By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON July 4, 2011 – There are politicians and there are policy wonks. No one has to tell you what a politician is – a policy wonk is the kind of person who immerses themselves in documents that only a monk could really enjoy – but policy wonks are the exception to that rule. It is when you have a politician who is also a policy wonk – now that is a specimen and Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman is most certainly a policy wonk and is working at becoming a politician.
Every year the Federation of Canadian Municipalities gathers together somewhere in Canada early in the summer to trade notes, complain collectively and pronounce on the state of municipalities in Canada. The statements don’t differ all that much from year to year. The majority of the municipalities send a delegate to this event and, in true policy wonk fashion Sharman was the delegate for Burlington this year to the FCM conference in Halifax.
 Paul Sharman Ward 5 Councillor works well with people who have a business background and the discipline exercised in the private sector. Here he discusses an issue with Frank McKeown, the Mayors right hand man. Sharman, who has attended thousands of conferences more often than note as a speaker presenting a paper with a point of view – for those of you who know Paul Sharman – he has a point of view and is not in the least bit shy about letting you know what that point of view is.
But in talking about his trip to Halifax as a delegate to the FCM conference Sharman says he went in with an open mind – with no idea what was going to take place other than what he head on the agenda. Sharman is a management consultant by profession with a proclivity for numbers – he counts without using his fingers and if there is an error, he will spot it faster than Jack Dennison, who is usually seen as the “numbers” man on Council.
Sharman came away from the FCM conference “flabbergasted”. “Did you know”, he declares, “that municipalities get just 8% of the taxes collected yet have to deliver most of the services people expect from their government?”
When asked what he thought eh municipal tax take was – Sharman said he thought it was “somewhere in the 20% range”. That municipalities have to deliver such a wide range of services to their taxpayers and do so on so little was not just disturbing to Sharman but to thinking clearly a major problem to be addressed. We can expect comments at Council on this situation from Sharman
He didn’t have any answers and didn’t suggest how additional funds could be made available to municipal governments. It does have to be said that the province and to some degree the federal governments have in the past made substantial grants to the municipal sector. The federal Stimulus funds made available to municipalities during the 2008 recession that began to take hold in 2009 and to some degree is still with us today, helped Burlington get through the financial crisis – but one wonders if the funds given were put to the best possible uses. Municipalities had to move very quickly to come up with projects that were “shovel ready” in order to get the grants. Burlington was given a significant sum to rehabilitate the Freeman railway station but never managed to spend the money on that project because they could not decide on where the building should actually be located.
 Paul Sharman can be very blunt and direct when he hears what he believes to be sloppy thinking. More often than not he knows and understands the numbers behind an issue and demands that people understand the outcome they expect from the decisions they make. For Sharman THE pressing issue in Burlington is transit and figuring out how the city can get the best possible value for the dollars it spends on the transit service. “We have too many busses going up and down streets with nowhere near enough people on the bus to make it pay,” Sharman will tell you. And he doesn’t believe the formula the city administration and the transit people are using to analyze the data they have is correct and that therefore the figures are all skewed and “out of whack”.
The city has entered into a Transit Master Plan agreement that will see some significant new ideas being brought to the table
Also on Sharman’s list of issues is the Strategic Plan and the way Burlington is going to develop it’s economy which he sees as two issues joined at the hip. Sharman is doing his usual “shake em up” routine at the Strategic Planning sessions that are close to having a document that can be taken to the public for comment.
Council has just begun to address what appears to be a surplus of employment lands and the need for additional land that can be used for housing developments. That debate will take place within the context of the Strategic Plan but the developers have already begun to line up with applications to redesignate land that is set aside for employment use and use it to build housing.
 Sharman can be quite charming and gracious when he chooses to be – you just have to know what you’re talking about and have come to a meeting fully prepared. If you don’t – Sharman will be at you. As Sharman sees it Burlington is in the enviable position of having more than enough land for employment purposes at a time when the amount of space industry will need it lessening and says “we are in a community where there can and will be significant population growth that will allow us to develop new high tech jobs and attract those intelligent young men and woman needed for those jobs.”
Sharman believes there is a magnificent opportunity for Burlington to create jobs that rely on intellectual property and he believes the health field is one of the opportunity areas for Burlington.
Sharman appears to be having the time of his life. Not bad for a guy who moves to Burlington, decides to run for Mayor with absolutely no political experience, realizes that he probably can’t win the Mayor’s job and so decides to run as Councillor in Ward 5 and beats a field of five candidates. Then goes on to become one of the most disruptive (in a positive sense) people on Council and send shivers throughout the administration.
Brash, direct, and exceptionally kind when he chooses to be Sharman tends to know what he is talking about. We have a less than 1% tax increase for 2011 because Paul Sharman made it happen.
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 1, 2011 – To fully appreciate what it is to be, or to become, a Canadian citizen, one had only to listen to Peter Appleyard as he led people about to be made Canadian citizens during a Citizenship Court assembled in Spencer Smith Park on Canada Day
Peter Appleyard was born in England and came to Canada in 1951 and enjoyed a very full career as a musician. In 1992 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
 An immigrant to Canada in 1951, Peter Appleyard went on to enjoy considerable success as a musician and in 1992 was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Appleyard led 31 new Canadians through a Citizenship Court session in Spencer Smith Park. On an absolutely glorious day filled with sunshine, standing at the edge of Lake Ontario where one of the great aboriginals built a home that we now use as a museum, thirty one people became citizens of Canada. Appleyard must have wondered as he conducted the Citizenship Court what those assembled before him would go on to become as they were made citizens.
Appleyard said to those assembled:
I am pleased to welcome you to this Court of Canadian Citizenship. I welcome those of you who will shortly become New Canadian citizens and also your families and friends.
Today is a very important milestone in your life. On this occasion you will be given the most valuable gift from Canada – Canadian citizenship.
Canadian citizenship has only been in existence since 1947, but the spirit that gives Canadians their special identity has lived since the early days of confederation..
The process of nation building stated with confederation. It started with people of different races, cultures and languages, agreeing on a form of government and a legal system whereby people could live and work together in harmony. They laid the foundation for the carving of a new country from the forest and the vast prairie. They laid the foundation so that we can be here today.
 Former Ontario Lt. Governor Lincoln Alexander was a guest at the Citizenship Court and joined the 31 people becoming citizens along with their guests during a renewal of their Oath of Allegiance. I know that for many of you the journey to the Court room has not been easy. Some of you had to escape from war torn homelands. Some had to leave friends and family members behind Some of you had to uproot professions an start all over again; while others have experienced great difficulties in adapting to a new life in Canada.
However your presence here confirms to us that you have the courage and the wisdom to make the necessary adaptations and that you have made a conscious decision in favour of Canada. Now Canada has declared in favour of you, and today you will join us as citizens with all the attendant rights, privileges and responsibilities.
Citizenship implies the possession of an ideal; a sense of values; and a theory of what life in Canada might become. It takes in the whole scale of thought, knowledge and behavior.
Citizenship in Canada is not just a technical qualification for voting for getting a passport, or for qualifying for some employment. It is not a prize for new arrivals. It is a right and responsibility for all of us. What becomes of this country and of us depends on each persons own idea of citizenship – multiplied nearly 29 million times.
Today you are publicly making a commitment to the future of Canada. As citizens of this country you will become partners in exercising the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. You will now become shareholders in a larger world. How you act, what you do or what you do not do can effect the live of countless people now and in the future.
We effect lives by the way we participate in the community and the country we now enjoy, and that one day we will pass on to another generation. Commitment therefore to the values that underlie our Canadian citizenship needs thought and care so that the values are not lost through careless indifference.
In a few moment you will take the oath of Canadian citizenship. In it you will promise to be loyal and bear true allegiance to her majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. Next you will promise that you will faithfully observe the laws of Canada. Finally, you will promise to fulfill your duties as Canadian citizens.
 After being sworn in, the 31 New Canadians were given their Certificates of Citizenship and greeted warmly by Mike Wallace, MP, Joyce Savoline, MPP, Gary Carr, Chair of the Region of Halton and Rick Goldring, Mayor of Burlington – and then bid welcome to Canada by a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But what are you really saying? I hope you are saying that you want to belong to the Canadian family, that you want to be a member of a society, a citizen of a country which looks forward, toward the future, but does not forget from where they have come; a society which protects with pride and preserves with care their past traditions and accomplishments.
I hope that you want to be a citizen of a country where you are equal with all other citizens, where you have equal treatment under the law to freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from persecution and the right to protection against discrimination. That it will be your responsibility to protect those rights, to cherish ands safeguard them against any who would abuse them, remembering always that the protection of your rights begins with the protection of those of your neighbours
That your responsibility is to contribute to understanding and harmony between yourselves and your fellow citizens whether it be in your public and professional life or in the simple courtesies and considerations of everyday life.
Such responsibilities and such rights are ours to exercise every day of our lives and the degree to which we do so plays a major role in the continuing development of a Canada founded upon fairness and dignity for all her members. If ever there was a time in this nation’s history when responsibilities play an important role, the time is now. As a country, we are facing great challenges. Challenges that will surely affect our lives now and in the future.
The essence of our citizenship is found in its values; its moral commitments; its deep loyalties.
This might be a good time for all Canadians to look again at the values and principles which have been associated with Canada, for ti is these vital principles that have earned Canada the reputation as clearly one of the best countries in the world in which to live.
Now, as you prepare to assume your new rights and privileges freely and proudly, I hope that you will make a conscious decision to add your talents, your strengths, your dreams and your hopes to the great treasure trove which is your Canadian heritage so that together we can build an even better Canada.
I trust you will reflect on this as you take the oath of Canadian citizenship.
 Canada Day 2011 was as good as the weather gets in Ontario during the summer. A light breeze with ice cream and hot dogs available for the hungry and various service available to others. A free health test was obviously of interest to one young man. At that point in the ceremonies the thirty one new Canadians were sworn in and made Canadian citizens. Appleyard invited everyone in attendance to use the occasion to renew their oath and the audience was joined by former Ontario Lt. Governor Lincoln Alexander who raised his hand and renewed is oath of allegiance to a country he has served so well.
Spencer Smith Park was filled with the usual merchants selling ice cream and hot dogs and offering various services.
That day was rounded out with a performance of The Spoons and a spectacular fireworks display.
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 30, 2011 – The city should soon have a community garden with allotted plots for people – just who is going to run the place and how it will be managed is still up in the air.
 https://www.burlingtongazette.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Lutheran-church-garden.jpg The Parks and Recreation people are a bit swamped these days and weren’t quite sure what Michelle Bennett and Amy Schnurr, Executive Director of Burlington Green wanted when they showed up and said they had a great idea for a community garden and they wanted to involve the city – and it wasn’t going to cost very much.
The Parks and Recreation people liked the idea but had some difficulty getting their heads around what the Burlington Green Ladies were proposing. Their plan was to create and manage a “teaching/demonstration garden”, which they did not see as a pilot project. The difference between a pilot and what the Ladies were proposing was their efforts were not intended to be duplicated elsewhere in the city.
Their contribution to the betterment of the community the Burlington Green Ladies explained was the experience they would be able to pass along to others who wanted to create community gardens. They had applied for a grant from the provincial government which they got, and now wanted to develop plans and ideas that could be given to other people.
Parks and Recreation sort of said – if you get the grant come back and talk to us but there were a number of Council members who really liked the idea and with a political will behind it Parks and Recreation took a closer look.
 Michelle Bennett, a gardener and a Burlington Green activist, has been promoting the idea of a community garden on city property for some time. With provincial grant funds in hand – the dream appears about to become a reality. Well, the Ladies got a grant of $74,650 paid out to them over a two year period. The hurdle they now had to get over was the 15% contribution from the city – again over two years but it still amounted to $11,200. The plan is for the city to provide the land – some space in Central Park in a location that is out of the way of other park activities and has immediate access to water. The city is prepared to till the land and erect a chain link fence. Then what?
Someone has to manage the operation and given that the city isn’t on a hiring binge there was going to be a field with a fence around it and water available – but no program.
When the Burlington Green Ladies appeared before a Council Committee all they had was an idea and a pending grant application. City manager Roman Martiuk can put on his best scowl when he hears groups asking for money said the city has a policy on grants to community groups – it is No!
 Michelle Bennett shows what can be produced in a community garden. This one is at the rear of the Lutheran church on Lakeshore road which has a waiting list more than a year long. Interestingly, no one on the Council side has come forward with a Staff Direction to create such a policy. The lack of a policy gets mentioned at the Strategic Plans discussions but there doesn’t seem to be a strong desire on the part of either Council or Staff to get into the habit of giving grants to community groups. The city will make facilities available at reduced rates – but tax money won’t be going out the door to groups with an idea and a plan.
Which makes it difficult for like the Burlington Green Ladies who managed to raise $74,650. on the condition that the city put in an amount equal to 15% of the grant. Because the provincial grant allows the city portion to be paid out over time – as long as it is paid by June 2013– the Burlington Green ladies had what that felt was a bit of a “no-brainer” – but things haven’t quite gone that way for them – so far.
There appears to be enough political will on Council for this to go forward even though there are some questions as to why other existing community garden groups are not involved. The Burlington Lutheran Church on Lakeshore Road has a community garden with some 20 plots that are actively used which has been running for years.
 Michelle Bennett paces off the distance for the Community Garden Burlington Green hopes to be able to convince the city to go along with. The BG’s got 85% of the money through a provincial government grant, and now want 15% from the city. The site is also the second choice as a location for the Freeman station that a community group is determined to save. And so what is it that the Burlington Green Ladies will be going forward with? They are going to have $74,650 from the province and are looking for $11,200 from the city for a total expenditure of $85,850. for a proposed 26 garden plots in place and available for a two years period. Councilor Jack Dennison, who always looks at the numbers, sort of gulped when he realized that $1650.96 would be spent to create each plot – you can buy a lot of cabbage for $1650.
Add to that the $50. each person would pay to have a garden plot allocated to them and the numbers part of this “idea” needs a serious second look. What the Ladies want people to do is not look at what it is going to cost to create and make a plot available but rather look at what they are going to do with the funds they receive.
“This isn’t about us creating garden plots for people to use”, explains Michelle Bennett, Local Food Outreach Coordinator for Burlington Green. “It is about establishing the city’s first Community Garden project with associated assets and programming to create a living educational resource site.” Clear as mud, right?
What the Burlington Green Ladies want to do is create a community garden and put together all the material, notes, templates, best practices – all the stuff one needs to allow others to have a model to follow. That comes to close to $85,000. The Burlington Green Ladies did manage to get the $75,000 +, which will make it awfully hard for city council to say no, especially with a council that is partial to almost anything environmental.
What is the money going to be used for? What will the “community” get out of this other than a couple of jobs for Burlington Green people? Will the “jobs” created be open to outsiders?
The city is providing the land, tilling it and paying for the chain link fence and setting up access to water. The Burlington Green Ladies didn’t present a business plan to the Council committee but city hall staff have been working with them a little more closely now that a grant is actually in hand.
The proposal goes to council committee on the July 13 to finalize the operating model and then to Council on July 18. We will find out then just how much cabbage one gets for $85,000. Get out your seed catalog.
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By Staff
 BURLINGTON, ON June 30, 2011 – The Halton Region Health Department tests recreational water throughout the Region and wants you to know that the Beachway Park North and Beachway Park South in Burlington are safe to swim in The water testing is done weekly.
Prospect Park Old Beach and Bronte Park Beach are UNSAFE for swimming.
With the kids out of school this afternoon – the Moms of the Region now have a safe place to take them. Think the water is going to be kind 0f cold though.
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By Pepper Parr
 It has been the talk of the town for years. Some were delighted but many said it was a nice to have but not necessary. The long term thinkers understood and in the coming months we will see the opening of our very own Performing Arts Centre BURLINGTON, ON June 30, 2011 – It was a good start, she called it a sneak peak – and like all the great teases she showed us just enough skin to keep us around hoping for more. And so – we will stick around. All the notables were on hand for the “sneak peak” that Brenda Heatherington, Executive Director of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre, gave a select crowd who were served wine and a bunch of beverages that I’d never even heard of before. The hors’dourves were a delight. Kudos to Jason Stoner and his staff at the Waterfront for showing us what they can do.
But let’s get back to the Main Stage. Heatherington was in place to tell us what all the hard work during the past twelve months has led to – and while it might appear just a little soft at first glance, what Heatherington has done is laid down a solid base on which she is going to build.
There are all kinds of starts. There is the Kick off Event that will feature Royal Woods, winner if the iTunes Awad for 2010 and then the Red Carpet Event, which appears to be for the fur coat set. The program has a distinctly Canadian scent to it with a couple of people from CBC programs and Canada’s own Sarah McLachlan on the Main Stage
 McLachlan, a true headliner who will get the place opened with all the glamour and colour it deserves. Burlington got a taste of what she can do with a microphone during the Sound of Music Festival. This will be a SOLD OUT performance There will be time in the future to broaden the offering. The program for the BPAC is going to be a “soft start” to let the community get used to the place. Show business is all about ticket sales and if you watch what is happening in Hamilton with HECFI you can see a real disaster with the unraveling of that organization. (HECFI is acronym for Hamilton Entertainment and Convention Facilities that operates Hamilton Place, Convention Centre and Copps Coliseum.)
Hetherington is far to savvy to get sucked into that kind of a black hole. She has gone out to the community and developed relationships. Four programs have been put together for elementary school students – if you’re an adult you have to be with a student to get in. Promotional material was sent out to the schools in May and a few days later a call came in from one school asking for 100 tickets.
 Not only is this group a collection of good singers but their story is part of our cultural history. Expect to be moved by the stories these men sing about. THAT is what BPAC needs and by quietly developing those soft relationships Heatherington will build up a base that will cushion any disappointment there may be (I want to say “will be” but I also want to be very positive about the BPAC) The Centre has the potential to be a great place in and for the community.
When Heatherington announced there is going to be a Nut Cracker Suite production I almost danced. ” I knew it, I knew it, I KNEW”, I muttered. You see I am expecting Burlington to follow the Toronto tradition that has local luminaries on stage during a production and I’m telling people I expect to see Keith Strong, one of the Board members who drove the effort to get the building up in time and on budget. He deserves his moment of glory in a tutu on stage. I don’t expect him to go up on his toes but I do expect to see him prancing around. It’s the least he can do for the Centre.
We are going to see the Men of the Deeps – no mention of Rita MacNeil being with them though. The official season kick-off on October 1 featuring a performance by ITunes’s Songwriter of the Year, Royal Wood, and “Celebration! A Blue Jeans Gala” with CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi hosting a wide array of musicians who have called Burlington home. And for those of you who are die hard CBC fans Stuart McLean and his Vinyl Café will do a production that will get broadcast to the rest of the country. We’re goin big time people
.
 Animation is fascination and the sight lines at the BPAC will allow every child in the audience to be delighted and completely engaged by the Cashore Marionettes who are a a world class production – make sure the children in your circle get to attend this performance – it will set their imaginations aflame. This is an Experience that will Inspire “We are dedicated to the theme Experiences that Inspire for our inaugural 2011-2012 season,” said Heatherington. “For the Official Opening, we are thrilled to be able to present Sarah McLachlan, a world-class performer who epitomizes this theme.” McLachlan gave Burlington a dry run with a surprise performance at the Sound of Music Festival – she apparently likes us enough to want to come back.
There will be some Chopin and something from the works Franz Liszt as well, and as the life of the Centre takes on a tone of its own Burlington will craft the audience needed to make BPAC everything it can become.
There was no mention of ticket prices and we didn’t learn how many of the local theater groups will use the Centre. No announcements yet of corporate events but I did hear via the grape vine that at least one wedding reception has been booked for the Family Room.
 Royal Wood, winner of the iTunes 2010 Songwriter of the Year Award will be on stage for the Kick off event October 1st. Tickets are going to go fast for this one. With award-winning selections from the world of dance, drama and music, the season has something for everyone. The Centre’s two theatres, the 718-seat Main Theatre and the 200-seat Community Studio Theatre, will host Celtic, Blues, Opera, Jazz and choral music, ballet, hip-hop, and modern dance and heart-wrenching dramas. The 2011-2012 season also includes four critically-acclaimed productions of interest to young people and educators alike. And, the Centre will be the first green performance locale in the country.
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON June 30, 2011 – Scott – have I ever got a deal for you. Scott is my buddy at City Hall – he knows “stuff” and has a “no crap” policy with most of the things he does. They give him thousands of dollars every year just for showing up but he can swing the hammer. Right now, as General Manager Community Services, he is shepherding the construction of the Pier and, as you know, there have been some problems down there. But Scottis on the case and this guy is no Inspector Jacques Clouseau of Pink Panther fame.
I was at the “Sneak Peak” Brenda Hetherington gave for the Burlington Performance Arts Centre and bumped into your buddy Jason Stoner, head honcho of the Waterfront Hotel, and he says he knows nothing about who paid for the advertisement on those cycling races the city ran in the Spectator. (You will remember me Steve old buddy, when we begin accepting advertising, won’t you?)
But I digress. As you will recall, we have been talking about those outdoor lights, the twelve that we bought and paid for that were to be installed on the Pier to light it up at night. You need 12 of the things but you can only find paper work for nine of them and you can’t fine even one of the nine that the city is pretty sure it paid for. The ones that they don’t make anymore either – those ones ? Well Stoner says if the price is right he will buy the nine from you for his parking lot.
Gosh, golly gee Scott – there ‘s a chance here for you to get rid of something that doesn’t meet your needs and sell it to a guy whose credit is said to be good. This is sounding like one of those win, win, win situations.
All you have to do now of course is find the light standards so you can deliver them if you do manage to sell them to the hotel people. You can do that can’t you?
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By Staff
BURLINGTONTON, ON June 30, 2011 – The Mountainside community in Burlington was hit with eight car entries. In each incident the vehicles were parked in residential driveways and had been left unlocked. Some of the stolen property included GPSs, sunglasses, cash and wallets. It is estimated $1000 in total property was stolen.
 Leaving a car unlocked – even in what you believe to be a safe neighbourhood is really dumb. If the car is actually stolen – you’ve got some explaining to do to your insurance company. Anyone with information on this or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes)
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON June 28, 2011 – Fourteen people in the room; half of them type A talkers, the other half bright people who will have to implement what the group is talking about. This is how the Strategic Plan for Burlington is being put together and it is an amazing process that we will write about at much greater length later in the week.
 Each of the three group facilitators used flip charts to capture the thoughts of the fourteen participants at the seventh half day session to create the Burlington Strategic Plan. Last night, that would be Monday evening, four woman toiled into the wee hours to pull some order out of more than 25 sheets of flip chart pages that were generated by three groups talking about part of the Strategic Plan. Led by Michelle Dwyer, who works under the Direction of Alan Magi, Helen Walihura, Donna Woods and Amanda Gubbels took away the pages and started sorting out the comments that the three facilitators had written up.
Watching a group of people craft a long term think plan for the city is quite something. This was their seventh half day meeting. (I can hear someone saying ‘seven half days – I could have done that in a couple of hours’) during which they struggled with just what it meant to have a Strategic Plan and how do you craft the document so that it has meaning and relevance to the taxpayers and the staff that have to make it happen.
 Georgina Black of KPMG consulting with a colleague during one of the Burlington Strategic Planning sessions. The Strategic Plan team is ably led by Ms Black – one of the best in the business. The Strategic Planning Team has been working under the very able guidance of Georgina Black, brought in from KPMG, an international consulting firm, to help them understand just what a Strategic Plan was and how it had to be developed and then linked to the city’s budget process.
Each of the politicians had their vision, wish, dream for the city they represented at Council and each of the senior staff members had departments that had to carry out and implement what was decided upon and keep it all within a budget the taxpayers would live with.
 Michelle Dwyer staff liaison team leader for the Strategic Planning group watches during a session while Helen Walihura listens intently to catch the thinking of the group she was working with. Burlington had entered a new phase as a city. The Shape Burlington Report changed the way thinking people reacted. The report told both the politicians and the administration that people wanted a change. They wanted more access, they wanted to be involved and they wanted to be listened to, and while they were prepared to spend a little money they didn’t want to see taxes going sky high. The city had just dumped a Mayor and one Council member and elected three new people to Council and made it very clear they wanted things to be done differently. There had been significant tax increases that most felt were to high which made both politicians and the administration keenly aware that they were being watched.
The city had a new Mayor who was experiencing a sometimes jolting on the job training experience and struggling with a pier that was a contractual nightmare that he knew he had to deal with.
 Donna Woods focuses on her flip chart as she uses colours to show different levels of comment. Woods, along with three other woman, then take the 25 plus flip chart pages and make sense out of the notes for review the next day. All this shortly after the city realized it had a significant surplus that came to the surface near the end of the year and surprised many on Council who have made it clear that they don’t like surprises.
This Council is much different from the previous one. They work well together for the most part. There are differences of opinion and some nerves get rubbed raw a bit at times but they are certainly a different team that the 2005-2010 Council.
Which explains a large part of why the Mayor is determined to get a Strategic Plan in place an dm make it meaningful, relevant and something the taxpayers will buy into. Your city council and the staff you pay with your tax dollars are doing a significantly different job.
 Amanda Gubbels, a part of the support team that captured all the thoughts and ideas that will result in a long term Strategic Plan that will go out for public review and comment late in the summer. Gubbels listens as Steve Zorbas makes a point What the focus on in this piece though is the four woman who handle all the paper work and produce the working documents that guide the Council members and senior staff members through the half day sessions.
Staff met last Friday and produced thoughts and ideas and suggestions for directions. The team of four woman worked through the weekend and had the documents on the table for the Monday morning session and then at noon they trudged back to city hall to pull together the next level of reporting.
 Members of Council and senior staff gathered for more than seven half days sessions to work though a Strategic Plan. that looks 20 years + into the future and ties what they think can be done in the next three and a half years into the budget. In this picture, Councillor Mead Ward and city Manger Roman Martiuk talk while Michelle Dwyer listens and takes notes. Taking down data from the flip chart sheets they collected, collated and produced the document needed by noon of the next day when it got passed along to the KPMG facilitator who reviews it, discusses it with Alan Magi and Council members and gives it her wink and nod and – with the inevitable corrections and re-formatting the Team of woman make the last minute changes and have documents in front of everyone for 9 am Wednesday.
That folks is your tax dollars at work – and on this one – you are getting full value for your money.
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By Staff
 BURLINGTON, ON June 28, 2011 Ca na da, we love thee … It became a runaway, flag-waving hit, written by a wholesome, unabashedly patriotic bandleader, the Pied Piper of Confederation himself – Bobby Gimby!
The song, fist sung publicly on Canada’s 100th birthday, just might get sung at Spencer Smith Park this Friday when we celebrate our 144th birthday as a country.
 The city has a full day of events planned starting with a 5km run and a free pancake breakfast for the finishers – as long as supplies last. And if running doesn’t do it for you there will be a Yoga class and then the Joseph Brant Museum Strawberry Social. We are told Marianne Meed Ward will be one of the volunteers serving the berries.
Two stages are being set up – the Waterfront Stage and the Canada Stage.
In Spencer Smith Park:
| 8:30 am |
Canada Day 5km run/walk |
| 9:30 am |
Free breakfast compliments of the
Golden Griddle
(while supplies last) |
| 10:00 am |
Free YOGA class
(bring your mat and water bottle) |
| 11 am – 4 pm |
Joseph Brant Museum Strawberry Social |
CANADA STAGE
| 11:10 am |
Tyrsa Dance School |
| 11:30 am |
Citizenship Court |
| 1:00 pm |
Opening Ceremonies featuring
The Burlington Teen Tour Band |
| 2:00 pm |
Dirty Pioneers |
| 3:00 pm |
Blue Radio |
| 4:00 pm |
Blue Radio |
| 5:00 pm |
Dirty Pioneers |
| 6:30 pm |
Fiddlestix |
| 8:30 pm |
Headliner – The Spoons |
| 10:00 pm |
Fireworks Display |
WATERFRONT STAGE
| 1:30 pm |
Krazy Kanuck Kloggers |
| 2:15 pm |
Katerina Gimon;
Youth Week ‘Sing Your Heart Out’ winner |
| 2:30 pm |
Practically Hip |
| 3:30 pm |
Practically Hip |
| 5:00 pm |
City Sirens |
| 6:30 pm |
Killin Time Band |
Getting around – Free shuttle bus service is available from 7 to 11 p.m. The shuttle will run from the Central Park Bus Shelter along Teen Tour Way and travel to the downtown bus terminal. The Mountain Equipment Co-op Bike Corral will be available throughout the day near the park playground for cyclists to lock up their bikes.
At night, bring a blanket or lawn chair, then sit back to take in the fireworks at 10pm -proudly supported by Emma’s Back Porch.
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON, ON June 28, 2011 _ Soon, very, very soon – this Wednesday in fact Brenda Heatherington will go to the front of the room and give the public a Sneak Peak of the inaugural season for the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
Expect the Burlington Teen Tour Band – but what else ? Drama? Jazz ? Concerts ? Heatherington has deep experience and an enviable reputation and did stellar work in Edmonton.
 Brenda Heatherington, Ex Dir of BPAC is front and center now with the fall line up How will Heatherington find the balance between what the public will immediately like and buy tickets for and at the same time gently nudge a public that hasn’t had access to all that much culture: the bash em, smash em truck events in Hamilton don’t count.
Will we learn that local small theatre has taken to the new centre ? Will we learn that there is going to be a Nutcracker Suite this Christmas ? Last weekend there was a National Academy Orchestra out of Hamilton that put on a stunning performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto played by Laurence Kayaleh that played to a full house that had extra seats set up in the aisle at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church. The appetite for significant cultural events is certainly there – will the BPAC people fully understand their community and both cater to what they want and at the same time develop appetite for music and drama they’ve not heard or seen before.
Up until now all the city has heard is that the build of the Centre is “on budget and on time” and that we have to wait for the program to be announced.
And so now the moment has come. Let’s see what they can do.
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By Staff from the New York Times
BURLINGTON, ON June 28, 2011 – Those little boxes that usher cable signals and digital recording capacity into televisions have become the single largest electricity drain in many North American homes, with some typical home entertainment configurations eating more power than a new refrigerator and even some central air-conditioning systems.
There are 160 million so-called set-top boxes in the United States, one for every two people, and that number is rising. Many homes now have one or more basic cable boxes as well as add-on DVRs, or digital video recorders, which use 40 percent more power than the set-top box.
 Costs more to run this thing than it does your refrigerator. Saving energy means changing the way we live our lives – do you want to wait for the DVR to “warm” up ? Or do you have to have an “instant on” for your TV set? One high-definition DVR and one high-definition cable box use an average of 446 kilowatt hours a year, about 10 percent more than a 21-cubic-foot energy-efficient refrigerator, a recent study found.
 These set-top boxes are energy hogs mostly because their drives, tuners and other components are generally running full tilt, or nearly so, 24 hours a day, even when not in active use. The recent study, by the Natural Resources Defense Council, concluded that the boxes consumed $3 billion in electricity per year in the United States — and that 66 percent of that power is wasted when no one is watching and shows are not being recorded. That is more power than the state of Maryland uses over 12 months.
“People in the energy efficiency community worry a lot about these boxes, since they will make it more difficult to lower home energy use,” said John Wilson, a former member of the California Energy Commission who is now with the San Francisco-based Energy Foundation. “Companies say it can’t be done or it’s too expensive. But in my experience, neither one is true. It can be done, and it often doesn’t cost much, if anything.”
The perpetually “powered on” state is largely a function of design and programming choices made by electronics companies and cable and Internet providers, which are related to the way cable networks function in the United States. Fixes exist, but they are not currently being mandated or deployed in the United States, critics say.
Similar devices in some European countries, for example, can automatically go into standby mode when not in use, cutting power drawn by half. They can also go into an optional “deep sleep,” which can reduce energy consumption by about 95 percent compared with when the machine is active.
 One British company, Pace, sells such boxes to American providers, who do not take advantage of the reduced energy options because of worries that the lowest energy states could disrupt service. Cable companies say customers will not tolerate the time it takes to reboot the system once the system has been shut down or put to sleep.
“The issue of having more efficient equipment is of interest to us,” said Justin Venech, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable. But, he added, “when we purchase the equipment, functionality and cost are the primary considerations.”
But energy efficiency experts say that technical fixes could eliminate or minimize the waiting time and inconvenience, some at little expense. Low-energy European systems reboot from deep sleep in one to two minutes.
Alan Meier, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said of the industry in the United States, “I don’t want to use the word ‘lazy,’ but they have had different priorities, and saving energy is not one of them.”
 Literally hundreds of TV channels and the capacity to record and save hours and hours of programming – and now we learn we are eating up all kinds of electricity because no one asked for a more efficient design. The Environmental Protection Agency has established Energy Star standards for set-top boxes and has plans to tighten them significantly by 2013, said Ann Bailey, director of Energy Star product labeling, in an e-mail. The voluntary seal indicates products that use energy efficiently. But today, there are many boxes on the list of products that meet the Energy Star standard that do not offer an automatic standby or sleep mode.
“If you hit the on/off button it only dims the clock, it doesn’t significantly reduce power use,” said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the natural resources council.
Energy efficiency is a function of hardware, software, the cable network and how a customer uses the service, said Robert Turner, an engineer at Pace, which makes set-top boxes that can operate using less power while not in active use.
Sometimes energy efficiency can be vastly improved by remotely adjusting software over a cable, Mr. Turner said. In this way, Pace reduced the energy consumption of some of its older boxes by half.
Mr. Wilson said he routinely unplugged his set-top boxes at night and waited only 45 seconds for television in the morning. But Dr. Meier said that when he tried to power down his home system at night, it took “hours” to reboot because the provider “downloaded the programming guide in a very inefficient way.”
 Cable providers and box manufacturers like Cisco Systems, Samsung and Motorola currently do not feel consumer pressure to improve box efficiency. Customers are generally unaware of the problem — they do not know to blame the unobtrusive little device for the rise in their electricity bills, and do not choose their boxes anyway.
Those devices may cause an increase of as little as a few dollars a month or well over $10 for a home with many devices. In Europe, electricity rates are often double those in the United States, providing greater financial motivation to conserve.
Cisco Systems, one of the largest makers of set-top boxes, said in an e-mail that they would offer some new models this year that would cut consumption by 25 percent “through reduced power used in ‘on’ and standby states.” There will be no deep sleep or fully “off” setting.
 In simpler times television stations didn’t broadcast 24x7 and there were just two – maybe three channels. Now we have hundreds of channels and we use a lot of electricity to make all the equipment operate. What would you do to get the cable companies to provide you with a more efficient set top box? But Cisco said that taking advantage of the potential energy savings for a box would also depend on “how it is operated by the service provider.” Cable and satellite providers will have to decide whether the boxes can automatically go to standby, for example, and whether customers will be able to adjust their own settings. Currently, providers often do system maintenance and download information at night over the cable, so an ever-at-the ready cable box is more convenient for them.
Cable companies can become Energy Star “partners” if they agree to install or upgrade boxes so that 25 percent to 50 percent of the homes they serve have “energy star qualified” equipment. The E.P.A. merely encourages providers to use units that can automatically power down at least partly when not in use.
 But as of Sept. 1, typical electricity consumption of Energy Star qualified products would drop to 97 kilowatt hours a year from an average of 138; and then by the middle of 2013, they must drop again to 29 kilowatt hours a year. Companies have fought the placement of the “Energy Star” seal on products and the new ambitious requirements, which may still be modified before enacted.
Mr. Wilson recalled that when he was on the California Energy Commission, he asked box makers why the hard drives were on all the time, using so much power. The answer: “Nobody asked us to use less.”
The biggest challenge in reducing energy use is maintaining the rapid response time now expected of home entertainment systems, Mr. Turner said. “People are used to the idea that computers take some time to boot up,” he said, “but they expect the TV to turn on instantly.”
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 27, 2011 Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital (JBMH) was ranked dead last in a listing of wait times at Ontario hospitals.
Ninety percent of the sickest patients spent up to 25.2 hours in the Burlington hospitals emergency room in April of this year before being discharged or admitted. That’s the longest total ER wait time for seriously ill patients at any Ontario hospital measured that month. It is virtually identical to the 26 hour statistic that JBMH reported in 2009.
The problem, according to hospital officials isn’t the ER, it’s the lack of beds. Officials report that JBMH has many acute care beds ‘clogged’ with older patients who no longer need hospital care but must wait for beds to open up in a long term care facility or nursing home.
 With the beds in the upper levels of the hospital clogged with patients who don’t have long term care homes to go to – patients get held in emergency leading to JBMH having the longest wait times in the province. One might understand that a problem was identified in 2009 when data was collected – but that was two years ago. It is really unacceptable for the hospital to say that they are still struggling. That’s somebody’ Mother ‘clogging’ up that bed if you don’t mind.
Burlington’s city council has set aside more than $4 million in a reserve fund that will be given to the hospital when it’s development plans get approval – what’s the delay ?
The city that was ranked as the third best in the country to live in and then the second best to raise a family in is now the city with the longest wait times to get a hospital bed in. Patients are left in the ER because there are no beds available for them elsewhere in the hospital.
JBMH has pitched a $300 million redevelopment a pan to the province that would add at least 70 acute care beds. Hospital officials are said to be “hoping” for approval for their plan which calls for the additional beds to be in place by 2013 or 2014 – but added that the beds are needed now.
There is something wrong with a process that allows the province to drag their feet as much as they have when the city had bellied up to the bar and put their money on the table.
There hasn’t been a word from our MPP; Savoline is packing her bags for her trip to the land of happy retirement which she has earned, if not for her work on behalf of the city at Queen’s Park then for her work at the Regional level where she made some very significant and important changes.
The Mayor and a couple of the council members were recently at Queen’s Park sitting in on a presentation to stop any highway across the escarpment. It would have been nice to see them all banging their shoes on the table while they were there and demanding to know what the province was going to do about getting along with the hospital development proposal. But this is Burlington and we are polite. Tell that to the person who waits more than 25 hours for a bed at the hospital.
We are about to get into the serious part of a provincial election – an opportunity for citizens to ask some hard questions of this government and to challenge the Liberal candidate to who happens to have a lot of experience on different JBMH Boards. Press Karmel Sakran, the Liberal candidate hard and ask tough questions. What would he do to bring about a change? What kind of a plan does he have to lobby the health Ministry and how much research has he done.
During the election campaign Burlington needs to hear what each of the political parties has in the way of a plan that is specific to Burlington.
The government is certainly aware of just how unhappy voters are. A recent report produced by an organization known as MASS LBP, an organization that has done some good work in Burlington when they did much of the public survey grunt work for the Shape Burlington people and also did some work with Rick Goldring when he was Council member in Ward 5. MASS LBP (the LBP stands for Led by People) has also done work for the Region and is recognized around the world as a leader in the field of getting the views of a large community thro9ugh what they call their “civic lottery”; an approach that sends letters out to people who were randomly selected and invites them into intensive workshops were a lot of questioning and debating takes place. This intensive, digging deeply into the way people think produces a much finer more detailed response than a simple opinion poll. MASS is particularly strong in the public health field and are known around the world as a significant force in the collecting of data and then analyzing the data for policy makes to use.
We mention this organization and want to pass on to you some of the findings that came out of the recent research work MASS did in the health care field. The full report is available at https://www.waittimealliance.ca/
After three weekends filled with lively and lengthy discussions the panelists reached the following consensus. How do they compare with your thinking ? What would you do with these results ?
1. Step up Prevention and Promotion. Direct a share of alcohol and tobacco taxes towards health promotion. Expand nutrition and phys-ed in schools, more public education on active living, better food labeling.
2. Improve Accountability and Incentives. Link compensation for physicians to measurable patient outcomes and satisfaction, encourage health professionals to form interdisciplinary primary health teams, expand reporting in hospitals that measure quality and patient satisfaction.
3. Strengthen Community Care. Requires strengthening of partnerships, mobilization of volunteers, creation of patient and community support groups, reduce cyclical funding constraints, prepare for an aging population with new resources for community services that keep people at home.
4. Expedite eHealth and improve information-sharing. Communicate the importance of eHealth while addressing access and privacy issues.
5. Improve Access and Timeliness. Expand family health team models. Utilize nurse practitioners more widely in primary care clinics and emergency departments, and develop a centralized specialist referral system.
Do the results of the survey work done by MASS LBP reflect the way people in Burlington feel? If they do – what is being done by people at the hospital to bring about the changes the public wants ? Is the hospital communicating effectively with the community ? Is the community being effectively served by the hospital? These are all questions that can and should be part of the public debate we are about to get into as part of the up coming provincial election.
 The JBMH hospital Executive Director, Ed Vandewall does get out to meet with people; just doesn’t seem to be able to get to community meetings. The above was a SNAP photo of Eric at a fund raising event. It is something to watch a city council be very proactive and resolute in setting aside money in a budget surplus and dedicate it to hospital development and at the same time commit a portion of municipal taxes for at least the next ten years to the development of the hospital. In all my time at city committee and council meetings I’ve yet to see anyone from the hospital address Council. I know of at least one council member who had arranged for the Executive Director of the hospital to appear at a Ward meeting but that got cancelled at the last minute because he was summoned to Queen’s Park to meet with the minister. We’ve not seen any public report or news release from the hospital saying what was talked about.
We have some serious health services problems in this province and in Burlington, where the population is already skewed towards an aging population. Burlington is a “move to” destination for many seniors who want a quiet, safe community that they can spend their retiring years in. We are a safe city with plenty of community services for those who can afford the housing. The city is certainly doing its part. The hospital, which has administrative staff that earn much more than many people at city hall and a load more than our Council members.
Some changes needed and a serious reality check as well.
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By Pepper Parr
 BURLINGTON – Liberal candidate Karmel Sakran say that on October 6, when Ontarians choose their next government, they will have a clear choice between two parties:
- Ontario Liberals, who are committed to building a clean energy economy for the 21st century, and have a plan that will create 50,000 jobs in Ontario.
- And the Progressive Conservatives who will kill those jobs.
He neglects to mention the thirds party, the New Democrats, who think they are very much in the race and who knows – stranger things have happened – in Quebec quite recently. And Ontario has elected an NDP government in the past and there are not very many who would say Bob Rae did more damage than Mike Harris when he formed a government.
 Liberal candidate Karmel Sakran now has an opponent he can run against. Up until now it has been Sakran and his treadmill, Look for statements from Sakran on a regular basis and read the fine print. Sakran is a lawyer – he writes that fine print. Sakran maintains “the choice on October 6th is really one between two very different visions for Ontario. One looks forward and is committed to building, and the other one wants to go backwards.”
Sakran noted that the Siemens Burlington plant on Appleby Line is in the process of creating 50 new jobs, thanks to the Liberal government’s clean energy economy. Siemens created the fifty jobs because there is a demand for the products they make. There is not really that much in the way of a link between government policy and a specific corporate decision. Siemens is a multi-national corporation – a provincial government policy is not going to shape that policy. Bit of a reality check needed Mr. Sakran.
Sakran adds that: “We’ll be using every avenue we can over the next few months to remind Ontarians what’s at stake in the next election. “Whether it’s the progress we’ve made rebuilding healthcare and education over the last eight years, or the 50,000 jobs in the emerging clean energy economy, Ontario Liberals are the only party with a clear plan to continue moving Ontario forward.”
The other two political parties (and there are two other parties Mr. Sakran) will have something to say about that and we can expect to hear from them in the near future.
 Every organization in the country is looking at some form of alternative energy whether it be solar arrays such as this one or wind turbines or geothermal; anything that will reduce dependency on nuclear generated power, gas fired power generation power plants or coal fired generation plants. The hunt is one for a cheaper source of energy and every political party will look for a way to let some of that “sunshine” fall on them. Read the fine print in their literature Mr. Sakran is however in the rather unique position of being able to talk about the serious problems at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital – everyone is interested to hear what he has to say and what he has to suggest in the way of resolving wait times at the hospital and just where we are on the hospitals proposed $300 million re-development plan.
Peggy Russell, the NDP candidate will have much to say. The progressive Conservatives have yet to progress to the point where they are ready to nominate a candidate. The only remaining declared candidate for the PC nomination (one fell on his sword because he says the party asked him to and the other had a change of heart) is whiling away his time with an individual game of Trivial Pursuit – which may well describe his political ambitions.
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By Staff
BURLINTON, ON June 27, 2011 Jane McKenna, a Burlington entrepreneur announced she would seek the Progressive Conservative nomination for the Burlington seat in the provincial legislature that is vacant now that Joyce Savoline has ended her term.
Long time Burlington resident, and currently the Director of New Business Development for PLAY Advertising, Jane is also an entrepreneur, recently launching her own company, Rainmaker Consulting.
The Tory standard bearers came out for McKenna in her announcement. “She is a born leader, an amazing promoter and truly a ‘dog with a bone’ on any project she takes on,” said Kathy Thomas, owner of the Bronze Frog Gallery and President of the Rotary Club of Burlington Central. “If Jane can’t get it done … it can’t be done.”
 A ward 1 candidate in the last municipal election McKenna has decided to move higher up the food chain and seeks the Burlington Progressive Conservative nomination. So far she is running against Brian Heagle who has been patiently waiting for an opportunity to rub the Liberal red off his hide. Mike Wallace, MP Burlington: “Jane McKenna is an intelligent, hard-working and high energy individual. I have known her for many years. She is an active and valuable volunteer in our community. Jane understands the needs of families and small business in Burlington. She will be a dynamic and effective voice for Burlington at Queen’s Park.”
Keith Strong: “Jane is a hardworking individual who always finishes what she starts. She is a dedicated professional who works well alone, but she is also an excellent team player. Jane leads by example. I am proud to have worked with Jane.”
There are now two announced progressive Conservative candidates for the Burlington seat. The Liberals nominated Karmel Sakran and the NDP nominated Peggy Russell.
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By Staff
 BURLINGTON, ON June 27, 2011 – Just a few days left to send in your nomination for someone whose garden you think should receive a Civic Rose Award. Deadline is June 30th – forms have to be post marked June 30 – wait a minute – there is a postal strike that won’t be completely over for a few days. What do I do now ?
Fear not, the Civic Rose Award group have a solution for you – send in your nomination electronically using the email address shown below.
The award is in its 32nd year, first awarded by the city’s Parks and Recreation department to recognize gardens that can be seen from the street that make our community the beautiful place it is.
Click on each picture to view the slideshow of 2010 winners
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There are households in Burlington that have a collection of the plaques that denote a winner and some years that see some very competitive gardening on some streets in the city. The 2010 winners are shown below.
If you want to nominate a neighbour, or yourself if you wish, click here to get the form and then send it electronically to bcrawards@yahoo.ca
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 24, 2011 – The Council Committee that accepted a report on the status of the Brant Street Pier did struggle with the information in the report and the process the city administration was going through – it wasn’t a pretty picture.
Some background: The humongous amount that has been put on the table is the city’s guestimate as to what it is going to cost to complete the Pier, or put another way, it is the amount the city is prepared to pay to have the job completed.
 Not much work done recently – and we won’t see any work done until the fall – and even then there won’t be people on the Pier with hammers and drills. Expect them on site in the Spring of 2012 – if the taxpayers haven’t run Council out of town. Several Council members wondered why the city would say what it is prepared to pay before they ask contractors to bid. One might expect the contractors who are going to bid to offer to do the job for just what the city said it is willing to pay.
City Manager Roman Martiuk explained that “it is the practice for cities to say what they have budgeted so that the construction industry knows we are serious.”
Tom Eichenbaum explained that the consultants involved in the prequalification work are winnowing down a list of 11 contractors who have expressed interest and will come up with a list of eight contractors who will be given a tender package.
 It will look just great when it is finished – now if we can find a way to get through the complaints that are going to come flooding in between now and then. The Mayor has visions of Fireworks from the Pier on Canada Day and during the Sound of Music in 2013. A tender package is the document sets out in minute detail what it is the city wants to buy from them. The contractors take that document and have six weeks to come back with their best offer for the job. The city will review the tenders and is then required to give the job to the contractor who comes forward with the lowest price. Will any one of the contractors that decide to tender come in below what the city has said it has budgeted? There are eight of them competing for the job and if they want it they have to have the lowest price. You know where the price is going to come in don’t you? Car dealers do it to you all the time – they call them “upgrades”.
What was interesting to watch during committee discussion was how little several of the Council members knew about the tendering process – and that includes the Mayor. They had all kinds of questions – which was good – but it might have been better had the asked for a Workshop to get fully briefed. It would have been fine with us if they had gone into closed session to do that.
 Our troubles began the day the crane went over and it has been angst and financial grief ever since. The city engineer, Eichenbaum, made a comment that we found astounding. He said that he was marginally involved with the selection of the contractor the first time around and that it was “fairly cursory” process and no one picked him up on it. To be fair the city had done work with Harm Schilthuis and Sons before and they perhaps felt that they could trust this company to complete the job. The forgot that Ronald Regan phrase: “Trust but verify.”
Well they are certainly verifying this time around and at considerable expense to the city given the cost of the two consulting firms brought in to see the engineering department through this situation, We don’t know yet what that additional cost is going to be nor do we know what the legal costs are going to amount to. Given the way our legal department tends to hide things we may never know.
Mayor Goldring wanted to be certain that we were not about to make another mistake because this is now on his plate, so he asked that there be a Staff Direction to review the tender process so that Council can “quantify and review the differences between what we did last time and what we are doing this time.” Those are questions the Mayor could have asked when he was the Council member for Ward 5.
The way city committees work is to react to reports that come from Staff. Mayor Goldring moved that the report be accepted along with its recommendations. In doing so he commented that “we are not out of the woods by any stretch”.
Part of what is going to keep this Council in the woods, and probably the woodshed with the taxpayers, is the discussion that took place around adding features to the Pier. You read that right – ADDING features – but only if they can be added without any additional costs. It seems people at City Hall believe there really is a free lunch.
 Mother nature created this nice little beach for us – and now the engineers want to construct a stairway from the deck to the water level. Why not just open up the anchor chain on the Promenade to the water level. What will you bet that there is an insurance reason for not being able to do that? Here is what they want to add. Again,, some background. Many people thought there would be provision and a place for people to tie up their boats. Nope, that was not in the plan. However, when the base part of the Pier was built the flow of water changed and the result is a small strip of sandy beach on the western side of the Pier right next to the beginning of the Spencer Park Promenade.
 That was a bit of a bonus Mother Nature gave us and the engineers have decided that it would be “nice” to have a small ramp from the top main deck of the Pier down to this small Beach and they drew into a set of plans what they had in mind. They did add that this would only be done if the bid from the contractor was within the budget the city has established. It seems that for city people the objective is to spend all the money and not come in well under the budget and effect a savings.
Councillor Jack Dennison made a significant point when he said “nobody can spend money like a municipality”. Well, Dennison and his six colleagues are the Council and they can, and in this instance, should say no.
There are some design problems with the Pier that is going to be built. They are small but they offer some insight into how this project was handled first time around. There are concerns with the height of the guard rail and the space at the bottom of the guard rail – they don’t want some toddler slipping through the edge and into the water some twenty feet below. Council committee got right down into the weeds on this one with Councillors Taylor and Dennison talking about how “kick plates” could be put in.
 The Pier was supposed to have “iconic” lights but a) there aren’t enough of them; b) they don’t make them anymore and we need at least three more and c) no one is sure where the ones we are supposed to have actually are. Figure that one out. The other problem was with the light standards which are apparently “iconic” – a much over used word these days. Twelve are needed and there are only nine and – are you ready for this – they don’t make them any more.
It gets better – they really don’t know where the original nine are. The hope is that they are somewhere – this is beginning to sound like a version of the Keystone Cops.
 The engineers thought a floating dock would be nice and they have just the place to put it. Dennison wants a much less expensive dock. Can we afford one at all? And there is more. The engineers want to put in a floating dock along side that natural beach that Mother Nature gave us and have talked to a company who has “just the thing” for us. Councillors Taylor and Dennison wanted to know why the city couldn’t get something similar to what Barangas on the Beach has in place. “It’s been there for years” explained Dennison. “I was looking at it recently and it’s just fine and it sits out on the lake and not tucked away in the lee of the Pier where it would be protected.” The engineers thought the city should have something a little more “substantial”. Dennison was right – they do know how to spend your money.
More yet folks. Turns out that the small stretch of land from the shore side end of the Pier to the beginning of the promenade wasn’t included in the original plan so something has to be done there and the thinking amongst the engineers was that a pathway identical in material to that used on the promenade should be built from the shore edge right up to the sidewalk level on Lakeshore. These are what Meed Ward used to call “nice to have’s” when she was running for Council.
When all these pretty little additions were being talk about there wasn’t a single word of indignation from Council – not even from Councillor Sharman, who does indignation real good.
Back to the money. The original funding sources for the $9,272,033. project budget was as follows
Senior government funding $4,356,230
Region of Halton $2,500,000
Burlington Hydro $ 100,000
Debentures $ 423,639
Park Development Charges Reserve Fund $ 46,000
Park Dedication Reserve Fund $ 242,964
Capital Purposes Reserve Fund $1,603,200
It is doubtful that Mike Wallace would succeed in getting the federal government to just forget about the money they gave us if we tore the Pier down – but what the heck – it wouldn’t hurt to ask. I mean we did return a Conservative to office, so they do owe us something.
The Region of Halton isn’t going to give us a break – if they did all the other municipalities in the Region would want the same break. I suppose if we said they had to have a Pier before they could get a break – naw that’s not going to work..
We own Burlington Hydro so maybe they would just write it off in return for our running their logo on the city web site.
Debentures: At least once a year the city, through the Region goes to the market to raise funds for specific projects. The Pier was one of the projects and that’s where this $423,639. came from. Maybe we should have gotten more?
The $46,000 we got from the Park Development Charges Reserve Fund, maybe they could just bury the amount and forget it. Same with the $242,964 and the $1,603,200 they was taken from different reserve funds. It’s our money so we can’t give it back to ourselves – can’t someone in accounting just erase the number from the ledger or cover it with white out. Isn’t that what accountants do? So, perhaps all is not lost
But it isn’t over yet – all the Committee did was accept the report – it does go to a full Council meeting July 4, where the final decision gets made. Will hundreds of annoyed taxpayers show up and demand that the city get real.
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By Staff
HALTON REGIONAL POLICE HEADQUARTERS – June 23, 2011 – Thursday is training day and for Juno and Constable Jamie Mitchell of the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS). The Constable and the police dog are in training one day of every week.
“We do things over and over so that the dog never forgets what the commands are and we know we can rely on him to do what he was brought in to do”, said Mitchell.
 Juno does not let that rope go until Constable Mitchell tells him to. And then he reacts instantly. Good dog. The officer has complete control of the dog and while the animal is viscous and focused and he wasn’t prepared to let go of the rope the Constable was tugging at – one simple word – Kennel – and the dog slipped to the ground and walked directly to the back door of the police car and jumped in No whimpering, no looking back, no looking for a reward. A simple direct command and an immediate response.
Constable Mitchell maintains that dogs know 50% of what they do instinctively “They either have it or they don’t have it, and those that do become good police dogs”, he explained.
Juno, was wearing an orange vest because he had a pace maker on while he was being tested for reactions to different foods.
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 23, 2011 – Well, now we know. The city has budgeted $15,070,000 for the construction of the Pier at the foot of Brant Street; $3,474,000 more than was projected for the first attempt to get a landmark pier built.
The increased amount is what the city has budgeted but is not necessarily what it will cost to have the Pier completed. The city has pre-qualified 11 construction firms and expects that list to be cut down to eight firms that will have been pre-qualified to build.
Once the pre-qualification work has been completed the city will then issue tender packages and the pre-qualified firms will submit their bids later in the year.
The increased cost was a blow to this Council who had nothing to do with the development of the original plan to build the Pier. Four of the seven Council members, Councillors Craven, Taylor, Dennison and Goldring when he was a Council member, did sit on the Council that made the decision to build a Pier. Mayor Goldring pointed out that this project has been in the works for three terms of office. It started during the term of Mayor MacIsaac, got into construction while Cam Jackson was Mayor and is now in the hands of Rick Goldring who has to clean up the mess and make the best of what is on the table. Tearing down what has been built is an option but it will cost more to tear down what is in place than it will to complete the project
 It is probably going to cost an additional $3.5 million (for a total of $15,070,000) to complete the construction of the Pier at the foot of Brant Street which is reported to be less than the cost of tearing down what has been built. Many of the people in the City’s Engineering department who started this project are no longer on staff. Many in Burlington have said the Pier should be torn down. It will cost as much to tear down what has been built as it will cost to complete the project because the city would have to refund the various grants it has been given to the city.
Mayor Goldring fully expects there to be considerable reaction and public anger to the increase in costs. To his credit he has been firm in ensuring that this time the city administration does a better job of qualifying the firms that want to tender on the project.
The total cost of the Pier is now budgeted for $15,070,000 and that does not include what the city has spent on legal advise to sue the original contractor who walked off the job and the firm that designed the Pier. Those two cases are working their way through the judicial system and it will be years before there is a decision. The city could in time recover much of the cost and be awarded damages but this Council will not be in office when that happens.
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 23, 2011 -“The mantra” explained Councillor John Taylor was “no surprises” The comment was made during a portion of the Budget and Corporate Services Committee meeting at which Current Budget Variance reporting was being discussed. These meetings fall into the “watching paint dry” category but this one was in a league of its own.
Late last year Council got a severe jolt when they learned there was going to be a surplus in excess of $9 million – which while good news that allowed a lot of problems to be taken care of, nevertheless reflected really sloppy accounting.
Senior staff had good explanations that Council accepted. They wanted to ensure that this type of thing didn’t happen again.
Municipalities have access to some very advanced and sophisticated software and allow, if properly set up, for almost instantaneous data that tells senior staff if they have gotten the revenue they expected and if expenses were in line with the budget.
 Acting Executive Director Joan Ford has to deal with a Council that brings more financial heft than past Council’s to the Chamber. They will want her to sing different notes in the months ahead. Acting Executive Director Finance Joan Ford explained that processes have been improved to make financial information available in a more timely schedule. When there is a variance on either the revenue (your tax dollars) and expenses of more than $100,000. all kinds of red flags were to go up and reports made.
Councillor Dennison said he didn’t think the focus should be on an amount but rather than on the percentage of variance. A variance of $100,000 on a multi-million dollar project isn’t that worrisome but a variance of 15% on that multi-million dollar project matters.
Ms Ford undertook to ensure that the % of a variance was a key element in her reports.
What was disturbing – (is that the right word ?) was that financial data for the period ending June 30th isn’t available until the end of August – and that seems like a long time.
Every household opens the envelope with the credit card statement and knows within six days after the end of the month what is due. So why can’t city hall with all the software and computing power it has not get reports out with ten days of the close of a month?
The finance department produces semi annual reports and needs at least two months to get data into the hands of the people who make the decisions. They also produce a quarterly – top line report that gets into the hands of the decision makes “in about a month or two”.
The little guy who takes in the dry cleaning and shirt laundering that every member of council and staff spend some of their money on knows by the end of the day what his sales are and if they were high enough and sometimes all they have is a pencil and a pocket calculator.
 Councillor Craven tends to look for the smaller but nevertheless telling detail and has asked for data on the number of staff vacancies. He doesn’t want a repeat of the gapping fiasco of last year. Someone on this Council should be asking for a very detailed explanation as to why numbers aren’t available within two weeks of each month end. General Motors can do it; the banks do it and they work in billions and in several different currencies.
Councillors Taylor, Sharman and Dennison all know how critical a financial report is. Hopefully their experience and financial acumen will result in their insisting on more timely financial reporting.
Taylor put it perfectly when he said – “early warming please” – “be honest and no more waiting until the end of the year.”
One of the reasons for the surplus last years was the number of hires that were not made even though funds for the hire were in the budget. Councillor Craven wanted a bit of a heads up and asked Roy Male, Director of Human Resources to let him know how many vacancies there were and which vacancy was the oldest.
This Council is going to actually count the beans and not leave that task to just the bean counters.
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By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 22, 2011 – There it was on the agenda – the job description and work plan for what the city is going to call the Public Involvement Coordinator (PIC). Think in terms of a ‘superman’ or ‘superwoman’ with the political skills of Winston Churchill and you might have some sense of what this person is going to be asked to do under a two year contract.
The PIC position is one of the recommendations that came out of the Shape Burlington report and was perhaps the most significant of the eight recommendations and certainly the one closest to the late John Boich’s heart. The job will be a very politically charged one and getting the right person is not going to be easy.
 General Manager Corporate Services Kim Phillips has been part of the community engagement file from the day it was created. She is now at the point where Council is ready to approve the job description, work plan and pay scale. Two council members thought she would be the ideal candidate for the job. THAT isn’t going to happen. Council wasn’t in full agreement on just what the Coordinator would be doing. Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor wanted this coordinator to be available to help him set up his neighbourhood council by October. Councillor Sharman saw the job as one where there would be significant leadership – coordinators are not traditionally leaders and they certainly don’t develop policy or strategy; they coordinates things that other people created.
The coordinator is expected to “foster and co-ordinate enhancements to citizen involvement in Burlington” with an intent to:
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Implement and support a citizen engagement charter (which the city doesn’t have yet. It would take a full two years just to create a charter).
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Enhance community development
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Foster information sharing through social media
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Focus staff training and effort on meaningful citizen involvement.
Everyone and no one is going to want to involve this coordinator. The Council membershave a political turf they want to foster and protect. The position will come under.
Corporate Services management with Kim Phillips being the key person on this file.
Shaping Burlington, the community group that created itself to ensure that the Shape Burlington recommendations were implemented spoke favourable of the job description which they apparently had some input on. They did have a small concern over some of the wording and wanted to know if the “civic engagement coordinator” is actually the Public Involvement Coordinator. The question wasn’t that clearly put and was never answered.
Shaping Burlington doesn’t seem to have any concern over the title the job has been given. One would have thought there would be an appreciation for the difference
between a coordinator and a person who is going to write and recommend policy and develop process plans to implement the policy once it has made its way through Committee and Council.
The work plan for the coordinator is significant. It includes:
- Content, format, measurement and implementation of a Citizen’s Engagement
- Charter. The charter by the way is to include an inventory of decisions made by the city and the level of public participation planned for each type of decision.
Does that sound like a report card? We held xx number of meetings and therefore the citizens were engaged. Burlington has yet to fully understand that data is not information.
- Expand modes of communicating and sharing information (fewer CLOSED SESSIONS of Council would be a good place to start.)
- The city wants to make more use of electronic services with enhanced use of social media for dialogue and consultation. (Are we watching what is happening in Vancouver with the Stanley Cup riot – interaction is people talking to people, people meeting with people. Real dialogue)
- Advocate and champion community engagement – John Boich just smiled.
- Provide advice to staff and Council on engagement matters. (The coordinator will first have to gain the confidence of staff and Council. There are significantly different levels of buy in on this idea at both levels.
- Provide staff` training
- Establish engagement expectations and measures in consultation with Council – the ability to herd cats will help here.
 Forceful and direct as ever Councillor Sharman, in the center of the picture – blue shirt - makes his point at a Strategy meeting – did the same thing at a Council Committee meeting discussing the Public Involvement Coordinator. Sharman wants a high level strategic thinker who can create strong processes that deliver. Has he set himself up for a disappointment? Reporting relationships have yet to be fully worked out – and with this position that is not going to be an easy task but Council seemed to be prepared to hand it all over to Kim Phillips and let her manage it. There was the sense that Phillips herself was just the kind of person Council wanted for the job. Too many drops in the pay grade for Phillips to even look at this one.
Speaking of pay grades – the job description is close to complete and it now goes to the rating committee which determines which pay grade this job belongs in – with the suggestion that this would fit into grade 11 that ranges from$70,103 to $87,629. Clearly the coordinator isn’t going to make the Sunshine list (all those who earn more than $100,000. get their name placed on a list that is then published each year).
Councillor Sharman commented that there are a number of significant, challenging matters to be dealt with in terms of citizen engagement. “Time have changed” he explained and “the key factor for this person is to be able to think differently and work differently”. Sharman felt the person hired had to be able to “create strategy and have some background in changing the game.”
Mayor Goldring mentioned what he had learned from the Neighbourhood group in Portland – they told me we wanted a strategic thinker, a top ranked person with great process design skills who wants to empower others.” Is this what Burlington really wants or are both Council and senior staff saying what they think people want to hear. At a top rate of $87,000 + a year (plus the free parking) the city is not going to get someone with the more than five years experience needed.
 Councillor usually casts a wary eye on people explaining an idea. Open minded, yes, - but she always wants to see the details and insists that it make a difference to the people and is fiscally responsible. The words “Product of Burlington” are stamped all over the council member. Councillor Lancaster wanted a “driving force behind unique changes, someone who can bring everyone together and value one another.”
Councillor Taylor said this was an important job so” get it going”. He wants the person in place to help him set up an independent community council that will be up and running by October. Don’t be the farm on that one John.
There are so many different views on just what the coordinator is supposed to do that we may end up with no one being satisfied. The job calls for someone to walk all over nearly everyone’s turf and get the city to really allow for true civic engagement – which we have yet to fully define.
The coordinator will report to a steering committee that will hopefully be prepared to handle all the noses that are going to get bent out of shape during the first few months.
In discussing the qualifications many felt were needed, reference was made to a university degree and some understanding of municipal government. Councillor Sharman seemed to be a little closer to the mark when he said the person hired had to be a strategic thinker able to design processes that will allow people to be involved in the design making process.
Meed Ward said she was very supportive of public involvement. She is the Council member with the most active ward level organization. She holds regular meetings and gets real input from her people who meet once a month. “We want someone who can give us support and guidance on what public engagement will look like. Someone who can give us assistance.”
Sharman, one of the Council members who was involved in the creation of the Shape Burlington report, said “the person hired has to be someone who is seen as a leader by both the community, Council and senior staff”. The questions is: will Council and senior staff really let the coordinator lead?
Craven, who doesn’t say all that much these days, had the one comment: “My confidence is in Ms Phillips”.
Dennison didn’t have much to say. Yet he is the council member with the weakest ward level organization.
During the discussion there was not a word from the city manager. At times he looked a little confused – worried perhaps, because it is his desk the proverbial will land on after it has gone through the fan.
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BURLINGTON, ON July 4, 2011 – There are politicians and there are policy wonks. No one has to tell you what a politician is – a policy wonk is the kind of person who immerses themselves in documents that only a monk could really enjoy – but policy wonks are the exception to that rule. It is when you have a politician who is also a policy wonk – now that is a specimen and Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman is most certainly a policy wonk and is working at becoming a politician.
