If you have never fallen you have never challenged your potential.”

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON  Match 6, 2012  Things got a little feisty at the Budget meeting at city hall last week.

Councillor John Taylor said he was not going to allow a budget committee to go into closed session to talk about how much the city was going to allocate for staff salary increases and that if he was found to be out of order he was going to walk out of the Council Chamber to the atrium and hold a press conference and spill the beans.

That is exciting stuff for Burlington.

Councillor Taylor was talking about salary figures that were well known and discussed at the Regional level, Committee chair Rick Craven kept intruding and telling him that he was getting very close to the line on what was permitted and what was not permitted in terms of talking about specific matters.

Taylor would lose his train of thought and while the two bickered back and forth, they eventually went into closed session and sent everyone out into the foyer for close to an hour.  That gave everyone sent out of the room time to get caught up on the gossip.

Taylor was making an very significant point.  The matter was how much of the tax money collected goes into staff salaries and how much does what Burlington pays its employees?

Taylor started off by pointing out that the Region had gone public and openly discussed salary increases and said the Region was not going to go above 2% increase in their 2012 budget.  Taylor felt Burlington should fall into the same line.   At that point chair of the meeting Rick Craven cut in and advised Taylor that he might be crossing a line and beginning to talk about a matter that wasn’t permitted by the Burlington Procedural Manual.

A staff report had recommended more than a 2% increase but that document was kept confidential.

That wasn’t going to deter Taylor – he then began to talk about comments made by an Ombudsman’s report that said council members should be generous and broad in their interpretation of what is confidential and what isn’t.

That wasn’t going to deter Craven who said that he was following the rules as set out in the Burlington Procedural Manual and he didn’t want to have to rule Taylor out of order.

What Taylor wanted to do was put forward a motion to decrease the amount to be allocated for salaries in the 2012 budget.

That was enough for the rest of the Council.  They decided to go into Closed Session and everyone was asked to leave the room.

Once everyone was back in the room Taylor’s motion to reduce the amount set aside for salaries and wages by $455,820 was voted on and defeated.  Taylor then put forward a second motion for a reduction of $152,000 and that was passed.

The $455,820 would have meant a 1% increase in salaries and wages for city staff; the $152,000 meant the increase was going to be just 2% ; not the more than 2% staff was recommending.

Municipalities pay their people very well and the benefits are also very good. The pension – a defined one – is amongst the best in the country.

Taylor pointed out that 90% of the money raised in taxes by the city, which amount to $125 million, is spent on salaries and benefits and he wanted this to be discussed in public.

The discussion got to the point where Taylor and Craven were sparring over phrases and wording in the city Procedural Manual.

The heck with what is in the Procedural Manual:  why does a budget committee go into closed secret session when discussing how much they are going to increase staff salaries by?  They aren’t talking about an individual’s  pay – they are talking about how big the increase is going to be for all staff during a specific budget year.

Folks that’s your money; 90 cents of every dollar is paid out as salary or benefits.  If open, transparent government means anything telling what you are paying your staff is part of that business.

The province has a Sunshine list that calls for municipalities to report the name and amount paid to every person earning more than $100,000 a year.  That information then gets published.  If the province is prepared to let the public know who is earning more than $100,000 why can’t the city say how much they are going to increase salaries by?  What is confidential about discussing the increases?

A Burlington city staff report that was confidential had set out an increase for staff salaries that was in excess of 2%

These discussions are at committee level and have to go to Council meeting to be made final March 19.

One Council member pointed out that the staff report, which wasn’t public, uses what other municipalities pay their people as  “comparators” and Taylor was arguing that it is unfair to use other municipalities as comparisons – that the city should be using what the butcher, the baker and the candle stick maker are earning – these are the guys paying the taxes and Taylor was arguing that they aren’t getting much more than 1%

One the day that Burlington was having this noisy debate the Premier of the province was telling teachers that their new contract would have a 0% increase for the next two years and that the practice of being able to get paid out for sick days that had been banked was going to be pared back.

Burlington might want to pay attention to the reality the province finds it has to face – it’s our reality as well.

 

 

–

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON  February 23, 2012  The Mayors “Imagine-Ignite-Innovate” speakers luncheon went just fine.  The room wasn’t chock full but the program was good.  Burlington business people learned that there was growth potential in developing intellectual property and using that property to give yourself a competitive edge.

There are two organizations along Mainway that do just that: Thordon Bearings and Ecosynthetix have created and continue to create products based on either patents they have secured or use trade secrets to put them ahead of others in the same field.

Xerox has done it with new products in the laser printing field and grew from a company that owned the photocopying market to one that is now heavily engaged in the short run printing business that brought full colour printing to a desk top in the office.

Paul Smith named a vice president of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada last September spearheads Xerox’s materials research activities through a team of 120 scientists and engineers. The research centre’s most recent innovations include advances in emulsion aggregation toner and the development of long-life photoreceptors. The centre has also played a key role in developing the next generation of solid ink, Xerox’s proprietary ink that melts to a liquid in the printer and because it does not use cartridges to hold the ink, reduces consumables waste by 90 percent compared to competitive office laser-based products.

Smith joined Xerox in 1995, and has held a number of management positions at the centre (XRCC), leading teams that have developed key materials for Xerox product platforms, including solid ink components and new inks for Xerox Phaser printers.

Smith received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Bath and was a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) fellow from 1995 to 1997.  In 2001, he received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. He is a named inventor on 55 U.S. patents and has published 16 research articles.

Dr. Smith was introduced by Acting Dean Dr. Bob McNutt, who announced that the Disney Institute was going to partner with the Executive Education group at DeGroote and sponsor a session on Business Excellence.   The session, to take place at the Burlington Convention Centre April 25, will focus on teaching business leaders how to think differently.  “Bring your business challenges and we will show you a clear, simplified way of looking at the problems and seeing what’s probably already right in front of you – easy effective solutions”, said the promotional literature.

In the world of marketing there is the phrase :”brand extension” which is when you take a product that has a very strong brand and extend it to a different product.

Take Disney – you immediately think of Disney Land and that gets you to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in less than a jump.  Disney has managed to extend their brand in the entertainment field very successfully.  Now they are going to try and extend the Disney brand into the field of executive education.  McMaster announced at the Mayor’s BEDC luncheon that the Disney Institute was going to become part of the Executive Education program at the McMaster DeGroote School of Business.  Folks that means Mickey Mouse is coming to Burlington and that perhaps we will be able to recognize Mac students by those Mickey Mouse ears.

Now that is brand extension – the kind of thing that makes marketing managers cry as they struggle to make their brand work for them.

 

By Pepper Parr

Sooner or later we will figure it out.  The next stab at finding an answer to that always perplexing question: What do we do with the downtown core?  is being led by those able financial ninja’s at the Economic Development Corporation (BEDC).

They have been asked to stick handle a study with two key objectives: quantify the market potential and constraints for the development of office space and while they are at it quantify the unique economic factors affecting retail operations in our downtown core relative to other areas of the city.

Retailers claim it costs more to run a business downtown.  Robert Lyons, a Burlington real estate professional produced some data that suggested property assessments in the downtown core were tough for retailers to cope with. There was a lot of anecdotal stuff floating around but the people making the decisions wanted hard data.

The BEDC has been given up to $15,000 to play with and get this done, in what can at best be seen as a real tight schedule.  Proposals in by February 28^th; contract awarded March 5^th then meet with BEDC staff to go over what’s going to get done three days later.  Then just over a month after the Preliminary draft of the report is due and discussed at an hour and a half meeting the same day.  Final report is due 12 days later.

May 10^th the writers of the report present and defend the thing at a Council Workshop.

Much of the forward thinking being done in Burlington it tied to the Strategic Plan that set out three Strategic Directions for the city.

Vibrant Neighbourhoods – and while downtown is described as everyone’s neighbourhood – it isn’t very vibrant.  However, it wasn’t all that long ago when there were dozens of stores with newspapers covering the plate glass and a for rent sign in the window.

Prosperity- bring hundreds of those high tech, high paying jobs to the city.  Everyone knows that the city is not going to see a manufacturing plant with 500 new jobs on the horizon in this lifetime.  Intellectual property, bio-tech, high value added are the buzz words for the economic development crowd.  But to have any of this one needs decent office space – and there  isn’t any of that in the downtown core – yet.

The third Strategic Direction was Excellence in Government which meant delivering services to the community at an acceptable cost and listening to the people who live in the city.  The budget will probably come in at something very close to 2% – the draft version asks for 3.4% but look for some whittling down of that number.

Mayor Goldring has focused on economic development more than anything else (he has spent a lot of time and energy improving the working relationships between his Council members  – but that’s another story) so far in his mandate.  He was insistent that there be a solid, thoroughly thought through Strategic Plan and he made sure the time and the resources were put into the Task.  City Council spent eleven half day sessions producing that document. The Mayor did the thinking behind the innovateBurlington program and has for the past six months being setting things up for a major look at what is wrong with the downtown core.

In May, 2011 Council asked city staff to update Council on the Status of the Core Commitment along with a work plan,  time frames and a budget for a strategy designed to engage the community.  Key to this was an implementation for delivering the vision, whatever it turned out to be.

Staff produced their report in August of 2011 – and it didn’t hit enough nails on the head to get the job done.  While the Core Commitment had been ongoing for a number of years, they realized now that they really didn’t have enough data.  The anecdotal stuff they did have was getting them nowhere.

The Mayor’s office could see where this was going so Council directed  that a Task Group be formed to “identify challenges, opportunities, roles and responsibilities for creating a vibrant downtown”.

The Core Commitment people had already produced language that described the downtown core as a neighbourhood that belonged to everyone – and while true from a philosophical point of view – its tough to really believe that the folks in Alton and The Orchard or Aldershot for that matter,  see the downtown core as “their” neighbourhood.  These groups of people find what they need in their immediate community or head for the malls.

The Task Group got put together and did what any group does – (don’t think firemen do this)  – determined their mandate, wrote it down and then met and decided that a SWOT (Strengths,Weaknesses,Opportunities,Threats) analysis was needed and that recommendations delivered had to be based on fact – but there weren’t all that many facts in front of them – so they wanted some targeted research to advance the understanding of systemic  issues affecting the health of the downtown core.

That called for three research projects: Benchmarking, Market/Customer Analysis and the Cost of Doing business Downtown.  The cost study is what the city wants to get done pronto.

The Benchmarking is being done by an intern who will compare what has been done in the Burlington downtown with what has been done in other downtown locations of a similar size and similar socio-economics.

The Market/Customer analysis will be the object of a Request for Proposal to be issued at a later date.

So – what have we got?

A Core Commitment group that kind of stalled.  To be fair the Core Commitment is a vision document and a strategy to achieve the vision but they have stumbled a bit

A Task Group that hopes it can do a better job.  And they are going to do their best to ensure that they have valid data to work from.

And three research proposals.

All this to inform and direct a Workshop that is going to take place on what can we do to leverage those two parking lots in the downtown core, spitting distance from city hall.

Councillor Jack Dennison has had dreams about what can be done with those properties.  In 2006 the city thought they had a winner when six proposals came in response to a proposal to develop 100,000 to 150,000 sqft of Class A office space with a parking garage for 500 vehicles.

Before that idea got very far McMaster came along with their idea of putting one of their schools in the downtown core and the city retracted the RFP they had put out.  But McMaster stiffed the city when a better offer came along. A BEDC document explains that unfortunate experience thusly: “Unfortunately, new opportunities later in the process presented themselves to McMaster and the downtown campus project was abandoned by McMaster.”  Care to know who owned the land that the university is now located on?

Somewhere in all this there is some progress.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON  February 10, 2011  – What is it that brings about economic growth in a community?  How can the strides that are taking place along Plains Road in Aldershot be grafted onto the downtown core?

The Plains Road Village Vision Group (PRVV) have shown that when people in the community want change to take place – it happens.  When Shoppers Drug Mart opened their location on Plains Road they had planned on using their template for the store.  Shoppers has a way of doing things and they planned to follow the formula..

Not so fast said members of the community.  We’d like to see the orientation of the store more towards the street and not the parking lot you’re putting in – and while you’re at it – we want you to place one of the benches we’ve created close to the front of the store.  And the door should be placed facing the street.

The bench is in place; the greenery at the front of the location is pretty consistent with the rest of the street and there is a door that faces the street – but it’s kept locked – you can’t use it.  Which underlines the phrase – you can’t win every time.  But the Plains Road Village Vision win often enough and a road that was once the main route through to Hamilton has become a street that is a little slower when it comes to traffic and is certainly much nicer to walk along.  There are shops and restaurants and new projects are announced almost monthly.  The shovels go into the ground whereas in downtown Burlington a project is announced and that’s about it.

The Ontario Municipal Board recently gave a developer additional height at the James – Brant intersection, which made him happy but the same developer has a major project past the approval stage for John Street.  No shovels in the ground there yet.

The PRVV people have done such a good job on their end of things that the local Business Improvement Association has made the PRVV a formal subcommittee of the BIA. “In my view” said Ward Council member Rick Craven, “this initiative will strengthen both groups and serve the interests of Aldershot very well”.

Meanwhile the downtown Burlington merchants struggle attracting traffic and making Brant Street vibrant.  Downtown rents are a killer for those who don’t own their buildings and taxes, up significantly due in some measure to the high rise condos that have been built, don’t allow these business people to see the profits they need to grow.

That cup of coffee on Brant Street is the same price as that cup of coffee on Plains Road but the tax portion of the rent on Brant is a lot higher than it is on Plains Road

Much to the chagrin of the Brant Street merchants, as well as their colleagues on the streets east and west of Brant, the condos brought tax increases but didn’t do much in the way of directing traffic to their doors.

All that hustle and bustle at Spencer Smith Park during the Sound of Music and RibFest doesn’t drive much traffic up Brant Street either.

While the people in Aldershot seem to have a grip on what their issues are and are working together to make the best of what they do have – Downtown can’t seem to make things work for them.  During the Christmas Season at least two well-known restaurants did nothing to dress up their street scape.  There wasn’t much of a “festiveness” on the street while the Village Square made their location look inviting at least.

Retail and hospitality are a grind – it isn’t easy to stay fresh, be seen as “the place” to get to and have fun or enjoy a meal.  When retail is good – it’s great – it’s just isn’t all that good much of the time.

Are there lessons for the Burlington Downtown Business Association with what Aldershot’s BIA is doing?  Might be worth looking into.  Is there an equivalent to the Plains Road Village Vision representing the downtown merchants?  That too might be worth looking into.

And does anyone have any thoughts on what the Festival of Lights will be doing for sponsorship next winter?  And if anyone happens to know where those reindeer wandered off to – give the Festival of Lights folks a call.

 

 

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON  February 4, 2012  – Most of the usual suspects were on hand for one of the public reviews of the 2012 city budget, along with city staff who were ready to explain the finer points of what looks like is going to be about 3.4% tax increase over last year`s which was less than 1%.

The public event, held at the Burlington Art Centre drew about 30 citizens who went through the workbook the city had provided.  The evening started with an overview from Acting Treasurer Joan Ford after which staff joined each table to go through the well laid out workbook that for those attending , raised questions to consider.

We learned an interesting little bit about the technology the city uses to get the sense of what people in a meeting think about an issue.  The city has a couple of dozen little key pads that look a bit like a remote but are quite a bit smaller.  A question will pop up on a screen and people in the room key in the number that fits their answer to the question – less than two seconds later the results appear on a screen.

General Manager Budgets and Corporate Services, Kim Phillips brought the tool to the meeting – it was kind of neat to see what people in the room thought about a specific issue – you had the answer in seconds.  This sort of thing could and perhaps should be used at larger meetings – say the Heritage Workshops where views are usually very mixed it would help to see what people were thinking.  It was very “real time” and useful.

Once a group has gone through the workbook the situation shifts and the politicians who were in the room join the table to discuss the major concern each group had.  This particular public session saw a group from the fire department taking part – we’ve not seen specific stakeholder groups appear at these sessions in the past.  The fire department has clearly decided that they need to make their point in quieter community based sessions.

It was interesting to watch Councillors Mead Ward and Craven along with the Mayor join the table and hear what the group had to say.

The evening ended with each table giving the audience a sense of their take on the budget.  At this session the sense was that the city was on the right track ad that spending was seen as appropriate.  One person thought some of the information given could have been put in a better context and made part of a large picture – good point.

While the workbook is some 20 pages, it covers the points city staff wanted to hear discussed and while there was no sense that anything was being hidden, public input on the questions that were asked, might have been helpful.

Time for these public sessions is limited so the city set out two service choices and asked participants to respond. They were told that the city planned on spending $80.71 on fire protection; $75.74 on capital spending, $66.53 on Roads and Parks Maintenance; $39.42 on Local Boards and committees (Library, Performing Arts Centre, the Economic Development Corporation;  $32.92 on Parks and Recreation services and $28.60 on transit services.

The figures given are for every $100,000 of urban residential assessment – so if your house is assessed at $300,000 then you would multiply the number given by three.

The participants were asked if they would maintain the amount budgeted for 2012; if they would enhance the amount (increase) or reduce the amount budgeted.  Staff were on hand to delve into some of the detail in each of the spending categories.  What would you have done with each of those categories?  If you want to share your view, General Manager Kim Phillips would love to hear from you – she can be reached by email at phillipsk@Burlington.ca

The participants were asked if they would support or not support reducing the frequency of mowing the grass under the Hydro rights of way from five times a year to four times and save $6000.00 .  Or if they would support or not support reducing the school crossing guard coverage during lunch hours at under utilized crossings?  I suspect the parents located near those crossings would like some say on this one – the specific crossings weren’t set out in the workbook – but if you`re concerned  – ask your ward councillor.

There are 15 hanging baskets on Lakeshore Road between Maple and Locust – are they worth the $4000.00 the city spends to put them up and maintain them every year?  Tell your Council member if you don`t think that is money well spent.

Running a city is a complex business and keeping everyone happy is no simple matter.  A lot of people disdain politics – but like it or not – it is the glue that keeps the place together.

The previous session held elsewhere in the community had just five people in the audience and while that is disappointing – there is a very important point being made by the city.  They have, each year, gone out into the community with well-prepared material and organized the event so that everyone had an opportunity to talk and make their views known.  The attendance was disappointing but people in the city know that they can make their views known – so when the budget is approved – let`s not hear a lot of carping about the public having no input.  There are additional public sessions scheduled.  If you’ve got a beef – there is a chance for you to get your two cents worth on the table.

The sessions are kind of fun.  One table left the sense they were prepared to get a small game of poker going – heck they were talking about the city budget so why not have some fun.  That the deputy city treasurer along with the President of the Chamber of Commerce was at the table shouldn’t send out any alarm signals – they both looked like quarter a hand players to me.

Small, community based information sessions are just part of the public process.  The budget, both the Capital budget, which is a longer term document and the Current budget – which sets out what is going to be spent in the current year, get discussed at length during the Budget and Corporate Services committee meetings, where any citizen can delegate and be given ten minutes to make their point.  If you’re really hot and bothered about an issue – you can delegate at the Council meeting, where the budget is made official.  You`re expected to have new information if you delegate at Committee and delegate again at Council – and you get just five minutes at a Council meeting.

If you’ve nothing new to say at a Council meeting you get met by stone cold silence from the seven members of city council, who thank you for your delegation and dismiss you – it can be a  humbling experience, and it happens more often than it should.  So if you chooses to delegate – be well prepared with facts and figures.

City council had asked staff to prepare a budget with a tax increase that ranged between 2% and 3.5% – they’ve produced a document that came in at 3.4%.  Council at the Committee stage can and should squeeze this back to 2% and ensure that the needed funds for the road maintenance is in place.

There was a very interesting and innovative proposal put forward by Councillor Taylor for a debenture offering that citizens could subscribe to as a way to raise the funds needed to pay for any re-development that gets done on the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital.  The proposal would have given citizens a risk free investment opportunity and also have spread out the re-development costs over a longer time frame.  If there is ever a re-developed hospital in Burlington –and it is far from certain that there ever will be one – the cost can and should be spread out over several generations.  Giving people a better financial return than a savings account wouldn’t hurt either.

 

By Mayor Rick Goldring

BURLINGTON, ON January 25, 2012

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all very much for coming this morning to the State of the City Address.

Last year there was record attendance for this event, and I am pleased and a little surprised that there is approximately the same number of people here this year as last. I thought the honeymoon would be over and the attendance would be less. Maybe the honeymoon is over and that is why you are all here.

Thank you to the sponsors for your contribution to this event. Scotia Bank, Bell, the Certified Management Accountants Association along with the Burlington Youth Soccer Club – you are all great contributors to our community. I have great affinity for the BYSC as all 3 of my daughters played soccer at all levels in the club and 2 continue to play soccer as young adults.

I also want to thank TV Cogeco for being here this morning, providing many who cannot be here, the opportunity to see this event at a future date on TV Cogeco.

I also wish to thank the Burlington Chamber of Commerce for not only hosting the State of the City Address, but also for the efforts you expend in the areas of advocacy as well as providing educational and networking opportunities for your members. The net impact of your efforts is a significant contribution to prosperity for our city.

Before I go any further I want to introduce my colleagues from Burlington City Council: Councillors Marianne Meed Ward, John Taylor, Jack Dennison, Paul Sharman and Blair Lancaster. Councillor Rick Craven is away on a well earned vacation in the Caribbean.

I also would like to introduce the Senior Executive Team with the City:

Kim Phillips – Acting City Manager – General Manager of Corporate Services;

Scott Stewart – General Manager of Community Services – who also served as Acting City Manager  while Council was in the recruitment process; and

Steve Zorbas – Acting General Manager of Development and Infrastructure.

Kim only has two more days in the Acting City Manager Role.

I want to publicly thank both Kim and Scott for the time that each of you served as acting city manager. You both did a superb job – we were in good hands.

At this point, I would like to introduce our new City Manager – Jeff Fielding – who is with us this morning, even though he does not start until Monday.

Jeff was the City Manager in London for almost 8 years and prior to that, was the City Manager in Kitchener. Jeff brings with him not only great experience as a municipal leader, but also an incredible amount of enthusiasm.

Jeff, welcome to Burlington. We are all looking forward to working with you.

There are a number of additional members of our senior management team and staff who are also here this morning. We are extremely fortunate to have a fine team of public servants serving the needs of our community.

This morning is my second opportunity to address the Chamber and the public through the press, and TV Cogeco and talk about our city. I have had the privilege of being the Mayor for just over one year now, and I must say that the opportunity has been everything I had hoped for, and at times more, and some times, much more!

The State of the City address can be a series of statistics and facts to prove we have done our job. However to me the state of the city is an attitude, a feeling, a level of confidence about how things are going. That is the foundation that allows us to focus on the hopes and dreams for the whole city.

This past year, I had the opportunity to speak to many residents. I attended more than 300 community functions and it often seemed that I spoke to every person present. In the Mayor’s Office, we had over 150 meetings with concerned citizens, groups and staff about the matters that were important to the community. I had the occasion to speak to and engage in dialogue with many service clubs, church groups, community organizations and business groups, including 10 CFOs from local businesses in a meeting that was arranged by the Chamber.

I was in arenas, art centres, halls, parks, libraries, schools, hospitals, churches, food banks, and just about any other facility we have here in Burlington. I visited local businesses regularly and met with several prospective Burlington businesses. During the year I hosted the Mayor’s Community Roundtable and invited about 30 community groups to attend and we have had great attendance. We established a series of Open Door sessions where residents simply show up to meet me without an appointment to discuss their issues. In fact there is one this Friday morning at City Hall.

Last week I invited some prominent citizens for dinner to talk about the city’s challenges and opportunities. This group of participants represented social services, culture, development and the business sectors. For me it was an inspiring evening. The level of enthusiasm and expertise we have in our community is an asset that we need to capitalize on more.

Many citizens also engaged me in grocery stores, shopping malls, on the street while out I was out walking, at the Y during my workouts, and sometimes even when I am out of town. This past Sunday I talked to a resident at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph while attending a Guelph Storm hockey game with my daughter.

In 2011 I had the opportunity to do Ward Tours with my colleagues. We drove through neighbourhoods, walked through parks and pathways, visited developing areas, areas of concern and areas of opportunity. I am consistently impressed with the work of my colleagues on Council, with how in touch they are with the Ward’s they represent, and how hard they are working every day in little ways that few people see.

While the Mayor is the chief spokesperson for the city and the head of council, it is not the Mayor’s role to lead on every issue. The city is fortunate to have the blend of different people on council who are all community leaders.

So how are we doing?

In my inaugural speech just over a year ago, I spoke about the importance of rebuilding TRUST; the trust between council members, council and staff, council and the public and between City Hall and the public.

Elections can and often do end up creating at the beginning an interesting dynamic for municipal councils and the staff team they lead. It takes effort on all sides to meld together, different views, experiences and approaches into a cohesive team. I am pleased to report that the organization has come a long way in a year resulting in higher levels of trust and respect that allows us to focus on the issues in front of us more effectively.

I would like to read a quote from Kent Murdoch, President and CEO of the O.C. Tanner Company:

“If your workplace culture isn’t open and honest, it won’t create satisfaction, and you will experience turnover and a lack of productivity that will cost you money, ideas and time. On the other hand, if the work environment is ethical, productive and positive, people will stay – and stay committed. They will drive your organization forward”.

The result of a high trust organization will be a much better and more trusting relationship with the people we serve.

Having a high level of trust doesn’t mean that all decisions are unanimous. We all know that this is impossible. Trust is based on transparency, openness, an explanation of decision making, honesty and respect, including respecting alternative positions. This is true in our interaction with each other, staff and the community.

As we move forward to look at what happened in 2011 and what we look forward to in 2012, I hope you come away with these thoughts from today:

1. I believe you should feel positive about what is happening in Burlington and how your council and city staff are working on your behalf.
2. All municipalities have their challenges. We don’t have to look far to see examples. Burlington is in a better position than most. We have a very good and diversified local economy, we have a great quality of life and access to amenities and services and we are in a position to address our challenges in a professional and thoughtful way.
3. We are addressing our issues head on. We are “living within our means” and we will continue to do so.

Highlights of 2011

2011 was an eventful year.

Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital

As we saw and heard in the video we played earlier, on August 10^th the Province of Ontario announced the go ahead on the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital re-development project. This project, with a budget of over $300 million will result in a significantly rejuvenated hospital.

We will see new operating rooms, new private rooms, a new cancer clinic and many more improvements. The progress that has been made on this project is remarkable. This redevelopment will provide the infrastructure needed to provide the healthcare that Burlington must have for this generation and the next.

The project will proceed in two Phases. The hospital will begin with an RFP process and tender in Phase 1 in 2012 and construction in 2013. Phase 2 will go through a similar process with the tender award in 2014.

We have members of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital here this morning and I would like to acknowledge Eric Vandewall and the team.

The re-development of the hospital is not the only thing happening at Joseph Brant. As most of you know, the city and Region committed $10 million several years ago to McMaster University as part of the DeGroote School of Business at the Ron Joyce Centre on the South Service Road.  This project had a second component which related to the commitment by McMaster to open a Halton McMaster Family Health Centre in the Burlington downtown area.

I would like to welcome here today Dr. David Price, Chair of McMaster Family Medicine and Dr. John Kelton, Dean and VP of Health Science. I am pleased to tell you today that McMaster has selected the Joseph Brant site as the preferred site for the Halton McMaster Family Health Centre. McMaster anticipates taking ownership of two floors and about 15,000 square feet at Joseph Brant as part of the Phase 1 project.  All parties hope to be operational at Joseph Brant by the end of 2013.

We anticipate that a site plan application for Phase 1 will be submitted to our planning department in May this year. Through public consultation this will allow the public to more fully see and understand the plans at Joseph Brant.

Performing Arts Centre

The Burlington Performing Arts Centre opened this fall on time and on budget. This facility is absolutely magnificent. It is and will remain a centerpiece of our community for generations.

Burlington residents now have access to performances that could not previously come to our City. Our community cultural groups now have a place to perform and an environment to be inspired.

To build a city, attract creative people and have a vibrant downtown, you need the performing arts. The Prime Minister of Canada agrees, and as part of the opening week festivities Prime Minister Harper came to Burlington to celebrate with us. The Prime Minister spent most of the day here in Burlington, had an opportunity to visit one of our thriving businesses and to see Canada’s musical ambassadors The Burlington Teen Tour Band.

Education and Partnership

Our city building continued in education and partnership.

Ground was broken this fall for the new Alton High School, Library and Community Centre. This is a joint effort with the school board and public library to integrate high quality services on a more cost effective basis.

The city is also building Norton Park with soccer and football fields across the street and creating a campus to meet the community needs. This is a great example of partnership in action.

Life-long learning, innovation and entrepreneurship are critical to our prosperity and continued success. One of the very important institutions in our community to help us achieve this is the DeGroote School of Business. This is the home of the McMaster MBA program.

The program has expanded to 577 students for the 2011/12 academic year and continues to see an increase in International students which make up 20% of the class entering in 2011.

The program is in the top three in Canada for return on investment. 100% of the co-op students secured employment placement for the fall 2011 program. Since 2010, 17 Burlington companies have recruited co-op students. However, only about 4% of these co-op students are finding permanent employment opportunities in Burlington.

McMaster representatives are here today and I encourage local businesses to look into these opportunities. This is a win/win situation and if we can attract and keep leading graduates in our local economy, we will all benefit.

McMaster’s presence in Burlington also makes world class executive education available. Since 2010, 840 executives have participated in programs. Former Dean, and our good friend Paul Bates, leads this initiative. This is an opportunity for the community which we hope you consider.

I believe that innovation, entrepreneurship and keeping our young graduates in our local economy, is vital to our future.

To help achieve this, I am pleased to announce today that through partnership with the BEDC, McMaster, the Chamber of Commerce, and The Centre for Skills and Development Training, we are launching Innovate Burlington.

Innovate Burlington is a first step towards building a sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship program in Burlington.

Innovate Burlington will provide recent graduates the opportunity to work as interns, in Burlington, on meaningful projects to help local companies. We see this as a win for graduates and a win for you, our local businesses, who will have access to a tremendous talent pool. You may well find your future leaders through this program.

I hope you will seriously look at this opportunity for your organization. I would also like to introduce to you one company that already has. Here today are Ryan Djordjevic and Tim Sluy from Global Mobility Products.

There will be a formal launch for this program on February 16. I would like to thank Kyle Benham, the Executive Director of BEDC and Anita Cassidy, our Program Coordinator, for their efforts in getting this program off the ground. I would like to express my personal thanks to the Advisory Team that has contributed to this effort.

Strategic Plan

A new Strategic Plan was developed in 2011. The Strategic Plan focuses on three key areas: Vibrant Neighbourhoods, Prosperity, and Excellence in Government.

This plan was developed with unprecedented public input. It is a much more focused document than previous plans. For example, we reduced the number of initiatives from 107 to about 42 for the term. We have created a plan which is meaningful, focused, and attainable.

Niagara to GTA Highway

In October 2010, the province attempted to amend the Region’s Official Plan maps with a change that identified a corridor for a new highway right through the middle of rural Burlington. Council is committed to protecting this natural heritage for generations to come.

Through a tremendous effort by Councillors Taylor and Lancaster and the Stop the Highway coalition this corridor proposal was removed from the Official Plan maps and Minister Wynne announced in July that there would be no highway.

I spoke to Minister Ted McMeekin about this issue again last week.  I am assured that the province is looking at all multi-modal options, including rail, road widening and public transit to address our long term transportation needs.

There are still challenges associated with this issue and we continue to fight to protect the rural heritage. We need 21st century solutions to our transportation challenges.

In addition to these major milestones in our community, there were many others were noting:

• Burlington Transit ridership increased by 7.0% in 2011.
• In 2011, construction value increased meaningfully. Residential construction value grew by 23% and Industrial/Commercial development grew by 30%. That translates to a total of $451 million in construction this past year. We hope to see job numbers reflect this investment in 2012.
• Some high profile retailers selected Burlington as a location of choice. Sail, an outdoor retailer selected Burlington in October and should be open later this year. And of course the Apple Store opened prior to Christmas at Mapleview Mall.
• In August, EcoSynthetix completed a successful IPO, raising just over $100 million. Congratulations to John van Leeuwen and his team. Prime Minister Harper was also impressed and visited EcoSythetix on December 2.

So where are we going in 2012?

In 2012 and beyond there are a number of challenges and opportunities to address.

Community Engagement

Our new Public Involvement Coordinator, Christine Iamonaco is in the process of creating an Engagement Charter – a document that helps define the relationship between citizens and the city, whether it be staff or council. We need to demystify and enhance our processes to create an environment where our citizens can provide appropriate and timely input on the many initiatives and decisions that council is responsible for.

Official Plan Review

This year we will commence an Official Plan review. This is an exercise mandated by the province that must be done every 5 years.

An official plan is a statutory document which sets out the land use policy directions for long-term growth and development in a municipality.

I believe that this official plan review is the most important in Burlington’s history for a number of reasons.

1. We have the lowest projected growth rate of any municipality in the GTA for the next 20 years.
2. We are committed to keep our 50/50 rural urban split, meaning that all new development must occur south of the Dundas-407 corridor.
3. After the Alton Community is complete, we have very little room left for “greenfield” development.
4. Up to 80% of future residential development will be intensification, redevelopment and infill.
5. We need to maintain an appropriate amount of employment lands for new business and new jobs to 2031.

Council will be having a workshop on the Official Plan shortly and just as the Strategic Plan had an unprecedented level of public input, we will also have a very thorough public process for the Official Plan review.

Neighbourhood Development

We continued to develop and protect our neighbourhoods in 2011 and will continue to do so in 2012 and beyond. Over 80% of our neighbourhoods will see little change, while certain areas of the city will see further intensification.

Aldershot

A great example of this is Aldershot and the Plains Road Corridor.

Plains Road is in the process of transitioning from an old suburban highway to a vibrant urban main street. My compliments to Councillor Rick Craven, along with the Aldershot BIA and the Plains Road Village Vision, who have lead many of the positive changes we have seen along Plains Road.

A fundamental factor that is influencing the Village Vision is that Aldershot has insufficient population to attract new businesses.

The newer residential and commercial buildings have more cohesive design features that result in a more vibrant and attractive area of the city. There are many examples of this and the most recent is the brand new Aldershot Library.

The new 403 interchange, a new Kings Road Underpass (that will be completed this fall) along with the work of the Aldershot BIA and city staff, have all contributed to the tremendous level of interest and activity with regard to new development along Plains Road.

Downtown

Under the Province of Ontario’s Places to Grow plan, our downtown is designated as an urban growth centre. It is expected, in fact it is mandated, that our downtown should add more residents and more jobs.  We have seen some progress on this but progress has slowed.

There are 3 major development applications that were approved several years ago; however the shovels are not in the ground yet. When complete, these projects will add over 650 residents and over 500 jobs.

We need more of this. In the spring, council will be participating in a workshop discussing the potential for the parking lots located to the west of Village Square and east of Brant Street, south of City Hall. We see these lots as development opportunities that have the potential to add more jobs and residents without taking away parking spaces.

The success of a downtown is one of the major keys to a prosperous city. Development needs to continue in the downtown in order for our city to thrive.

I should mention that Councillor Meed Ward is taking me on a Ward Tour on Monday which will allow us to look at all of the opportunities we have in the downtown.

Economic Reality

The economic climate has changed significantly over the last 5 years.  The issues in the US and Europe have cast a negative pall over many in the world. Canada is fortunate, on a relative basis, but we cannot be too smug as we are still vulnerable.

The world is transitioning from an Industrial Age to an Information and Communication Technology Age, resulting in many traditional manufacturing jobs being eliminated or moved to countries in the developing world, like China and India.

We need to leverage our investment in McMaster to help foster innovation, job creation and life-long learning in Burlington. I believe a culture of life-long learning is critical to prosperity.

“In the 21^st century literacy will not be about reading and writing but will be the about the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn.”

The days of having only one job with one organization are over and the ability to be resilient and flexible in adapting to changing circumstances has never been as important.

Governments at all levels have to deal with issues differently. Yesterday’s approaches to the challenges of today and tomorrow will not work. We need to be creative, innovative and use ingenuity to address our future.

I am pleased to say that our staff has responded appropriately to these challenges in a very positive manner.

Last year, we had a City of Burlington tax increase of .9%. Obviously good news, but it is not sustainable to continue on at that level. The regular operations of the city require an annual increase to reflect increasing costs. On top of this, we have infrastructure challenges that all municipalities have. As much as the hospital announcement was great news for Burlington, we did not anticipate the timing of the announcement or the fact that the city taxpayers, along with donors, have to front-end $60 million each over the next 6 years.

I am confident we can deal with our financial challenges carefully and judiciously resulting in responsible tax rate increases and “living within our means.”

So what do I hope you take away from today?

1. I hope you feel positive. Our City is in very good shape and we are committed to keeping Burlington as a thriving prosperous inclusive community through strong fiscal management, innovation and partnerships and cooperation.
2. We all have challenges. Our City is changing. I propose to embrace this change.

• We have a meaningful Strategic Plan in place and you will see a more focused Council and a Council and Staff that better understands our priorities.
• We will continue to improve in how we work with the community as we work through the change that is taking place.
• Your City is focused on improving customer service, productivity through technology and decision making through engagement and measurement.

3. We will “live within our means.”

In closing, I would like to thank the Chamber for hosting this event.

I want to thank council and staff of the city for all their hard work.

I also want to recognize the efforts of our faith communities, services clubs, social agencies, sports groups, and arts and cultural organizations, for the major contribution they are to a city where people, nature and business thrive.

It is an honour and privilege to serve as your Mayor.

I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with you to make this city the best it can be.

In my inauguration speech I closed with the African Proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”

Ladies and gentlemen, we are in this together and together we will continue to build a wonderful City.

Thank You.

January 26, 2012

 Burlington Convention Centre

The Burlington Chamber of Commerce has been hosting the Mayor’s Annual State of the City Address for thirty years.  With advocacy being a key objective of the Chamber, hosting the Mayor’s Address gives Burlington business people an excellent opportunity to gain a greater understanding of local politics and how issues being dealt with by the mayor and council can affect them and their business.  Often viewed as the mayor’s most important speech of the year, the address outlines the city’s challenges, opportunities and priorities for the upcoming year.  Recently, the mayor has made use of technology by conducting real-time polls during the event to gauge the thoughts and priorities of those in attendance.  This gives the audience a way to directly interact with the mayor during the event.  The Mayor’s Address is one of the premier events hosted by the Chamber which hosts 80 events each year.

 

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON  December 19, 2011  –  The Halton Region Community Investment Fund wants to hear from the not for profit community on how to revise the fund to best meet the needs of non-profit programs and the residents they serve. The consultations will also explore other strategies to help agencies respond to community needs.

If you are involved with a non-profit organization or community group that provides community health and social service programs in Halton, Halton Region would like your input on Halton Region’s Community Investment Fund.

The HRCIF funds non-profit programs that address key community health and social service needs in Halton. In January 2012, the Region will be holding consultations throughout Halton to determine “We value the important work being done in Halton by the non-profit sector and have committed resources in the Citizens’ Priorities – Halton Region’s 2011-2014 Action Plan to support those efforts,” said Regional Chair Gary Carr.  “I encourage individuals who work or volunteer in the non-profit sector to be a part of the conversation about the future of the Halton Region Community Investment Fund.”

Community consultations about the investment fund have been scheduled as follows:

 Burlington – January 19, 2012, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., De Groote School of Business (Ron Joyce Centre, 4350 South Service Road)

MASS LBP, a Canadian advisory firm that specializes in community engagement, is coordinating and facilitating the consultation sessions. To register for a community consultation in your community contact Mass LBP at 1-888-377-2739 or register online at www.halton.ca/investmentfund.

While the non-profit sector is important, the health of the private sector is vital to the community and Halton has done reasonably well.  Construction, which is the industry the Region follows closest, looked like this:

Construction industry:

Halton’s total value of new construction and expansions declined during the 3rd quarter of 2011 from the same period in 2010, falling 23% to just over $381 million.  The decreases in construction values was seen across the industrial, institutional and residential categories, whereas the commercial category saw an increase from the same period in 2010.  The major non-residential project that got underway during the 3rd quarter was Phase 1 of the Joshua Creek Corporate Centre in Oakville, where permits were issued for three office buildings totaling 120,000 sq.ft. and a combined construction value of over $14.5 million.  There were no notable industrial permits issued during the quarter.

Overall, there were 1,734 building permits issued in Halton during the 3rd quarter, which represents an 18% decline from the same period in 2010.  Residential permits accounted for 58% of all building permits issued and 14% were Industrial, Commercial or Institutional (ICI) permits.

Halton’s industrial vacancy rates during the 3rd quarter of 2011 dropped 5.8%, while vacancy rates in the office market rose slightly to 14.2%.  At the same time, there was negative absorption in both Halton’s industrial market (-86,506 sq.ft.) and office market (-15,910 sq.ft.).  This contributed to slight declines in both industrial and office net rental rates in Burlington and Oakville, while industrial rates in Milton rose marginally.

Economic Conditions

Ontario’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined 0.3% in the 2nd quarter of 2011, following seven consecutive quarterly gains.  Production by goods-producing industries fell 1.0%, while services-production industries edged down 0.2%.  Production declined in the manufacturing, finance and retail trade sectors, while utilities and construction posted the highest gains.  Meanwhile, business investment on plant and machinery continued to trend upward, rising 4.9% during the 2nd quarter.

Employment in Ontario was also up over 12,000 in September 2011.  Over the past 12 months, employment in the province increased over 135,000 (+2.0%), the majority of which was full-time work. The provincial unemployment rate climbed 0.1 percentage points in September to 7.6%.

Halton’s economic conditions weakened during the 3rd quarter of 2011 from the same period last year, halting the substantial market rebounds observed throughout the post-recessionary period of 2009 and 2010.  Construction activity in Halton fell by 23%.  The industrial sector posted the highest losses, with a decrease of 81% over 2010.  Institutional investments also deceased (-39%) as federal and provincial infrastructure stimulus funding wound down.

In the residential sector, development activity dropped 12%, however, Halton’s resale housing market remained strong with a reported 23% increase in sales listings and 41% decrease in the number of days listings were staying on the market longer on average.  Housing prices rose 12% over the same period in 2010, reaching just over $515,000 on average.

The labour market in Halton also weakened slightly during the 3rd quarter with the region’s unemployment rate rising to 6.6% from 5.0% during the same period in 2010.  However, this was an improvement on the 7.2% unemployment rate recorded in the 2nd quarter of 2011.  The number of residents participating in the labour force decreased from a rate of 77.0% in 2010 to 74.9% in 2011.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON  December 14, 2011 They are getting ready to talk about a tax increase of 2 1/2 to 3% with the possibility of it going to more than 4% if they decide to buy all the goodies staff has put before them – but for now your city Council is going to give a bit of a break – FREE parking in the downtown core at all meters and municipal parking lots and the Waterfront Downtown Burlington parking garage on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, the 26^th and again on the 27^th of December.

Note: The Waterfront parking lots (east and west) do not provide free parking on statutory holidays.  The one place that most people will want to go to – especially if the ice skating pond manages to freeze over – and, you guessed it; that one isn’t free.  Now you know what they mean by looking a gift horse in the mouth.

I suspect the downtown merchants would have liked city hall to spread that Christmas Spirit a little further and include a couple of days before Christmas Day.  It’s not like downtown Burlington has a tradition of great Boxing Day Sales now is it?

City Hall itself will shut down from Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011 and will re-open on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012. During this time, a number of city administrative services will not be available.

Parks and Recreation:

There are many opportunities the whole family can enjoy over the holiday season at city pools, arenas and community centres. Hours of operation and services available vary at each city facility. Call your local pool/arena for specific swim/skate times and check the Tim Horton’s Free Holiday Skate Schedule for skate times available in the Winter Wonderland events schedule.

Transit:

Burlington Transit and Handi-Van service will operate under a holiday season schedule from Dec. 25 through to Jan. 1 and will resume regular operating hours as of Monday, Jan. 2.  For details, please call the automated 24-Hour BusLINE at 905-639-0550 or visit the city’s website at: www.burlington.ca/transit

Roads:

Roads and Parks Maintenance will provide basic and emergency service over the holidays. The office will be closed Dec. 24 to Jan. 1, 2012 and will resume regular service on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012

Court offices:

The Provincial Offences Court offices in Burlington and Milton (Halton Court Services) will be closed between Dec. 26 to 28 inclusive, and on Jan. 2, 2012. The Court offices will be open on Dec. 29 and 30. Please note that there will be no court hearings scheduled between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, 2012 inclusive. Justices of the Peace will not be available between Dec. 23 to Jan. 2 inclusive.