By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. May 1, 2013. Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison arrived, uninvited, to the semi-Annual meeting of the Roseland Community Organization last Thursday. He was not a member.
Dennison applied for membership one half hour after the Press Release was sent to media; he had made no effort to join the organization before that time. RCO has been around for a year now. The group was organized to appeal a Committee of Adjustment decision to the Ontario Municipal Board.
Dennison’s behaviour at a Roseland Community meeting – to which he was not invited was seen as “aggressive”.
“Dennison’s membership application was declined for reasons that should be apparent”, said a member of the RCO`s Board.
That same member said Dennison was there to hand out flyers to our Members. I needed to ask him to remove himself from his position beside the sign in table at the door. “His efforts”, added the Board member, “did not have the desired result.”
This Board member said: “I came early anticipating he would show up and he did not disappoint. About twenty minutes prior to the start of the meeting, I saw Mr. Dennison and his girlfriend walking through the parking lot toward the door. I was unaware that they had actually followed me in until I went to bring out a chair for the sign in table. I did ask him to leave and he excused himself to the main lobby of the Church. His girlfriend did remain behind sitting in a chair about 15 feet from our meeting door. Our meeting was 15 minutes late as he was engaging members at the door with his literature.”
“His attendance was considered to be aggressive. It is always desirable to have personal boundaries and be respectful. I did not interfere (as I drove by) with his street canvassing on this issue. His attendance did not have the result he was looking for. You can well imagine the response from Members.”
“It is clearly his last term or he would not be acting in defiance of a neighbourhood who has supported him in the past. I look forward to the overdue, delayed Roseland Study and trust that there is no mechanism other than his being a resident, to shape future planning policy for Roseland.”
“Official Plan reviews are rare events and the requested Roseland study is a first. The neighbourhood does not deserve to have to deal with any legacy effects from his own attitude toward severance.”
Roseland will be the location for the second neighbourhood character study that takes place at the Roseland Park Country Club, 3079 Princess Blvd.E – event starts at 6:30 – and you don’t have to be a member to attend this event.
