 By Pepper Parr
April 27th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
There is a little more in the way of an understanding as to how city hall wants people to communicate electronically with members of council.
We got a note from Andrea Holland who manages what is referred to as Service Burlington; that is the location where all the answers to the questions you have are supposed to be answered.
Holland explained that:
Service Burlington is overseeing the implementation of the new Customer Relationship Management System (CRM).
 Keeping all the points of contact in one place – conceptually, a good idea. Service Burlington was initially created in 2013 to provide counter services for multiple departments in one location for customers. In 2015 the corporation engaged citizens, council members, staff and citizen advisory groups to develop a customer service strategy. Through that engagement it was identified that the corporation needed to make improvements and use technology to better serve and respond to customer information and service requests.
Up until March of this year, all calls received at the reception desk were transferred to departments to respond to customers. With a centralized system in place staff are able to continue working on customer inquiries or service requests and, more importantly, track how long a customer may have been waiting for a response and ensure it is completed in a timely manner.
By using a CRM system, it is our goal to answer the majority of questions and enter service requests at the first point of contact with staff, rather than transfer, and to ensure that customers are notified that their enquiries are being addressed by the appropriate department.
The Clerk’s department is the first department to start using the system and we are making adjustments along the way to make continuous improvements to the way we are providing customer service and our use of the new system. Implementing a system of this size is a large undertaking and the implementation of the system into the Clerk’s department is only the first phase of the implementation. The project team will be implementing the system into more departments this year to help make it more seamless and consistent for customers.
When the system is fully implemented, staff answering calls or emails will be able to provide customers with the right information using the system and provide customers with an email response (if they wish) or a case number for customers to follow-up with staff at a future date if they choose.
Callers will be asked to provide their name, contact numbers and address. This information is only used for the purpose of fulfilling a request and will not be shared without your consent.
If a caller wishes to remain anonymous, or withhold certain information, they are free to do so. By using this new system, customer inquiries and requests for service will not be lost regardless of the channel (phone, visits, email). Staff will be able to better monitor customer service levels and make adjustments accordingly.
A few observations: Andrea Holland is both professional and personable. There is the making of a Clerk in the woman.
But the problem with much that comes out of city hall is that it is a city hall viewpoint with little in the way of real public input. The concept of a centralized Service desk makes sense; what one has to be cautious about is how bureaucratized it gets.
There is a sensitivity that is missing which is seldom available when the level of engagement is limited to “council members, staff and citizen advisory groups to develop a customer service strategy”.
Many of, but certainly not all, the people who serve on the Advisory committees fail to understand that they are there to hold staff accountable – not to become their chums.
 The need for a better way of communicating with city hall originally came out of the Shape Burlington report – the document that was the beginning of a new look at the way the city should engage its citizens.
The 2010 city council adopted the report unanimously, several senior city hall staff wanted parts of the report re-written with one not wanting the report released at all.
Once Council adopted the report it quickly forgot it existed. Two members of council who were first elected in 2010 were members of the Shape Burlington committee – both had terrible records in terms of how they served their constituents. It was our view that both neither liked nor respected their constituents.
There is nothing wrong with the idea of a centralized Service – concern is how it is implemented that matters most.
A Gazette reader commented that
 “City hall needs to open up.” “There is nothing inherently wrong in a Customer Relations Management System (CRM) but it needs to be coupled with a customer service philosophy that permeates through the organization and gives staff energy and focus. CRM can make operations more efficient if used properly but it can never replace personal contact and commitment; it was never intended to be a replacement. The City of Burlington needs to ‘open up’.
“It needs clear and understandable program descriptions with accountable staff identified and contact information clearly displayed. Accountability and visibility go hand in hand. It needs performance dashboards with metrics that are measurable to report on commitments and progress against plan. It needs transparent citizen engagement instruments so that the public actually contributes to decision-making and can see how operational and strategic directions evolved. And to ensure that the process is not merely cosmetic, it needs a comprehensive customer service program with an executive lead and compensable performance metrics that are in every staff contract and commitment.
“There are established and successful models for true Customer Service Management in operation in other municipalities and levels of government. Seek them out, adapt and adopt them.”
Related new story:
A service or a system
Shape Burlington – the report.
 By Pepper Parr
April 27th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
I want to try and connect some of the dots.
While walking out of city hall recently (yes, I was in the building) a planning consultant, who once worked for a municipality sidled up to me and asked how things were going.
 The view from the corner of Elizabeth and Caroline with what was originally going to be an eight storey medical services building, then to the south an above ground parking garage and then the 17 storey that already has residents. We chatted for a few moments during which time the independent planner said “I was able to get them 17 storeys on John Street.”
The developer was named – I left the conversation wondering what piece of property on John Street could the planner have been talking about?
That piece of information stayed lodged in my mind. I couldn’t figure out which piece of land was going to have a 17 storey building on it.
A few days later, during a conversation about a development that had three parts to it, the person I was talking to said that the two parts of the site that were yet to be developed had been sold.
That is when the penny dropped.
 Have the development interests in the above ground parking (green roof) and the ‘future office building been sold? Was the 17 storeys that the planner “got” related to the development that has the Berkeley condominium that is now completed?
The original plan for that site was to have the 17 storey condominium, 8 levels of above ground parking and an 8 storey medical services building at the north end fronting on Caroline.
When the project was approved the city had concerns that the developer would not complete the development and included a provision that set out a fine of $300,000 if all three parts were not built.
Are those 17 storeys the independent planner “got” for the the developer going to sit on Caroline between John and Elizabeth?
Related news story:
The original plan for the site in John and Caroline
The Berkeley as it was being built.
 By Staff
April 26th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington is getting ready to launch the Month of Play (June) and has three new exciting initiatives lined up:
“Burlington Walks the Talk”,
“Community Better Challenge” and
“Art and the City” a self-guided downtown public art walking tour.
A public kick-off event for all three will be held at Civic Square at City Hall, 426 Brant St. on May 6, 2019 at 10 a.m., rain or shine.
Residents and media are invited to join Mayor Meed Ward in a leisurely Public Art Walking Tour in the downtown area, lead by Arts and Culture staff. The tour is expected to be 45-minutes and is accessible.
 Does the Terry Fox Run for the Cure count as a ‘walking the talk” event? Burlington Walks the Talk
Burlington Walks the Talk is a new community program that encourages people to form or join neighbourhood walking groups. It includes a “how to create a walking group” guide and place to share information about upcoming community walks to invite others to participate and learn more about walk meetup times and locations in Burlington. The first 10 groups to post their community walking group on the community walk meetup calendar will receive up to 10 t-shirts for their walking group (while supplies last).
ParticipACTION’s Community Better Challenge
This national campaign is looking for Canada’s most active city. The City of Burlington is challenging residents to track their physical activity through the ParticipACTION app on their phone and compete to become Canada’s most active city.
The challenge runs May 31 to June 16 and every active minute counts. Sign up by downloading the app with your postal code at community.participaction.com.
Art and the City – Downtown Public Art Walking Tour
New for residents and tourists is Art and the City, Burlington’s downtown public art walking tour. Art and the City is available online and accessible from any mobile device.
 The Spiral Stella -one of the better pieces of public art that few know all that much about. The free web app offers a new way to explore Burlington’s downtown and learn about public art in the process. The tour provides artwork information, photographs and a suggested walking route. A limited number of printed guidebooks will soon be available at all city facilities, Burlington Public Library and Tourism Burlington. Art and the City is also available online in PDF format to download, save, and print. Both formats are available online at burlington.ca/publicart.
The first 50 participants that join in the public art walking tour will receive a “Burlington Walks the Talk” t-shirt and an Art and the City tour guidebook. T-shirt sizes are limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Participants in the Public Art Walk with the Mayor event do so at their own risk and acknowledge that accidents and/or injuries could occur while participating in this event. The City assumes no liability for any liability, claims, demands, damages, actions, or causes of action now existing or which hereinafter may arise as a result of my participation in the event, whether any injury is caused by the negligence of the City, participants or third parties.
(The legal disclaimer above reflects wording provided by the City and any grammatical errors are theirs. )
 By Pepper Parr
April 26, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette has run a comments section since the day we started up.
There are some people who abuse the privilege – there are some who think writing comments in the Gazette is a God given right.
There are a number of people, far too many if I do say so myself, who see the comments as irresponsible and not really serving any purpose.
There are others who comment frequently and add significantly to the body of information we use to make decisions.
We got a comment from Phillip Wooster this morning that we want to share.
He was responding to a comment made by another reader who had commented on the decision city council made to declare a Climate Emergency.
Let Phillip tell you what he learned.
I can attest about your comment about building in a flood plain. In 1979, while I was considering buying a house backing onto Tuck Creek, I had a choice between one north of Spruce on Regal Road and another south of Spruce. I happened to have a chance meeting with a farmer who had owned property at Lakeshore and Pine Cove in the 1950’s. He told me to buy south of Spruce–when I asked why, he told me that north of Spruce was a flood plain. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel turned the area into a lake; he said if there was another such weather event, the same thing would happen. And in 2014, guess where the flooding occurred. WHO KNEW????
 Tuck Creek There are few real estate agents in town who will tell you what Phillip has known for years.
Thank you Phillip.
Salt with Pepper is the opinions, reflections,musings and observations of the Gazette Publisher
By Staff
April 26th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton District School Board trustees are reaching out to communities in the Region to gather feedback from parents/guardians, students, and community members to include in their submission to the Ministry of Education’s consultations on class size, mandatory e-learning courses and hiring practices. The Ministry’s proposed changes include an increase in average class size of one student in Grades 4-8 and an increase in average class size in high school from 22 to 28 students.
 Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School The meetings will take place at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at three schools across the region:
• Thursday May 2, Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School (3040 Tim Dobbie Drive, Burlington)
• Wednesday May 8, Abbey Park High School (1455 Glen Abbey Gate, Oakville)
• Monday May 13, Milton District High School (396 Williams Avenue, Milton)
The agenda will be interactive, with Trustees briefly setting the context followed by participants working together to provide feedback around key areas including class size, e-learning and hiring practices.
Participants are asked to bring a Wi-Fi enabled device (phone, tablet or laptop) to assist in the feedback-gathering process.
 Director of Education Stuart Miller confers with Board chair Andrea Grebenc. “It is critical that Trustees hear from the community on these important issues,” said Andréa Grebenc, Chair of the Halton District School Board. “As Trustees, our mandate as set out by the Education Act is to maintain focus on student achievement and well-being, to assist the Board in delivering effective and appropriate education programs to its pupils and to bring concerns of parents, students and supporters of the Board to the attention of the Board. Holding these meetings will assist us to meet these responsibilities in an informed way.”
To learn more about the Ministry’s consultations and the Education Action meetings, visit www.HaltonEducationAction.ca.
To indicate interest in attending a meeting, find a map to meeting locations, or to request a copy of the final submission for the consultations from the Board of Trustees to the Ministry of Education, please refer to the website. Confirmation of attendance is requested for planning purposes.
All are welcome to attend.
 By Staff
April 25th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
It took a number of police officers and the use of the K9 unit to capture and arrest two suspects but arrested they were and now await bail hearings.
On Wednesday April 24, 2019 at approximately 1:17 am, a uniformed officer was driving in the area of Plains Road West near Daryl Drive.
 K0 unit at work The officer observed a black Dodge Ram pickup truck and attempted to stop the vehicle for a Highway Traffic Act offence. The vehicle failed to stop for the officer and fled the area at a high rate of speed. At 1:26 am, a concerned citizen from the Snake Road area contacted police when this same black truck drove on to a front lawn. The vehicle was left running with the lights on and the occupants fled the area on foot.
Halton Regional Police officers flooded the area and set up a perimeter. The Canine Unit attended and tracked for more than an hour until the two accused parties were located hiding near the Notre Dame Motherhouse.
Both were arrested shortly before 3:00 am without incident.
The pickup truck was confirmed to be stolen from Hamilton and break and enter tools were located within the vehicle.
Accused:
Kyle Hunt (29) of Hamilton
Charges: Flight from Police, Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Weapons Dangerous, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime (Over $5000), Possession of Break and Enter Tools
Accused:
Ashley Wilson (25) of Hamilton
Charges: Possession of Property Obtained by Crime (Over $5000), Possession of Break and Enter Tools
Both Accused parties were held for bail and appeared in the Milton Provincial Court on Wednesday April 24, 2019. Hunt was remanded into custody and will appear in Bail Court on Friday April 26. Wilson was remanded into custody and will appear on Thursday April 25, 2019.
People charged with a criminal offence are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See Something? Hear Something? Know Something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
 By Staff
April 25th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Finding something new, interesting and different for Mother’s Day can be a challenge.
The people at Ireland House have been offering a unique experience at Ireland House Museum.
 A different way to celebrate – Mom will enjoy the tour of the kitchen in the lower level of Ireland House. The Mother’s Day Tea & Tour will serve premium tea, traditional sandwiches and desserts, followed by tours and demonstrations on the hearth at the historic Ireland House.
Select from one of 3 seating times (11 am, 1 pm or 3 pm). Tickets are $40/person. A maximum of four people can be seated at your table, not recommended for young children.
Once your booking is processed, a museum representative will contact you to confirm your table arrangements. Tickets are non-refundable.
Click to book tickets:
By Staff
April 25th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
In the world of politics you send out the bad news media releases late in the day on a Friday. Works even better when there is a long weekend.
Last week Burlington MPP Jane McKenna went even further.
 MPP Jane McKenna at a public event. Late last Thursday, that would be the 18th of April with the Friday being a holiday, “MPP Jane McKenna sent a letter to my office”,said Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, “expressing her concerns with my April 15th statement about the recent provincial budget.
“She also shared her letter with the Burlington Post/Inside Halton where it appeared in a story on April 20th. Having personally received her letter yesterday morning, I then had the opportunity to review it and respond.
The following response was sent to her yesterday:
Dear Ms. McKenna, M.P.P.,
Much discussion is being had in the public domain since the release of the Provincial Budget earlier this month. As a result of the many cuts that were announced by Premier Doug Ford and his government, citizens and communities continue to voice their concerns over the impact they will see and feel to services they count on and priorities they value. From increasing classroom sizes to slashing funding for indigenous affairs to changes in funding for families dealing with autism, there are many issues of concern.
As Mayor of Burlington, I am focused on the list of things that directly impact our municipal bottom line and represent a downloading of costs to our tax payers. Issues of particular concern to our city involve cuts of over $300K to the Conservation Authority that will hurt flood mitigation strategies and impact public safety, recent Province-wide public health funding cuts which were only disclosed late last week and whose impact (both financial and practical) to our residents is yet to be clarified, and the cancelled promise of incremental gas-tax funding increases which would have helped fund essential transit improvements in Burlington and beyond.
As I said in a previous statement, I am particularly disappointed in the government’s decision to cancel the incremental increases in Provincial gas-tax funding over the next 10 years – a promise that was made by the conservative party during the election campaign as reported in a recent article by the CBC. The related numbers you referenced in your letter are incorrect. I would welcome a discussion with you, myself, and Joan Ford, our Director of Finance, who can furnish you with the correct numbers. For example, your letter referenced transit ridership data from 2013 to 2015, and we have already seen increased ridership from 2016-2018 that add new context to this issue. The gas tax increase from 2% to 2.5% would be enough to fund one additional bus purchase each and every year: a substantial impact to our city.
While the Council of the City of Burlington acts prudently and does not budget for any upper-level government transfers promised during election campaigns, federal or provincial, we do get them consistently every year and they amount to millions of critical dollars (originally collected from our own tax payers) being delivered back to us so that we can reinvest in our city’s infrastructure and services. Over the past week, I have spoken with Mayors in neighboring municipalities who share our concerns and we are now discussing a joint response.
Health, the environment, transit and infrastructure are not the places to be making cuts. Ultimately these decisions will download millions in costs to municipalities and their tax payers in order to maintain the services they’ve come to count on.
Once again, I would welcome a further discussion on these issues in person with myself and my team anytime.
Sincerely,
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward City of Burlington
What did the MPP say to the Mayor? We don’t know yet – Ms McKenna doesn’t send her media material to the Gazette – she doesn’t like the stories we right about some of her public behavior.
By Pepper Parr
April 25th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
For some reason the Honourable Karina Gould, MP, Burlington, Minister of Democratic Institutions and Pam Damoff, MP, Oakville North-Burlington, joined Mayor Marianne Meed Ward to announce the Burlington projects that will benefit from the Federal One-time Municipal Infrastructure Top-up funding.
A media release with the information would have done the trick.
Climate Change is the flavour of the month and every politician who has served more than a year in office learns to discern what the issues are – or they aren’t around for a second term.
 Burlington had declared a Climate Emergency the day before; there was every reason to roll with the momentum. And roll they did.
Last month’s federal budget included municipal top-up funding to support local infrastructure priorities. This one-time doubling of the Federal Gas Tax funding will result in an extra $5.6 million for infrastructure. Federal Gas Tax funding can be used in eligible categories including productivity and economic growth through areas such as roads, bridges or public transit, clean environment initiatives such as community energy systems or strong cities and communities via sport, recreation, culture, tourism or disaster mitigation.
City staff brought a report with recommended projects to council earlier this month. Council has approved these projects:
Elgin Promenade, Phase 4 – $700,000
There are some who wonder why this expenditure would be approved until the issue as to just what is built on the old Elisabeth Interiors site has been determined. Much of what gets build on that site will result in parts of the Promenade that will run right beside what is now Kelly’s Bakeshop.
Transit Bus renewal program – $500,000
Wolfe Island Bridge, additional rehabilitation – $230,000
New Street resurfacing, advance from 2023 to 2020 – $2,050,000
Beachway Pavilion, decking and accessibility improvements – $350,000
A much needed improvement – hopefully the public washrooms will get some attention
Civic Square, additional enhancements – $265,000
Skyway Arena, new small indoor walking track – $1,500,000
Most projects are expected to be completed within 18 months, with the exception of the New Street resurfacing, which is anticipated to happen in 2020 and Skyway Arena enhancements, which will take two to three years to complete.
 Karina Gould, MP, Burlington, Minister of Democratic Institutions The Honourable Karina Gould, MP, Burlington, Minister of Democratic Institutions said at the photo op on Wednesday that: “The Federal Municipal top up will allow municipalities, like Burlington, to continue to fund long-term, stable infrastructure projects such as public transit, water and wastewater, local roads, sports and recreation facilities and tourism infrastructure. The investment announced today reiterates our commitment to making our communities stronger and more resilient.”
 Oakville Burlington North MP Pam Damoff Pam Damoff, MP, Oakville North-Burlington, who will probably get to hold her own photo-op with the Mayor of Oakville said: “Public investments in areas like infrastructure and public transit are crucial to driving economic growth and strengthening the middle class. Through my experience on Oakville Town Council, I saw first hand the benefits of funding to municipalities to help them build and revitalize their local public infrastructure while creating jobs and long term prosperity. By making smart investments in local infrastructure, we can build roads, transit and water systems that make a difference in our communities.”
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward added her comments: “It is always a fantastic thing when our levels of government work together in a way that betters our amazing City. And this Federal One-time Municipal Infrastructure Top-Up Funding of approximately $5.6 million does just that.
 Marianne Meed Ward as a Council member during a Strategic Plan session at LaSalle Pavilion. “This is prudent spending ” said Meed Ward “and reflects the majority of the things we heard from the community that they wanted. These choices help make our city more livable, and encourage healthy living, environmentally-friendly choices, and improve our infrastructure to keep people moving safely and efficiently.
“It’s always a difficult job paring down the list of what projects can benefit from funding like this, so I want to thank our City of Burlington staff for the great job they did in balancing the known priorities of our community and helping us get started as soon as possible.”
Other spending to look forward to are:
Housing: To help municipalities grow housing supply and find new solutions for affordable housing, Budget 2019 proposes to provide $300 million to launch a new Housing Supply Challenge.
The Housing Supply Challenge will invite municipalities and other stakeholder groups across Canada to propose new ways to break down barriers that limit the creation of new housing.
Energy efficiency
Budget 2019 plans to give resources to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM), municipal funding program, the Green Municipal Fund for three initiatives that would provide financing to municipalities.
1. Collaboration on Community Climate Action ($350 million) will provide municipalities and non-profit community organizations with financing and grants to retrofit and improve the energy efficiency of large community buildings and community pilot and demonstration projects in Canadian municipalities, large and small. FCM and the Low Carbon Cities Canada Initiatives will create a network across Canada that will support local community actions to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions.
2. Community EcoEfficiency Acceleration ($300 million) will provide financing for municipal initiatives that support home energy efficiency retrofits. Homeowners could qualify for assistance in replacing furnaces and installing renewable energy technologies. The FCM will use innovative approaches like the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) model that allows homeowners to repay retrofit costs through their property tax bills.
3. Sustainable Affordable Housing Innovation ($300 million) will provide financing and support to affordable housing developments to improve energy efficiency in new and existing housing and support on-site energy generation.
Can you feel the federal election coming?
By Staff
April 24th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service is investigating an armed Robbery that took place at a Freedom Mobile store located on Upper Middle Road in Burlington.
 Freedom Mobile located on Upper Middle Road in Burlington robbed at knife point. On Tuesday April 23, 2019 at approximately 5:20 pm, three male suspects entered the store and confronted a staff member working the store front. The staff member was threatened with a knife before a quantity of cellular phones and cash were stolen. The staff member did not sustain any physical injuries.
The three suspects fled in a dark coloured 4-door sedan.
Suspect 1: Male, approximately 5’9″ – 5’10” in his 20’s, wearing all black clothing and a mask
Suspect 2: Male, approximately 5’7″ – 5’8″ wearing jeans, a hoodie and a black mask
Suspect 3: Unknown
Anyone with information or who may have video surveillance or dash-cam video of the suspects/ suspect vehicle are asked to call D/Cst. Dave Griffiths of the District 3 Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4747 ext. 2350 or the on-duty Staff Sergeant at 905-825-4747 ext. 2310.
Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See Something? Hear Something? Know Something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
By Pepper Parr
April 24th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
In the past few months Community Development Halton has sponsored a number of special focus courses – five that we can count so far.
This is not a traditional area for CDH – an organizational that does a lot of research and spawns organizations that get spun off and continue to serve the wider community.
 One of the more recent focused day long course offerings from Community Development Halton.
Food 4 Thought and the Age Friendly operation are two examples.
 Retired MPP Ted McMeekin in conversation with a former Community Development Halton contract staffer. The CDH Board has gone through some significant changes – financial constraints have called for some cut backs in the number of hours staff work and a push on bringing in some revenue.
CDH came out of what was once known as the Burlington Social Planning that was headed up by retired MPP Ted McMeekin.
Like every worthwhile organization CDH is going through a transformation and learning to adapt to changing circumstances on the funding side and an even greater need for more in the way of actionable data and the creation of services that meet identifiable needs.
By Staff
April 24th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Get the roller-blades and skateboards ready, declared a City media release.
 Burlington’s annual spring street sweeping blitz will begin in the first week of May. The cleaning of winter sand and debris from roads is expected to take six weeks with a crew of seven vehicles working seven days a week.
Street sweepers are exempt from the noise bylaw; however, to reduce noise disruption, residential streets will only be cleaned between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. The rest of the time will be spent cleaning primary and secondary roads.
Residents are asked to avoid parking cars on the roads and to remove encroaching basketball and road hockey nets from the street so the sweepers can move quickly and efficiently.
“This winter we used a lot of sand” said Mark Adam, Manager of Roads, “so it’ll take some effort to get it all cleaned up. The fewer parked cars and nets on the roads, the faster and better the crews can work. Moving around obstacles takes more time and means we can’t clear the curbs and gutters.”
By Pepper Parr
April 24th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
City Council unanimously passed a motion to declare a climate emergency. The notion was brought forward by ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan.
Numerous cities around the world have recently declared climate emergencies in response to findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that we have only 12 years to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees, beyond which any further increase would significantly worsen the risk to hundreds of millions of people of extreme heat, drought, floods and poverty. London (UK), Los Angeles, Vancouver, Halifax, Kingston and Hamilton have each declared climate emergencies recently.
 A residential basement after the August 2014 flood. Burlington has already felt the effects of climate change over the past several years; climate matters are currently ranked as the third highest risk on the City’s Enterprise Risk Register, which measures overall risk to the City.
The City is currently updating many of its plans in relation to climate change including the Community Energy Plan (transitioning to the Climate Action Plan), Corporate Energy Management Plan, Storm Water Design Standards and Urban Forest Management Plan. The City has set a goal to be net carbon neutral by 2040 and work towards being a net carbon neutral community.
The climate emergency declaration would increase the city’s ambition on climate change initiatives, including in the community, and provide staff and residents with clarity of purpose regarding Council’s view of the importance of climate change.
Action items from the declaration include:
• That a climate emergency be declared for the purposes of deepening our commitment to protecting our economy, environment and community from climate change; and
• That Council and staff immediately increase the priority of the fight against climate change and apply a climate lens to the plans and actions of the City of Burlington including the Council strategic work plan and future budgets; and
• Staff are directed to bring a report to the June 3, 2019 Committee of the Whole meeting that outlines actions taken to date and includes a critical path for the development of the first City of Burlington Climate Action Plan that will:
 The tree was on private property. Should the owners have been required to get permission to cut it down? The city does have a pilot private tree by law for the Roseland community. 1. address the operations of the corporation of the municipality as well as the functioning of the entire community; and
2. include a plan for a thorough and complete consultation with stakeholders and the community; and
3. increase action and ambition for the City’s climate change-related activities; and
4. include performance metrics to track progress and timelines for achieving key deliverables/major milestones, and a strategy to report back publicly on progress.
• Direct the City Manager to bring back the Burlington Climate Action Plan to Council no later than December 2019 for approval.
“Our health, livelihoods and futures are directly linked to the environment”, said Mayor Marianne Meed Ward. “ Flooding, storms, water quality and air quality affect everything and everyone in our community. Real change requires all of us to work together.
“If our goals are to build a prosperous, healthy and green city for the long-term, we need to take serious, tangible action. Passing this declaration is another step in ensuring that we are doing everything we can to stop climate change — this companion motion includes timelines for action, as well as reporting back on initiatives that are already underway at the City of Burlington.”
 Councillor Rory Nisan – not doing media interviews these days. Councillor Rory Nisan, who chose not to be available for an interview, did say in a written statement that: “By declaring a climate emergency, Burlington City Council is recognizing the magnitude of the challenge we face in combatting climate change. But it is only one step. Through the declaration we have requested a comprehensive climate action plan by the end of the year and that plan is where we will begin to make real, practical change for Burlington.”
The Mayor and some members of her council held a media event this morning to explain what the city planned to do with the $5.6 million they got from the federal government recently.
One of the council members drove away from the meeting in a high end pickup truck. I was struck with a dose of envy (it’s a guy thing) and wondering what kind of a statement was being made.
To the best of our knowledge there isn’t a member of council driving an electric vehicle. Full disclosure – I don’t drive one either but then I don’t pull in 100 big ones annually either.
By Pepper Parr
April 24th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton District School Board issued 154 redundancy letters yesterday to secondary school teachers. This is in addition to the 150 redundancy notices that were issued last week to elementary school teachers.
 Stuart Miller said last week that the issuing of the notices is a requirement under the Collective Agreement the school board has with its unions.
Miller was unable to say which high schools will lose teachers come September.
It is worth noting that two of Burlington’s seven high schools were closed: Lester B. Pearson was closed last June – its students were transferred to MM Robinson.
 Robert Bateman High School is scheduled to close – the actual date was moved back and is now planned for this June. The bulk of the Bateman students will be going to Nelson High School where new facilities are being built for students with special needs.
Those who keep a close eye on public school matters wondered if the decision made three years ago to close two of the seven high schools was not a smart move – even though it wasn’t seen as a smart move at the time.
Miller said in an earlier interview that the province might come through with additional funding or school principals might find a way to shift course offerings and make it possible for a school to keep its staff.
And there is also the matter of retirements – those might open up some spaces that had to be declared redundant.
It is a pretty fluid situation for school administrators – a very uncomfortable situation for teachers who have been told they might not have a job in September.
Related news story:
Elementary school teachers get redundancy notices.
 By Staff
April 24th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Sound of Music Festival has released the free concert lineup for Father’s Day Weekend, June 13-16, in Spencer Smith Park and throughout the downtown core.
 Cowboy junkies are part of the free Sound of Music Festival that begins June 13th to 16th The shows offer up a huge variety of music for all ages including: Terri Clark, Lonestar, Grandson, Hollerado, Hawksley Workman, David Wilcox, Bedouin Soundclash, Dear Rouge, Cowboy Junkies, Skydiggers, Madeline Merlo, Classic Albums Live, Freedom Train, and so many more.
Visit soundofmusic.ca for the full lineup and show times.
Events and activities include
Club Series – June 9-12,
Silver Series presented by Schlegel Villages – June 14,
Downtown Streetfest presented by Burlington Downtown Business Association – June 14-16 and
Family Zone – June 15-16
plus the Grande Festival Parade on June 15!
Amp up your experience with a VIP upgrade to Sweet Seats and FrontRow for TD Stage.
 Black Mountain is part of the ticketed event offering that begins June 8th. Tickets are moving fast for Sound of Music’s Kick Off event featuring performances on Saturday, June 8th by Bush, Live, Monster Truck, Headstones, Crown Lands, Black Mountain Whiskey Rebellion and The Castor Troys.
“With so much competition for the entertainment dollar in our market, it was critical that we offer an amazing value to our ticket buyers. The kick-off provides needed funds to keep Father’s Day Weekend free, and I have to say, at current prices, there isn’t a better value ticket in Ontario!”, says Rusak.
The Festival is currently recruiting for volunteers.
June 8 – 16, 2019 will mark Sound of Music Festival’s 40th edition.
 It doesn’t get much better than this. Every year in June, Burlington comes alive with the largest music event of the year. Well over 200,000 people come to enjoy concerts spanning all genres. Through the generosity and support of sponsors and the dedication of volunteers, the event continues to be free on Father’s Day Weekend for music lovers of all ages.
 By Pepper Parr
April 23rd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Two people who were heavily involved in the campaign to elect Marianne Meed Ward, the Mayor of Burlington, have come out with strong statements on the new Customer Relations Management system the city is in the process of adopting.
A third citizen has commented on just how unfriendly the city hall atrium is.
There is something amiss here.
 The crest would at least add some colour to a dull boring looking council chamber. The woman who is now Mayor has been a citizen’s champion from the day she first stood at the podium in city hall to delegate. That “new – re-modeled” council chamber is even less friendly than the atrium. If there was ever a bland space made up of dull grays the council chamber would be it. Having a copy of the city crest made up and put up on the space beside the name Burlington, would do something for the chamber.
The podium that can be raised for people of different heights was a good idea – but when the seating area for the members of council was lowered it meant that people in the audience could not see all that well.
 This is what bland looks like. The design of the new chamber is a botched job – reportedly carried out by the Clerk’s office with no public input.
Blair Smith, a person with considerable experience in the running of government services, having served as an Assistant Deputy Minister with the Ontario government said in a Gazette comment that:
“There is nothing inherently wrong in a Customer Relations Management System” wrote Smith, “but it needs to be coupled with a customer service philosophy that permeates through the organization and gives staff energy and focus.
“CRM can make operations more efficient if used properly but it can never replace personal contact and commitment; it was never intended to be a replacement. The City of Burlington needs to ‘open up’. It needs clear and understandable program descriptions with accountable staff identified and contact information clearly displayed. Accountability and visibility go hand in hand. It needs performance dashboards with metrics that are measurable to report on commitments and progress against plan.
 Blair Smith in conversation with Director of Planning Heather MacDonald “It needs transparent citizen engagement instruments so that the public actually contributes to decision-making and can see how operational and strategic directions evolved. And to ensure that the process is not merely cosmetic, it needs a comprehensive customer service program with an executive lead and performance metrics that are in every staff contract and commitment.
“There are established and successful models for true Customer Service Management in operation in other municipalities and levels of government. Seek them out, adapt and adopt them.”
 Transparency was her trademark – which looks a little faded these days. The Gazette thinks Smith is dead on. We all thought that what Smith had to say is what Meed Ward thinks; it is certainly what we have heard in all her public remarks, right back to the days when she would walk backwards as she spoke into a camera explaining what was wrong with the thinking about the pier and that piece of property between Lakeshore Road and Old Lakeshore Road.
 Lynn Crosby; one of the front line workers in the drive to keep Central High School open and a trooper in the Meed Ward campaign. Lynn Crosby, who worked tirelessly on the Meed Ward campaign, running the office they had on Brant Street is “betting this is a system created by staff and was not something the new council or Mayor created. This would beg the question of why staff members might want to vet emails that come in and also begs the question of whether all emails that come in are actually forwarded to the appropriate person, and if so, are they forwarded in a timely manner – i.e., same day – or not.”
Crosby is also no fan of the “big Security desk that greets visitors to city hall” and adds that “it is not exactly welcoming”
“I think it’s early days with the new council and there’s lots of work to be done on making changes to how the city communicates with the citizens and what the tone is. It can be done.
“Looking at this system should be a priority because transparency and ease of communicating with the mayor, council and staff members should be easy to implement.”
Crosby also asks: “Where is the staff directory naming all individuals in key positions with clear contact information?”
When Kim Phillips was a General Manager with the city she was against such a directory. She didn’t want the public “pestering staff”.
Smith and Crosby are pushing in the right direction – we think they had hoped the Mayor would be leading in that direction.
By Pepper Parr
April 23, 2109
BURLINGTON, ON
This evening council will meet to put the rubber stamp and the required signatures on the documents that rule the way we live in this city.
The Interim Control bylaw that halts all development in the Urban Growth centre of the city will be made law. It is a brutal piece of legislation that will cause significant financial stress for at least one developer and dash the hopes of another for the immediate term.
The Paradigm development on Fairview between Brant and Guelph next to the GO station which has three of the five towers in place needed a site plan approval before they could begin construction on the final two towers. The ICBL prevents that site plan from being approved.
 Phases 1,2 and 3 of the five tower development. Phases 4 and 5 are being delayed due to the ICBL council will approve this evening. The Paradigm was the type of development that created the kind of housing the city needed to reach the residential targets set for the city by the province.
Due to a complicated set of agreements that were part of the purchase of the land the Paradigm is being built on the registration of the condominiums is impacted.
The Amica proposal for a large retirement home development on North Shore Blvd never did have much traction with this council. Their representative will be at council this evening pleading for an exemption to the ICBL – short of a total reversal of their position that plea is likely to fall on deaf ears.
However politics being what it is – one never knows what will get decided.
There is a Special meeting of city council the day after – it will be closed to the public so that council members can discuss freely what they have in mind in the way of a new city manager.
 The job is critical – if they get this right – there is a better than even chance that the mandate this council was given is one they can deliver on.
There are many who knew the city manager had to be replaced; others who think that a wholesale clean out is needed – from the City Solicitor; the Clerk, the Deputy city manager and at least one of the Directors – perhaps two of them.
Finding a City Manager that understands what council wants and what they believe they need is going to be the challenge.
 The second step of the Meed Ward political ladder: Mayor of Burlington Hiring talent that can lead and understand is not easy – expecting a team made up of people who have no experience doing this is asking for more than they can deliver.
Will this council choose and be able to find someone who can advise and direct them?
Franks Towes made a comment during his recent delegation on the Lakeshore Village Plaza development. “You are the gatekeepers” he said. Indeed they are – what they bring through those gates is what will determine what kind of a Burlington we have going forward.
It will determine as well just what kind of a politician Marianne Meed Ward will be – serving as Mayor is just part of the ladder she will climb.
Salt with Pepper is the opinions, reflections,musings and observations of the Gazette Publisher
 By Pepper Parr
April 22, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
When you walk into city hall there are two sort of reception areas – one with the word “Security” in large large letters in the front. To the west side of the atrium there is another counter with a copy of people toiling away.
The word “Service” is blazoned along the front.
The people at the service desk are decent; they do their best to answer your questions.
We were delivering an envelope addressed to the Interim City Manager – the clerks didn’t know what to do with it. We didn’t hear back from the Interim City Manager – maybe he didn’t get the envelope?
As for the Security Guard – someone wants to explain just what a smile can do.
The city is shifting to a new approach to communicating with its citizens. They are using what is known as CRM – Customer Relations Management.
They want to apparently change the way you the citizen communicate with the elected officials – we don’t know if this system is going to go any further than that.
 If you don’t get a response to the email – look for her in a park. A resident explained to us that city hall wants people to use ward2@burlington.ca if you want to communicate with ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns. They want to persuade you to stop using lisa.kearns@burlington.ca
Don’t write marianne.meedward@burlington.ca – write to Mayor@burlington.ca
 Email her – just be careful which email address you use. According to a resident who has experienced this new approach when you send something to Mayor or Ward 2 you get an email from the City giving you a case number and the gist of the email and then told where this email is being directed – for example to the Mayor’s Office.
What that means is that someone is reading your email and deciding where it should go.
The woman who stood on your door step and told you she would be transparent and available now has a gate keeper who decides how your issue will be handled. This will be tough news for some of those people in Aldershot who write out long repetitive emails to their Councillor and copy every name they can come up with.
The system has been in the works for a number of years – it was an agenda item when Kim Phillips was a General Manager.
Council members do get swamped with email – this is what the current council said it wanted – “we need to hear from you” was the refrain.
Our citizen reported that days can go by before there is a response. Or the email reaches the appropriate person.
The citizen would like to know who reads these emails, who decides where they go, do they keep these on file and more importantly can they target certain residents or organizations that they want to keep an eye on????
Good questions.
 It doesn’t have to be this way.
Gord Krantz, Mayor of Milton sits in an office at the street level looking out over the public park.
When you walk into the Milton Town Hall you walk by the Mayor’s office – where the door is usually open if he is at his desk.
You walk past the Mayor’s office to get to a staff member.
Krantz wants people to see him and be able to reach him. That might be why he has been the Mayor of Milton since 1980 – has been an elected official since 1965
 By Staff
April 22, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Everyone is now on board the climate change train – except for those south of us who are still arguing that climate change is part of the fake news business.
 On Tuesday, April 23rd at 6:30pm city council will debate and pass a motion to declare that the city is declaring a Climate Emergency in Burlington. This in a city that is part way through a pilot private tree bylaw in one part of the city.
In a recent article in the New York Times magazine I read a paragraph that put climate change in hard to grasp black and white – we have 11 years to reverse the rate at which we are warming the earth. To make it even worse – Canada has been warning its territory at a rate twice as fast as most other countries.
Burlington Green said in a statement that: “Declaring a climate emergency sends the signal that Burlington will take a stand on climate action, and acts as a beacon for our Council’s decision-making through a climate action lens.”
Hamilton declared a climate emergency last week.
The council debate will be interesting – how many members of this council are driving electric cars?
How much money is this city going to spend during its term of office to cut down drastically on the Co2 emissions?
How many police cars are electric?
How many school buses are electric?
Will every vehicle in the city fleet, include Burlington Hydro in that, be electric within 18 months?
What hope is there when we read that Alberta and Ontario are fighting the federal carbon tax plans.
Voice your Support and urge council to get beyond the talk talk stage.
By Pepper Parr
April 22th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
If there is an election and there is a Green candidate in the race, Burlington environmentalist Vince Fiorito is likely to be involved. He is currently in Prince Edward Island working with a Green Party candidate that he thinks might be able to knock off the Premier of the province.
 Sara Donald running against the Premier of PEI Wade MacLaughlin – she is said to be leading in the polls. According to McLeans magazine, Sarah Donald’s district is “leaning” Green. Sarah was a last minute Green party nomination.
She decided to run when the writ came down three weeks ago. No one else contested the candidacy and she was acclaimed.
 Vince Fiorito, probably Burlington’s best environmentalist, is working in PEI to get a Green candidate elected. His candidate just might knock off the Province’s Premier. Fiorito showed up a few days later to help her. “She couldn’t quit her contract job at the university to campaign full time which put a bit of a crimp in her campaign.”
One of her campaign posters was defaced by a drunk woman, who was gracious enough to drop her wallet at the scene and aid the police investigation.
Fiorito thinks this “may be a “Mouse That Roared”; a Green taking down a sitting Premier, Liberal Wade MacLauchlan. When was the last time that happened in Canada? McKenzie King – we think – please correct us if we are wrong.
 PEI Liberal Premier, Wade MacLauchlan, announcing the dropping of the election writ – Green candidate is leading the Premier in the polls. PEI has a 27 member legislature with the Greens running candidates in every district. A Green candidate died, along with his son, in a canoeing accident days before the Tuesday election – that seat will have a by-election sometime in the future.
Three of the four most recent polls had the Greens forming a government.
Fiorito wanted Burlington to know that history is being made in PEI.
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