By Brian Hall
July 27TH,2022
BURLINGTON, ON
With the recent school year just ending and report cards being given out, coupled with the recent Province of Ontario election now behind us, perhaps the time is right to shift our focus to the Municipal Election this fall and in particular, a report card on Mayor Meed’s first term as Mayor.
Here are 3 subjects to consider:
Currently under construction opposite city hall this tower will be 26 storeys high.
1) Original Election Platform – this was built on the promise to deal with and resolve the continued high rise condominium buildings destroying Burlington’s downtown appearance. Well, she has a 0 -7 record with the Land Tribunal people, resulting in mega legal fees for the taxpayers of Burlington, which currently are running close to $250,000 now. Grade score on this subject – “F”
2) Needless Spending – for special crosswalks to highlight only 1 small segment of many marginalized groups in the City and at a cost of $50,000 or more. What the City did to the Halton Catholic School Board, and I am not Catholic by the way, was a total ‘slap in the face’ and the City should be ashamed. Grade Score on this item “F”
Mayor Meed Ward at a diesel bus delivery announcement.
3) Transit – Each & every year over the past 15 years, Burlington Transit has probably averaged a staggering loss of $15,000,000 per year for a total of approximately $225,000,000 or just shy of a quarter of a billion dollars in total.
Thanks in part to the many outside consultants that the City continue to go to, who do not know Burlington, plus the lack of City leadership to find a better solution.
The City needs a good transit operation and the current one is not a good one and the fact the council and the Mayor continue to do nothing about it, is extremely disappointing and frustrating to see our tax dollars wasted with large empty buses. We need to be like a gardener and cut it right back so that new growth can come instead of wasting money year after year. Grade Score on this subject “F”
Well there you have it and the overall grade score of 3 ‘F’s, doesn’t look like a passing grade to me. Can’t wait till this October.
Brian Hall is a ward 3 resident who has operated a business that serviced the construction sector of the Burlington economy.
Totally agree with you Brian on all points……the huge buses continue to drive on with rarely no one on them (I live on a bus route)…You’d get my vote Brian if you ran because Marianne Meed Ward will not be getting mine……….
Regarding transit: “We need to be like a gardener and cut it right back so that new growth can come instead of wasting money year after year.”
Nope. What we need to do is force our mayor and councillors to rely solely on public transit for a full year.
No excuses. None of the usual “oh but I have a heavy schedule and need to go places where transit won’t take me”. Guess what? WE ALL DO!
I promise you that if the mayor and councillors had to rely on transit, it would be ship-shape and well-used very soon.
This is a class issue. People in this region view transit as “for the poors” instead of what it really is: an environmentally friendly commuter asset to our city.
Until that classist view changes, Burlington will continue to have streets jammed to the brim with stop-and-go traffic.
Advice: take a close look at York Region. Newmarket, Aurora, Markham, Richmond Hill, Vaugan all have excellent, reliable transit, and for that reason it’s well used.
James, I agree with your thought that Councillor Sharman would seriously challenge the current Mayor, if he made the decision to run. We have approached him many times, but always receive the same answer that the role of Mayor is not in his future plans. The city’s loss!
Councilor Sharman’s last election result was not very affirming; he didn’t win a majority in his ward: https://globalnews.ca/news/4538139/burlington-municipal-election-2018/
You are right Hans and it will not take a super star of a candidate to take him out, just someone who is aware of his huge errors of judgment such as allowing Mayor Meed Ward to bypass the Planning and Development Committee he chaired December 11, 2018 and then Council with Curt Benson’s of The Region’s first obstacle in the path of the adopted Burlington New Official Plann . dated . December 4, 2018
Hans and perryb.
Maybe you could give us a list of this Mayors accomplishments in the “What is best for Burlington” category. I’ve politely put this question out there on numerous occasions. Yet to date no takers. Maybe you could change Brians mind and point of you. Good luck with that.
Hans you appear to have grasped the concept that the Province runs housing in Ontario. Resulting in the proliferation of High rise buildings across Burlington and Ontario.
You would be shocked to hear that I don’t agree with all these High rise buildings. I strongly believe every child should have a front yard and back yard to play in. The creation of the Greenbelt has created the land shortage that created the “Build up not out” concept. Add to this the number of immigrants and Canadians that need housing.(There is a real shortage) and the crazy prices. On top of that we need land to grow food. We can talk again if any of these dynamics change.
As far as the Mayor fighting everything at the OLT, that’s not working. We are losing and paying for battles that can’t be won. The Mayor has painted herself in a corner as the Anti-development crusader. Had she sat and negotiated with the builders she would have got much more for the City and lower heights. At the same time the builders would have shaked her hand and thanked her for reducing the heights of their buildings. Even though the OLT. would have given them much more. All this in an effort to expedite the process particularly because of the covid outbreak which is delaying everything.
The Mayor can blame the OLT. Even though the tribunal follows Provincial Guidelines. She should be given an Oscar for her “I am shocked the Tribunal allowed this! Blame them routine”
The Mayor has spawned Nymbyism in Burlington to a level not seen in any other City in Ontario. She has convinced them they can stop everything and anything from being built.
I understand they are running their own candidate in Ward 6 to stop development in Millcroft. Tell me how that works out and how much it will cost all the taxpayers in Burlington living in quiet stable neighborhoods minding their own business while the activists run up the bar tab.
Hans in my opinion, they should stop trying. Negotiations and peaceful settlements are always better than war. A Winston Churchill pitbull, type character to negotiate in favour of the City.
I happen to know a good one. Good night.
Would like to hear how Brian Hall would do better. Run for office, maybe?
The Mayors other big Lack of Vision was her comments before the last election and how she would do something about noisy loud vehicles on Lakeshore Rd. The answer was to ask residents to take pics of license plates and send to Halton Police. Sad.
Electric buses was another poor decision
Performance evaluation is a very complex topic. It deteriorates easily into popularity or personality issues. It is best left to experts or, in the case of the City, the Wisdom of Crowds in the next election.
But, since the topic is being addressed, the only criterion by which Burlington’s politicians should be rated, IMO, is “did they do what was best for the city?”.
My take:
1. High rise proliferation is being facilitated by the provincial government. It makes no sense to give an “F” for something over which Burlington politicians have no control. Should they stop trying?
2. I wouldn’t paint ANY crosswalks but many people seem in favour right across the country. I can disagree without considering it a failure to do what is best for Burlington.
3. Re: transit…. There is a long history of issues, but “cut it right back”? That’s not worthy of comment.
https://www.thestar.com/local-burlington/news/2022/07/25/current-burlington-city-council-reveals-219-735-in-legal-fees-paid-over-planning-disagreements.html?itm_source=parsely-api
Let’s not forget the vindictive way that the Integrity Commissioners report was dealt with by the mayor and most of the councillors who sat mute while a fellow councillor was being treated horribly.
Next was the mishandling of the apology that was to be given as part of the councillors remarks at the end of the meeting. This was elevated to become part of the council agenda ( which was not to happen) at the last minute and resulted in the continued berating of a councillor.
This council does not work well together and if nothing changes we are in for 4 more years of this.
Shame on us if we let this happen.
Sadly unless a serious contender steps up, we have another 4 years of this to look forward to. No disrespect to the other two candidates that have thrown their hats into the ring, but we don’t yet have a serious challenger capable of taking a realistic run at the current Mayor. Unless there’s someone waiting in the wings that nobody knows about, Councillor Sharman was our best hope, and he seems quite content to stay put in Ward 5.