 By Gerry Visca
BURLINGTON, ON March 6, 20112 Many entrepreneurs that I coach often ask me how I am able to stay focused and help so many others create their lives. I tell them the key to driving my brand and my actions is daily discipline. Sounds easy right? Sometimes it’s the simple things that when executed on a consistent basis will drive your success forward.
 Visca inspires - had Burlington's business elite on their feet shouting out BIG words - then hugging each other. How long does it take to form a new habit? I receive several answers from audiences ranging from twenty to sixty days and everything in between. Based on my experience, I have found that the formation of a new habit will take the average individual approximately thirty days.
Following the consistent application during this period of time will encourage the mind to accept it as a new form of behavior. Ask any successful person and they will tell you that success is defined by replacing bad habits with really good ones. The key here is to ‘focus’ on creating new and better habits to replace the old habits and align all of your actions to pursuing your goals. The key words here are consistency and persistence.
Ask any professional speaker or entertainer how they are harnessing their energy. They need to recondition their mind and body for better physical and mental shape. They need the ability to summon their inner energy upon demand. They strive to form new success habits; preparing themselves physically with disciplined physical fitness and a healthier diet. They look great, feel great and have the physical energy to live life to the fullest. The audiences can sense their high energy the minute they pounce onto stage! They address the audience with great enthusiasm and passion and engage them within the first 10 seconds. Imagine being a leader in your organization that continually inspires and engages its employees to become the best that they can be? What would this look like?
If you have never fallen you have never challenged your potential.”
Gerry Visca
Your employees would be encouraged and inspired to strive for personal greatness in all they do. Just think about it for a moment, what could you achieve in that one hour of time every morning? It’s only one hour right? I know, you convince yourself that you really need that extra hour of sleep and you can’t function without it right? That is the habit you have created for yourself and you have conditioned your mind in that manner. The key is to stick to a consistent plan that is best for you.
The key to discipline includes the following attribute: Patience – a strong focus combined with harmonized thoughts. This allows you to get into flow and learn how to balance your energy levels. Personally, I find the morning the best time for me. I love getting up with enthusiasm before the world is awake, it is my time to get myself mentally and physically focused, organized and ready to face new and exciting challenges. My morning routine also provides me with the physical and mental energy needed to stimulate creativity. I actually find sleeping in makes me more tired. My routine starts with a twenty minute run followed by another twenty minutes of muscle conditioning followed by a meditation exercise. I encourage you to start tomorrow. You will feel great and be surprised at what you will be able to achieve with this type of daily disciplined conditioning.
The second attribute to discipline is: Passion – If you’re not passionate about what you are doing how can you expect to engage anyone around you?
As you start to form new habits you will be in a better position to manifest the things that you want most. Your mind is more in tune and ready to accept the transformation. This creative principle is also geared towards helping you laser focus on the things that you want most in life. Incorporating daily discipline is a very powerful principle in your personal transformation tool box.
Gerry Visca is an inspirational speaker who has made presentations to the Mayor’s Burlington Economic Development Corporation luncheons and has “inspired” some 100,000 people to harness innate abilities. He can be reached at: gerry@redchairbranding.com
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON Match 6, 2012 Things got a little feisty at the Budget meeting at city hall last week.
Councillor John Taylor said he was not going to allow a budget committee to go into closed session to talk about how much the city was going to allocate for staff salary increases and that if he was found to be out of order he was going to walk out of the Council Chamber to the atrium and hold a press conference and spill the beans.
That is exciting stuff for Burlington.
 The Dean of Burlington Council members, Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor fights for what he believes in. One of the things he wants is more openness and more transparency. He didn't get it this time out. Councillor Taylor was talking about salary figures that were well known and discussed at the Regional level, Committee chair Rick Craven kept intruding and telling him that he was getting very close to the line on what was permitted and what was not permitted in terms of talking about specific matters.
Taylor would lose his train of thought and while the two bickered back and forth, they eventually went into closed session and sent everyone out into the foyer for close to an hour. That gave everyone sent out of the room time to get caught up on the gossip.
Taylor was making an very significant point. The matter was how much of the tax money collected goes into staff salaries and how much does what Burlington pays its employees?
Taylor started off by pointing out that the Region had gone public and openly discussed salary increases and said the Region was not going to go above 2% increase in their 2012 budget. Taylor felt Burlington should fall into the same line. At that point chair of the meeting Rick Craven cut in and advised Taylor that he might be crossing a line and beginning to talk about a matter that wasn’t permitted by the Burlington Procedural Manual.
A staff report had recommended more than a 2% increase but that document was kept confidential.
That wasn’t going to deter Taylor – he then began to talk about comments made by an Ombudsman’s report that said council members should be generous and broad in their interpretation of what is confidential and what isn’t.
That wasn’t going to deter Craven who said that he was following the rules as set out in the Burlington Procedural Manual and he didn’t want to have to rule Taylor out of order.
What Taylor wanted to do was put forward a motion to decrease the amount to be allocated for salaries in the 2012 budget.
That was enough for the rest of the Council. They decided to go into Closed Session and everyone was asked to leave the room.
Once everyone was back in the room Taylor’s motion to reduce the amount set aside for salaries and wages by $455,820 was voted on and defeated. Taylor then put forward a second motion for a reduction of $152,000 and that was passed.
The $455,820 would have meant a 1% increase in salaries and wages for city staff; the $152,000 meant the increase was going to be just 2% ; not the more than 2% staff was recommending.
Municipalities pay their people very well and the benefits are also very good. The pension – a defined one – is amongst the best in the country.
Taylor pointed out that 90% of the money raised in taxes by the city, which amount to $125 million, is spent on salaries and benefits and he wanted this to be discussed in public.
The discussion got to the point where Taylor and Craven were sparring over phrases and wording in the city Procedural Manual.
The heck with what is in the Procedural Manual: why does a budget committee go into closed secret session when discussing how much they are going to increase staff salaries by? They aren’t talking about an individual’s pay – they are talking about how big the increase is going to be for all staff during a specific budget year.
Folks that’s your money; 90 cents of every dollar is paid out as salary or benefits. If open, transparent government means anything telling what you are paying your staff is part of that business.
The province has a Sunshine list that calls for municipalities to report the name and amount paid to every person earning more than $100,000 a year. That information then gets published. If the province is prepared to let the public know who is earning more than $100,000 why can’t the city say how much they are going to increase salaries by? What is confidential about discussing the increases?
 That young lad, second from the left is THE Lord Acton who took part in a Halton agricultural tour last year. The Acton name is famous for that powerful political dictum: "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.." One can expect this picture to get used in Taylor's next election campaign. A Burlington city staff report that was confidential had set out an increase for staff salaries that was in excess of 2%
These discussions are at committee level and have to go to Council meeting to be made final March 19.
One Council member pointed out that the staff report, which wasn’t public, uses what other municipalities pay their people as “comparators” and Taylor was arguing that it is unfair to use other municipalities as comparisons – that the city should be using what the butcher, the baker and the candle stick maker are earning – these are the guys paying the taxes and Taylor was arguing that they aren’t getting much more than 1%
One the day that Burlington was having this noisy debate the Premier of the province was telling teachers that their new contract would have a 0% increase for the next two years and that the practice of being able to get paid out for sick days that had been banked was going to be pared back.
Burlington might want to pay attention to the reality the province finds it has to face – it’s our reality as well.
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 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 2, 2012 On February 29th around 8:30 p.m., a fifteen-year-old female walking west along Plains Road East from Maple Avenue to Spring Gardens Road noticed a vehicle that seemed to be following her. The vehicle, a van, was spotted several times travelling back and forth along Plains Road, as well as being seen parked at various commercial properties along the route. The female believed she was being followed.
As the female approached Spring Gardens Road the same van pulled into a driveway, turned around and blocked the sidewalk directly in front of the female.
The van’s tinted passenger window was lowered just a few inches and the male passenger told her to get into the vehicle.
The female replied that she was calling the police on her cell phone and the van sped away.
The passenger in the van has been described as white, with brown hair. No other descriptors are available. The vehicle is described as a white van with tinted windows. A sticker was seen on the left side of the rear window.
Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to contact the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905 825-4747 x2315, Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes).
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 1, 2012 She did her best. She stood up and took a stand. She was brave.
Alas, her fellow Council members didn’t have quite the same degree of courage and they all sat on their hands when it came to a vote on whether or not the city should continue paying for employee parking.
This is not a small matter – the city pays out $184,844 annually for employee parking and Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward felt this was a perk that was no longer justified and should be done away with. Other members talked around the issue but none came right out and said they thought city staff should get their parking paid for. The city provides discounts on bus passes but there is apparently a very small uptake on that offer. Why take the bus when the city is going to pay your parking.
 She was never shy about speaking up and at a Council Budget committee she certainly spoke out about the city paying for employee parking. But every other council member sat on their hands when it came to a vote. For a city that wants to increase transit use – paying parking for staff that could take the bus to work seems to be a policy that isn’t being lived up to by city management.
There are some situations where very senior people should get their parking paid for – that`s consistent with what is done in the private sector. It should be noted though that none of the people at the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital get there parking paid for. That they must pay their own parking is written right into their employment contracts.
Meed Ward is a trooper if she is anything. This wasn’t the only time that she was the owner of the only hand that went up in the air when the vote was called.
She couldn’t get any support on a vote to cancel the free parking so she put forward another motion to have the perk phased out over a three year period. No takers on that one either.
Meed Ward made three points as she argued for ending the free parking for staff.. There was a matter of principle. There is no free parking for anyone else. You pay to park on the streets or the city parking lots and while you don`t pay to park at the malls, the cost of that parking space is built into the rental structure meetings pay for retail space at the malls. Meed Ward did not think staff should be putting forward expense items that were advantageous to them. When staff put a line item in the budget to cover parking – they are in effect giving themselves a direct benefit – which comes in at $184,000 plus annually.
Her second point was that Council was expected to show leadership and all the talk of keeping tax increases low is a bit of a sham when the city had an opportunity to reduce the expenses by $184,000 plus – just like that.
Her third arguing point was that paying for staff parking and then fining people who may have spent a little longer than they expected in a store to come out and find they have a ticket on their car – well she thought that was a bit much.
On a personal note – the Council committee that was debating the budget had announced that they would commence at 9:30 am and break at 12:30 pm – and so I put the $4.50 needed in the parking meter. They broke for five minutes at 12:10 and then went back into session and stayed there till 1:30 pm. Had the meter man been in the parking lot I use I would have been looking at a $20.00 parking ticket so that I could sit in the Council chambers to hear a debate about staff getting free parking.
Council members get a free parking spot right outside city hall – fair enough. They are in and out frequently and they do work long hours. And they are the Board of Directors – they get a perk. When this benefit was conferred on Meed Ward she declined and my understanding is that she pays for her parking spot. Good on you Ms Meed Ward, there are times when you drive people bananas with some of the stuff you do at Council but on this one you are right on principle and you were right on leadership as well as customer service.
Can that populist principled approach get you elected as Mayor? That’s a different issue.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 1, 2012 The acting part of his career ended last night and this morning Chris Glenn enters city hall as the Director of Parks and Recreation. It is a well-earned change to his title and while it won’t make any difference in his work load, it should make a difference in his pay cheque. It is also the first step in the several that newly minted City Manager Jeff Fielding will be making in the ranks of his senior staff. This one was easy. He now has to resolve the Acting Executive Director of Finance and the Acting General Manager, Development and Infrastructure – there are some musical chairs involved in these two.
Chris Glenn has been with the city for some time, working his way through various departments but always coming back to parks and recreation which may have been the result of a summer job as a life guard at a swimming pool a long time ago. He has been serving as the Acting Director for a number of years while a medical disability leave of absence for the former Director worked its way through to completion.
 He is no longer "acting"; it's now the real deal as Chris Glenn gets appointed the Director of Parks and Recreation for the city. Glenn works with General Manager Scott Stewart and is frequently Stewart’s go to guy when there are some awkward negotiations to be done. Every problem that cropped up with the development of the Alton community got resolved to some degree because of the steady hand Glenn brought to the table.
When you put a city administration, a school board and a library board all in one room and direct them to “work it out” you know there are going to be some fundamental differences of option and provincial rules and regulations that have to be dealt with.
The community centre that is made up of a high school, a community recreation centre and a library is now under construction. The interminable meetings that got everything to the point where a shovel went into the ground were stick handled to a large degree by Glenn. The actual construction of the Alton community is under the direction of the Halton District School Board – it is up to their people to ensure that the project comes in on time and on budget.
Burlington served as the lynch pin that pulled all the pieces into place and ensured that the needs and interests, of each group were fully understood and to the degree that it was possible, were met.
Developing executive level talent requires the kind of human resources leadership that is part talent scout and part strong administer with an ability to move people from department to department to give them mixed experience and at the same time asses the competencies. Roy Male, Executive Director of Human Resources does this job for the city. He has watched Chris Glenn grow over the years and while his comments made to city council in a closed session are not public, he must take a sense of pride in watching Glenn grow into this position.
Glenn now has to deliver on the expectations senior management have of him. Expect to see a well-run operation with some surprising flashes of innovation. His patience and sound understanding of the way people work and what can be efficiently and effectively delivered have been in play for some time. He can now go forward with a more satisfying sense of his authority.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 28, 2012 Jane McKenna, Burlington’s member of the provincial Legislature is settling into her new digs on Brant Street just fine. Her tasks as the political representative for the city and her role as a “player” in the Progressive Conservative political scene in the province are coming together quite well for her.
The “official” opening of the office and her co-chairing the Progressive Conservative party’s Annual General Meeting have had her jumping and seeing very little of her household but, except for two of her children the place is pretty quiet.
 She learned very quickly how to listen. She has enough executive capacity to get things done. The next year will tell us if she has the making of a good MPP. Lady Jane, as we have chosen to call her, is still close to enamoured with Tim Hudak, her party leader, who got a pretty stern message from the party membership on the campaign that was run during the provincial election. The sense seemed to be that if the “real” Tim Hudak had been allowed to come out the Progressive Conservatives would have formed the government.
I think the public saw the real Hudak and took a pass.
While the Liberals still hold power at Queen’s Park, given the state of the economy, I think everyone in the province is going to take a haircut. The demographic shift of the population to the western side of Canada; the significant shift in manufacturing out of the province and the demands the health care system is beginning to make on the public purse are all coming together and will result in a significant change in what Ontario is going to be.
The province doesn’t have the revenues it used to have and the economy is sluggish at best and is going to remain that way for as long as this government is in office. It is going to be tough.
Some of the deep thinkers see the province’s role as the “engine of the Canadian economy” coming to an end. Ontario is no longer the province that manufactures the tractors and the combines that are used to harvest western crops. Technology is also in the mix changing everything. McKenna is convinced Premier McGuinty made a critical mistake on the deal he made with Samsung for wind turbines. That one hasn’t proven itself yet and one isn’t sure if McKenna arrived at that conclusion on her own or if she is spouting the party line.
In our half hour interview with the MPP, we did see a woman in the process of getting a good grip on the job to which she brings impressive energy and enthusiasm. This is the best paying job Jane McKenna has ever had and she is being treated by her political party as someone to watch. Standing before the 1600 delegates at their convention was a huge highlight for her. She actually got them to swing and sway to the beat of some “big sound” music.
In the close to six months she has been at the job, the Lady Jane has gotten out to dozens of “official” openings and has held at least one public workshop for Seniors where she arranged for people from a broad spectrum of service groups to explain what is available to them and how different services work and can best be accessed.
What Lady Jane has to determine for herself is if she is going to be a lightweight MPP who gets her picture in the paper at every opportunity or if she is going to buckle down, do the hard work and the studying and ask hundreds of questions and read much more than she has ever read in her life – and become an MPP that will make a difference.
She is currently the Vice chair of the Ethnic Outreach Committee for the Progressive Conservative party and the Children & Youth Services Critic for the opposition in the Legislature. She has had responsibilities for tracking the Children’s Aid Societies for the PC’s. And, as one politically astute observer noted, “Jane has one of the best seats in the Legislature, the camera will rarely miss her.”
The biggest provincial issue in this city is of course the re-development of the hospital but McKenna is sort of out of the loop on that one. The hospital people need someone within the government to press their case and they rely on Ted McMeekin to take their arguments to the right people at Queen’s Park. Ted, who was a Minister in a previous term of office and then was no longer a Minister but then was made a Minister again when the existing minister lost her seat.
 She has energy, enthusiasm and more than enough chutzpah for the job. Can she bear down and do the reading and studying to become a truly effective MPP. Burlington wants to hope so. Now that Ted, who is a very accomplished politician and very tight with the hospital people they see no reason to involve the Burlington MPP. Joyce Savoline, didn’t do much for the hospital in her time as the MPP. The one thing the hospital has to have is an advocate that will argue their case. That Burlington has to rely on the Member of Legislature from a neighbouring constituency says something about the way politics is done in Burlington.
As an opposition MPP neither McKenna or Savoline were able to do very much. McKenna can, if she chooses, create opportunities to stand up in the Legislature and ask questions. She’ll have to get on very good terms with the party whip; but if she’s any good at asking tough questions and fast on her feet with follow up questions, she will be given lots of time.
If you see the Lady Jane standing in the Legislature with a piece of paper in her hand reading a question, that is a sure sign that she can’t go with the flow and go up against the best of them. Too early to tell if that talent is within her.. She certainly has the “cahonies” to pull it off.
The Burlington Progressive Conservative Association now has new leadership and has gotten away from the dreadful leadership Bert Radfordd brought to the organization. With a new executive in place they could develop a strong association that will keep the city blue for the next decade.
Burlington has managed in the past to elect representatives who made it into Cabinet and both ran afoul of the system, when they did things that were no no’s. Should the PC’s form a government – is McKenna Cabinet material? Not today – but who knows how she will develop; it’s up to her. If she makes it into Cabinet the trick will be to keep out of trouble and stay very close to that ethical line.
It is going to take some time for Jane McKenna to create her own political profile in Burlington. She brings the energy and enthusiasm that always helps in politics but it is going to take much more than a great smile to be truly useful.
The process of nominating her was a true political travesty but she didn’t make that happen. The association just asked her to be the candidate for a political party she wasn’t even a member of at the time and she said yes.. When you ask McKenna if she would have even dreamed of being where she is today she will quickly say – “never” but she is the MPP for Burlington and she is working at doing the best job she can.
Time may show that Keith Strong and Ron Foxcroft are much better talent scouts than anyone realized. Strong has a discerning eye and is very good at sizing up situations. McKenna was never a basketball player – so who knows what Foxcroft saw.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON February 29, 2012 It was more than a jolt for the young woman walking south on Brant near Prospect when she noticed a silver minivan exiting from a private driveway on the east side of Brant Street near Prospect Street.
The vehicle stopped directly in front of the youth and the front passenger window was lowered. The female observed the driver committing an indecent act while staring at her.
The minivan then travelled southbound on Brant Street and may have turned westbound onto Ghent Avenue.
The driver is described as male/white, late 30’s to early 40’s in age, with a scruffy beard, big black sunglasses and wearing a black leather coat.
Brant Street has seen other criminal activity – an armed robbery took place in the same area recently.
D/Sergeant Ray Bruce, Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau, 905 825-4747 x2315 would like to talk to you if there is any information you can provide.
If you’re not comfortable with talking to the police directly use Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes).
REVISED
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 27, 2012 Everyone had heard about the train accident within 15 minutes of it taking place Sunday afternoon. For the people in the Queensway community I was meeting with mention was made of an almost identical accident four years earlier almost to the day – February 18, 2008 when 19 cars of a 139 car freight train jumped the tracks.
The city called a press conference for 9:00 pm at City Hall to update the media on the Sunday accident. The bank of television cameras were lined up with all the wires stretched out and the prima donnas that stand before the camera were making sure they looked the way they are supposed to look.
The Mayor was on hand, the Chief of Police, the Fire Chief, the head of Emergency Medical Services. They gave the media the information they had, answered all the questions, handed out contact sheets with all the information any media person could want – and then everyone left and the city hall atrium became a normal place again.
It was an eastbound VIA Rail train that went off the tracks. There were five passenger cars with what was understood to be a manifest of 75 passengers. The EMS people said they had moved 32 people within a 90 minute time frame to various hospitals.
What was odd was that there wasn’t one word said about the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital (JBMH) which is where ambulances would have shuttled injured passengers until there was no more capacity. The JBMH is literally minutes away. Hamilton hospitals got mentioned.
 Photographers and television crews set up in city hall atrium for press conference on train derailment. The press conference was told there were three people in the locomotive who were killed and that one of the three was a trainee. We were told that two of the passenger cars flipped onto their sides.
Gary Sage, head of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the people that run the ambulances and take care of people who have been hurt, reported that getting 32 people out of the rail cars and to hospitals was an impressive achievement.
The Fire Chief explained that his people were on hand to get into the rail cars, which meant popping out windows and in some cases cutting into the cars to get to people.
There was some confusion with what was understood to be 25 people who could not be accounted for – they seemed at 9:00 pm to have just wandered off – which is odd for a train coming out of Niagara Falls and heading for Toronto – these were not local people who would have somewhere to go.
No one was able to say just where they were. The Fire Chief did say that his people had “secured the perimeter”. In major accidents like this chaos tends to reign until the really seriously injured are taken care of and if helicopter evacuations are needed space has to be determined for them to land, get in and get out.
The names of the deceased were not released until next of kin had been advised other than to say that two were from the GTA and one outside the area.
It was city Manager Jeff Fielding who called the press conference to order. He was also the man who directed the questions from the media and kept things from getting unruly. He’s a pretty direct guy.
The rail line belongs to Canadian National Railways (CNR) but when an accident of this nature takes place the Transportation Safety Board, a federal agency, sends in teams of investigators and they begin the process of trying to figure out what went wrong. It could be months before the reason for the derailment is known.
Monday morning commuters will use busses to get from the Aldershot GO station to either Burlington or Appleby Line. There will be a lot of grousing and grumpy people – but by the end of the day things will be back to near normal.
What we saw was how our emergency people handle complex situations. They did good.
Meanwhile, the police have a bit of a quandary on their hands. They now have a copy of the manifest in their hands. The manifest is the document that tells them how many people paid to get on the train. It may not include the names of the passengers. If a passenger went to a ticket counter and paid cash for their ticket there is no record of the person.
In an announcement police has said they “would like to ensure the condition and current location of those passengers. All passengers taken to area hospitals or who received treatment at the scene have been noted and reconciled with the manifest. However the current whereabouts of approximately one dozen passengers is unknown as they left the scene using their own mode of transportation.”
What we know then is that out of a passenger load of about 75 people there are 12 that left the scene of the accident on their own. You can bet that there are a handful of very smart police intelligence types sitting around a table asking themselves some hard questions. One or two may have decided to just get out of the area and head for home – but this wasn’t a commuter train – this was a Via train running from Niagara Falls to Toronto.
Something suggests to me that there are 12 people who don’t want to be found and they have hot footed it out of the area. What the police want to know is: Who are these people and what were they doing on that train
February 28, 2012
Investigators are now confident that outstanding passengers on board the Via train from Sunday’s incident have now all been accounted for. They do not say if any are in custody.
 Sarah O’Hara is a Burlington mother of two who realized that her degree in modernist literature wasn’t going to lead to work that had meaning or a decent pay cheque attached to it, so she sat down with her husband and worked out a plan that had her recalibrating her career choices and now rides the GO bus to York University (“get my reading done on the bus”) where she will earn a teaching certificate and hopes to be in a Halton classroom, maybe as soon as next year.
Sara is not exactly a community activist, but she cared enough about her neighbourhood to be part of a group that has nine people delegating to a City Council committee to get the Drury Lane bridge repaired and operational.
Sarah expressed an interest in writing for us and because the publisher of Our Burlington wasn’t about to enter Tansley Woods where a couple of hundred women were looking at Botox and new make up and getting financial advice at the Burlington Woman’s Show – he knows when the territory is not man friendly – so he asked Sarah if she would cover the event. Here is her report.
By Sarah O’Hara
BURLINGTON, ON February 26, 2012 Where can one go to look ten years younger, lose ten pounds, learn how to invest, and plan her funeral all under one roof? The Burlington Women’s Show, of course! This afternoon I joined hundreds of other women at Tansley Woods Community Centre to meet dozens of local vendors promoting their products and services. Upon entering I received a stamp on my hand of a “Sex and the City” inspired martini glass which permitted me to enter a world exclusively geared toward women and the things we love.
 Tony Racco of Cosimo's Salon- a Burlington institution that has been in the Roseland Plaza for more than 50 years provided coupons for a free wash, cut and style.. That made our reporters day. The first booth I stopped at was hosted by Cosimo’s Salon which has called Roseland Plaza their home for fifty years. To celebrate their anniversary the booth was giving each visitor a coupon for a free wash, cut and style – valued at $79.10. Wow – a great start to my day! Tony Racco, the owner, did demonstrations on the main stage with two models, one in her twenties and the other in her fifties. As he curled, brushed and styled, he spoke about the many eras his salon has been through over the past fifty years from the bouffant styles of the sixties, to the sticky back combing of the eighties, to the softer curls that are in fashion now. He seemed confident and knowledgeable as he turned the older model’s tight cap of curls into a soft cloud of shiny waves. Seeing him in action made me look forward to visiting his salon.
In the same area I spoke with Ken Arp, owner of Smart Betty, an internet-based daily deal company. As an avid wagjagger, I was eager to sign up for their emails, especially after finding out that for each purchase made 10% goes to a local charity of your choice, including the ROCK (Reach Out Centre for Kids), the Burlington Humane Society, and Women’s Cancer Centres.
I followed this with a trip to the Booty Camp Fitness booth, where Sandy Cordeiro filled me in on the details of a Burlington-based women’s only boot camp. This was only one of many fitness-oriented booths throughout the centre, such as golfing, karate, dance classes and yoga. It was nice to be able to pick up their flyers amid the many chocolate and cupcake giveaways that were prevalent at the show.
Of course it wouldn’t be a women’s show without the latest in beauty and anti-aging products. Slavica McIntyre, a certified Xtreme eyelash stylist, promises mascara-free beauty with her $150 eyelash implants available at I Love Lashes located in Queen B’s on New Street. There were also demonstrations of Botox-free oxygenated facelift systems, and Carol Fysh, a face many would recognize from promoting products on the home shopping channel, was there with her new anti-aging line Red.
Upon entering one room I was approached by a woman named Terezia who asked me if I would like a free sample. Thinking of the chocolate and toothpaste samples already abundant in my large purse, I happily agreed. I was somewhat disappointed when she ushered me onto a high chair and swiftly removed my carefully-applied eye makeup from one eye with a wet sponge. She gravely told me that I have inherited thin skin under my eyes and that only her Hollywood Eye Magic tuck serum could help me. She coated my left eye with the thick yellow serum and told me within ten minutes I would see a change that I would not believe. After advising me not to change my facial expression she informed me that I could buy the serum for $100. I promised her I would think about it. By now the skin under my eye was uncomfortably burning and tight, so I made my escape to the closest washroom to clean it off.
 More costume jewellery than an average eye could take in was to be found at the Women in Burlington event at Tansley Woods. By now I was quite hungry, so I followed the smell of fresh bread until I found the Jack Astor’s Bar and Grill table, where I was treated to delicious brushetta and a glass of Chardonnay. Next to them was The Water Street Cooker where I munched happily on a turkey wrap while chatting with the cooks about the supposed haunting of the old building where Emma and her family succumbed to strange deaths before the Old Lakeshore Road home was turned into a restaurant. This mystique, coupled with the delicious fare, makes the restaurant a popular Burlington destination.
The main event was the fashion show, hosted by City Line’s Lynn Spence. The gym was packed with women (and the odd man) in a horseshoe formation around the t-shaped stage. If one ignored the tucked-away basketball nets and fluorescent lights she could imagine she was watching the catwalk at a chic big-city show. Spence hosted with confidence, knowledge and humour. She showed clothes from Sears, J. Michael’s, Laura, Melanie Lynn, and other local (and affordable) stores. Spence gave tips on what styles best suit body types, what colours are going to be trendy this season (coral and orange) and how to make an outfit diverse – for instance, pairing a wrap dress with skinny jeans or removing a belt to make a dress a tunic. Her motto was “[this is] clothing you can understand – that makes sense.” The audience was enthralled and enthusiastic, applauding and cheering after each model. Cosimo’s provided all the hair and makeup.
The Women’s Show of course boasted the expected accessories. Jewelry, makeup, purses, scarves and belts were available from high priced designers, such as Breanne Morrow of White Feather Designs who studied how to pound copper in Mexico, to more affordable fun accessories such as those from Vixin, where I bought a Tiffany and Co. style bracelet for $10.00.
There were also booths I never would have expected to find at a Women’s Show, such as Investors Group. Mark Murray, the consultant I spoke with, told me they are geared toward family planning and lifestyle goals, and why shouldn’t these be things women think about? While I wholeheartedly agree that this is something that is important to both genders, I was more drawn to booths that concentrated on fun, beauty and glamour. This explains why I did not even stop at the Funeral Planning booth, and I didn’t see anyone else do so, either.
Nickelbrook craft brewery was there, and its host, Kevin, told me that craft beer is now making up 20% of the local selling beer. Coffee Culture was also present, giving away steaming cups of coffee and delicious looking squares for donations.
Of course, health and wellness centres abounded. Premier Homecare Services offers PSW services as well as companion services to post-surgical or elderly home owners; Dr. Derek Jasek of Headon Chriopractic Wellness Centre told me about the importance of devoting time to flexibility and posture to dramatically increase your quality of life; the Healthy Self Clinic specializes in thermographic imaging to detect and prevent breast cancers instead of the more traditional mammogram option. I was, however, surprised to see a booth called Brainworx. Its owner, Patrice Shennette, told me that our brains are deeply affected by trauma, both physical and emotional. She is confident that her method of converting brain waves to musical tunes, and then adjusting this music to reflect that which our brains made at birth, is key in allowing ourselves to maintain confident, strong and healthy lifestyles.
 Several hundred woman spent Sunday at Tansley Woods enjoying all kinds of free treats and more advice than they could possibly use. A chance to get out of the house without the kids. Sears Mapleview also had a table for the first time. Carol, the marketing coordinator, told me their new, young CEO, Calvin McDonald, is attempting to make Sears more visible in the community. On April 17 they are hosting a cosmetic and fragrance gala. Tickets are $10 and $2 from each goes toward “Look good, Feel better,” for people who are living with cancer. Canyon Creek will cater the event.
I left the Women’s Show with a bag full of flyers and samples, and a head full of ideas of how to look good, feel good and dress well. The women at the show all seemed to share a camaraderie, chatting easily to each other while inspecting different products, comparing finds and generally just happy to be in a facility where everything is geared toward the wants and needs of most women. The Women’s Show is a great way for women to get out and find local businesses that cater toward our needs. I look forward to next year!
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 24, 2012 It was, and still is, a very good idea. It needed more time and after realizing that the quality of the submissions weren’t quite what he had in mind when he announced the event; Mayor Rick Goldring scaled back his Mayor’s Cabaret and announced a new date.
The event is a good one – it represents the first foray for this Mayor into sponsoring an event that becomes his legacy for the city. Everything the Mayor does is political and he is on duty 24×7. He gets calls to do the darndest things and show up at the most unusual places. They range from cutting a ribbon at a barbershop opening to taking part in the handover of a cheque to a community group.
Every Mayor has to determine what kind of Mayor he or she wants to be. Goldring needed his first year to get a feel for the office and to figure out how city hall really worked and then to pull together the team he needed to do his job and then settle into a pattern of relationships with his fellow Council members.
 Mayor Goldring gets asked to attend all kinds of retail store openings - and he tends to attend. He also gets asked to take part in cheque presentations and when it is for a community group that is helping the disadvantaged - the Mayor attends willingly and hangs around for a lot longer than most do for the run of the mill photo-opportunity. Here the Mayor takes part in the presentation of a cheque for the Camelot Community Centre. Goldring has done that rather well. But the being a public Mayor is still a work in progress. Should a couple of guys who have opened up a muffler shop with the money they got back from beer bottles that were returned to the Beer Store have the Mayor on hand to cut the ribbon for their official opening? I mean, who really cares?
Is the Mayor supposed to be at the beck and call of anyone that has his phone number? This Mayor does want to hear from people and he is a good listener. For every politician the next election starts the day after the ballots for the last one are counted.
The Mayor is the voice of the community. Should there be a community emergency – he is the guy who goes into a Command Centre at City Hall with the Fire Chief and runs the show.
Hamilton’s Mayor goes to public events and wears the chair of office – Goldring has yet to do that; he’s not that much of a showman and tends to be more low key. However, he does get challenged with when to say no to a request that he appear. Say no to a potential voter? Not easily.
 Mayor Goldring on the left and Joanne Taylor on the right with a student at the Camelot Centre. Goldring spent close to half an hour talking to the students and having a piece of cake with them; it was more than a photo opportunity. The Chief Magistrate performing at a high public level. What is the balance to being the Chief Magistrate and at the same time being a politician running for office? What kind of a Mayor does Burlington want? How does Mayor Goldring hear what the public wants in terms of what the Mayor does and shouldn’t do? It is a tricky business trying to be all things to all people.
Early in his mandate Goldring found himself surprised and a little non-plussed when people approached him in the super market aisles and wanted to shake his hand. He was at times taken aback when people thought it was a big deal for the Mayor to show up at an event.
It took him awhile to get used to the change in his status and there were times when he dropped the ball – literally at the tossing of the first ball at a Burlington Twins opening season game.
Being a politician means being in the public eye – all the time – which plays total havoc on personal and family life. The seven people who serve as Council members are out almost every evening, every weekend and whenever someone has something that is important to them.
Most politicians certainly go for the photo opportunity. Some members of your Council head for the television cameras like moths to a flame. All that media attention tends to warp a personality and as a result you get the kind of civic leadership you want because you put them in office..
What do you want your Council member to do for you? Listen to you of course, but what happens on those occasions when the Council members want to hear from you and you don’t show up?
The bulk of the Council members wanted public input from the community and five of the seven held events in their wards inviting people to attend a short workshop where they got a chance to talk about some of the specifics in the budget ad to talk about the trade-offs they would like to see. City Hall staff went to considerable effort to make the events interesting.
But the turnout was – well it wasn’t great. Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven didn’t hold a public event nor did Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward. Both directed their constituents to the event the city held. Councillor Taylor put on an event. No one showed up. Councillor Dennison held an event and 14 people showed up. Councillor Sharman held an event – five people showed up. Councillor Lancaster held an event ran two advertisements in a newspaper and distributed flyers and not a single person showed up.
Councillor mentioned at his event that there was a time when 45+ people attended his budget information sessions. What has changed?
The seven members of Council are both civic minded people who are in the business of serving the public and getting re-elected. And if you don’t think losing an election hurts both emotionally and financially – you’ve not been paying attention.
The seven people who serve you decide how much of your money is going to be spent on taxes and you can’t refuse to pay or take your business somewhere else.
Former Prime Minister John Turner recently told a television interviewer that “democracy doesn’t just happen”. He got that right.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 25, 2012 For those who are of a monarchist bent – there is an opportunity for you to be the “Queen” at Ireland House on Mother’s Day. The event is one of three Museums Burlington is putting on with funds they received to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.
Barb Teatero, Director of Museums for Museums of Burlington, made the application for the funding of a program that has three parts and was given a grant of $20,400 which allows the Museum to put on the events with no entrance fees.
Along with tea being served at Ireland House on Mother’s Day, with someone impersonating the Queen, there is going to be interactive activities for the student crowd during the March break as well as an exhibit that will tour the city with a probable stop at Tansley Woods and City Hall – the details are still being worked out. Teatero just got the cheque on Friday and it hasn’t cleared the bank yet – so details aren’t cast in stone yet.
The Jubilee is a government program designed to focus on the 6o years that Queen Elizabeth has worn her crown. That’s a big deal and the government is right to spend money on marking this occasion. The current government has decided it wants to make the relationship between Canadians and the Monarchy a little tighter than previous governments. Relationships with the Monarchy are quite specific for Burlington. While the city had never had a “royal” visit, it has had a citizen who saw quite a bit of the Royal Family even if those visits were a couple of hundred years ago.
 In this portrait Joseph Brant is seen wearing the gorget given to him by King George III. That gorget is the most important piece in the collection at the Joseph Brant Museum. In the 1700’s Joseph Brant, an aboriginal who spent a lot of time in Burlington and was given 3,500 acres of land at the “head of Lake Ontario” for his service to the King. That land is basically what we know as Burlington. Elizabeth and James Streets were named after two of Brant’s children.
Not much attention is paid to what Joseph Brant actually did – it’s quite an impressive list of feats and worth knowing more about. Most Burlingtonians know that the hospital was named after the guy and that’s about it.
 Given to Joseph Brant by King George III with the inscription: "A Gift from a friend to Captain Brant`. Brant travelled to England on two occasions and met with King George III in 1775/6 and again in 1785/6. The practice in those days was for gifts to be exchanged and George III gave Brant a gorget made of silver with the inscription: “A gift from a friend to Captain Brant”. A gorget is a piece of equipment that is worn around the throat by warriors. The item is the most important piece in the Brant Museum and is something borrowed by other museums around the world. It is a priceless piece of history.
 By Pepper Parr
REVISED
February 24, 2012 It is always very unwise to let politicians anywhere near the selection of public art.
Burlington made a wise decision a number of years ago when they selected the Imperial Cotton Centre for the Arts as their third party public art advisers.
 The placing of public art in the city has raised a lot of negative comment. Most people don't understand why the sculpture, a modernistic interpretation of orchids was installed in the middle of a busy road. There is a solution to this problem. The first major project they took on was described at a recent Council Committee as a “lesson learned” – which had to do with the ‘orchids’ that now decorate a stretch of Upper Middle Road located just before the street dips beneath the railway tracks – which gives the average driver doing the speed limit all of 1.2 seconds to actually see the art.
While “provincial” Burlington was convinced someone locally could have done a much better job for a lot less than the $100,000. the city paid for the three orchids, I think they had some local welder who thought he was an artist in mind. The orchards are good art done by someone with an international reputation.
City Council last week had a major problem with paying as much as $35,000 for individual bus shelters that would adorn the entrance to the up and coming Alton community. There was some hope that there would be some sculpture in front of the high school being built in the Alton community, but no one could agree on anything so they settled for fancy bus shelters. Councillor Taylor couldn’t stomach that one and managed to convince his council members to put the kybosh on that one and they did – almost. Councillor Lancaster convinced them to defer rather than say a total no and asked staff to look into providing information on fancy bus shelters more appropriate to the Canadian climate. The examples given didn`t look as if they offered much protection on a cold winter day. As soon as we get the pictures from the city hall staff member we will show those to you.
With the orchids on Upper Middle Road now a fact and with negative public comment still growing all admitted that the orchids were perhaps not the arts’ greatest moment in Burlington.
While the bus shelters got the boot, art for the plaza in front of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre got serious attention. Dan Laurie, a local insurance broker, offered to put up a sum of money providing the city matched his amount on a two for one basis for something that would be installed on the plaza in front of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Additional donours have come forward and offered funds on the same basis.
Council wasn’t sure they wanted to have the city stuck with a situation where they had to put up two dollars for every one that someone decided to donate so they seemed to take a pass on that opportunity.
Our Burlington is a cogent observer of all things civic at city hall and there is a very, very simple solution to both getting acceptable art in front of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre and stifling the howls about the art on Upper Middle Road.
 This is not a true photograph but rather two pictures superimposed on each other - to give you an idea what the orchids would look like if they were installed on the plaza outside the Performing Arts Centre. The council members and city staff in the picture would not be part of the installation. Move the orchids from Upper Middle Road to the plaza in front of the Performing Arts Centre. Whizzo! – everyone is happy. To give you an idea as to just how magnificent those orchids would look in front of the Performing Arts Centre, we Photoshopped the Orchards into a picture of the Performing Arts Centre so you could see just how fine this would look.
In the “art” work we did, we included the Mayor, several Council members and some senior City Hall staff. One might give some thought to having those people pose during specific events during the year – the public could buy peanuts to feed them with the profits from the peanuts going to offset the $500,000 the Performing Arts Centre is going to cost in the way of their annual subsidy.
There won’t be any problem moving the orchids. Some people think they are in Jack Dennison’s Ward 4 but he claims they are in Blair Lancaster’s Ward 6 – they are both right – the thing is in the middle of the road on a small floral island and they really aren’t in either ward, much to the relief of Dennison who doesn’t ever want to be touched with anything to do with the arts. Jack just wants to pave those roads.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON February 23, 2012 An historic bench mark in public safety was achieved by the Halton Regional Police in 2011 with the lowest crime rate since regionalization in 1974.
Specifically, there were 1,259 fewer criminal offences reported in Halton in 2011 (13,678) as compared to 2010 (14,937), according to the Halton Regional Police Service’s year-end crime statistics which were presented at today’s Police Services Board meeting.
When Regional population growth is taken into account, this represents a significant 10.4% decrease in the overall crime rate since last year – and the lowest rate in 37 years.
 Chief of police reports lowest crime statistics since the force was regionalized in 1974. Now he can retire, which he will do in June. “When a community that is already as safe as Halton sees this kind of significant decline in criminal offences, it speaks volumes about how effectively everyone, including the police, the public, our community partners, and the media are working together for public safety,” said Chief Gary Crowell.
In more good news for home and business owners, Halton’s property crime rate dropped by 13.0%, with 10,025 offences committed in 2011. Crimes in this category include theft, breaking and entering, mischief, counterfeit currency, arson, fraud and the possession of stolen goods.
The breakdown of types of crimes committed remained virtually identical to previous years, with property related crimes comprising 73.3% of all criminal offences committed in the region; violent crime such as robbery, assault and homicide equalling 18.8%; and other crime such as prostitution and offensive weapons representing 7.9%.
One trend Chief Crowell is not pleased to see in the Region is an increase in motor vehicle collisions. Despite a 19% increase in traffic enforcement by police, motor vehicle collision totals were still 10.1% higher in 2011 compared to 2010 (up from 7,649 to 8,425). Property damage collisions were up 10.5% and injury collisions were up 8.2% year over year. Of most concern, the number of fatal collisions increased from 13 in 2010 to 15 in 2011.
“As police, we are doing everything we can by using a combined approach of enforcement, education and engineering to improve traffic safety, however far too many people are still being injured or killed on our roads,” said Chief Crowell.
“There is no question distracted drivers, impaired drivers and aggressive drivers are posing a serious risk to themselves and others. I cannot say it any more clearly: motorists must slow down, focus on the road, and do not get behind the wheel while under the influence of any substance which could impair response or judgment.”
Crime rate is the number of offences committed per 100,000 people. Statistics Canada and police use crime rate measurements to give the most accurate comparison of criminal activity between communities with different populations, and within a single community over different time periods.
The statistics paint a very satisfactory picture for a police chief heading into retirement. Chief Crowley will turn in his badge and his weapon in June .
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 23, 2012 While winter may not be quite done with Burlington yet – the good folks at Burlington Green are seeing beyond any snow we might get as they prepare for the launch of their first ever community garden plot program.
Registration for this program opens March.7 and closes April 1, with a launch event at Centennial Hall. The Grand Opening will be May 5th when Michelle Bennett expects to have all her guests on their knees planting everything from lettuce to cucumbers – whatever you want – as long as its legal.
The Mayor will be on hand, the Ward Councillor, city hall staff, MPP Ted McMeekin and anyone else that can be rounded up.
Information about the Central Park Community Garden can be found at www.burlingtongreen.org Click the Go Local Food Network logo on the home page, or under the Program pull down tab.
 There are just 27 plots available - great location and parking as well. Applications to register for a garden plot will open online March 7 until April 1st and in person on March 7 between 7-8:30pm in Centennial Hall at Central Library. Reserve Wed. March 7th to come out as we’ll also be featuring a great video clip about why growing your own food matters, and have some of our 2012 Grow, Learn & Eat Healthy Series speakers attending. This will be a good chance to find out what will be happening in the garden over the next season.
There are 27 (7′ x 12′) plots available and 2 raised accessible plots. Once registration closes on April 1st plots will be assigned based on a fair lottery process. All will be notified before April 16th if they drew a plot or if they have been placed on the waiting list. It is the only way in year one like this to be fair. Payment of $50 and signing the plot permit will be required to receive the gate and tool shed lock combinations to enter. A meeting time to relay the signed plot permit and payment can be arranged with the Garden Coordinator, Michelle Bennett once you have been notified of receiving a plot, or by the first Gardener Meeting on Sat. April 28. We will have some common use tools available in the tool shed. There will be tap water and rain barrels, and washrooms nearby.
For those who may not draw a plot, Bennett advises you can volunteer. There will be many volunteer opportunities to tend portions of the edible/pollinating gardens outside the fence, and the demonstration plot to keep as many people involved as we can.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 23, 2012 The Mayors “Imagine-Ignite-Innovate” speakers luncheon went just fine. The room wasn’t chock full but the program was good. Burlington business people learned that there was growth potential in developing intellectual property and using that property to give yourself a competitive edge.
There are two organizations along Mainway that do just that: Thordon Bearings and Ecosynthetix have created and continue to create products based on either patents they have secured or use trade secrets to put them ahead of others in the same field.
Xerox has done it with new products in the laser printing field and grew from a company that owned the photocopying market to one that is now heavily engaged in the short run printing business that brought full colour printing to a desk top in the office.
Paul Smith named a vice president of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada last September spearheads Xerox’s materials research activities through a team of 120 scientists and engineers. The research centre’s most recent innovations include advances in emulsion aggregation toner and the development of long-life photoreceptors. The centre has also played a key role in developing the next generation of solid ink, Xerox’s proprietary ink that melts to a liquid in the printer and because it does not use cartridges to hold the ink, reduces consumables waste by 90 percent compared to competitive office laser-based products.
Smith joined Xerox in 1995, and has held a number of management positions at the centre (XRCC), leading teams that have developed key materials for Xerox product platforms, including solid ink components and new inks for Xerox Phaser printers.
Smith received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Bath and was a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) fellow from 1995 to 1997. In 2001, he received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. He is a named inventor on 55 U.S. patents and has published 16 research articles.
 Dr. Smith was introduced by Acting Dean Dr. Bob McNutt, who announced that the Disney Institute was going to partner with the Executive Education group at DeGroote and sponsor a session on Business Excellence. The session, to take place at the Burlington Convention Centre April 25, will focus on teaching business leaders how to think differently. “Bring your business challenges and we will show you a clear, simplified way of looking at the problems and seeing what’s probably already right in front of you – easy effective solutions”, said the promotional literature.
In the world of marketing there is the phrase :”brand extension” which is when you take a product that has a very strong brand and extend it to a different product.
 Mickey Mouse is about to become part of the Executive Education branch of McMaster's DeGroote School of Business. Take Disney – you immediately think of Disney Land and that gets you to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in less than a jump. Disney has managed to extend their brand in the entertainment field very successfully. Now they are going to try and extend the Disney brand into the field of executive education. McMaster announced at the Mayor’s BEDC luncheon that the Disney Institute was going to become part of the Executive Education program at the McMaster DeGroote School of Business. Folks that means Mickey Mouse is coming to Burlington and that perhaps we will be able to recognize Mac students by those Mickey Mouse ears.
Now that is brand extension – the kind of thing that makes marketing managers cry as they struggle to make their brand work for them.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON February 22, 2012 Burlington Bowl at 4065 Harvester Road was broken into early Sunday morning at around 3:30 am. People as yet unknown forced open the front doors of the building and accessed the ATM machine inside. A quantity of cash was removed from the machine and suspects fled prior to police arrival.
Anyone with information on this or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes).
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 20, 2012 The Sound of Music Festival (SOM) is big business for Burlington by any standard. It is a community based organization that got its start in 1967, when the Parks and Recreation department looked for a community group to take on an event that had become too big for city hall to manage.
 Ever the trooper, Dave Miller, third from the right, belts out a tune as part of a promotional event to develop interest in the Mayor's Cabaret. Mayor didn't sing for Dave's delegation when he sought an increase in SOM funding. It is, by any measure, a significant success and for the music industry in this province it is the stage to get on. The city has had some very big names come in for the four day event and it has grown. However, one thing it has failed to do is develop a strong relationship with both City Hall and the members of Council. When Dave Miller appeared before the Budget and Corporate Services Committee looking for an increase in the SOM grant he basically got the “bums rush”. He talked of plans to grow the event and they asked “when is enough, enough”.
There was clearly no meeting of minds and one has to ask why SOM didn’t have a sterling working relationship with the city it brings a major entertainment event to year after year.? Why are these two organizations so far apart in their thinking? Do the SOM people not realize there is a political aspect to what they do and that they have to keep Council members fully informed and that there has to be a top notch working relationship with every level of the city’s administration that impacts on the Festival?
One wonders if they didn’t move very quickly to meet with the new city manager and brief him on what they do – get there story in front of the man before anyone elsewhere at City Hall decides to give their version of what the SOM is and isn’t.
But that level of liaison with city hall doesn’t appear to be in place. Nor does there appear to be a really smooth working relationship with the Burlington Downtown Business Association whose members hurt when the SOM Festival is taking place. Not that many of that huge audience drifts north along Brant Street or into the side streets to get a nicer sense of the city.
SOM has expanded their offering and there are now events that don’t fit into Spencer Smith Park talking place along Brant Street. They want to expand it even more – but the Council committee wasn’t buying into their ideas.
The Sound of Music is believed to have a very sound balance sheet – I say believed because they don’t publish their financial results. All the public knows is that this is a $1 million operation. What the revenue sources are and what the expenses are is not detailed “because to do so would let our competitors know how we do what we do” , which has got to be one of the lamest excuses I’ve heard about why the financial kimono isn’t always wide open.
Whenever any organization appears before Council asking for funds – the books get opened. When you are given public money – you tell exactly what it is being used for and you explain why you need the funds – and that means having your financial statements with you.
A creative accountant can put ones financial situation before the public and not give away critical information. And, if there is a real concern, ask Council to allow you to go into Closed Session while you explain – and if Council accepts your reasons then the information is kept away from the public. There is a time and a place for information to be kept confidential. I must add that keeping the amount the city has spent on legal costs for the Pier squabble with the contractors is not one of those times, but I digress.
 Volunteers make this event happen; hundreds of them. Tent stakes being driven into the ground Today SOM has 13 committees:
Communications, chaired by Hoda Kayal,
Eco Team, chaired by Jacky Miller,
Music Education chaired by Dora Falcone,
Finance chaired by Tim Miron,
Fundraising chaired by Erin Court,
Licensed Areas chaired by Debbie Milner,
Parade chaired by Kevin Picott,
Programming chaired by Jill Duvnjak,
Security chaired by Ted Mills,
Sponsorship chaired by Kim Horvat,
Streetfest chaired by Martin Harm,
VIP Services chaired by Rick Horvat and
Vendors chaired by Paul Munro.
which has to be an outstanding example of community participation for an event that runs from the Thursday of Father’s Day weekend through to the Sunday.
 Sources of revenue are set out - Sound of Music wants more from the city and wants to keep their portion f funding up their with the federal and provincial government.
Like every organization that serves the local community as well as the larger community, there are financial strains. SOM has a budget that exceeds $1 million and they can give you half a dozen good reasons why they need a boost to the city’s grant.
Dave Miller, SOM Executive Director since 1967 appeared before Council Committee recently to ask for an increase in the grant they get from the city. They wanted to go from the $52,000 they are currently given to $86,000 – a request that got stuck in the craw of more than one Council member. One of them, who had a pencil at hand and was quick with the numbers said – “that’s a 65% increase”.
A council member politely explained that Boards and Committees were being given a 2% increase.
Miller piped up and said they were going to ask to have their grant raised from $52,000 to $96,000 but added , “realizing the current economy we would like to ask for support to be at $86,000.”
 Data charts are nice but the Sound of Music people have to produce a balance sheet along with a profit and loss statement and tell city council if they have a reserve fund. There was a stunned silence and Miller added that the $34,000 increase he was asking for could be phased in over two years, which would work out to $17,000 a year in 2012 and an additional $17,000 in 2013.
It still didn’t fly.
Miller went on to explain just how much the SOM did for the city. The city saves $500,000 annually by having the event run by a community group instead of the city. He didn’t provide much in the way of numbers to support that claim but nobody challenged him on it.
He added that $44,000 of the grant funding is returned directly to the city in permit fees, wages and equipment use.
The SOM is said to have a $4 million economic impact on the Burlington economy. Miller didn’t back that figure up either and he wasn’t challenged on it.
One got the sense that Miller was saying: ‘we’re good and we want more support from you because we are good’ – but that didn’t matter, this Committee wasn’t buying it and unless there is significant lobbying and the figures tossed out are backed up and a sounder business case made – the Sound of Music is going to have to settle for the annual $52,000 financial contribution.
Saying that Miller failed to make a strong case is not meant to embarrass the man but when you want elected officials to turn tax dollars over to you to spend – make the argument a strong one – or go without.
Miller didn’t get a chance to get into some of the really interesting ideas he and his committee had developed.
Miller says that he doesn’t like doing these “dog and pony” shows and it showed. The SOM people would be well advised to put someone in front of a committee that can generate some excitement and pump them up. It would have been great if he could have piped in some of the fabulous sound that comes from the stages that dot the waterfront in June. Councillor Taylor once flew to New York to listen to the Jersey Boys and told me that he was just pumping away to the “big sound”.
 The Ladies of the Canyon would have helped - piping their sound into the committee room might have helped. A section from the Ladies of the Canyon presentation last year just might have moved the room. The SOM is all about show business but they didn’t dazzle a soul with their presentation.
Alas, the overhead projector wasn’t working that day and the sound system has been a little jerky of late.
 The SOM team has grown the event into a million dollar business that can be made even more beneficial to the city. This is a group that doesn't have any operational or serious budget problems. They just need to tell the story in a better way. The lack of really strong support from Parks and Recreation was noticeable as well. If Council wasn’t “gung ho” on the festival, and senior staff didn’t come on side and the Parks and recreation people didn’t speak up for the event – then who is for the Festival? The SOM people would say the 250,000 people who show up for the event are what it’s all about – and that is certainly the case but Miller didn’t tap into any of that energy. Pity.
Something else was notable – there wasn’t a single person from the Board on hand to speak – just Dave Miller and his Power Point presentation. Next time Miller should take a band in with him.
There is a future for the Festival – it just isn’t clear what it is nor is it clear what the community wants. We know that Council is quite happy to leave things where they are. Parks and Recreation isn’t going to put in any more than they are doing. There are no Festival “spear carriers” within senior staff. The Festival needs to find a champion and move this thing forward – opening up the books would help too.
 Attendance of more than 250,000 is no small feat. It takes hard work and perseverance to make it happen. The Festival did get into “greening” the event and while they struggle with the city’s no smoking policy within Spencer Smith Park (and any attempt to do that with a music event is more than a challenge – if you know what I mean) they are doing their best.
They want to be able to continue with the year round children’s music education initiatives and, once The Pier is open in 2013 they want to bring back fireworks to the event. There was mention made in the presentation about national broadcasts of the event, Miller let that one slide by.
The most controversial part of the SOM delegation to the Council committee was the wanting to grow the event by adding programs and days to accommodate more visits. The intention was to make the SOM Festival an event that started one weekend and ended the following weekend – which takes a four day event and makes it a seven day event. That one just didn’t go down at Committee.
 This is what it's all about. People sitting outside and enjoying the Sound of Music. More than a quarter of a million visits to the waterfront every year. Great! The argument for increased financial assistance was pitched at two levels. The amount the Festival saved the city and where Burlington was in relation to funding from other sources that had already increased their financial participation.
There was a lot of “happy talk” in the presentation made up of pictures and mention that this was a “free” event. It wasn’t enough – the Sound of Music Festival is business – good business, but the case has to be made to the people handing out the dollars. That case didn’t get made last week and the likelihood is that SOM will not get an increase this year.
 By Pepper Parr
The Drury Lane bridge repair went forward another step when city council agreed to a single source tender to have drawings done up as well as some engineering work done by AMEC, the company that has done all the work on the bridge since it was suddenly closed down last November.
Council at a previous meeting agreed to proceed with the repairs to the bridge at a cost of $380,000 but couldn’t proceed to making the repairs until there were drawings and specifications put together. Due to the urgency of this work, city staff recommended a single source contract and recommended AMEC. They are to get back with the drawings and scope of the work required and then the job goes out to tender.
 That further notice now has a date - sometime in July - working drawings are being prepared. The hope is to have the bridge repaired and opened in July. That repair is expected to hold for at least five years during which time residents can travel back and forth from the community on to Drury Lane and on south to Fairview which then lets them travel to Burlington Mall and on into Central Park, the YMCA and the Library.
Council in committee debated long and hard about what it was going to cost to replace the bridge after the five year point. A cost of $2.5 million was not on for Councillor Dennison; other members of council were having serious digestion problems over the cost. One wonders how they felt when city engineer Tom Eichenbaum let them know that the plans to build a tunnel instead of a replacement bridge would come in at as much as $3 million.
But that wasn’t the issue last night. The bridge is going to be repaired and in a month or so the community will know more about the kind of repair that will be done and more on how long it is likely to last.
 REVISED
By Pepper Parr
This is certainly a different take on going into closed session of a City Council Committee meeting.
A special meeting of the Committee of the Whole has been called for Monday February 27th – 9:30 am in the Studio Theatre of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
The purpose of the meeting is for education and training. The meeting is closed to the public in accordance with Sec. 239 (3.1) of the Municipal Act.
The Agenda for the meeting is: Official Plan Review Background: “Gearing Up”
Gearing up for what? A public assault on the process?
The Municipal Act states that:
A meeting of a council or local board or of a committee of either of them may be closed to the public if the following conditions are both satisfied:
1. The meeting is held for the purpose of educating or training the members.
2. At the meeting, no member discusses or otherwise deals with any matter in a way that materially advances the business or decision-making of the council, local board or committee.
So – what they are doing is legal – but why would a council that keeps talking about being transparent and wanting to involve the public, hold a meeting to train staff about how one goes about reviewing and revising an Official Plan – THE most important document a Council can produce and something that is going to take us a couple of years to complete?
 By Pepper Parr
Sooner or later we will figure it out. The next stab at finding an answer to that always perplexing question: What do we do with the downtown core? is being led by those able financial ninja’s at the Economic Development Corporation (BEDC).
They have been asked to stick handle a study with two key objectives: quantify the market potential and constraints for the development of office space and while they are at it quantify the unique economic factors affecting retail operations in our downtown core relative to other areas of the city.
 Tough part of town to do retail in? Consultants will tell the city just what it costs to do business in the downtown core and what it costs elsewhere in the city - and why. Retailers claim it costs more to run a business downtown. Robert Lyons, a Burlington real estate professional produced some data that suggested property assessments in the downtown core were tough for retailers to cope with. There was a lot of anecdotal stuff floating around but the people making the decisions wanted hard data.
The BEDC has been given up to $15,000 to play with and get this done, in what can at best be seen as a real tight schedule. Proposals in by February 28th; contract awarded March 5th then meet with BEDC staff to go over what’s going to get done three days later. Then just over a month after the Preliminary draft of the report is due and discussed at an hour and a half meeting the same day. Final report is due 12 days later.
May 10th the writers of the report present and defend the thing at a Council Workshop.
Much of the forward thinking being done in Burlington it tied to the Strategic Plan that set out three Strategic Directions for the city.
Vibrant Neighbourhoods – and while downtown is described as everyone’s neighbourhood – it isn’t very vibrant. However, it wasn’t all that long ago when there were dozens of stores with newspapers covering the plate glass and a for rent sign in the window.
Prosperity- bring hundreds of those high tech, high paying jobs to the city. Everyone knows that the city is not going to see a manufacturing plant with 500 new jobs on the horizon in this lifetime. Intellectual property, bio-tech, high value added are the buzz words for the economic development crowd. But to have any of this one needs decent office space – and there isn’t any of that in the downtown core – yet.
The third Strategic Direction was Excellence in Government which meant delivering services to the community at an acceptable cost and listening to the people who live in the city. The budget will probably come in at something very close to 2% – the draft version asks for 3.4% but look for some whittling down of that number.
Mayor Goldring has focused on economic development more than anything else (he has spent a lot of time and energy improving the working relationships between his Council members – but that’s another story) so far in his mandate. He was insistent that there be a solid, thoroughly thought through Strategic Plan and he made sure the time and the resources were put into the Task. City Council spent eleven half day sessions producing that document. The Mayor did the thinking behind the innovateBurlington program and has for the past six months being setting things up for a major look at what is wrong with the downtown core.
In May, 2011 Council asked city staff to update Council on the Status of the Core Commitment along with a work plan, time frames and a budget for a strategy designed to engage the community. Key to this was an implementation for delivering the vision, whatever it turned out to be.
Staff produced their report in August of 2011 – and it didn’t hit enough nails on the head to get the job done. While the Core Commitment had been ongoing for a number of years, they realized now that they really didn’t have enough data. The anecdotal stuff they did have was getting them nowhere.
The Mayor’s office could see where this was going so Council directed that a Task Group be formed to “identify challenges, opportunities, roles and responsibilities for creating a vibrant downtown”.
The Core Commitment people had already produced language that described the downtown core as a neighbourhood that belonged to everyone – and while true from a philosophical point of view – its tough to really believe that the folks in Alton and The Orchard or Aldershot for that matter, see the downtown core as “their” neighbourhood. These groups of people find what they need in their immediate community or head for the malls.
The Task Group got put together and did what any group does – (don’t think firemen do this) – determined their mandate, wrote it down and then met and decided that a SWOT (Strengths,Weaknesses,Opportunities,Threats) analysis was needed and that recommendations delivered had to be based on fact – but there weren’t all that many facts in front of them – so they wanted some targeted research to advance the understanding of systemic issues affecting the health of the downtown core.
That called for three research projects: Benchmarking, Market/Customer Analysis and the Cost of Doing business Downtown. The cost study is what the city wants to get done pronto.
The Benchmarking is being done by an intern who will compare what has been done in the Burlington downtown with what has been done in other downtown locations of a similar size and similar socio-economics.
The Market/Customer analysis will be the object of a Request for Proposal to be issued at a later date.
So – what have we got?
A Core Commitment group that kind of stalled. To be fair the Core Commitment is a vision document and a strategy to achieve the vision but they have stumbled a bit
A Task Group that hopes it can do a better job. And they are going to do their best to ensure that they have valid data to work from.
And three research proposals.
All this to inform and direct a Workshop that is going to take place on what can we do to leverage those two parking lots in the downtown core, spitting distance from city hall.
 Is the Brant and James intersection the location for some Class A office space or will it go up in a parking lot a block away? Councillor Jack Dennison has had dreams about what can be done with those properties. In 2006 the city thought they had a winner when six proposals came in response to a proposal to develop 100,000 to 150,000 sqft of Class A office space with a parking garage for 500 vehicles.
 Something along these lines was planned for Burlington's downtown core - but McMaster stiffed the city when a nicer deal came along. Before that idea got very far McMaster came along with their idea of putting one of their schools in the downtown core and the city retracted the RFP they had put out. But McMaster stiffed the city when a better offer came along. A BEDC document explains that unfortunate experience thusly: “Unfortunately, new opportunities later in the process presented themselves to McMaster and the downtown campus project was abandoned by McMaster.” Care to know who owned the land that the university is now located on?
Somewhere in all this there is some progress.
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