up for a long and protracted battle with residents as this will not go away.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid that even if they do hold a public meeting, they won't really be listening. Oh, I think Woo and Hooper and Robinson will at least listen, but the others have so made up their minds and are so VEHEMENT about it that they won't lower themselves off their high horses to listen to the peons who elected them. Optics are pretty bad.
I will be writing to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and will let him know that although our local council was asked over and over and over again to listen to their electors, they have refused, and that their vehement opposition to Bill 172 is their own, and not the choice of the people who elected them. That steps should be taken to change the Municipal Act to ensure that on issues of governance or other major issues before municipal councils, public meetings would be mandatory. If they won't do it themselves, maybe the public can lobby Provincial government to ensure they are forced to listen to us.
ReplyDeleteI would encourage all interested Clarington residents to write to the Province regarding this Council's unabashed refusal to listen to the people they are supposed to serve. Let them know that WE strongly support Bill 172, and that we also support Regional Council's decision to support that same bill.
Yes it will make our Council look foolish but they deserve it.
I'm writing to the Ministry too. And to a couple of newspaper columnists, including Globe & Mail guy who wrote about Durham being the "bastard child of the 905". He'll love this one. Star and Globe and local letters. Whoever said this won't go away was right. It won't. Not if I have anything to say about it.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't even that excited about electing the chair. But this is so much bigger. This is a true democratic deficit in Clarington. I'm angry. The procedure is even more important than the original issue.
An email campaign has apparently started and I do not envy the Clarington Councillors who voted to not allow the public to speak. Or the mayor who flip-flopped with no good reason and no explanation, and then to add insult to injury decided to deny holding the requested public meeting for taxpayers who want to debate this issue for a final conclusion.
ReplyDeleteIf all the facts I have received are true (and I will research them to be sure), then woe is this council and mayor for their short-sightedness and dictator style of governing.
Council seems to really not understand. Thank you to the three who do seem to care what the public has to say, and shame on the other four. This is a decision that should not be allowed to stand. We are entitled to be heard and beyond that, we have something to say. That they don't give us the time of day except when they are asking for their vote is reprehensible. Once they have that, they turn their backs on us when we ask for something.
ReplyDeleteRetrograde? I would say it is reprehensible, repugnant, repulsive AND retrograde behaviour.
People shouldn't be so surprised at Councillor Novak. Her outlook/attitude hasn't changed from when she was last in council. Mr Abernethey needs to stand up and take charge, put Foster back in his place . The Mayor needs to review his own campaign literature and re-think his direction.
ReplyDeleteThere is now no public meeting to "ask the people" about funding for the Bowmanville Hospital? Instead they are phoning 400 selected people to ask their opinion? What about the rest of us. Is their phobia of public meetings extending to this now too? Why are they so afraid to let the people speak unless in a very controlled way? UNBELIEVABLE!
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