 By Pepper Parr
June 22, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
At March 31, 2015 the total balances of all the reserve funds amounted to $146.0 million, which is $2.8 million lower than the corresponding figure of $148.8 million at March 31, 2014.
Of the total Reserves and Reserve Funds $38.7 million is committed for various projects leaving an uncommitted balance of $107.3 million. The commitments represent expenditures approved by Council in previous years’ capital budgets or funds held for specific future purposes.
The following chart provides an historical perspective of uncommitted reserve and reserve fund balances as at March 31:
Reserve and Reserve Fund Uncommitted Balances as at March 31
Municipalities in Ontario are not permitted to run a deficit – should that happen the province would send in its bean counters and the city would be under trusteeship.
What the city works to avoid is creating and maintaining reserve funds that are drawn on when needed.
There are literally dozens of reserve funds and its pretty easy to move money from one to the other. There is the story told about some Canadian Open golf tournament tickets that got paid for out of a reserve fund – that somehow didn’t really clear city council. That was a different time and a different era.
The city creates a budget to cover operating expenses, salaries and paper clips and on occasion that operating budget ends up with a surplus – which the finance now calls a “positive variance”. In Burlington that surplus ranges above and blow a million – except for the year when it ballooned to more than $9 million – heads eventually rolled for that one.
Set out below are various reserve funds the city has and what the balances are:
Half a million in the piggy bank for “Growth Studies” is kind of handy. Transit doesn’t have any wiggle room – the vast majority of their reserve is committed. Some technology has been bought but has yet to be installed. They might manage to do that work when the drivers are off the job should they decide to go on strike.
Six million in as contingency fund; another $5 million in the tax rate stabilization fund; $2 million in the Employe accident reserve – no wonder city council spends so much time in closed session on outstanding litigation matters. That much money in reserve makes it almost worth suing the city – they can afford it.
 lio
 As of March 31, 2015 the operating budget shows a favourable variance of $800,568 with a year end projected favourable variance of $122,285
The Year end projection does not include the provision from the Severe Weather Reserve Fund.
Staff will continue to monitor and update the year-end projections as part of the 2015 Budget review currently underway.
 By Walter Byj
June 9, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
There were not many items on the June 3rd agenda, but two of them had the potential to make for a long meeting. The increase in Education Development Charges were approved by the Halton District School Board without so much as a peep from any of the developers who have to come up with the cash.
There was a report from an economic consulting group that confirmed what everyone knew – land pieces had increased. Jack Ammendolia of Watson and Associates Economists confirmed that land costs have jumped again in Halton and the increase was necessary to cover the costs of new schools in Halton.
Since last year the per acre cost is as follows
Oakville from $1,250,000 to $1,440,000
Milton from $950,000 to $1,050,000
Halton Hills from $625,000 to $950,000
There was no number given for Burlington – there won’t be any new schools built here.
The residential development charge was increased from $3,380 to $3,969 per residence and from 87 cents to $1.02 per square foot in non residential development. This represents a 17% increase for both residential and non residential.
The land increases were 15% for Oakville, 11% for Milton and 52% for Halton Hills.
The 2015-16 Capital and Operating Budget were two issuers that could easily lead to long and laborious session of questions and answers. That was not the case. The trustees took the board of education staff at their word and passed the $685.7 million operating budget for 2015-2016 as well as the $62.6 million capital budget faster than you could say Bob’s your uncle”. Burlington’s city council wishes it could get off as easily.
Along with two budgets the Operational Plan Goals for 2015-16 and Special Education Plan were also quickly passed – unanimously.
As the meeting was nearing conclusion, Director Euale announced that the School Board will be supportive of the revised Health and Physical Education Curriculum. In his remarks he pointed out that the HDSB website now has a Q & A section on the new curriculum.
The site is:
www.hdsb.ca/Programs/Pages/FAQUpdatedHealthPhysicalEdCurriculum.aspx
 By Pepper Parr
May 7, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward has always believed that citizens should be engaged much earlier in the decision making process than the city’s current policies require.
When changes are being made many people feel that the die has been cast and the politicians just want the voters to say they like what has already been decided upon.
 Councillors Sharman and Lancaster: both part of the Shape Burlington committee who seem to have forgotten what the report was all about – civic engagement That is the style we see from Councillors Craven, Sharman and Lancaster. Councillors Taylor and Dennison tend to show some flexibility.
The Mayor tends to sit between the two groups. He gets keen on an idea and sticks with it – but when there is significant blow back – he backs away. Bicycle lanes on Lakeshore Road is perhaps his worst example – taking the wind turbine was another.
Burlington’s approach to civic engagement hasn’t gotten far beyond approving, unanimously, the Shape Burlington report and putting an “in principle” community engagement document in place but then never acting on it.
 Vanessa Warren on the right wanted to know why residents were not permitted to have real input on the creation on the city budget – she didn’t like the idea of reading through a document with decisions already made set out for her. During the public budget deliberations in 2013, Vanessa Warren, who was just beginning to come to the attention of the public, asked at a meeting at the Art Gallery, why the public wasn’t seeing the numbers when they were being put together. She objected to having to look at numbers and get to make a comment and then go home – with nothing changing.
Meed Ward wants to do it differently. Her first reference is usually to her constituents – who meet almost as community council. She listens, is frequently surprised at what she hears from her constituents and then makes changes.
Attend a ward 1 or a ward 6 community meeting and watch the flow of information and ideas – they go in just the one direction. These are the fundamental differences in how Councillors Sharman, Meed Ward and Craven see their jobs.
The older members of the population are content with leaving everything in the hands of the politicians – that was their experience and they are comfortable with that approach.
There is a younger generation that doesn’t buy into that top down approach. They are comfortable with searching out their own information and will debate with their council member.
The two groups in ward 5 who were very unhappy with the way their Council member represented them with the sewer back up problems that did serious damage to their homes made their views known frequently. They didn’t believe they were being heard and went off on their own.
Sharman for his part was very sincere in his efforts to do something for his constituents – it was a matter of very different operational styles. Sharman prefers command – the residents prefer collaboration – not Mr. Sharman’s strong point.
Meed Ward has invited residents to participate in a series of workshops that will see major downtown land owners, city staff, businesses and residents meet to discuss the future of their downtown.
 Meed Ward used up her postage budget for the year in her first three months as a Council member. Her style is to get information out to people. What Meed Ward has managed to do is pull the people who own the land into the discussion – let them hear what residents would like to see. The smarter developers listen to residents and bring them on side – it does away with loud, noisy contentious public meetings.
The Molinaro’s learned the hard way with their Brock Street condominium that it is better to work with residents than fight them. When they moved forward with their Fairview Road – five tower – Paradigm project they worked with the community and with the residents – guess what – no noisy contentious public meetings.
The ADI Development Group decided from the GetGo that they would bull their way through the city planning department and city council and get themselves before the OMB where they think they have a better chance of getting a 28 storey tower on a plot of land less than an acre in size approved. They just might be right.
Meed Ward arranged for a public meeting on the expansion and significant upgrade to Brant Square Plaza. The project met all the zoning requirements; they could have asked for more height but chose not to.
Meed Ward takes the view that all the decisions and as much information as possible should be run by the citizens. Petty power politics isn’t her game.
The workshops will allow participants to provide input into what they think the downtown should look like in the future.
The first workshop takes place on May 13 at Burlington Lion’s Club Hall beginning at 7 p.m. and will have city planners sharing information about existing city policies and what’s up for review.
Participants will also start to map out principles around design, compatibility, height, density, heritage, jobs, and more.
 Citizens at a public budget meeting – they get to comment – they don’t get to demand that changes be made. The meetings are more of a public relations exercise. “Residents want to be involved in downtown development early on,” said Meed Ward. “This approach brings together all stakeholders to collectively and collaboratively shape the future of our downtown.”
Seating is limited for the May 13 workshop. For more information and to register, please contact Georgie Gartside, Assistant to Councillors, at georgie.gartside@burlington.ca or 905-335-7600, ext. 7368.
This is an approach that most of Burlington doesn’t benefit from – with the exception of Councillor Taylor who has a long standing working relationship with his community.
 By Pepper Parr
February 25, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
If you ever wanted to know how networking is done effectively – read on. Regional Chair Gary Carr along with members of Regional Council spent three days meeting with Provincial leaders in Toronto to discuss critical issues facing Halton Region at the annual conference for the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) and the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA).
“The Provincial Places to Grow Act mandates that Halton Region’s population must grow to 780,000 by the year 2031,” said Gary Carr, Halton’s Regional Chair. “To ensure that taxpayers are not responsible for the cost of growth, there are a number of critical supports including long-term funding and legislative amendments which are required from both the Provincial and Federal Governments.”
Chair Carr and a Regional delegation consisting of Mayor Rick Bonnette, Town of Halton Hills; Stephen Tanner, Chief of Police; Regional Councillors Colin Best, Allan Elgar and Sean O’Meara and Regional Councillor and Second Vice President for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), Clark Somerville, met with the following Provincial leaders:
 Ted McMeekin, the Liberal Cabinet to the west of Burlington is often the go to guy when Burlington needs help. • Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ted McMeekin to discuss creating affordable housing solutions and conforming to Provincial growth legislation.
• Minister of Transportation, Steven Del Duca, to discuss Halton’s community infrastructure needs now and for the future.
• Attorney General, Madeline Meilleur, to discuss Halton’s immediate need for court resources and infrastructure including enhancements to Legal Aid funding.
• Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Glen Murray, to discuss adapting and responding to climate change.
• Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry and Burlington MPP, Eleanor McMahon, to discuss Conservation Authority funding and approval.
 Halton Regional Service chief of police Steve Tanner was part of the delegation – did the Region need the muscle to make their point? • Ontario NDP Caucus Members, Cindy Forster, MPP and Municipal Affairs and Housing Critic and Community and Social Services Critic, Catherine Fife, MPP and Finance and Treasury Board Critic, Jagmeet Singh, MPP and Government and Consumer Services Critic and Attorney General Critic to discuss an overview of the issues facing Halton Region.
• Interim Ontario PC Party Leader, Jim Wilson and Ernie Hardeman, MPP, to discuss an overview of the issues facing Halton Region.
• Minister of Heath and Long-Term Care, Dr. Eric Hoskins, to discuss cost-sharing for Public Health programs and services, ambulance off-loading delays and enhancements to the Central Ambulance Communications Centre (CACC).
During the ROMA OGRA Conference Premier Kathleen Wynne addressed municipal leaders, as did the PC Interim Party Leader, Jim Wilson and Ontario NDP Leader, Andrea Horwath.
“Meeting with Provincial leaders allows Halton Region to reiterate the importance of a continued partnership with the Province to address the many pressures we are facing as a result of mandated growth,” added Chair Carr. “We will continue to advocate for change from all levels of government in order to ensure that residents continue to enjoy a high quality of life in Halton Region.”
 Burlington’s MPP Eleanor McMahon took part in the three day networking event at Queen’s Park – she was the only voice from Burlington: was she loud enough – and if not loud was she effective enough? Through the support of Regional Council, Halton Region has developed an Advocating for a Strong Halton campaign which identifies specific needs and requirements from the Provincial and Federal governments.
Carr, who was once Speaker of the Legislature at Queen’s Park knows his way around that building. Does he know it well enough to pull out the dollars that are going to be needed to manage the growth the province is calling for?
And is Burlington going to see enough of whatever Carr gets to manage its growth?
 By Pepper Parr
February 24, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The budget was done – out came the rubber stamp – but they didn’t use it. There were a couple of minor amendments.
There was one delegation – the Marsden’s saying they had researched James Ridge the new manager and they approved of him.
City taxes for Burlington home owners will increase 3.64% over what they were last tear.
 Dennison, on the left, explaining the budget to a resident. Dennison felt the revenue side of the budget could have been increased by $400,000. The decision to adopt the budget was not unanimous – Councilor Dennison had wanted to add two revenue items – each worth $200,000 to the budget. His colleagues didn’t agree with him – so Jack decided he would not vote for the budget.
The city media release calls the 2015 operating budget one with a continued focus on ensuring cost effective service delivery, strategic investment in infrastructure and additional funding to address climate change events such as the ice storm and August 2014 flood.
2015 marks the first time the budget has been presented in a new service-based budget approach. Budget highlights include:
Aligning existing service delivery costs with inflation.
Not sure how an increase of 3.64% is described as aligned with inflation which is currently less than 2%
An additional $1.745 million of funding dedicated to the renewal of the city’s aging infrastructure
$4.5 million of funding for flood mitigation measures
$900,000 to expand transit service and increase support for Heritage, the Sound of Music Festival and the Art Gallery of Burlington.
“This budget is based on services rather than by departments. It gives a more transparent view of how tax dollars are invested and that is significant,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “Once again, staff and City Council have found a way to balance the excellent quality of life we enjoy in Burlington with the long-term financial planning we rely on, all the while keeping taxes competitive with other municipalities.”
The Mayor chose not to mention that the twenty year forecast has tax increases at the 4% level for a long time.
The 2015 Budget includes a 3.64 per cent increase in the city’s portion of property taxes. When combined with Halton Region and the boards of education, the overall property tax increase is 2.06 per cent or $18.08 for each $100,000 of residential urban assessment.
That statement is true – but it is also very misleading. Burlington has zero impact on the education budget – that is set by the province. Burlington’s director of finance gets a number from the province and is told how much to collect and where to send it.
 Not much different with the Region. Burlington sends seven people to the 21 member Regional Council. We have input, we have some sway – but not as much as Oakville, even though they have the same number of representatives on the Regional Council – they are just much more effective than the Burlington members.
Burlington’s city council is responsible for Burlington’s budget and it is that on which their performance should be measured.
It is confusing to give out a number that is not ours.
They used to call a person who gave out misleading information a “flim flam” man.
Telling people the tax increase is 2.08% more than it was the previous year is true – but we can’t take credit for that. We are responsible for the 3.64 % increase in our own spending.
By Staff
February 23, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Members of Council ask questions of city staff. Both the questions and the answers are set out in public reports.
Here is a zinger for you.
Question: What is the approximate subsidy per passenger for transit?
Is it the 2015 net operating budget $9,314,989 divided by projected riders of 2,335.000 = $3.9 per ride?
Answer
 Burlington Transit put their most festive bus into the Santa Claus parade. The language doesn’t matter – the message is still the same. The issue fir transit is not public perception but more public use. Conventional cost per ride for 2015 is projected to be $3.47 – based on 2,335,000 rides.
When the budget is approved at Council this evening a fare increase will be put in place – but it won’t cover the operating cost as shown in the information above.
Burlington has some deep thinking to do on just what it wants in the way of a public transit service. Oakville has significantly different operating numbers than Burlington – fully understanding why is the transit Burlington faces.
By Pepper Parr
February 23, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The creation of a municipal budget is complex – the work begins almost as soon as the previous budget is approved.
Each department sets out what it expects to need to deliver services.
There is an Executive Budget Committee that massages the numbers that come from the departments.
 Joan Ford, Director of Finance – Finally! A draft is sent to Council members; the finance department takes council through an overview. Staff make sure all the Staff Directions from Council are included in the budget calculations.
Then the budget is taken to the public – this year poor publicity and bad weather did them in – there were a reported seven people in the room for a public review of the budget. There are usually close to 100.
The Capital budget usually gets approved first.
Council members are asked to review the budget and submit “Action Request’ forms which are requests by a Council member for consideration of a request for funding or for a request to have funding that was in the budget to be removed. There were a total of 25 budget action requests.
 Councillor Rick Craven, centre, with a copy of the 2013 budget on a memory stick. Councillor Craven had two; one for $600 to conduct another Jane’s Walk – which is basically a guided tour of the ward. Craven asked for the funds to cover this event as a one-time expenditure. He was given funds previously to conduct such a walk.
Craven also wanted $25,000 added to the base budget, which means the funding would be in place every year until such time as it was removed from the budget. The money was to cover the cost of a single park bench in each ward each year. The expense would be in the Parks and Recreation budget.
Where the debate on this one got interesting was the steps Councillor Meed Ward took to ensure that the decision as to where the park bench got placed was not left in the hands of the ward Councillor. The ongoing bad blood between Meed Ward and Craven was clearly evident – again.
What no one asked was – why does it cost $3000 to install a park bench?
Two years ago several council members got the idea to hold “car free” Sundays in the city during the summer. The first was held in the downtown core and a second out in ward 5 where the event went quite well. The downtown core event was a total bust and wasn’t repeated the second year.
Councillor Lancaster got council to go along with a car free Sunday in her ward that went well enough. Held basically in the Alton community, a part of the city that is still finding itself, the event has the potential to create a sense of occasion in that part of the city.
 Participants in the 2014 Car Free Sunday in Alton. These events look like they are here to stay. So – for 2015 there will be a car free Sunday in wards 4, 5 and 6. A total of $10,000 was added to the base budget each year for these events.
Councillor Dennison, the only member of council with personal business operations of any size, always looks for ways to increase the business opportunities for the city. He has had his eyes on the Tyandaga golf course property for a long time. He wants the city to get out of the golf club business, arguing that there are more than enough private golf courses in the region (there are 9 in Burlington) and that the city doesn’t get real value for the money it pumps into the operation of Tyandaga.
Dennison will tell you that there is between $12 to $18 million to be had if some of the land was sold to a developer. When this was discussed last year Mayor Goldring referred to the selling of some of the golf club property as a “cash grab” – what was wrong with that? It would have paid for the pier embarassment.
Dennison withdrew his request and had the matter as something to be considered during the Strategic Plan discussions.
Dennison got Council to go along with one more cutting of the grass along the hydro corridors at a cost of $6000 The cutting would be done on a trial basis to see if the taxpayers thought it was a good improvement.
Dennison also tabled the idea of creating a services organization that would handle things like vehicle maintenance for both Hydro and the city. Burlington owns hydro – makes sense. It could make even more sense if transit was included. The idea got punted to the Strategic Plan review.
Jack Dennison does two things other Councillors don’t do – he at times “gets into the weeds” on issues. On one occasion we recall his telling a staff member some detail on the thickness of the wood in a building; he drives staff and his fellow council members bananas when he does this.
On the other hand Dennison is the Council member that comes up with the bigger bolder ideas; Tyandaga was one example.
This year he wanted to add $200,000 in revenue to the budget from what he was certain would happen – an increase in the investment returns the city earns. That one didn’t pass.
 Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison always has an eye open for an economic opportunity – sees a great one for the city: sell the golf course. This year he also wanted to see $200,000 added to the revenue stream based on his belief that the number of building permits issued would be as strong in 2015 as they were in 2014. That one lost as well.
Trust Dennison to bring things like this up in 2016 when the budget is under consideration. And – you have not heard the last of Dennison’s attempt to sell some of that Tyandaga golf course property.
Councillor Lancaster seemed to be dumping on the cultural sector with her very pointed questioning of Dave Miller, Sound of Music chief, who wanted an increase in the base budget allocated to SoM each year.
Lancaster got Council to go along with a cost of living increase. Her concern with SoM is that it keeps growing – she wants it to remain basically the same but that if it does have to grow there be events outside the downtown core.
Lancaster, who used to have a business in the core, claims that restaurants do very well during the Sound of Music but that other retailers take quite a hit.
The Performing Arts Centre was down for $95,000 to cover the cost of student education. Lancaster thought this work could perhaps be done by the Student Theatre people. Brian McCurdy, a man who knows how to protect his turf explained that by educating students the city is creating the arts audience of the future. He got his funding.
While Lancaster appeared to look like a bit of a cultural Grinch – it was her support, along with Meed Ward, that kept the Freeman Station in one piece while the community found a place to locate the structure where it is now being fully renovated.
It will be interesting to see if Lancaster can work with the Sound of Music to get some of the events up into the Alton community.
The “dean of city council” got clobbered during the creation of the 2015 budget. In both 2013 Councillor Taylor got well in excess of $75,000 for the BurLINKton community development program. The funds were to cover the staff that make the programs happen. In 2014 Taylor asked for the funding but only after promising to not ask for the funds a third time.
 Taylor came close to having to beg to get the funding he wanted for the BurLINKton Community Development program. This year he knew better than to ask for the funding he had been given previously – but he did ask for $10,000 as a “life line” to cover the organization until an expected grant comes in. Taylor came close to having to beg for the amount – he was literally jerked around by his fellow Councillors. Taylor saw the votes against him as “payback” for getting Meed Ward onto the Conservation Halton board.
Transit is always an issue when it comes to customer service and the price to ride the buses. An 8% drop in transit use from 2013 to 2014 reinforces the view of this council that no one wants transit – yet they continually talk about “improving the modal split” and getting people out of their cars.
The transit advocates claim the constant change in bus routes and schedules confuses the public and they give up on the service. More than $2 million is going to be spent on technology that will help transit understand who gets on the bus and who gets off the bus – the hope is that the data that comes out of the technology will result in service that meets the needs.
A glimpse as to how data can trip up the best of plans was seem when transit staff were explaining when taxi scrips had to be used to cover declines in HandiVan use. Turns out that if a person asks for a HandiVan pick up at a specific time – say 1:00 pm, to get to an appointment and the request cannot be met that is counted as a decline – the customer servioce request had to be declined – however if that same customer is told the HandiVan could pick them up at 1:15 the 1:00 pm request is still counted as a decline.
Meed Ward had asked that the $35,000 budgeted for taxi scrip funding last year and cancelled be put back into the budget to cover those “declines”. Bad data – bad decisions.
Meed Ward wanted to know what it would cost to re-instate the school specials – that was punted to the 2016 budget.
Meed Ward brought an interesting idea forward when she asked: what would it cost to create a free fare day one day a week for seniors? The idea got moved to the 2016 budget wen a business case will be presented.
You can see Meed Ward building her base for an expected run in 2018 for the Mayor’s job.
 The city has hundreds of bylaws and bylaw enforcement officers to tell you when you might be afoul of one of those bylaws. There are merchants in this city who know full well what the bylaws are but the will flout them on weekends nevertheless because they know there are no bylaw enforcement officers on duty weekends.
That might change – Meed Ward asked that a business case be prepared setting out what it would cost to have 24/7 and/or weekend evening bylaw coverage.
The creation of a budget by the city is a combination of things money has to be spent on and things the city would like to spend money on.
The construction of the Performing Arts Centre and the Pier were things the city wanted to spend money on. While Mayor Goldring ended up having the pier put around his neck like a rubber tire and then set ablaze – the decision to build the Pier belongs to former Mayor Rob MacIsaac and his Council of which Councillors Dennison and Taylor were members; Councillor Craven was a late comer to the pier issue
The collapse of a crane on the construction site brought to light significant problems with the design and the quality of the steel used. Those decisions were made long before Goldring was Mayor.
The Performing Arts Centre was very controversial when it was proposed and it went through two very awkward years once it was opened. Brian McCurdy was brought in to run the operation and he has done a superb job of improving attendance and bringing in shows that the community wants – he has also done a fine job in making the space accessible to local performance groups.
 A rapt audience listened to an overview of the 2014 budget. What they have yet to have explained to them is the desperate situation the city will be in ten years from now if something isn’t done in the next few years to figure out how we are going to pay for the maintenance of the roads we have. There is within the municipal sector a movement to involve the public long before the first draft of the budget is worked out. Burlington isn’t there yet.
In the months ahead city council will begin looking at its Strategic Plan. There will be an opportunity then to look at governance matters and perhaps there will be some energy and effort from different community groups who want to see some real and relevant involvement in the fiscal affairs of the city.
 The public didn’t show up for the 2015 budget discussions. Seven people managed to make it to the event. Until then your city council will play games with the numbers, let petty politics get in the way of doing what is best for the city. Thankfully there is a group of intelligent, committed people in the finance department to ensure that the city is financially sound.
 By Pepper Parr
February 22, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Your city council will meet Monday evening to cast the 2015 budget in stone.
There will be a number of delegations; three that we have been made aware of should be interesting.
Katherine Henshell will be delegating about her concern over Aldershot’s Solid Gold Strip Club on Plains Road, the busiest street in Aldershot.
The Club borders on two residential neighbourhoods;
It has 6 – 8 hotel room doors which open on Plains Road and across from a residential community;
It has the largest square footage of any retail service business in Aldershot west of Francis Street;
It is located within 550 metres of Aldershot High School;
Children from grades 7 – 12 walk past the strip club to and from school everyday;
Children from grades 7 – 12 walk past the strip club to go to Wendy’s for lunch every day.
 Adult entertainment – just a little too public for some. Henshall adds that it shouldn’t not have to be said about the degradation of women and other issues which are additionally appalling about the operation of a strip club.
 Henshell once played as goalie – she now plays defense. Practices law and keeps a close eye on public morality. Henshell said she was “ was driving home from Pizza Pizza (at King Road) one Friday evening with our family’s dinner and I noticed a few young children in girls’ soccer uniforms outside the Dairy Queen. It was a nice sight to see. Then I drive down Plains Road past the Strip Club and 3 – 4 strippers (wearing stripper’s outfits) were standing on the sidewalk on Plains Road waving the cars into the parking lot in broad daylight.
She continues: “I was immediately disturbed that those young soccer players might take the same route home and drive past the strippers as well. This shouldn’t happen in Burlington (or anywhere for that matter). (I telephoned the Halton Regional Police when I returned home and they indicated that they would look into it as they had also received other calls.”
Back in 2008 Councillor Craven said the owner of adult entertainment club Solid Gold wanted to move from Plains Road West but needs help finding a new location.
City had unanimously passed its new adult entertainment bylaw — the third version to come before politicians in more than a year — that relegates strip clubs to the city’s east side, in industrial spots. The bylaw replaced a two-decade old regulation considered long out of date.
 Local entertainment talent – at the Solid Gold “His exact words to me were”, said Craven “help me find a new location,” adding he will forward him a copy of the new bylaw. “I will encourage him at every opportunity to find an appropriate location in the city of Burlington.”
Craven said he is particularly happy with the passing of the bylaw — which he has said took too long to occur — as it brings fairness to the city.
This could be a lively discussion.
Tom Muir will be delegating about the Townsend Ave reconstruction and storm water system. The item was apparently approved in the Capital budget which surprised Muir who said; “ I have been under a misunderstanding about the Budget process. I have always thought that projects were not approved and funded until the year they have met all approval processes and are ready to construct. For the Townsend project, at two PICs, one in 2013 and another in 2014, residents were told that the project was not proceeding in those years because there was no money available.”
“Common to, and running through the substance of all these issues and concerns are matters of due process, transparency and accountability, answerability, and respect for citizen rights to open government and information.
 “Faced with this uncertainty on a way forward, and rather than remain silent, I want to provide some comments that reflect my personal experience with the city and Ward 1 Councilor approach to the Townsend Ave. reconstruction and storm sewer project. These comments are the basis for my subject request submission to revisit the project plan.”
Townsend Avenue runs parallel to and south of Plains road, the main artery through Aldershot. As such it has become the street traffic migrates to when the flow along Plains road gets thick.
Interestingly both Henshell and Muir are from Ward 1; Muir has been a thorn in the side of ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven; Henshell ran against Craven in the 2014 municipal election. Disclosure: Henshell represents the Gazette in the Libel matter with the Air Park.
Delegations at city council get five minutes to say their piece. On occasion there are questions from members of Council, more often than not there is a less than polite silence.
 Added to the delegation mix on Monday will be whatever Anne Marsden has to say. Mrs. Marsden was a candidate for the office of Mayor in the October election. She has recently filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission over the limitations the city has imposed on her movements at city hall.
Marsden has a serious beef with the city administration over the limitations they have imposed on what she can do when she is at city hall. She has been told that she must report to a “single point of contact” at city hall who monitors her every move.
There appears to be a document that is known as the “Marsden protocol” which came out of either the City Solicitors office or from the City Clerk.
 Anne Marsden has filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal – wants the “Marsden Protocol” removed. There is a serious lack of clarity on just what the document says – all we know is that it does exist. The Marsden’s are being rather cagey about the letter they received from the City Solicitor and have said they are not prepared to release the document at this point in time.
Anne Marsden has basically been banned from the Regional offices in Oakville. She can be difficult and at times strident. However there have been a number of occasions when Anne Marsden has been dead right.
Being a difficult person to work with is not reason enough to do what the city of Burlington is doing Anne Marsden. Her complaint to the Human Right Tribunal is going to be expensive for the city; what will the city do should the Tribunal side with Marsden? What will that do to our best mid-sized city in Canada?
Anne Marsden speaks out. Her complaints are at times unreasonable and they could be put forward in a different style,but she is a citizen and she deserves to be listened to – that is what we elected the seven people on Council to do – to listen to the voters and then use whatever wisdom they have to make decisions that are for the benefit of the people.
Martin Niemöller, a Lutheran Pastor, said in a poem he wrote in 1946, referring to the way the world has reacted to the persecution of Jews by the Germans in the Second World War:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Anne Marsden’s speaking out is protecting the right you have to speak out. It is not something you want to lose.
Monday should be quite an evening.
By Pepper Parr
February 20, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
In the commercial world the word they look for is profit – did we make a profit? Municipalities are not in place to make profits – they exist to provide services to tax payers and at the end of each fiscal year they end up with a surplus or, as Burlington’s Director of Finance, Joan Ford chooses to call them, a “favourable variance”. Municipalities cannot have a deficit.
Burlington had a surplus – oops – that is a favourable variance of $292,282. which is really very low. In the recent past there was a surplus of more than $9 million.
What happens to the surplus? It gets put into the Tax Stabilization Reserve fund – which Burlington treats as a ‘piggy bank’ they can turn to when they need funds.
Because municipalities cannot run with a deficit – what most people call a loss on operations – they create a series of Reserve funds that they draw down on when needed. There is a snow removal reserve fund that the city goes to if there is more snow to remove than expected.
Each year the city budgets for different services it provides. This year the city has moved to service based budgeting. In the past budgets were based on what the various city departments had to spend to provide services. A lot of time and effort was put into the creation of a totally different way of accounting for the funds collected and spent.
When Service Based Budgeting was first announced the public heard about Results Based Accountability and Business Process Management – these have become the new buzz words in municipal accounting.
 When this new approach was first announced Council did say they would produce the budget in both the old format and the new one – but that sort of got lost in the shuffle. Deliberate? Probably not – the finance people probably decided the benefit was not worth the effort required to put forward to sets of numbers – and, what if they turned out to be hugely different?
So – the tax stabilization funds has an extra quarter of a million in it and the city has a budget in place.
Some observations on how this budget got put together. There was a sense of rushing to get it completed. There were far fewer delegations this time around And very little public involvement in the capital budget which, given that there is a shortfall of millions on the maintenance of the infrastructure – basically roads. One would have thought there would be more public interest.
In the past Burlington has held a public session at which they explained their budget to the public. These events were traditionally held at the Art Gallery – the city decided to hold the meeting at the Mainway Recreational Centre on a night the weather was just terrible. The city reported that there were just seven members of the public in the room.
 2014 election candidates Carol Gottlob and Angelo Bentivegna were two of the few that made it to the public discussion on the budget – neither asked any questions. There were a couple of hundred people at the ice rink less than 25 yards away. My conclusion at the time was that the city had failed to promote the event enough – or no one really cared about the budget.
This Council does have a problem connecting with its public. It tends to rush issues; it is far too often very short with delegations. It is now a divided Council with three members tightly aligned with each other. Councillors Craven, Sharman and Lancaster almost vote as a block. Surprisingly Councillor Dennison votes with them – but not always.
That leaves the Mayor having to decide where he wants to land when it comes to voting; Taylor and Meed Ward tend to vote together.
This “split” is relatively recent – it will take a little longer to determine how entrenched views are and whether Mayor Goldring can bring about more in the way of harmony with the Council he leads.
 The 2014 public budget session was close to a full house at the Art Gallery – the weather was much better that year and there were election candidates wanting to improve their profiles. One of the things that cannot last for long in the world of politics is a vacuum – and there was, still is, a leadership vacuum.
Every member of this Council has been in place for four years – the split that is evident now was not evident before the October election. Something brought it about; some shift in the way people decided to behave has taken place.
How far this goes only time will tell – what is clear now however is that it is not healthy.
By Staff
February 17, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
How much do they want to spend and how much are they going to tax you?
The city will take an additional 3.64 % more in 2015 than they did in 2014.
They added $125,000 to the 2015 budget – that will break down to $19.10 for each $100,000 of property valuation.
There was a total of $37,675 in one time spending added to the budget this year.
Next time out, which is in 2016, there might be a hint that money is needed for a new city hall – there was no heat in the council chambers so everyone packed things up and headed for the Centennial Room at the New Street Library.
Your Council spent 3 ½ hours running through the budget, tempers flared, differences of opinion were expressed and poor John Taylor kind of got clobbered again.
There is now a clear right wing cabal in place which, surprisingly get Councillor Dennison to go along with them.
Councillors Craven and Sharman are the core of this cabal and they inevitably get Councillor Lancaster to go along for the ride.
The power in this Council clearly lies with these three – the Mayor is at times seen as an add-on.
The Mayor did however, move the motion to approve the motion and send it along to council later in the month for approval.
He called the budget miraculous and commented that the 20 year long range plan, which every Council member and staff explained was an approximation, projected increases in spending that were two times the rate of inflation.
All in the future of course but once written down these things tend to take on a life of their own.
 By Pepper Parr
February 10, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The city’s Tax Stabilization fund got clipped for $140,000 this morning.
The Tax Stabilization find is the account that any surplus from the previous budget goes into. As of today there was an uncommitted balance of $4,003,163 so the $140,000 that was handed over to the Art Gallery of Burlington didn’t leave that much of a dent.
With the city budget about to be debated – why hand out $140,000 now? That amount is to cover the 2014 shortfall that was the result of a number of items. In their delegation to the Community and Corporate Services Standing Committee this morning Anne Swarbrick and Sandra Edrup set the financial scene.
 Management problems prevailed in 2014. In January 2015, Art Gallery of Burlington staff met with Mayor Goldring, Councilor Taylor, and the Director of Finance to discuss their financial challenges. They had spent more money than they had in the bank. The major factors contributing to this deficit include:
Lower participation rates than forecast in educational programs.
Lower corporate and membership results than targeted in enterprise programs including lower catering and room rental revenues and the cancellation of the Creativity Forum due to insufficient registrations.
Lower than targeted sales revenues from Art Inc.
Increased staffing costs as a result of the installation of the new HVAC system.
We understood the first three items – but we are really pressed to see the relationship between “increased staffing costs” and “the new HVAC system” but no one on Council saw this as a problem.
This request was in fact a done deal – the delegation was just to give the transfer of the $140,000 a sheen of legitimacy.
The possible reason for the $140,000 loss might be related to some degree to the firing of the former President and CEO of the Art Gallery of Burlington. In the pleadings to Council the AGB said: “As a result of a combination of factors flowing from the issues referenced above, and re-organizational initiatives undertaken to correct them, the Gallery is currently undergoing a process in order to manage and plan for 2015 pressures.
They added: “As you will appreciate, the Board of Directors has increased their oversight of the AGB until such challenges can be resolved, including organizational review efforts that are now underway with the assistance of an excellent external consultant whom we have been able to recruit with no additional financial pressure on the organization’s resources
He had been with the art gallery for more than 15 years – suddenly he is gone.
There was no thank you, certainly no golden watch – but there appears, we are unable to confirm this, to have been a financial settlement which was not made public. Ross is gone, a search committee was created, advertisements were run, resumes received; the 35 that came in cut down to 9 out of which the Search Committee will settle on a short list of at least three.
 Ann Swarbrick, former MPP in the Bob Rae government and now the Interim President CEO of the Art Gallery of Burlington has shown she knows how to call in favours. Interviews will take place in March; the search committee hopes to announce their choice in April. Asked if there were going to be any woman on that short list and we were given “the look”: With Anne Swarbrick and Sandra Edrup on the search committee you know there is going to be at least one female on the list – even if it has to be a male that underwent a medical intervention.
In their delegation Swarbrick and Sandra Edrupt. Chair of the Board of Directors, said: “The Art Gallery is currently undergoing a change management process including reorganization initiatives to manage and plan for 2015 pressures.
The Art Gallery of Burlington has an accumulated deficit of $140,000 from their 2014 operations which represents 5.7% of their total 2014 operating budget of $2,453,450. The city gave the AGB a grant of $790,685 in 2014.
The AGB Foundation has allocated $160,500 to the gallery to support the 2015 programs, which will leave the Foundation with a balance in their reserve fund of approximately $65,000. These funds are ear marked for non-recurring and known costs they will face in 2015.
The gallery itself does not have a reserve – which is skating on pretty thin ice.
The financials given to the Standing Committee that approved the $140,000 payment for the 2014 shortfall looked like this:
REVENUE SUMMARY
Year-end Budget
City of Burlington – Operating Grant 790,685 790,685
Provincial funds
Ontario Arts Council 47,500 50,000
-Ontario Trillium Fund 4,508
Federal funds
Human Resource Canada 2,518 3,000
Earned Revenues
Education Fees 272,485 346,000
Art Etc Gallery Shop 525,737 660,500
Rental, Events, Memberships 438,107 355,765
AGB Foundation Grant 158,500 158,500
AGB Foundation/OAC Foundation 23,695 15,000
AGB Foundation/BCFoundation 13,111
TOTAL REVENUES 2,276,846 2,379,450
EXPENSE SUMMARY
Exhibitions 206,640 214,490
Education and Outreach 286,408 316,777
Enterprise/Marketing 331,433 172,751
Art Etc Gallery Shop 497,865 566,520
Administration 365,893 402,084
Occupancy and Maintenance 728,563 706,828
TOTAL EXPENSES 2,416,802 2,379,450
Net deficiency of revenue over expenditures (139,956)
The numbers tell the story. Fail to meet the objectives and there is always that Tax Stabilization to save the day. The prime question is – why did it take so long to see where the damage was being done?
 By Staff
February 9, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
If you want your ten minutes of fame before city council slip over to the city web site and register to delegate.
Residents or businesses wishing to have their say about the proposed 2015 budget can register to speak during the budget review at the City of Burlington’s Community and Corporate Services Committee meeting on Feb. 11, 2015, by doing one of the following:
Completing the online registration form at www.burlington.ca/delegation
Printing and completing the registration form on the city’s website and mailing, faxing (fax 905-335-7675) or hand-delivering it to the clerks department at City Hall
Phoning the clerks department at 905-335-7698
Coming to the clerks department on the first floor of City Hall and completing a form in person
 Registrations must be received by the clerks department no later than noon on Feb. 10, 2015.
Each delegation will be allowed up to 10 minutes to speak.
The proposed budget information can be found on the city’s redesigned website, www.burlington.ca/budget.
By Staff
February 7, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
If you want your ten minutes of fame before city council slip over to the city web site and register to delegate.
Residents or businesses wishing to have their say about the proposed 2015 budget can register to speak during the budget review at the City of Burlington’s Community and Corporate Services Committee meeting on Feb. 11, 2015, by doing one of the following:
Completing the online registration form at www.burlington.ca/delegation
Printing and completing the registration form on the city’s website and mailing, faxing (fax 905-335-7675) or hand-delivering it to the clerks department at City Hall
Phoning the clerks department at 905-335-7698
Coming to the clerks department on the first floor of City Hall and completing a form in person
Registrations must be received by the clerks department no later than noon on Feb. 10, 2015.
Each delegation will be allowed up to 10 minutes to speak.
The proposed budget information can be found on the city’s redesigned website, www.burlington.ca/budget.
By Pepper Parr
February 3, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
It wasn’t the best show in town and it certainly wasn’t the only show in town but it was a solid presentation by city hall staff that explained how they want to tax you and how they plan to spend the tax money they collect.
The only public open house on the budget took place on a typical Canadian winter night when the hockey rink next door was full but the town hall meeting was close to empty.
Staff explained that the purpose of the workshop was to inform about the proposed 2015 budget, process. Budgeting is really about planning. The city must balance the provision of quality services while maintaining property taxes at a reasonable and affordable rate. Decisions are made that directly relate back to our community functions and services that Burlington residents receive. Developing the city’s capital and operating budgets requires managing events happening today and preparing for events five, ten and more years away.
Public participation is essential since a municipal budget is more than just numbers. The City of Burlington continuously looks for ways to improve on and increase their transparency efforts to improve public confidence and increase public engagement with the City.
The first, and only public meeting on the 2015 budget didn’t get us very far down the engagement road – blame the weather?
No point in beating that horse – it’s dead.
 The city moved from a departmental approach to financial management to one that focuses on the service being delivered. Ideally the taxpayers will be able to relate what is being spent to what thy are getting. We aren`t there yet. Through the magic of the internet – you can log into the Gazette and read it all when it is convenient.
The city is taking a new approach to the way it accounts for what it spends. In the past budgeting was done on a departmental basis. The practice is now going to have budgets built around the service provided.
That is going to mean significant change at the department level – in the past each department worked in a silo – each department doing their thing. The city created a “portfolio” of services – an approach that sets out all the things they do for the public and group work done by the different departments under each service.
 The services the city delivers fall into six categories – one of which is internal.
 The city wants the public to see that they are getting value for the taxes they are paying with an engaged city hall staff and a satisfied taxpayer. Let`s see how well this works out. Why is the city doing all this?
They want both staff and the people paying the tax bills to know what they are getting for their money. The ‘information age’ has created a public that wants to know more and expects to be kept informed. They city wants the public to see the taxes they pay as part of a value chain that is made up of engaged city employees and satisfied customers.
Everything is centered around the services the city delivers. City hall attaches three questions to everything they do:
How much did we do?
How well did we do it?
Is anyone better off?
A question they don’t put out but one that is nevertheless critical to city hall is: Should we be providing this service and should we be allocating funds to cover the cost of the service?
 Everything is now centered on the services being delivered. The numbers are supposed to let the public see what they are paying for the service they are getting. The change is going to take some time to work itself into the fabric of how staff perform. This approach to managing the way a municipality spends tax money isn’t new. Former city manager Jeff Fielding brought the idea with him – got it started and then left for Calgary where he now works for a Mayor who has been named the top Mayor in the world.
Fielding put together a team that loved the idea and they’ve done a fine job delivering on the promise. The new approach to managing the money collected is combined with a significantly better web site that offers much more information that is relevant. The old version of the web site was terrible.
Another feature in the new approach is ownership of a service. The public will know which staff member is responsible for the efficient delivery of a service. That will create a little indigestion for some staff. “You mean I’m responsible for delivery efficiently, effectively and within budget” are words that get muttered on occasion by some staff.
 The objective is to be able to continuously improve and implement changes where they are seen to be needed. There are a bunch of guys at city hall who are expected to try – once again – to come up with the details for “smart” parking meters. The first two requests for proposals got withdrawn.
So we know they aren`t perfect. The Results Based Accountability (RBA) is a good step in a new, sensible direction being managed by a team of smart people. Let`s see how well they do this first time around.
While all this “doing the numbers differently” is taking place – the city should have a new city manager in place before the end of the month.
In a previous piece on the creation of yet another interim city manager the Gazette erroneously said that city solicitor, Nancy Shea Nicol, the latest interim, reported to Scott Stewart the only General Manager the city has left and who is a finalist for the post of city manager.
Shea-Nicol reported to the previous interim city manager – how she now reports to herself boggles the mind.
By Pepper Parr
January 30th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON.
Was it the weather?
Maybe people didn’t know about the meeting?
Maybe they don’t care?
 Ten minutes before the only public meeting on the 2015 city budget was to start this is what the room looked like. About ten people showed up. Mayor was there but he didn’t stay long enough to take his coat off. All three questions came from General Manager Infrastructure and Development Scott Stewart as he looked around a room that has less than five people ready to listen to a public presentation on the 2015 budget.
 Mayor doesn’t stay at budget meeting long enough to take his coat off. There were more than ten staff members. Except for Councillors Lancaster and Taylor everyone else was in the room. Mayor Goldring didn’t stay long enough to take off his coat – no photo op here he must have concluded.
As presentations go – it was as good as it gets.
City staff have done a lot of excellent work bringing forth a much different way of creating their budget and producing a document that is much easier to understand.
Staff had hoped to go on line from the Mainway Recreation Centre and take people through a demonstration of the flashy new city web site – but the access they needed wasn’t apparently available.
Political hopefuls Carol Gottlob and Angelo Benevenuto attended the 2015 budget presentation Bentivegna
The Gazette will do a detailed follow up piece with all the graphs and charts that help people understand what the tax collector is going to do with the money you send them.
 The weather didn’t keep hundreds of parents away from a hockey game at the Mainway Recreation centre right next door to where the budget for 2015 was being explained. As to why there weren’t at least 100 people in the room – well it could have been the weather – but the crowd at the arena right next door tells you it wasn’t weather.
Don’t they give a damn? They might if they knew about the event. City hall still doesn’t have that ability to reach out and touch its public.
Because when it matters – the public does show up. Back in 2011 more than 400 people packed the same room – they didn’t want any kind of highway going through the Escarpment and they were in that room to make sure they were both heard and understood.
Maybe, wondered Scott Stewart, they are just happy and satisfied with the job we are doing for them?
We didn’t realize that Scott Stewart knows how to dream in Technicolor.
By Pepper Parr
January 28, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
It is that time of year again – when the city sets out what they want to take from your wallet – they call it taxes.
The setting and the approach to this interaction with the public will be considerably different this year. The locale will be the Mainway Recreation Centre – where there is quite a bit more room; things were getting a bit tight at the Art Gallery.
A rapt audience listened to an overview of the 2014 budget. What they have yet to have explained to them is the desperate situation the city will be in ten years from now if something isn’t done in the next few years to figure out how we are going to pay for the maintenance of the roads we have. There will be the obligatory budget overview.
There will be a demonstration of the Burlington Open Budget visual application.
There will be a table top exercise – that’s when participants get to think about some of the specifics in the budget that was explained and make comments on the different initiatives the city is proposing
This is the year the city moved to budgeting based on the services provided rather than planned spending by departments. The city has a handful of acronyms; RBA – Results Based Accountability is the one that they seem to favour.
When the city wants to provide a new service there has to be a business case made – the public will get to hear what some of the business cases are this year.
Vanessa Warren and Ken Woodruff going through the pages of the workbook at the 2014 budget review. In the past the city has used small hand held clickers – sort of like a TV remote control. Data is put up on a screen and people are asked to use the clickers to indicate which of the options given they prefer.
While all this data gathering is interesting – the basics of the budget have already been determined. City staff have been working on the document for months – the broad strokes are in place – what the public is being asked to do at this point is comment on what has been done – but there is no real opportunity to shape the city’s financial plan.
Vanessa Warren, one of the founders of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt coalition and a candidate for the ward 6 seat which Blair Lancaster won for the second time in October, commented at the last public review of the budget that “none of the remarks made at the only public meeting being held on the budget would be available before delegations were made.” Warren wanted more information and wanted it sooner so comments could have a real impact.
It was at the 2014 review that John Birch tried to hi-jack the event and get in his pitch for funding of the LaSalle Park Marina; his efforts drew howls of derision. Hopefully the event facilitator will keep a tighter rein on where speakers go with their comments.
With a little luck the evening will see a demonstration of the city’s new web site. What we’ve seen so far appears to be a significant improvement over what has been in place for the last five years. Atrocious is an apt word to describe what the public has had to put up with.
A smart, savvy crew has done some solid work – the peak we had at the web site was good. Let’s see if the follow up is as good.
Thursday – at the Mainway Recreation Centre – 7:00 to 9:00 pm. It will be different this year.
By Pepper Parr
January 19, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON.
The city did another photo opportunity last week.
 Opened in 1965, expanded later the structure no longer meets the space needs of the city. Are there real plans for a replacement? There is a report being worked on that sets out the needs and the possibilities. The occasion was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of City Hall’s opening as the Civic Administration Building in 1965. A plaque was unveiled telling of the founding of Burlington.
The brief ceremony took place on one of the coldest days of the year when Wayne Kelly, Manager of Public Education and Community Development at the Ontario Heritage Trust delivered some remarks. Residents were invited to attend the event.
It is doubtful if there was any mention of how inefficient the building is or that it can’t hold all the people the city employs.
The Gazette didn’t cover the event – this Council didn’t need another photo opportunity.
 The building was a big deal back in 1965 – today it is too small and inefficient. What we are waiting for is the report that has been moving from desk to desk at city hall on the study of what the city has in the way of space it either owns or rents and what it is going to need in the way of space for the next 20 years.
The city currently rents space in the Sims building on the south side of Elgin where Human Resources, Finance, Purchasing, Legal and Capital Infrastructure beaver away on your behalf.
At one point it looked like the report was going to be made public before the election. Keeping that information away from the public was a smart political move and it maintained the practice of being opaque rather than transparent alive and well.
Former city manager Jeff Fielding had all kinds of ideas about where a city hall should be located and, had he stayed and completed his contract, there would have been all kinds of activity – that was just the way Fielding worked.
The file has been in the hands of the Capital Infrastructure people – once Council decides on who they want as a city manager it might see the light of day. For the time being the best citizens are going to get is some words from Wayne Kelly about how the city hall we have now came to be.
 The Sims building is more efficient than city hall. The city has leased space in the structure for some time; paid enough in rent argues Councillor Jack Dennison to have paid for the thing. The lease on the Sims building is due for renewal this year. There will probably be a short term lease renewal while the city gets its act together. The owner of the Sims building will push for a bit more than a short term renewal; they need the city as a tenant – at least until the Economic Development Corporation brings a company to town that will hire people for those high-tech, high paying jobs the city drools about having.
 The HiVe, one of the smartest ideas to settle in the downtown core has found that its costs are more than its revenue – they plan to move. The support they could have and should have gotten from the city just didn’t appear. Meanwhile The Hive over on Elizabeth Street, one of the smarter ideas to settle in the downtown core, has found that the rent they have to pay is more than the revenue they are bringing in – so they will be leaving the core and looking for digs that are less expensive.
None of this got mentioned during the plaque unveiling or while people were enjoying the refreshments at city hall.
By Pepper Parr
January 8, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
City council will meet for the first time this year on Monday morning of next week to review the first draft of the 2015 budget.
It will be interesting to watch how Mayor Goldring manages to bandage the wounds that were inflicted when the council he leads trashed the recommendations he made on appointments to Boards and Committees.
 Does Mayor Goldring now lead a Council that is headed for a string of 4-3 votes with Councillor Dennison being the swing vote. Has it really come to this? Those recommendations were not something the Mayor scribbled on the back of an envelope and gave to the Clerk. They were the result of discussion with every member of council.
While the Mayor has just one vote, he is seen as the first among equals. Citizens expect him to lead and he certainly led when he put together his list.
That his Council trashed his recommendations and put forward three amendments that stripped Councillor Meed Ward of much of her board and committee work is disturbing to say the least. There is the very real possibility that the Mayor will be seen as a lame duck the first month into his four year term.
 Councillor John Taylor may not be waving the draft of the 2015 budget – but he will be guiding it through the Standing Committee he chairs. The budget meeting will be chaired by Councillor Taylor with Meed Ward serving as his vice chair. Taylor at times struggles with detail but he will remember the 18th of December meeting when he was recognized by the provincial government for his 26 years of service.
He will also remember the meeting as the one that stripped Meed Ward of Board and Committee appointments that she wanted to continue doing.
It was also the meeting that had Taylor giving up his appointment to the Conservation Authority so that Meed Ward could serve there.
There is every reason to expect her to become a solid council representative at the Conservation Authority but it will be sometime before she can amass the knowledge Taylor has; losing him at Conservation is a significant loss.
As for Council meetings – we may be looking at a level of fractiousness we have not seen since the Cam Jackson days; that fractiousness was one of the reasons –Rick Goldring ran for Mayor in 2010.
What comes around goes around – maybe Cam Jackson wasn’t the problem after all.
By Pepper Parr
January 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON.
They are called Character Area studies; exercises where planners and residents meet to talk about what kind of a community they want.
In the past few years Burlington has done two of these: one in the Roseland community where the exercise is still underway and a second at Indian Point where the exercise was wrapped up.
 A part of the city that is rich in history Shoreacres may get a serious look at what it is and what it wants to be as part of the Official Plan Review. There is a Business Case in the 2015 budget for a third Character study for the Shoreacres community. Priced at $60,000 this study is part of the Official Plan review and came out of a Staff Direction.
This community has deep history – more so than Roseland. Both communities have been hit by what many refer to as predator developers who purchase older buildings on large lots; demolish the building and apply for a variance to divide the lot and put up two houses.
While many in the community regret the sale of what are seen as prime historical properties for every buyer there is a willing seller.
The Paletta Mansion is within the Shoreacres boundaries. Originally deeded to Laura Secord, who never lived on the property, the magnificent house was saved from destruction when purchased by the city. The Paletta family donated a large sum and had the house and park area named after them.
The Indian Point Character Study was wrapped up when the Planners came to the conclusion that the residents were so badly divided on a direction for the community that nothing could be achieved.
Indian Point has a rich history as well with large lots that cluster around the lake and Indian Creek.
These Character studies give residents of a community the opportunity to decide collectively what they want their community to look like and what they would like to see preserved. The people who live at Indian Point couldn’t arrive at any kind of consensus. The rank greed on the part of several participants during the Indian Point meetings was unsettling. It was difficult to see much in the way of community at those meetings.
 A per-fabricated bridge is installed over Shoreacres Creek. The Roseland character study meetings have been more civilized – close to genteel actually. But it has taken a long time and there isn’t yet a clear sense yet as to where the community wants to go.
What is clear in Roseland is the desire to see fewer demolitions which the majority seem to not want.
However, the ward Councillor has an Ontario Municipal Board hearing coming up in March at which he is appealing a Committee of Adjustment decision to not permit a re-zoning application to sever his Lakeshore Road property.
What Councillor Jack Dennison is doing would appear to be at odds with what the community says it wants – but they re-elected Dennison by a respectable majority.
Burlington is clearly struggling with its character as a city. There is work to be done.
 By Pepper Parr
December 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The city released the draft version of the operating budget for 2015 – it amounts to a 3.55% increase over the previous year.
The gross budget of $216.1 million for 2015 will result in a net tax levy of $139,912,648 – this includes $4.8 million that is levied to pay for the Joseph Brant Hospital Redevelopment Project.
 There are a number of Business Cases made for increased funding, which is included in the draft budget.
The Gazette will pour over the budget during the holidays and provide detail on a service by service basis as well as detail the several business cases put forward.
The draft budget was delivered to members of Council this afternoon.
 Giving the obstreperous tone at the last Council meeting – the budget deliberations could be tense. Councillor Taylor who referred to members of Council as the “gang of four” will chair the budget deliberations which begin on January 12th with a Community and Corporate Services Committee meeting where an Overview and a review of the 2015 proposed current budget.
That event will be followed by a Council Information session on January 21st and then a Public Consultation at the Mainway Arena on January 29th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm
On February 11th the Community and Corporate Services Committee will hear public delegations on the proposed current budget.
On February 17th and 19th the budget committee will review and approve the current budget after which it will go to Council for approval on February 23rd.
At the Council meeting on December 18th the city passed a bylaw approving an interim tax levy. The city sends out tax bills four times a year and cannot collect more than 50% of the tax levy with the first tax bill. Tax bills cannot be sent out until there is a specific by law passed by Council.
Tax bills are sent out in February and April followed by tax bills in June and September.
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