 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON – Manufacturing companies in Burlington face a serious shortage of trained workes with skills that relate to tool and die making.
The Centre, an educational organization that is part of the Halton Board of Education structure offers courses in electrical training, renovation skills development and industrial millwright mechanic/machinist skills. These are “trades” that pay well and offer satisfying work where expertise is built up over time.
The Centre for Skills Development & Training’s (The Centre) gets students trained and earning for career with a future, fast.
 Students at The Centre are trained on equipment they would find in any workshop in Burlington. The Centre is currently accepting applications for the 22-week, full-time program that includes over 70% of hands-on training in over 6,000 square feet of fully equipped shop space. Last year, over 92% of graduates found work in their field. The next start date is March 25, 2013.
 Jamie Fierro-Silva on the right and Omar Taylor practice setting up measuring devices for the very exacting work done on tool making equipment at The Centre. “Today, almost 50% of Canadian companies, regardless of size of location, are facing serious labour and skills shortages. This shortage poses a threat to economic growth; however, it also represents immense opportunity for people interested in working in trades,” said Kathy Mills, Chief Administrative Officer of The Centre for Skills Development & Training. “Our Industrial Millwright Mechanic/Machinist program is comprehensive and includes personalized job search assistance to ensure students land work in industry as quickly as possible.”
Established in 1988, The Centre for Skills Development &Training has two locations in Burlington and Oakville, and one location in Milton and Clarkson. The Centre provides pre-apprenticeship skilled trades training, employment services, services for newcomers to Canada, and customized workplace training and consulting services for companies.
That’s the corporate part of this story; there is a really interesting dynamic going on in the class I watched. The twenty some odd people in the class I looked in on were guided by Al Hossack who would work one on one with students as they set up a machine or worked to solve a problem.
Hossack was steps away for any student working in a shop that had the kind of equipment these students would work with in any workshop they went to – and the vast majority of these students would be employed once they have completed their course.
Mike Harwood is the Job Developer for the trades department. In a phrase – he is the matchmaker – he knows all the students and knows the needs of the employers in his markets. His relationship with the employers is such that they tell him what they need and he looks at what The Centre has coming through the system. Sometimes a student will do a very short placement to see if the chemistry is right.
Harwood refers to his job as “employer dating”.
 Al Hossack, a certified tool and die maker takes a student at The Centre through the set up procedures on a piece of equipment. Hands on and classroom time are part of the course. What the Centre is doing is attracting people who want to learn a trade and then, while training them, are also grooming them for the first job they will go into. It’s not a slam dunk course explained Al Hossack. We aren’t like a community college where students wander in whenever they want and wearing their pyjamas if the choose.
The Centre teaches skills and focuses on good work habits; punctuality and reliability. The students who walk out the door with their certificate in their hands take the reputation of the Centre with them – and that reputation is vigorously protected. Students toe the line – end up with good jobs, not just decent jobs and are known to have come out of a good school.
 Ellen Faraday – den mother to students at The Centre Ellen Faraday, Senior Trades coordinator for The Centre is sort of the den mother of the place. She lives and breathes what they do and sees every student as her project. She knows them all by name and knows where they are probably going to get their first job. These are “her people” and she is heavily invested in their progress. Ellen will tell you as she leads you from one workshop to another that three of the women who work with Mike Holmes – of Holmes on Homes fame came out of The Centre and then she rattles off the names.
The course that will start at the end of this month is being sponsored by the Ministry of Training – they are picking up the bulk of the fees. Great deal, great opportunity for someone who would like this kind of work or who wants to change the career stream they are in.
The Centre – worth looking at.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 14, 2013 You may remember all the hoopla about the collecting of local artifacts and having a plaster casting made of most of what was brought in for Peter Powning to consider as part of the Spiral Stella that will be placed outside the Performing Arts Centre sometime this summer.
People showed up with the darndest things, which Powning made a plaster impression of and then headed back to his secluded studio in New Brunswick where the work of an artist gets done.
 Do you recognize anything? Was something you took in part of this casting? There are more to come. There is part of the city crest in there; is that the key to Brant House? Who owned that tie and who used the paint brush – and that baby’s foot impression – where did it come from? The first glimpse of those castings can now be seen.
Do you recognize anything there? What you are looking at is one of castings that will be attached to the spiral when it is fabricated.
 Dan Lawrie put up a significant portion of the money needed to pay for the creation of the Spiral Stella. It’s coming along just fine and Dan is a happy camper. The sculpture was financed by the city out of its public art fund and a generous contribution by Dan Lawrie, president of a Burlington – Hamilton based insurance corporation.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 14, 2013. When city manager Jeff Fielding left London, ON, where he was also city manager, they were the sixth best managed city in Canada. Little did the people in Burlington know that Fielding had every intention of getting Burlington to something better than the sixth best managed city in the country.
He has put together a program with McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business that will have upwards of 200 people from city hall taking courses at McMaster. Some of that 200 will come from the local boards, which is a great opportunity for people who serve in advisory capacities.
The curriculum for these courses, which are very close to an Executive MBA program, was put together by McMaster and sold to Burlington at a “very, very decent price”. One wonders if Fielding didn’t exact a price for the “dirty” McMaster did when they pulled the planned McMaster building program out of the downtown core and plunked it on the South Service Road.
Fielding also arranged for 20% of the curriculum to be under his control. McMaster might know the fundamentals on executive management – but it is Fielding who really knows the municipal world.
A fifth of the classroom load will be courses directly related to municipal management. If you have friends who work at city hall, expect to see less of them socially for the next while. Probably less golf this summer as well.
It is now much clearer why Fielding was given the Award of Excellence from Western University’s Local Government Program Alumni Society. That event wasn’t given all that much attention at the time other than the reference the Mayor made to it at a city council meeting. Fielding’s colleagues in London clearly saw something that was worth recognizing that is going to be a significant benefit to this city.
 City manager Jeff Fielding ran a tight ship in London, ON and is doing the same thing here. We are all going to be better for his time with us. For Fielding the task he has undertaken amounts to a cultural shift in the way city hall is run. Staff are currently putting together an inventory of the services they deliver and attaching a cost to each of those services.
Then staff will be asked to do a business case for each service delivered; what is it costing and what are we doing. Senior staff tells of a service that was getting a 94% satisfaction rating from citizens yet city hall was still putting fresh money into the service. “If you are getting 94% why are we spending any more money someone asked: because it was in the budget. Ouch. .
 That number is not his age, closer to the number of years he has been working in the municipal sector. Fielding is one of the better net-workers in the city; he can work a room as well as any of the politicians in the Region. Fielding realizes that if you change the language you change the way people think. So instead of talking about spending he wants his staff to think in terms of “investing” and then determining how they are going to measure the return on that investment.
If the return and the need for the service pass the business case test then Fielding wants to see the item included in the base budget.
That’s a different kind of thinking which Fielding thinks is going to require about 18 months to work its way into the minds of staff and onto the work they do. Staff have, in the past, thought in terms of what has to be spent ever since the structure on Brant street was first opened – that was the way municipal people thought.
Fielding is saying to them; “There is a better way to do this” and he is in the process of showing his staff how to do it and investing significant dollars in the process.
Burlington’s boards, the Library, Performing Arts Centre, the Art Centre, the Economic Development Corporation and the Museums (did I miss any) are separate from city hall but attached to the place by the equivalent of a umbilical cord. “The Boards are extensions of city council which delegates certain responsibilities and service delivery tasks to them but they are not separate in that they can just go their own way”, explains Fielding.
During the budget delegations this year the chair of the library board had her nose very much out of joint when city finance people began asking a lot of questions about their financial needs before their delegation to the Budget and Corporate Services committee which suggested that perhaps there wasn’t a full appreciation as to just what the relationship between a board and city council is.
 City manager Jeff Fielding doesn’t win every time. Joe Lamb, negotiating for the Seniors’ Centre basically took Fielding to the cleaners with the deal he talked the city into. Fielding who is a friendly, open, accessible but no pushover (except for the time the seniors worked him over) and capable of coming down with a very firm hand. He may appear to wear a velvet glove but don’t let that fool you. There are a number of people at city hall who have learned that lesson.
Expect Fielding to have city hall align more significantly with the boards and work with them to develop connections between each other. The Art Centre and the Performing Arts Centre should almost be sleeping with each other – they are looking to the same core markets for their revenue and could be looking for ways to share promotional and marketing expenses.
Last weekend there were more than 3,500 people running through the streets of the city; at 3 in the afternoon you could have shot a cannon ball up Brant Street and not hit a soul. Why wasn’t someone putting together programs that would keep enough of that crowd in town for an event at the Performing Arts Centre. And by the way it doesn’t have to be the PAC people doing this – no reason why someone couldn’t have rented the place and put on a show geared to the running crowd. Then maybe put together dinner packages for this crowd as well.
We saw an example of how this works, in a very small way, with the private sector when the Different Drummer put a copy of a PAC promotional poster on his web site and then tied a promotion of a book on The Gruffalo performance to the books of the same name. The Drummer ran a contest for four tickets to The Gruffalo performance; all you had to do was drop by the bookstore and fill in the forms. The private sector calls that cross-promotion which Fielding just loves to see; expect him to push for this kind of initiative from the people he works with.
Ian Elliott, proprietor of The Different Drummer does these things or he doesn’t get to eat.
Our Mayor used to tell people that Burlington was the second best city to live in. Now he says ‘everyone knows Burlington is a great place to live, work and play’ which are nice verbal bromides. By the time he ends his second term of office he just might be able to say that Burlington is the third best managed city in the country. THAT is something substantial and worth talking about.
Expect Jeff Fielding to pull it off.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 14, 2013 The guy with the monster house doesn’t want the guy in the bungalow a few doors down operating a Home Based Business where he grooms pets in the back yard or has a lawn mower repair business.
Burlington currently has a bylaw that limits what you can and cannot do in terms of business in your home; however don’t expect to see the bylaw officer going door to door snooping around.
In this city by law enforcement is a – “if you call us we will look into it”. They are not pro-active but rather re-active. When you call they do look into the concern you have quite promptly and more often than not manage to resolve the problem.
 Is this an acceptable home business? What if the hairdresser is doing a wedding party and there are 10 cars parked outside the house? Someone at city hall said “Home based businesses are a growing and dynamic part of Burlington’s local economy.”, which is a bit of a stretch. Examples of home-based businesses include hairdressers, music lessons and pet grooming. We take our lawn mower over to a place west of us for repairs where the work is done in the garage of a home in an average community. The man we use asked us not to say anything because “his daughter works at city hall”.
City hall has decided to look into what is happening in the home based business sector and recently held a focus group where they took part in a 1 ½ -hour focus session about home-based businesses in Burlington. The participants got $50 for their efforts. There was one person from each ward, people who operate a home-based business, people who live next door to, or near-by to a home-based business and people who live in single detached, semi-detached, or multi-residential units including townhouse, condo, or apartment.
The focus group was held early in February and the results are in the hands of the planners who want to now get input from a wider audience and are talking to the Business in Burlington crowd that is herded by James Burchill. Many of his 2000 plus members work out of their homes. Some certainly carry inventory and perhaps ship from their home address.
The planners want to hear from people who work from their homes. The bylaw that governs all this is set out below:
The following regulations for home occupation uses are set out in the bylaw:
The residential appearance and character of the dwelling must be maintained and no exterior alteration is permitted;
The home occupation is not permitted in a garage, but is permitted in a basement or cellar;
The home occupation is restricted to 25% of the floor area of a dwelling above grade;
The employees of the home occupation must be residents of the dwelling;
Retail sales are not permitted unless the goods are ancillary to the main home occupation use;
Outside storage and display is prohibited although goods may be stored in a garage provided they are not visible from the outside.
No equipment or process is allowed which may become a public nuisance in regard to persistent noise, odour, fumes, vibration, glare, electrical interference, traffic or parking.
In addition, the zoning regulations stipulate: music, dance, singing and physical fitness activities are only permitted in detached dwellings; the following uses are only permitted in detached dwellings located on streets with a deemed width of 26m or larger: medical or health care office, hairstylist, aesthetician or complementary health care.
City hall staff felt there was a need to update and clarify the home occupation zoning regulations and wanted to review the following:
Was a definition of “personal service;” needed?
Should home occupation uses be permitted on all streets?
Should there be a limit to the number of customers present at one time at a home occupation use?
Should uses such as dog grooming, dog daycare and dog training be permitted as home occupation uses?
Whether to allow on-line sales where there is no home pick-up and restricted inventory.
 One of the Art in Action events that take place in private homes as part of their annual Studio Tour. Clearly not a home business but their event confused people at city hall. Did it need a license? A few years ago the Art in Action group, that holds a Studio Tour where several artists gather in a home and display their art and sell from the location, ran into problems with city hall and had to put out dollars for a license. That problem got resolved and last year’s tour had one group of artists meeting in the home of the Mayor. Clearly there are exceptions. The Mayor wasn’t given a favour – but that situation drew attention to the need for clearer regulations.
Some of the thoughts the bureaucrats are having don’t square all that well with the real world of people who work out of their homes. What is positive about this process is that city hall is reaching out. It is now up to those people who work out of their homes and have opinions to make their views known – this is a two-way street.
If you have a viewpoint let city hall know. The staffer on this file can be reached at: Rosalind.Minaji@burlington.ca
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 13, 2013 Some history might get “righted” and Burlington just may see a plaque somewhere in the city telling the true story about the “Burlington Races”, which despite the name, tell of a critical part, perhaps the most critical part, of the War of 1812 as it related to the Great Lakes.
Many believe that the country that controlled the Great Lakes would win that war. And the battle that took place in 1813 right off the shores of Burlington and up to the entrance to Hamilton harbour was clearly won by the British.
 Rick Wilson, a member of the Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee, points out what he believes is a glaring error on a historical plaque, located in Hamilton overlooking Burlington Bay. Wilson hopes there can eventually be a plaque in Burlington correcting the error. It’s an exciting story that is seldom fully told – Burlington seems to have that problem with its history.
Local amateur historian Rick Wilson has for some time taken umbrage with a plaque that sits up at the Burlington Heights, which is located in Hamilton, that tells of the naval battles that were a part of the War of 1812 during which the British repelled American efforts to invade the country and who knows what they would have done with us. Perhaps we would all be singing Yankee Doodle Dandy today.
 After years of telling anyone who would listen that this plaque was historically incorrect, Rick Wilson, an amateur historian who has focused on the War of 1812, just may have succeeded in getting the plaque corrected and having a plaque placed in the city of Burlington with the true story. The offending plaque was put up, Wilson thinks, sometime in the 70’s. Wilson found that most people agreed with him – that the plaque was wrong – but no one knew what to do to correct the error.
For Wilson the offending part of the plaque begins with:” After a sharp engagement, the British squadron was forced to withdraw toward Burlington Bay where it could take refuge under the batteries on the adjacent heights. A close chase ensued but by the skilful seamanship, Yeo was able to bring his ships through the shallow channel in the sand bar to the safety of this bay.”
That never happened according to Wilson. The draft in the channel was such that a ship could not have gotten into the bay.
Wilson would take his story to anyone who would listen. His persistence paid off when, it is believed, that Councillor Craven brought up the matter up at the Joint Bay Area committee where Hamilton agreed the plaque was incorrect and they undertook to do something about it.
Because there cannot be two plaques in the province about the same event in two different places, the Burlington Heights sign has to come down and then a Burlington plaque can go up. The expectation is that Hamilton will put up a new plaque with the correct information.
Wilson has been fighting this issue for a couple of years. He said he “got blown away” by MPP Jane McKenna, who was no help at all. And while he got all kinds of support from MP Mike Wallace, there was not much Wallace could actually do. The plaque is provincial and Wallace explained to Wilson that federal people never intrude on provincial historical stuff even though the federal government poured a tonne of money into War of 1812 events. Figure that one out!
Wallace did get Wilson an invitation to an event being attended by the Prince of Wales at Fort York in Toronto. There wasn’t an opportunity to chat up the Prince explained Wilson.
Burlington now has to find a location and work with the provincial branch that handles these things. To the surprise of everyone, and to the absolute delight of Rick Wilson, the project is moving faster than anyone imagined.
There doesn’t appear to be any animosity with the Hamilton people, who have agreed their sign is factually incorrect. The Heritage Committee expects to ask for a Staff Direction to get this project moving on our side of the Bay.
Where would a plaque telling the story be placed? Wilson thinks somewhere in Burloak Park would be about right but no one really knows where that critical battle took place. All we know is that it did take place and the British won it.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 13, 2013 Heritage along Lakeshore might take a hit. Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison wants to sever a lot off his heritage designated property and produce a lot – 56feet wide, that will probably be the smallest along that part of Lakeshore Road that has more than its share of mansions.
The news broke at a Heritage Burlington meeting where Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward advised the meeting that she “had met with the property owner and was aware of the plans”. She did not say the property owner was Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison who lives in a designated property on Lakeshore road. Dennison is always quick to point out that he asked for the designation and is very proud that his home is recognized as historic.
It wasn’t until another member of the advisory committee asked for the address and then some else mentioned that was the Dennison home. It was at that point that Meed Ward drew a copy of the architect’s plans for the lot severance from her purse and passed it around the table. It was not made available to the public.
 The Jack Dennison residence on Lakeshore Road is a designated property that the owner wants to have severed with one lot measuring 56 feet in width. The request for a severance will go to the Committee of Adjustment where neighbours can attend and comment. Because there are heritage implications it is expected that Committee of Adjustment will look to Heritage Burlington for some comment.
If Committee of Adjustment denies Dennison the severance he wants he has the right to take the Committee of Adjustment decision to the Ontario Municipal Board.
Peter Thoem, a member of the Committee of Adjustment and a former Ward 2 member of Council may choose to recuse himself from the decision-making at the Committee of Adjustment level.
The Roseland Community Organization was formed recently to oppose the several severances taking place in the community. Don Baxter. An RCO director said Dennison was very direct with the community association and invited its directors to tour the property and get a full understanding as to what he plans.
It wasn’t clear if the RCO was opposed – it may want to poll its membership before it takes a position. RCO does expect to attend the Committee of Adjustment meeting when it takes place.
Creating a lot as small as 56 feet will certainly be different for Lakeshore Road and the fear within the community that it would be precedent setting and not in the best interests of the community.
Dennison does not want to talk about his plans at this point. He said: I don’t want to be treated any differently than anyone else – this will come out at the appropriate public meetings and I would like to leave it at that.
Anyone can take that position and we certainly respect Jack Dennison’s position. Perhaps he shouldn’t have given Meed Ward a copy of the architectural drawings.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 13, 2013 The talk of Village Square being sold is not just idle chatter. There was the view that the FOR SALE sign was to get a value of the property for tax and estate valuation purposes but there is a real buyer with a real interest who has had conversations with Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward and Heritage Burlington Advisory chair Jim Clemens.
 Once the best attraction in the city, Village Square was a destination for tour buses. The management of the property wasn’t in tune with what commercial operators and retailers required and the location began to lose tenants and is currently seeing significant changes in tenants. City council had asked Heritage Burlington to report on the historical value of three of the buildings on the property. That report is in its second draft and Randy McLaughlin, a member of the advisory committee, isn’t satisfied with the quality of the report, which he felt was basically a “boiler plate” document and he wanted it to go back and include the zoning implications and some guidance. “I am disappointed with parts of this report” said McLaughlin. “They could do a better job”, he added
 The Dickens Pub, one of three properties in the Village Square that are being looked at by a consulting firm hired by Heritage Burlington, a city Advisory committee. The concern with the quality of the report and the time needed to get a document that satisfied Heritage Burlington mattered because at this point the three buildings at issue are not designated properties and as such owners of the property could ask for a demolition property and be given one within sixty days if the city did not take steps to designate and, even then if the owners of the property want those buildings to come down and are adamant about it – the city can’t really do very much to prevent demolition – other than delay the actual issuing of a permit to demolish.
Jim Clemens, who has met with the prospective buyers said “they are eager to work with us”, which is his impression. There are good developers and not so good developers. Because the public doesn’t know who they are – the public can’t make a decision.
If Meed Ward knows who the developers are then the rest of council knows. The community activist the people of ward 2 people voted into office would have been delegating to city hall and demanding to know who the developer was and what their plans were and when were they going to consult with the people in the community.
The meaning of transparency for the ward Councillor seems to have changed in the last two years. Pity.
For the first time in our experience an Advisory committee went into closed session to discuss conversations that had taken place between the people who are the prospective buyers, the ward Councillor and the chair of Heritage Burlington.
Due to the different meeting schedules of city standing committees and the advisory committees there was some juggling of dates that Heritage Burlington would report to the Development and Infrastructure committee as to what their recommendation on the properties would be. Meed Ward seemed to want to talk about the prospective buyers but wasn’t prepared to make their names public.
It isn’t completely clear if an Advisory Committee can go into closed session because none of the members of that committee are sworn and, there were a number of conflicts of interest in the room at the time. That decision has the potential to get a little sticky.
Ward 2 Councillor Meed Ward told the committee chair that he could go into closed session but needed a motion to do so. Chair Clemens got his motion and into closed session they went – which means a reporter has to leave the room.
Meed Ward has been cautioned in the past as to what she can and cannot do as a member of council. A concern with her advising and speaking for a resident in a committee of adjustment matter early in this term of council resulted in a memo from the city solicitor and the no, no’s in terms of where a council member could insert themselves.
So what we have is a report coming from an Advisory committee to a city council committee on the merits of designating three of the buildings that make up the Village Square.
Jim Clemens wasn’t entirely clear on what the city council committee was expecting of Heritage Burlington. . “What is council expecting”, he asked. Meed Ward advised the committee that council would want a recommendation supported by reports from experts. Council will want to know if the buildings are worthy of designation and if they are “of that class”
Getting a report from the experts with that kind of information is proving difficult.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. March 13th, 2013 Doug Brown of Bfast believes the city is trying to pull a fast one with the trains fare increase of an across the board 8% hike due to go into effect May1st, if city council approves the Budget and Corporate Services recommendation at its Council meeting on the 18th.
Bfast (Burlington for Accessible Affordable Transit) a group in Burlington that advocates for better transit service and more prudent allocation of resources with a bigger focus on public transit.
Doug Brown, probably the one person in the city that has a solid understanding and depth of knowledge on transit matters and is a passionate and devoted user of public transit, says that the proposed increase “would take adult cash fares from the current $3.00 to $3.25. Such an increase would give Burlington Transit users the privilege of paying the highest fares in Ontario while receiving the lowest service levels.”
 BFast, a Burlington transit advocacy group wants city council to defer the planned May 1st bus fare increase The 2013 budget submission from Burlington Transit included no fare increase in the short-term, but did include the development of a process for adjusting fares. Bfast would support the development of such a process to fairly make periodic fare adjustments taking into consideration such factors as: affordability, inflation, impact on ridership levels; compatibility with fares in other Ontario municipalities; and comparability to other fee increases for municipal services.
Brown maintains the 8.4% fare increase is an arbitrary figure, unrelated to any of these factors.
“This fare increase”, said Brown “has been justified by the mistaken belief that the approved 2013 transit budget contains significant additional transit expenditures. This is not the case.”
Brown adds that: “Transit is still under-capitalized, and will continue to suffer from the $500,000 decrease in transit’s share of the Gas Tax money made by City Council one year ago. A few weeks ago, Council rejected Bfast’s request to restore transit’s share of the Gas Tax funding. Therefore, the reality is that net transit spending by the City has decreased.
Transit spending per capita in Burlington, continues to be only one half of the average spending by GTA municipalities
Residents in northeast Burlington, are still coping with the service cuts of mid-2012 which have resulted in one hour headways between buses on the #11, #12, and #15 on weekday schedules.
Bfast will be requesting Council defer the proposed fare increases at the March 18 Council meeting and that a process be developed, with public consultation, for future fare adjustments.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON Burlington, Ont., March 12, 2013 — The slimy little creature that brought a halt to the opening of a second quarry on the Escarpment is expected to begin his migration to his breeding ponds between the middle of March and the middle of April. The city of Burlington shuts down parts of King Road while the little creature slithers across the road.
 Details on the King Road closure. Dark line at the base of the mountain brow indicates where traffic cannot use the road for about a month. King Road will close from the base of the Niagara Escarpment to Mountain Brow Road, March 18 to April 8 to allow the endangered Jefferson salamander safe passage during its annual migration to lay eggs.
In Canada, the Jefferson salamander is found in Southern Ontario in a few small pockets of deciduous forest; mostly along the Niagara Escarpment. Burlington is home to one of those small pockets.
 Now an endangered species and the mascot of the environmental community in Burlington. Jefferson salamanders spend the winter underground, then seek temporary ponds formed by spring run-off, sometimes crossing King Road to do so. They lay their eggs in clumps attached to underwater vegetation. By midsummer, the larvae lose their gills and leave the pond and head into the surrounding forest.
The Jefferson salamander is a protected species and is a nationally and provincially Endangered Species at Risk.
Conservation Halton is committed to preserving native biodiversity and protecting species at risk through activities such as protection of natural heritage systems, the creation of wildlife corridors, and increased public awareness through education, outreach and partnerships with local organizations.
In 2012, the city closed the same section of road completely for a three-week period. “The closure was a success last year. There is evidence to make the city and our partners believe that the Jefferson salamanders were able to travel safely across the roadways,” said Bruce Zvaniga, director of transportation services.
“The reaction was positive towards the road closure last year and shows how the community will support steps to protect the local environment,” said Rick Craven, Ward 2 councillor.
“Conservation Halton commends the City of Burlington for once again undertaking a full closure of King Road. It is also encouraging to note the support of area residents who are keen to help ensure the long-term survival of the Jefferson salamander, by taking steps to protect its habitat,” said Ken Phillips, Conservation Halton CAO. “Our studies showed that last year’s road closure was a tremendous success allowing the salamanders to safely traverse the roadway on their way to the breeding ponds.”
Adult salamanders migrate to their breeding ponds in mid-March or early April during wet rainy nights. They show strong fidelity to their birth pond and can be very determined to reach it.
The salamander played a much larger role in the community effort to stop the opening of a second quarry on the Escarpment. Burlington heroine Sarah Harmer was a significant part of that effort when she testified at the Joint Board hearings that made the decision not to issue an additional mining permit.
Harmer saw her first salamander in the basement of her home on an Escarpment side road when she was a young girl; little did she know then of the career she would have in the future and the role that slimy little guy would have on the community she was raised in.
PERL, Protect Escarpment and Rural Lands, of which Sarah and her mother Isabelle were a large part, went on to oppose the quarry application and saw the Tribunal that heard the arguments come down in favour of the environment citing the endangered status of the Jefferson Salamander.
The legal costs for the city of Burlington were $2.1 million. PERL is still believed to have a significant legal debt. Time for a big fund-raiser; Sarah get the guitar.
 More than 5000 of these blue bins were given out at two locations in the Region – line ups were gargantuan.  By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 11, 2013 If you were wondering why it took so long to get a bigger blue bin last Saturday – we can tell you . There were 3500 people at Corpus Christi and 1500 at the Mohawk Raceway in line waiting to pick up their bins. Retailers should be so lucky.
Media people at the Region advised that an estimated 1,500 vehicles visited the Mohawk Racetrack to pick up an Information Kit, Blue Box and GreenCart. An estimated 2,500 Blue Boxes were given out at the Mohawk Event and 1,000 GreenCarts.
Approximately 3,400 vehicles attended the event at Corpus Christi, where an estimated 3,500 Blue Boxes and 1,400 GreenCarts were picked-up in addition to Information Kits.
As a result of the high turn-out that occurred at each location on Saturday, the Region is reviewing options for the remaining planned events to reduce wait times. That’s a good idea.
 There were more than 3000 trucks and cars in this line up – all to get that free 22 galon blue bin. If sitting in your pick up with all eight cylinders idling isn’t your idea of how to spend a Saturday morning the Region will distribute Blue Boxes and GreenCarts at the Halton Waste Management Site, Monday through Saturday, the Halton Regional Centre, Monday through Friday and at the Robert C. Austin Operations Centre located on Trafalgar Road in Georgetown, also Monday through Friday. Blue Boxes and GreenCarts are available at these locations throughout the year.
Our Burlington asked the regional communications experts why there was no distribution points south of the QEW and were told that “, there is simply no location large enough that can accommodate a large volume of vehicles. We have encountered this problem when planning our Special Waste Drop-Off Day events for hazardous waste and E-Waste. Most schools and public facilities do not have adequate space to hold the events and the traffic would impact residential neighbourhoods. Newer schools and facilities that are north of the QEW have more space.”
All true, but the parking lot outside the yet to be opened Target store at the Burlington Mall is basically empty and one can bet that Target would have bent over backwards to help out on a project of this size. An opportunity lost.
What this experience tells us is that the people of Burlington take waste management serious and will go that extra mile – literally- to get a bigger blue box.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 11, 2013 The need for more sophisticated corporation communications is being driven by the realization that the time has come to tell the citizens of the city just what did happen at the foot of Brant Street with the construction of the pier.
When you are really guilty you hire the best lawyer you can afford and forget about the old, reliable but not too bright family lawyer.
And that’s where Burlington is. When the city manager admitted that he is looking for communications people who can handle delicate situations; something that calls for more than his in-house people can handle – you know there is hard news coming.
Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven in his newsletter to his constituents says that the pier is on time and that it will probably open in June and goes on to say: “The bad news is that the legal wrangling continues over what went wrong and who is responsible.”
 Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven is the first to tell his constituents what’s about to happen to them – it isn’t going to be pretty. Craven was a member of Council when many of the decisions were made and all of the Significant Seven were at the horse shoe when the decision was made to re-tender the construction job original given to Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd. and eventually hired Graham Infrastructure at a significantly higher price.
The city did have an opportunity to settle this matter as recently as less than a month ago – they chose not to allow the city manager or their lawyers to talk settlement. Does the city still have the same lawyers? Or has a decision been made to send them packing?
No one is saying very much at this point – so one has to beat the bushes and read between the lines; but there is something going on out there.
Councillor Dennison talks about the “Grand” opening. He’s going to take the highest road he can find – BUT, he was there when it all began. Don’t let him forget that.
It will be interesting to hear what Councillor Taylor says when he is given an opportunity to comment. Don’t expect any one of them to issue a media release. They are going to hunker down and hope that the “communications specialists can cover for them.
Might be a good time to go to the Councillor Meed Ward web site and listen to the comments she made during the election campaign that put her in office. She was the only one who wanted the city to work things out with Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd.
 The issue is over the design of the original pier and the compromises that were made with the design when the 180 metre length proved to be too expensive and it got cut back to the current 130 metres. There were short cuts made – that proved to be too short for Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd.
Add to that the issue as to whether the construction work came under rules in place to build a bridge. That’s an arcane, complex difference – but it just might be what the city loses its case over. The people at city hall who made those decision are no longer there – most just moved on to another municipality. The only one left is Tom Eichenbaum and he is certainly taking the heat these days. And it is going to get hotter – that’s why the “communications” specialists are being hired.
Do you get it now? There’s more.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 9, 2013 Are things heating up in Ward 5? At the Capital Budget debates in February, the suggestion that something bigger and better could be done with the Skyway Arena site if it were tied to the Lakeside Village Plaza and offered to developers. The words were no sooner out of the mouth of Jeff Fielding, the city manager, than Councillor Sharman, Ward 5, was on top of the idea and talking about how he would craft a Staff Direction.
 That caught the attention of people in the ward who are rather fond of their one pad ice rink and wanted to ensure their views were heard and that they would be at the table when discussions took place.
The SAVE SKYWAY ARENA website, with the headline: Because city hall doesn’t listen to its residents, was put together by Ward 5 activist and former candidate in the ward James Smith, who is also very active on transit issues in the ward and president of the Friends of Freeman Station where he has been very successful in keeping that structure out of the hands of those who wanted to make kindling out of the structure.
Seems as if Smith has a bit of a track record in the community. Is he lining himself up for another run at the Council seat.
 It is reported that six people showed up at the community event, including the ward councillor. The important thing, commented one person, was that the Sharman “for the most part did not attempt to take over the meeting. The group also believes it won the “concession that any Request for Proposals or Expressions of Interest would include the ideas that we’ve drummed up – not his , and that community involvement will be part of the process.”
Sharman is reported to have done a lot of qualifying as to what the city can or can’t do and the impact of budget restrictions. One obviously biased attendee said: “No one came away impressed with the fellow.” As one said after the meeting: “Sharman would not be listening to us unless you launched this – thanks”.
It looks like things are heating up in ward 5.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 9, 2013 Now that it is pretty evident the snow is about to leave for the season and we can get out on the streets and roadways for a walk, city hall wants to know how sidewalks and roadways are used by various forms of transportation. They are going to review how sidewalks and roadways are used by pedestrians, cyclists, skateboards, e-bikes and other modes of transportation throughout the city.
 What do we want to allow on our sidewalks? City wants your input. Bruce Zvaniga, director of transportation for the city and the guy who runs the traffic ticket courts AS WELL, says: “We feel this review is especially important now that so many new forms of transportation are available, without clear guidelines for their use”. The goal is to ensure the safe travel of everyone who uses sidewalks, roads or multi-use pathways throughout the city regardless of what form of transportation they have chosen.”
Bicycles, wheelchairs and personal mobility devices are allowed on sidewalks under the jurisdiction of the City of Burlington, with the exception of Brant Street between Caroline Street and Lakeshore Road where bicycles are not permitted to use the sidewalks.
The Ministry of Transportation has developed a series of fact sheets on the use of e-bikes, mopeds, scooters, personal mobility devices, Segway’s, motor scooters and a variety of other vehicle they refer to as new and emerging. However, where these vehicles are used remains up to municipalities to decide.
To help with this review, city staff is gathering input from the community through an online survey, available until March 31, 2013.
City staff will then host two open houses where residents can learn more about these new modes of transportation and provide comments.
Survey location:
Tuesday, March 19, 2013 – 7 to 9 p .m.
Burlington Art Centre, Shoreline Room, 1333 Lakeshore Road
Wednesday, March 20, 2013; 7 to 9 p.m
Tansley Woods, Community Centre Room 1; 1996 Itabashi Way
City staff will use the information gathered to help with their review. For more information, contact Brent Jefferson, traffic technologist, at 905-335-7671, ext. 7760 or by e-mail at brent.jefferson@burlington.ca.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 9, 2013 Burlington, Ont. March 8, 2013— Employees of the City of Burlington were named the 2012 ArcelorMittal Dofasco Community Builder Award at the United Way Spirit of Community Awards ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 7.
Len Lifchus, CEO of the United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton, will present the award to employees at City Council during the Monday, March 18 Council meeting.
 From left to right: Len Lifchus (CEO, United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton), Dana Robbins, (Chair of the board of directors, United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton), Kim Phillips (General Manager, Community and Corporate Services, City of Burlington), Wendy Hough (City of Burlington), Mr. Bronko Jazvac (vice-president, World Class Manufacturing and Health and Safety, ArcelorMittal Dofasco) , Wanda Tolone (City of Burlington), Paddy Torsney (Chair, Burlington United Way Campaign) and Dr. Nick Bontis, the Hamilton United Way Campaign Chair. Wendy Hough, committee chair, Wanda Tolone, committee member and Kim Phillips, general manager community and corporate services, accepted the award at the original ceremony. The city employees’ 2012 campaign raised $62,425 from payroll deduction contributions and special-event fundraising efforts.
The city of Burlington does a really good job of kicking off the United Way campaign and this year there were some interesting events. What the Burlington part of the 2012 United Campaign wasn’t able to do was meet its target – it fell short by more than $90,000. The Burlington campaign target was $2.1 million – the total raised amounted to $2,008,355
 City general manager for Budget and Corporate Services Kim Phillips gives it more than the old college try for the United Way. Last year the city staff contribution was $62,425 for a total in the last 22 years of $985,000 For a city as prosperous as Burlington, a campaign target of $2.1 million should have been a snap. Tim Dobbie, a former city manager and now president of the Burlington Community Foundation suggests “there are more in the way of competing demands for funds in Burlington” and thus the short fall, and that may be true but for something as core as the United Way falling that far short is just not acceptable. The economy is much better this year than it was in 2010 when the target was reached.
We don’t make any friends with statements like that but sailing along as if that kind of shortfall is acceptable is selling the people who depend on United Way services short. A couple of thousand short – maybe – 90 thousand short – someone should be asking questions.
It looks as if the city hall staff did its share. There hasn’t been any analysis of the numbers for this latest campaign released.
Kim Phillips, general manager of community and corporate services for the city revealed that the City of Burlington employees have contributed $985,000 over the past 22 years. They have every reason to be proud of the part they have played.
The award recognizes organizations that impact, inspire and lead the people of our community. It is presented to a company or organization that demonstrates outstanding enthusiasm and support to the United Way as well as making a significant difference in the community.
Len Lifchus, CEO of the United Way will be smiling when he hands out the award to the city and then wondering how he is going to make up the shortfall in the campaign he has just completed. The hard truth is that some people who need the help are just going to have to go without.
The United Way is a vital service and is a recognized part of every “connected and compassionate community” as Mayor Goldring likes to describe us. While the Mayor maintains we “care deeply about one another”, next year we are going to have to dig quite a bit deeper.
 By Walter Byj and Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 9, 2013 The Region of Halton decided to offer larger blue boxes to the community and published a schedule setting out where the new blue boxes were to be available.
Regional Chair Gary Carr did said in his media release that 95% of the single family homes in the Region make use of a blue box. Don’t think he expected quite the turnout at Corpus Christ High school on Upper Middle Road Saturday morning.
 These cars are not lined up at a Timmie’s for coffee and some Tim-bits – they are sitting on Upper Middle Road waiting to get into Corpus Christi High school and pick up a free 22 gallon blue box. The car emissions will hurt the environment while the blue boxes will help heal it. Are we winning? Our intrepid reporter Walter Byj was on the scene and reports: “The early bird may get the worm, but in the case of a new, free blue box, the early bird gets to line up and wait. Starting at 9:00 am Saturday morning until at least 12:00pm, lineups stretched from Corpus Christi High School to past Appleby Line as residents of Burlington patiently wait in their cars to pick up their larger blue bin.”
 This is what those Saturday lineups were all about – larger blue boxes. Did you get one? If you live south of the QEW in Burlington where are you going to get yours? “A wait time of 15 to 20 minutes would be a conservative estimate. Ironic that having people sitting in the vehicles with the engines running for 15 minutes as they inch along leads to significant car emissions while waiting to get a box that will permit more recycling.”
Walter Byj, the reporter on this story points out that f you live south of the QEW in Burlington – you ave a bit of a drive to get your bigger blue box. All seven Burlington city Councillors are also members of the Regional Council – perhaps they could do something to make it a little easier for the south of QEW folk.
Maybe Councillors Craven, Meed Ward, Sharman and Dennison could set up a pile of them on their front lawns and have people just drive by and help themselves.
Sometimes the best of plans run awry. It was a different scene at the Mohawk Racetrack, where the system was working extremely well. The lineup is less than 12 cars and one can be in and out in less than five minutes.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 8, 2013 The city manager is reported to have put out a Request for Proposals on supplying of communications services to the city as they begin to prepare to tell the public about the status of the legal problems related to the construction of the Brant Street pier and the various law suits that are currently in the process of getting ready for a trial.
Councillor Marianne Meed Ward, the one council member who wanted to continue discussions with Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd., the contractor that walked off the job in early 2010 after doing everything they could to resolve the problems related to the construction, which many feel began to come to the surface when the crane doing some work on the site toppled and some of the steel beams were badly bent.
The contractor had problems with this project the day he walked onto the site.
While the messy part of the discussions with the contractor took place during the Cam Jackson council, Rick Goldring, the Mayor who replaced him, had to make decisions of his own to not continue with Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd. and put out a new tender which was awarded to Graham Infrastructure.
Goldring and his council had more than one opportunity to resolve the differences and bring a fresh approach to the construction project.  The increased cost of completing the pier and the legal costs exceed that $3 million by a considerable margin.
The construction is coming along very well and short of something cataclysmic the pier will be officially opened in June, perhaps as part of the Sound of Music Festival.
 The node that will have an observation deck as well as a beacon that will soar 12 metres into the air is well underway. Railings that will prevent people from falling over are being fabricated – all should be ready for a Sound of Music festival opening. Construction is on time – on budget, so they say – but there are all kinds of expenses being racked up that are not being talked about.
The most recent is a suggested $10,000 that wold come from the city manager’s budget for “communications services”, related to legal matters about the pier.
The legal spat between the city and Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd. is now at the discovery stage where more than half a dozen companies are involved. The process of Examination for Discovery, which is when each side gets to see information the other side has as they prepare for a trial.
It is not unusual for the parties to, after having looked at the documents, decide that they should think in terms of talking a settlement rather than go through an expensive lengthy trial.
 Tom Eichenbaum, Burlington’s Director of Engineering is a vital part of both the city’s claim against Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd. and its defense of the claim the contractor is making against the city. It is not a pleasant time for Eichenbaum. Discover hearings have been going on for the last month and got extended recently when Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd., asked to be able to question the city’s Director of Engineering at more length.
It is reported that city solicitor, Nancy Shea Nicol, told council that there was “no smoking gun” and that is believed to be true. However there does appear to be a consistent number of incidents which when linked together amounts to a preponderance of evidence that does not look all that good for the city’s case.
The argument appears to be focusing on the design of the pier which was done by a local firm Totten Sims Hubicki (TSH) who also served as the project managers. TSH was replaced by AECOM, a multi-national firm that does business in more than 115 countries. Their taking over the original designer made them the designers of the pier and the contract manager – a basic conflict of interest that Meed Ward pointed out during her election campaign.
Our Burlington is advised that the legal fees for one of the parties for the month of February amounted to more than $360,000 – if that is what one party is paying one can assume that the city’s legal bill is in the same range. And they haven’t gotten to trial yet.
With the city now looking for communications talent one can only assume that something is up. You don’t bring in specialized communications people unless you’ve got a specialized communications problem.
Donna Kell, the city’s Manager of Public Affairs is accredited with the Canadian Public Relations Society, which makes her a certified communications specialist – and that doesn’t seem to be enough for her to take on this communications task.
Clearly the city is getting ready to tell at least part of the story as it relates to the two court cases; the city is suing Henry Schilthuis and Sons Limited, and they in turn are suing the city.
 Councillor Meed Ward may find herself in a situation that only she will be amused with if the spin the city wants to put on the pier and its legal problems looks like an attempt to hide something. Meed Ward keeps in touch with the 596 fans on her Facebook page and has asked them what they think of all this. Her comment was: “Since the city launched the lawsuit on the pier, many discussions relating to the previous contractor and design engineer; the details of the options to finish the pier; and the legal strategy and associated fees have been behind closed doors. When the lawsuit reaches resolution, what information are you looking for?
Penny Hersh: I have to question a City Manager who feels it is appropriate to spend an additional $10,000.00 for a consultant to SPIN the truth that residents and taxpayers have a right to know. If the City is transparent this should not even be a consideration.
Russ Campbell : Is this one of those “nice-to-haves” in the city’s budget? Just shows how city hall wastes money. If we are farming out communications will we be cutting back on communications staff: “The city currently has a full-time manager of public affairs.
Kim Lalonde: Curious as to how the building department didn’t keep better tabs on the project before it began and during to avoid the mistakes that happened ? Also the phrase you get what you pay for comes to mind since the cheapest bid was accepted on the original project.
Daniel Silverthorne: Don’t waste 10,000 dollars….the day Jesus comes back is the day the pier will be completed.
Clearly not a lot of support for spending any more money – but the money will be spent. The question that lurks out there is this: who tipped off the Post. This type of investigative reporting isn’t their style, they don’t cover some of the council committee meetings and are never seen at any of the advisory committee meetings.
The Post has been tipped off in the past and it has come up for discussion at closed council meetings.
What does all this mean? Stick around – it is just beginning to get interesting – but you are going to have to listen closely and read between the lines. The city will make all kinds of noise with the “grand” opening of the pier and slip in small news items late at night or on the weekend “explaining” what went wrong and how much it is going to cost. When those questions come forward ask: Why didn’t you settle when you had the opportunity? Which council member do you think was the loudest to argue against any settlement?
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. March 7, 2013 When men and woman with professional credentials from a foreign country come to Canada they often have difficulty finding the work they want because they don’t have any “Canadian experience”. In some instances this is really a racial trick played on people from diverse backgrounds but in many situations an understanding of Canada’s history, its geography and the social mores are necessary.
Canada has an approach to its environment that is totally different from any Asian or African country. How do foreign trained professionals learn how we handle our environment?
Conservation Halton and Future Watch have taken an interesting and proactive first step in the New Canadian Stewardship Course that offers training for foreign trained environmental professionals.
 Conserving the environment and making room for foreigners with environmental training is part of a new Conservation Halton initiative funded by a Trillium Grant The course, which starts in April, is an intensive, eight-week certificate workshop series by Conservation Halton for New Canadians in Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville. It is designed to help participants gain valuable, introductory knowledge and enhance their employment opportunities in the community environmental sector. Expert speakers will deliver a weekly workshop on topics such as:
Planning and Environmental Management
Local Ecology and Biodiversity
Forestry Management
Natural Hazards Management and Source Water Protection
Recreation Management and Risk Assessment
Governance, Communication and Social Media
“Conservation Halton is delighted to be working in partnership with FutureWatch EDEP on the Natural Connections program to introduce new Canadians to Halton’s green sector,” said Hassaan Basit, Director of Communications Services for Conservation Halton. “The new Canadian Stewardship Course will allow participants to see how their energy, experience and skills can help protect our local environment.”
 Ensuring our environment will always have a safe home – for fowl like this to keep an eye on us. “The course also has a second, equally important objective”, continued Basit, “it promotes our environmental and recreation programs and services to new and ethnically diverse residents within the watershed. Rather than broadcast our messages through traditional media channels and hope that one-size-fits-all, we are aiming to instead have a tailored conversation about our programs by engaging with the various ethnic communities that are taking shape within the watershed”.
 What can we learn from people from other countries about how to better manage our environment? “Natural Connections is promoting environmental engagement at many levels in the community: to families, to diverse newcomer communities, and to internationally trained professionals,” said Eduardo Garay of FutureWatch EDEP. “The New Canadian Stewardship Course provides a great starting point for foreign-trained professionals, who have tremendous knowledge, to get involved with local community initiatives while gaining as well as sharing their expertise.”
Spaces in the course are limited; interested applicants should send a resume and cover letter by Wednesday, March 20, 2013 by e-mail to the program coordinator at aneliat@futurewatch.net, or by mail: Natural Connections Coordinator, 2596 Britannia Road West, Burlington, ON L7P 0G3.
The course is free except for a registration fee of $15 for candidates who are admitted to the course. Successful participants will receive a certificate of completion at a formal graduation ceremony during the Conservation Halton Awards of Excellence on June 13. Please visit the Natural Connections website, www.nchalton.ca for more details.
 Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 6, 2013 Getting good help is never an easy task. Finding the people with the skill set needed and the temperament to do the job is what smart human resources people do for a living.
When the search is for the director of a public corporation all kinds of resources are available. When the search is for leadership of a community based organization that is expected to be one of the economic drivers – in Burlington, we don’t give them anywhere near the resources needed to find the right people.
We let egos, clout and long-established relationships determine who is selected for a Board and forget that the taxpayers depend on political and economic leadership to make wise decisions. Thinking outside and looking outside the box is vital – and for the Burlington Performing Arts Centre it is critical to their survival.
The Centre is currently asking for nominations to the Board of Theatre Burlington Inc., the non-profit that oversees, on behalf of the community, how the Performing Arts Centre is run.
Some hard-working people with great skills and experience got the hole dug in the ground and erected a fine structure. It has all the whistles and bells needed to put on first class performances.
 The Performing Arts Centre looked great on its official opening night – staff showed they knew how to dress the place. The program being offered is good – the communication with the community and the selling what they have to offer is where there are problems. Management of the Centre showed the community they knew how to put on a boffo event when they held the Official Opening in December of 2010, that had Sarah McLaughlin on stage. It was a first class event – it didn’t make any money – it wasn’t supposed to. It was a showing off event that Cogeco Cable used five cameras to cover.
After that it was time to get down to business and that’s where there was some slippage. The definitive agreement between the city, which owns the building, and the Theatre Board took close to forever to get completed. That should have been a sign that there is “trouble in paradise”.
The soft start was a wise move, they took time to get the feel of the building and work out the bumps. The city had great hopes, some of them were uninformed hopes, these places never show a profit but there were those in Burlington who thought the place was going to show a surplus each year.
As the Centre got into full operation the problems began to show up, small ones at first, but there was a consistency to the problems. The first year the budget for the Centre was taken to a city council committee the Executive Director was left to fend for herself – there wasn’t a director in sight.
Councillor Taylor was impressed and said he looked forward to a trouble-free operation.
When the Performing Arts people returned for funding this year it was a different story. There was a significant shortfall in rentals and a deficit that had to be covered.
The projections put forward earlier were unrealistic, and PAC management didn’t provide Council with the data they needed in a timely manner.
The two city representatives on the Theatre Burlington board had not kept council fully briefed on just what was happening. If they didn’t know – then we really have a problem. The Mayor and Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven sit on that Board – it was their job to ask the hard questions and properly represent the interests of the taxpayers who are now going to see their tax money used to pay for the shortfall.
It looks as if city council will approve the funding required but there are going to be strings attached. Councillor Taylor as chair of the Budget and Corporate Services committee that will be approving funding but there are conditions: he wants a full Business Plan review that gets into the details and learns where the problems are and what’s being done to resolve them.
And he isn’t going to tolerate PAC management holding back on critical data. The kimono will be wide open.
That is usually the domain of the Board of Directors of the PAC who have clearly failed. The good news to all this is that the Board is now looking for nominations to that Board. Let’s get it right this time.
 Is there another local Board Councillor Craven could serve on?  The Mayor does not appear to have kept his fellow council members informed as to just how big a financial mess the Performing Arts Centre was experiencing. It wouldn’t hurt if the people handling the selection of Board members brought in a consultant with human resource experience. Jeff Fielding, city manager, had better be on that selection committee. Given the failure to perform on the part of the Mayor and Councillor Craven, it might be a good idea not to return either of them to the Board.
We have a serious problem to which there is a solution and there are people in this city with the experience to solve those problems. Time to look outside the list of the “usual suspects” and bring in people who have the needed experience and the desire to take a fresh look.
Gerry Smallegange, President and Chief Executive Officer of Burlington Hydro could be on that Board and Stephen Friday , chair of the hospital board. Anissa Hilborn who heads up the hospital foundation would ask the tough questions. This city has the talent the Performing Arts Centre needs – dig it out and get them to work.
The objective for Board members, as set out on the PAC’s web site is:
To lead a progressive performing arts centre that is a gathering place, offering a balance of community and professional programming guided by artistic vision and excellence
To build, foster and celebrate cultural vitality and diversity in the City of Burlington so that the Performing Arts are seen as an important component of everyday life
Corporate happy is the kindest way to describe those two statements; they are a reflection of why that Board doesn’t function. The current Board consists of:
Allan Pearson, Chairman
Rick Burgess, Vice-Chair
Peter Ashmore
Robert Ban
Councillor Rick Craven
Ilene Elkaim
Jeff Fielding, City Manager
Mayor Rick Goldring
Denise Walker
The media release on the PAC web site doesn’t say how many are being replaced. The Chair and the vice chair might want to look for something else to do. Peter Ashmore is stick handling a tough situation, it would be a pity to lose him but he has been at this for four years.
The city’s political representation should first be taken out to the woodshed and then given something else to do. Does the city have representation on the Animal Shelter?
Denise Walker is a sensible woman but the problems may be more than she wants to handle. Ban and Elkaim are not people we know.
The PAC Board is looking for some new directors. The call closes March 15th – slip over to their web site and learn more. For the strangest of reasons the people who want the applications are using a gmail address – they have a web site, not sure why they aren’t using addresses with their domain name it it. If you’re interested and think you can help: pop them a note at BPAC2013@gmail.com
Where is Keith Strong when he could really be useful?
The Performing Arts Centre is a vital part, probably the most vital part, of any vitalness that is going to take place in the downtown core. They can, and are expected, to provide the energy that will have coat tails others can ride on. This isn’t just about the PAC; this is about the strength of the commercial sector in the downtown core.
Councillor Taylor is right to insist that there be a review of the existing business plan. Let’s see what he manages to get done in October. Taylor is the chair of the Budget * Corporate Services committee and he’s not shy about expanding the mandate of his committee.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON ON – Halton Learning Foundation (HLF) , the charitable foundation supporting students and schools within the Halton District School Board, has named Karmel Sakran, of Green Germann Sakran Law Offices, as Board Chair, replacing Jamie Schumacker, President of I’m Inspired, who has completed his term.
 Karmel Sakran, chair of Halton Learning Foundation New appointments to the HLF Board include Jim Collins, CFO & Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Oakville Hydro Corporation; Carol D’Amelio, Community Member; Peter Sarvos, Sales Manager – Global Sales, Outotec Shutdown Services ; and, Melissa Thompson, Investment Advisor & Financial Planner, RBC Wealth Management, RBC Dominion Securities Inc. . These appointments took effect at the Halton Learning Foundation Annual General Meeting, held February 28, 2013. The addition of the new Directors will further diversify the outstanding talents and wide-ranging experience of the Board.
 Karmel Sakran, on the far right, is the newly appointed chair of the Halton Learning Foundation. “Each year, Halton Learning Foundation provides emergency assistance to students-in-need through the Eliminating Barriers Fund, as well as in-school enrichment funding and scholarships – all in an effort to increase student engagement in school and to level the playing field for students region-wide. Our Corporate and Individual donors have partnered with Halton Learning Foundation to improve the educational experience for all students, thus enabling Halton Learning Foundation to grant, to date, over $2.775 million to Halton District School Board students and schools.”, explains Pat Wright, Executive Director, Halton Learning Foundation.
Karmel Sakran, the newly installed Board Chair and a former member of the Joseph Brant Hospital Board as well as the Liberal candidate in the last provincial election said: “The most important resource for our community is our youth. The Halton Learning Foundation provides an essential building block to ensure that our children, particularly those in need, participate fully in the variety of learning opportunities existing in our schools. Healthy and strong children reflect well on our community. I am very encouraged to see the tremendous support from our corporate and individual donors and look forward to my term as Board Chair as we continue our mission to make an even greater positive impact in the educational experience of Halton students.”
The Halton Learning Foundation is the means for everyone in the community to support quality education for Halton District School Board students by providing emergency help for students in need, as well as providing enrichment funds and scholarships.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 6, 2013 The city has a new fire chief – Tony Bavota will take on the role of chief of the Burlington Fire Department, effective immediately.
 Tony Bavota appointed Chief of the Burlington Fire department. Bavota has been a deputy fire chief with the Fire Department since 2009 and is in his 18th year of employment with the City of Burlington. His progressive responsibilities within the department include acting platoon chief, fire captain, acting captain, firefighter and infrastructure project manager. Bavota also gained extensive corporate experience while working in the city manager’s office on a job rotation as the assistant to the city manager.
Bavota is going to have to rely heavily on his city hall experience to get the fire fighters he feels he needs and to prepare Burlington for a different kind of preparation. In the next five years the city will see a 22 storey structure on Lakeshore Road and, if the way the city manager is talking, we can expect to see more in the way of high-rise structures.
 High rise buildings create different challenges for fire fighters. This multi-storey building on Maple was completed recently and the 22 storey development on Lakeshore Road mean different, expensive equipment and time to train the men who will man it. The Strata on Maple Avenue is an example. These buildings require different kinds of firefighting equipment – and the stuff isn’t cheap. Then firefighters have to be trained in how to use the equipment.
Before joining the Burlington Fire Department, Bavota worked with the Guelph Police Service, as a constable and tactical response unit member.
Bavota earned a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Western Ontario in 2011, and holds a diploma in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts-Economics Degree.
Acting Chief Dave Beatty will return to his role as deputy chief. “We thank Acting Chief Beatty for his continued leadership. The fire department management team continues to work effectively together throughout the transition period and I sincerely appreciate their collective efforts,” said Phillips.
The fire department has a combined urban and rural area covering 189 square kilometres that has to be covered. They provide public education, fire prevention, suppression and emergency response in Burlington. The Burlington Fire Department currently has 202 full-time staff and a complement of 65 volunteers serving the community.
The previous fire chief left the Burlington fire department for greener pastures where he didn’t have the ongoing battle with city council for the resources he felt he needed.
Firefighters in Ontario are exceptionally well-organized and aren’t shy about showing their muscle to make their point. In the last provincial election they made it very clear they were supporting the government. They have been known to attend city budget review meetings as a group and to attend at Council meetings sitting as a group in Council chambers. .
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