BURLINGTON, ON. March 1, 2013 Mayor Goldring has done something Burlington hasn’t seen for some time and that is the Inspire Series he has sponsored for the past two years.
This city has had an opportunity to listen to nationally respected speakers who have talked to residents about health issues (Andre Picard) and what hospitals of the future will need to do; planning (Ken Greenberg) and how developers can work with communities to plan the kind of growth everyone wants.
The most recent speaker, Pamela Blais filled the Studio Theatre at the Performing Arts Centre last night. These events were part of the platform the Mayor got himself elected on and he has certainly delivered.
Focused and direct is probably the best description one could apply to Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman.
Then some questions were raised by other council members as to how all this was being paid for. It’s not quite sure where this issue was raised, it certainly didn’t come up at a council committee meeting. It was done behind closed doors somewhere. We do know that it was raised by Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman.
Burlington’s Mayor thinks through what he does and chooses to err on the side of caution. Polite and as straight as they come – he will seek direction when he feels he needs it. On his sponsorship he needs and should expect some comment from his council members.
The Mayor, quite correctly, decided to get in front of this parade, and tell the public how the events were paid for, He produced an exceptionally detailed report setting out his “level of participation, the funds raised and their intended purpose.” This is exactly what a public official is supposed to do.
Here is part of what he released in the way of information and data.
The Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC ) has developed a number of events as part of their program to generate net revenue that is used exclusively by BEDC to cover the costs of their operating and marketing activities as well as provide networking, educational and industry resources to the business community. These activities align with the Strategic Plan direction of Prosperity.
Included are a four – part luncheon series and a golf tournament. These latter two events have been operating for several years, with the use of the title “Mayor” in the description of the events, and have had participation from the two past mayors as well as myself.
The summary of revenue and expenses for the noted activities are shown below, along with a summary of the use of funds. The 2011 figures are taken from BEDC’s audited financial statements that are submitted to the City each year.
The 2012 figures are based on their preliminary year-end statements that will be audited in March 2013
BEDC Luncheon Series (Four events annually)
In additional to operating and marketing activities, funds were used for the “Cost of Doing Business Downtown Study” , Waterdown – Plains Development Concept .-2012
2012 Revenue Raised: $74,630
2012 Activity Costs:$39,372
Net revenue: $35,258
In additional to operating and marketing activities, funds were used for redesigning the
Website.
2011 Revenue Raised: $107,350
2011 Activity Costs:$57,958
Net revenue: $49,392
BEDC Golf Tournament The Mayor’s Annual Golf Classic was initiated by a former Mayor in 2005 to support funding for BEDC’s economic development programs and scholarship funds.
These scholarships are presented in partnership with the Burlington Community Foundation, McMaster University, Mohawk College, The Centre for Skills Development & Training and CIBC, to Burlington post – secondary students for academic excellence and to assist with continuing their academic studies.
For both 2011 and 2012, eleven students received scholarships.
2011 Revenue $103,455
2011 Activity Expense $47,093
2011 Net Revenue $ 56,361
2012 Revenue Raised: $102,030
2012 Activity Costs: $42,081
2012 Net revenue: $59,949
The Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) Masquerade Ball
Purpose: This fundraising event, formally known as The Mayor’s Gala, is used to raise money for BCF operations and special projects. The BCF Board of Directors assumed total responsibility for this fundraising gala in 2010 and ran the first Masquerade Ball in October 2010 with no input from the Mayor at the time.
The sponsorship funds raised were sought by a sponsorship sub-committee at the Burlington Community Foundation. In 2011 and 2012, I supported the events as the Honourary Chair, signing sponsorship request letters and providing minimal sponsorship assistance through phone calls.
A portion of the net proceeds were allocated as follows:-
2011: $25,000 to assist in the launch of a graduate internship program which became innovateBurlington, facilitated through the Burlington Economic Development Corporation.
2012: $25,000 to create an opportunity fund administered by the Burlington Community Foundation to support graduating secondary school students in their career – focused endeavours, providing successful applicants with opportunities that otherwise may not be made available to them. The fund has an initial focus on youth from lower income backgrounds who may be receiving social assistance and/or living in subsidized housing.
The Mayor’s Inspire Burlington Speakers Series
Purpose: Provide opportunities for Burlington residents to attend, free of charge, educational speaking engagements that feature guest speakers presenting on a variety of subjects that are of interest and relevant to residents and to the City’s Strategic Plan directions: Vibrant Neighbourhoods, Prosperity and Excellence in Governance.
Funding: Corporate sponsorship has been sought to cover the costs associated with running these events: speakers’ fees , transportation and travel, venue rentals, AV requirements. Additional in-kind sponsorship is provided by local media for advertising and promotion of events; estimated at $7,500 per year.
All events are cost-recovery and no revenue income is generated. Any net loss is covered through the Mayor’s discretionary budget for Special Projects. These are not charitable events. Thank yous and corporate logo recognition is provided to the sponsors and no charitable receipts were issued.
One Dream Workshop
Purpose: To bring a group of community leaders together that represent a broad spectrum of the community with the goal of defining an over-arching dream for the community that aligns with the existing Strategic Plan – Burlington Our Future. An outside consultant was engaged to facilitate this workshop which was held at the Royal Botanical Gardens over a three – day period in November 2012.
Sponsorship funds were raised to cover the costs of the facilitator, venue and workshop expenses.
Funds were provided by 11 local corporations. These sponsors will be acknowledged as supporters of the Inspire Burlington Speakers Series for 2013.
Any net loss is covered through the Mayor’s discretionary budget for Special Projects. These are not charitable events. Thank you letters and corporate logo recognition is provided with Inspire Burlington to the sponsors and no charitable receipts were issued.
Inspire Burlington One Dream Workshop
Venue rental: RBG $5,169.01
Consultants’ Fees: The Secretan Centre* $50,880.00
Consultants travel expenses $555.73
Workshop materials $61.06
Pre-meeting with facilitator $280.81
Post-meeting with participants $660.58
Total $57,607.19
Editors note: $5000 to use RBG facilities sounds a little steep.
Sponsorship
Burlington Electricity Services Inc. $2,500.00; Union Gas $5,000.00; Pioneer Petroleum $5,000; Molinaro Group $5,000; Emshih Developments; $5,000; Brady Benefits, $5,000; SB Partners, $5,000; AXYZ Automation, $5,000; StressCrete, $5,000; KPMG, $5,000; L3 Wescam, $5,000 and Cogeco, $5,000 for a sponsorship total $57,5000
The loss on the event was $107.19
The problem in the mind of at least one council membership was the appropriateness of asking for sponsorship funds from a corporation that is owned by the city – Burlington Electricity Services. Less problematic is the $5000 given by AXYZ Automation. The president of that organization is the President of the Economic Development Corporation that is currently being reviewed by city council and asked to take a significantly different approach to the way they do business.
While Burlington is in love with how polite it is there are times when a strong point of view has to be put forward and that’s a little difficult to do when the guy you’re frowning at put up five big ones for your pet project.
What the Mayor did with his report to Council is exactly what he should have done. It is now up to Council to have a debate on what a Mayor should do. Burlington doesn’t want the mess Toronto has dealt with in the past three months.
While still a little wooden in his public performances the city’s Mayor preps himself and looks to his staff for support. Is he getting what he needs?
Unfortunately your city Council voted to file and receive the Mayor’s report and you wouldn’t’ have heard a word about it had we not published the details. Ward 2 Councillor Meed Ward did comment on the Mayor’s report in her Newsletter.
This is an important issue. Influence is sometimes more valuable than cash and the Mayor, by xx of his office, is in influential guy.
Rick Goldring never wants to tarnish that reputation. Council needs to openly discuss his report and provide him with some guidance.
Councillor Craven put it very well when he said: “we don’t want a return to a period of time when a Mayor used his fund-raising ability to do so for purely political purposes.
Rick Goldring sponsors the Inspire Series because he thinks it is good for the city. If showing what kind of a Mayor you are is political – we say – bring on more of this kind of stuff.
This item will get all of two seconds at Council on March 19th – still time for someone to delegate and suggest this issue be given more air.
BURLINGTON, ON. March 1, 2013 What does the budget Burlington’s city council, sitting in committee, tell us?
Well, it looks as if we are now in show business and that transit is getting a boost. Those are the immediate impacts. Longer term we have at least done something to bring a new focus and hopefully some hustle to the economic development side of the way this city is going to grow.
The show business part of the spend the city did, relates to the amount of money being put into the Performing Arts Centre and the Burlington Art Centre. Neither of these in themselves are going to produce any revenue – both will be a constant draw on the public purse.
What the city has to do is ensure that both are vibrant enough to draw the audiences they need and that the spin-off from each provides the economic activity that will result in a more robust downtown.
While that might seem obvious on the surface – it hasn’t been clear to the Performing Arts management team, who, knowing they were going hat in hand to city council weren’t able to get useful data into their hands until Monday morning of this week. The Performing Arts Board made its pitch on the Tuesday – which gave council members and the public less than 48 hours to pour over the 16 pages of very useful data.
Transit Director Mike Spicer, in the yellow shirt, shows Mayor Goldring what he wants in the way of new buses. The Mayor and council obliged and gave Spicer the go ahead to buy smaller buses.
When Mike Spicer, Director of Transit appeared before a Community Development Committee on Wednesday evening to delegate on the acquisition of new buses he was asked if he could merge two documents and get them to council members for the budget meeting the next morning. Spicer went home and started work, his key staff members went home and started work and advised General Manager Scott Stewart what they were doing and where they were going.
They all gathered early Thursday morning, went over their numbers and passed along the document council needed. Dedicated professionals doing what they do well. They have the confidence of senior management and council – and as a result they got their funding and then some.
It’s hard to fathom why it took so long for the PAC people to get their data into the hands of the people who have to pay the bills that the PAC racks up. Time for an attitude adjustment over there.
The data isn’t bad but some of the rationale in the report they produced sounded like a bunch of people feeling sorry for themselves and sounding like they felt they were being put upon.
The document starts with:
We have been required to deliver higher numbers:
Increase our revenues
Increase attendance
Increase opportunities for local NFP clients (NFP is not for profit)
This industry demands a high commitment and dedication of staff resources to operate a 6-7 days per week operation where days can start at 7:00 am and end after midnight.
Every word of that is true – except that the PAC operation hasn’t been anywhere near 6-7 days a week. In 2012 they were operational 209 days.
The PAC management argued for and were given the funding to hire a sales associate. It was put in place for two years.
While several council members didn’t really buy the argument that an additional technical person was needed they went along with that funding request as well.
In asking for the sales associates funding PAC management explained the sales associate would: Engage the community to generate new business which will increase attendance and revenues.
Develop and nurture relationships with new and existing rental partners
Promote group ticket sales
Implement initiatives by working directly with the community to break down barriers to access and make sure we’ve made them aware of our services and available opportunities.
BPAC Executive director Brenda Heatherington talks up her operation with a supporter.
There isn’t a person in this city who doesn’t know all about the Performing Arts Centre – the problem is with what they know – management over there hasn’t gotten it’s message out. In a fondly remembered movie Paul Newman said to a sheriff who was standing there with a shot-gun in his hands as Newman called out: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” That kind of sums up where things stand with the PAC and the city. They need a more effective spokesperson.
In their report they trotted out a couple of equations. Try these on for size:
I suspect that both Councillors Dennison and Sharman sputtered a bit when they saw those equations.
What PAC management was trying to say was that projected revenue for 2013 is $368,675, with ancillary revenue projected at $320,810
Actual revenue for 2012 was $275,813 and actual ancillary revenue came in at $273,783
Cost of the sales associate was set at $63,600.
PAC management seems to see a 120% return as acceptable. All they are bringing in is 20% more than their cost. There isn’t a sales manager in this city that would accept a sales representative bringing in just 20% more than the cost of hiring the person.
Councillor Taylor got it right when he said the funding approved in the budget was conditional on the review of a new business plan from the PAC – “and I don’t mean a 10 minute delegation” added Taylor. This one is going to be a getting into the mud with management and cleaning this mess up.
BURLINGTON, ON February 28, 2013 “The impact per $100,000 CVA for an urban residential property is $16.32 with respect to the 4.46% city portion.” Those were the words straight from the horse’s mouth – Director of Finance Joan Ford, who shepherded city council through a marathon city council committee meeting at which the budget was basically set.
It will go to a city council meeting and be cast in stone. All kinds of detail to come but the basics are: Performing Art Centre got their money $225,000 to cover the short fall and money for two years for a technician (expect that to become full-time) and money for a sales associate who is going to get behind and push to ramp up the sales numbers – especially on the rental side where the Centre fell very flat last year.
The Burlington Art Centre got the funding they needed to recast themselves and to figure out who they want to be, where they want to go and then how they will get there. They didn’t get the chunk of change they needed to pay their staff what they felt they were worth. That’s an ongoing problem they are going to have to deal with – and it might result in their losing some key people.
Finance department staffers excelled once again not only with the detail and the way they were able to grab numbers out of the air when questions were asked but with the way they presented the data so that council members could see the impact on the tax levy as they debated different sending requests.
Burlington Economic Development got the money they needed to come up with an organization that can attract new business to the city. Burlington has reached residential build out – there ain’t no more land to put those housing projects on – unless we try to go north of Dundas- 407 and that is not going to happen.
So – find the analysts who can figure out what there is for us out there and then put a marketing genius in place who can do the work that has to be done to make Burlington a city that at least gets some serious attention.
Our Mayor can’t help himself when he says we are the greatest place in this province to live in but he has not managed to attract people to the city. In some municipalities, the Mayor is the #1 sales person and works the phones tirelessly to let people know why Burlington deserves a really close look.
That’s not the kind of Mayor we have – a Lee Iacocca he ain’t – so the city will have to find someone who can do the selling.
Transit got basically all it asked for – but you dear transit user are also getting what you didn’t ask for and that is a rate increase – 8% across the board with special situations we will set out for you later.
The fire department got an additional mechanic so that the fire trucks will be able to get out the door when the fire alarm is sounded.
The city manager has a pool of money that he dispenses to each department that is used as merit pay for staff that go above and beyond. And many of them do. The crew that pulled together the presentation of all the financial data, deserved no less than a double scotch or a bag of cookies – whichever they preferred, for their efforts today.
The ‘bean counters’ set up a computer that handled transactions and then fed the data into a second computer that projected the information on a large screen and also onto the monitors sitting in front of staff and council members.
Every time a decision was made to spend dollars the number would appear on the screen showing how much was spent and what that impact was on the tax bill.
It was a tough, tough day for Councillor John Taylor. He sits on the board of the Burlington Art Centre and is passionate about the operation and the staff but he wasn’t able to get council to go along with an allocation that would allow Art Centre management to correct the significant imbalance between city hall staff and Art Centre staff salaries.
At around 2:30 pm it Councillor Taylor who was chairing the meeting began to lose it. He was deeply hurt when he realized the Art Centre staff were not going to get what he believed they deserved and that weighed on him. He was tired and dis-spirited and suggested the meeting adjourn and come back to it tomorrow. His colleagues were not on for that and suggested he turn the chair over to Councillor Meed Ward and she ran the show for the balance of the meeting.
There were no delegations – this was council members dealing with the projects they wanted to see go forward. Then Councillor Craven snuck one in and asked if the Director of Museums could plead for $7000 for a curator. She got it – and Craven broke every rule in the Procedural Manual to pull that one off.
It was sort of like driving through a super market aisle and dropping items into your cart and seeing a screen with your total spend on it. Throughout the day – the session went from 9:30 to 4:00 pm with a 25 minute lunch break – the number went up, then down, but mostly up. As the budget session was near its end council members looked at the numbers and wondered where they could cut. They had given out a lot of money, which they felt was needed and that old shave and pave spend kept coming back. Councillor Dennison was merciless at getting every dollar he could grab. He argued, again and again, that every dollar spent now was $3 saved down the road.
Council decided to take the $2.2 million in surplus from last year and put it in the tax rate stabilization fund and transfer funds to accounts to pay the bills out of that account. The spending done amounted to $1,938,360 which when taken out of the $2.2 million surplus they had to play with – there wasn’t much to leave on the table. Some would treat the difference as a rounding number.
In the closing minutes of the meeting Mayor Goldring wondered what the city was going to do for what he called “opportunity” money; those situations that come along and shouldn’t be passed on.
BURLINGTON, ON. February 28, 2013 Transit is going to get a lot more attention in this year’s budget that it did last year when close to half a million dollars was sucked out of transit and put into upgrading roads.
Then a funny thing happened – city council and staff learned that the people of Burlington did care about transit – they had made it their number three concern in an Environics poll done for the city.
That was all it took for the bureaucrats to start looking at transit more seriously.
Having a new Director of Transit in place didn’t hurt either. Mike Spicer took over from Donna Shepherd who retired at the end of last year and has gone on to retirement.
Every manager brings his or her own style to the job – Spicer is different.
The specifics on the budget will get debated at a daylong session Thursday. At a session of the Community Services Committee Wednesday night we got a peek as to what the transit people are thinking – in a phrase – more buses and a fleet that will have more flexibility.
Burlingtonians can expect to see smaller 25 passenger busses cruising along city street if the excited talk coming out of the mouth of the Director of transit is to be believed.
While nothing is cast in stone – the gist of what is planned is the purchase of 12 – eight metre “cut-away” buses that will carry 25 passengers: 19 seated, six standing.
The information was in an Alternative Vehicle Acquisition that feeds into a larger report on transit that will be debated on Thursday.
The words fare increase are going to creep into the budget debates.
What was interesting was the approach council took as it met in committee. They looked as if they were prepared to sign the purchase order on the spot before Councillor Taylor piped up and said: “the public hasn’t seen these buses and we haven’t done any trial runs or testing”. Taylor wanted to see something in the way of community input, to which everyone nodded – ‘uhuh we want input from the public’. Had Taylor not made a comment – my sense was that the public wasn’t going to have much in the way of input on this decision. Meed Ward, the traditional champion of the people’s interests didn’t say a word.
The 8 metre, 25 passenger bus that looks like it is going to be cruising around the streets of the city sometime in 2014 can be seen in the photo.
BURLINGTON, ON February 27, 2013 A city hall staff report recently advised that the Pump House on Lakeshore Road might have a new tenant and a local paper reported on the news quoting Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven extensively.
The city is close to making a decision on who the operator of the pump house will be for a seasonal purpose – could be operational as early as June of this year – maybe before the pier.
What was interesting was that Councillor Craven did not once mention that the initiative to do something with the Pump House came out of the now sunset Waterfront Access Protection Advisory Committee (WAPAC) of which he was a member.
WAPAC had its problems and there has been considerable controversy over the decision to shut it down but it did make some useful decisions and put a couple of serious matters on the table.
From the left: Nick Leblovic, chair of WAPAC, Michael O’Sullivan, Ken Harris, Jeff Martin, Donna Ankrett and Gary Scobie. The Pump House will get used by the public because of these people.
There are members of WAPAC who deserve a lot of credit for pushing and pushing hard to have WAPAC do something. Their success in getting the Pump House recommendation to the point where it was ready to go to a council committee – taken there by Councillor Craven, deserves some recognition by Craven.
When the WAPAC people did their tour of the Pump House councillor Craven suggested it might serve as an official residence for the Ward 1 Councillor.
It is a mistake to climb the heights on the shoulders of others without remembering who it was who helped you get there.
Jeff Martin, Ken Harris, Michael O’Sullivan, Les Armstrong, Gary Scobie and Donna Ankrett deserve much of the credit for getting this issue to council.
It is unfair and inconsiderate for Councillor Craven to take all the credit in the newspaper interview. He did mention that WAPAC was the group that got this to the Council table at a committee meeting this evening. Hopefully Craven will now push for some serious action on the part of the city to move the Windows on the Lake file and resolve some of the issues that surround just where people can walk along the edge of the lake. There are parts of the waterfront that are public property, supposedly accessible by any citizen, that is effectively blocked by private property owners who don’t want the public wandering anywhere near their lakefront land.
Time for the city to get on with this file – Councillor Craven might be just the person to do this.
Councillor Meed Ward who has her own rump group that is called Burlington Waterfront Committee has this item on their agenda. Fat chance of her and Councillor Craven working together on this one.
BURLINGTON, ON February 28, 2013 During the middle of last week, before the noon hour a break and enter occurred to a home on Cavendish Drive in Burlington.
The front door to the home was physically forced open and the individual responsible removed numerous items of jewellery from within.
A timely response and police investigation resulted in the arrest of two persons at a nearby Burlington residence and the recovery of the stolen items.
Further investigative efforts, including the execution of a search warrant at a Burlington motel led to the discovery of additional stolen items from other break-ins and locker thefts in the Burlington area.
While police have located owners for some of the seized stolen property, they are requesting persons who may have had items stolen in the preceding four months to contact Detective Donna Whittaker at 905 825-4747 x2312.
ACCUSED: Vezio CARDULLO, 31 of Burlington charged with: Break, Enter and Theft (three counts), Breach of Probation (five counts), Breach of Recognizance (five counts), Possession of Stolen Property, Possession of Break-in Instruments and Theft under $5000.
ACCUSED: Christine SMERDON, 57 of Burlington charged with Break, Enter and Theft.
We erroneously reported that the $50,000 cost of the Mayor’s One Dream event was paid for bu Emshih Developments. The event was paid for by 12 organizations of which one was Emshih Developments whp donated $5000. The Molinaro Group, another developer with projects before the city also donated $5000.
Our apologies to the Mayor for the mistake we made.
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 27, 2013 We are back into Inspire mode with the Mayor announcing there will be a series of speakers during 2013.
This next speaker Dr. Pamela Blais to speak to us about Perverse Cities: Hidden Subsidies, Wonky Policy and Urban Sprawl.
Blais is a city planner and principal of Toronto-based Metropole Consultants. Her professional focus is in creating better cities by integrating planning, economic and environmental thinking in the analysis of urban issues, urban design and the development of innovative policy. She is particularly interested in understanding key forces that drive urban development patterns, and how to shape urban form so as to maximize its ability to effectively meet current and future trends. Her approach to urban development issues aims to be strategic and integrated.
Will we hear some really good ideas from Pamela Blais at the Mayor’s Inspire event? In the past a number of his council members have been notably absent from these events.
In her twenty year career as an urban planning consultant, her work has included reurbanisation strategies and research; long-term regional growth planning; municipal economic development strategies; innovative land use policies for industrial areas; urban regeneration strategies; sustainable urban form, community design and infrastructure; and research on the impact of technology on urban form.
Blais has a Master of Science degree in Planning from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in urban economic geography from the London School of Economics. She is a Registered Professional Planner, and a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners.
Those are pretty good credentials. Blais will be the eighth speaker in what is a very impressive series – the mayor is to be congratulated on this initiative. By sponsoring these events he has upped the quality of debate and discussion in this city – something that was badly needed.
There is a concern however. When the Mayor Goldring brought in Lance Secretan that encounter resulted in what was at first called a Defining the Dream initiativethat then got renamed to: One Dream – which appears to have died – at last we’ve not heard anything since the Mayor announced he would be getting back to the community late in January.
The initiative appears to have died after some $50,000 was spent pulling together some 30 people who weren’t able to get past square one.
All that full day event saw was our MPP, Jane McKenna going after the editor of the Burlington Post for the way she handled news items. Had former Mayor Walter Mulkewich not been in the room and managed to get a grip on the way things were going the meeting might well have melted down.
The Mayor put out a bit of a report and said there would be more in January – so far not a word. We now learn that more than $57, 500 was spent on this event – with a portion of that amount coming from two developers ($5,000 each) with major interests in the city. Not a healthy place for any politician to be – especially the mayor, who by the way had not publicly announced where the funding came from.
Hopefully we will hear a solid presentation on some of the follies that get attached to development charges and approaches municipalities take to taxing their residents. Hopefully Blais will inspire the audience and get the Mayor and his council thinking about new approaches to how we manage the growth of a city that is at a crucial point in its growth. Please – no more cock-a-mammy ideas Your Worship.
BURLINGTON, ON. February 27, 2013. The social side of this city seems to go through cycles – last year it was the Torsney ‘s with Brian Torsney deep into the Hospital Foundation fund-raising events to raise the $60 million they were tasked to come up with while his sister, a former Burlington Member of Parliament, Paddy Torsney headed up the United Way drive.
Angelo Paletta on the left standing proudly with his father Pasquale (Pat) Paletta
This year it looks as if the Paletta`s are going to take up the headlines in the social sector. Pat Paletta got himself nominated as the Entrepreneur of the year – that event will take place on June 6, 2013, and now son Angelo has been appointed as the honorary chair of the Masquerade Ball – the lead fund-raising event for the (BCF) Burlington Community Foundation. The Ball will take place October 26th at the Burlington Convention Centre. Tickets began to get scarce last year – so slip over to their website and book your appointment with the hair dresser.
Angelo, according to the Foundation, has played a number of key philanthropic and community support roles in Burlington. Besides being the honourary chair the family corporation has joined BCF as its first Proud Supporter of our Vital Signs report, a community check-up we will share with Burlington residents on October 1st.
Last year the BCF published their first ever Vital Signs report,which, while not quite what many in the social development sector had hoped for, it was their first effort. Everyone is looking for something quite a bit deeper and more relevant to the community this year. Their report is announced for release on October 1st.
Colleen Mulholland, Executive Director, Burlington Community Foundation is as pleased as punch that Angelo is “sharing his time and leadership with us, in support of our largest fundraising event.”
Jazz – New Orleans style at the Burlington Community Foundation Masquerade Ball.
In their media release the BCF announces they will continue with the alluring feel of a masked gala, featuring the swinging streets of the French Quarter. “I am honoured to have been asked to be the gala’s honourary chair this year,” says Angelo, who will dance up a storm. “ I love the excitement of New Orleans, jazz and Bourbon Street, and my family and I have always had a terrific time at the Masquerade Ball. I hope the community will join us in this great celebration.”
In 2007, Angelo was formally installed as a Knight of Malta under the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, a religious order founded by Pope Pascal II in 1113. Devoted for 900 years to caring for the sick and the poor for more than 900 years, today this philanthropic Order operates accredited diplomatic and humanitarian missions in more than 100 countries.
Closer to home, Angelo is also the current Chair of the Board of Directors for the Carpenter Hospice.
The Paletta’s are also in an early stage ‘kiss and make up’ with the city. There are a number of issues related to the development of land owned by the Paletta’s that some feel are hindering the economic development of Burlington. As the largest holder of what the city has classified as “economic development lands” the city wants to be able to see those properties marketed and developed to bring some much-needed development to the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional part of the city tax assessment base.
City manager Jeff Fielding has brought a much different approach to developing relationships with the major stakeholders in the city.
Part of this process is a significant shake up in the way the Economic Development Corporation manages the growth of the city. In the past much of their focus has been on raising funds to keep the operation alive. Fielding thinks that isn’t the smartest business model if Burlington is to prosper and has asked the BEDC to come back with a better business case. That case has been presented to the Budget and Corporate Services Committee where it didn’t seem to generate a lot of enthusiasm on the part of either council members or staff. Expect to hear more on this one.
Paletta International is a Canadian owned and family managed company, started by Pasquale Paletta (Burlington’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year) in 1951. With its humble beginnings in beef processing, the company grew through vertical integration into raising cattle with feedlots in Burlington, Alberta and Colorado. The company also is involved in real estate, construction, media and entertainment. The company is managed by Pasquale’s four sons: Angelo, Paul, Michael, and Remi Paletta, from its Paletta Court facility in Burlington.
The BCF was established in 1999 by a group of local volunteers and philanthropists to improve the quality of life in Burlington. The Foundation collaborates with donors to build endowments, gives grantsand connects community leadership. For Masquerade Ball tables, tickets or information on becoming a Proud Supporter, contact Sandra Baker, sbaker@burlingtonfoundation.org, 905 639 0744 x 223
BURLINGTON, ON February 26, 2013 This time the Board members showed up. This time they did the talking and didn’t leave their Executive Director to carry the flag by herself. This time the two Board members said they are a start-up and that many of the numbers they used in their original rosy projections were short of the mark. This time they apologized – well sort of. This time they said they would talk to council members and do a business review well before budgets were being considered. And this time they said that if the projections they had on the table today didn’t come true – they probably wouldn’t be the people appearing before the council next time around.
Keeping the lights on – and putting bums in the seats.
It was a healthy and very welcome change by a Board that has been high-handed and close to insolent to a council that very much wants them to succeed.
Today was budget delegation day and most, if not all of the Boards that are funded by the city, appeared before the Budget and gave it their best shot. Some, the Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) were there arguing for a stay of execution while the Library Board argued for the funding needed to pay for the staff needed to operate the new library in the Alton Village.
We will cover those budget requests in separate articles.
Richard Burgess, current vice chair of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre board explained why the Centre needs significant funding for at least the next three years.
Rick Burgess, a former city mayoralty candidate, he was beaten out by Cam Jackson in 2006, a lawyer by profession and currently the vice chair of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre incoming chair of the organization along with Peter Ashmore, treasurer with many years of experience in the management of assets and the development of new enterprises.
It was difficult to get a handle on exactly what the Performing Arts Centre wanted in terms of real cash. Councillor Taylor, who was chairing this meeting of the Budget and Corporate Services committee, complained about data being given to him the day before the delegation was to appear. The real numbers will come out during the debate that will take place on Thursday.
It was clear that rentals was the biggest problem – the team just wasn’t able to rent out as much space as they had planned. And, their original rosy projections, based on a consultant’s report turned out to be weak.
The Board directed management to cut back and that meant events that might have been put on were not put on which weakened the revenue stream.
It is now evident that there was a bit of panic going on as the Board struggled to get a handle on how it could support management – but all this was behind the scenes.
What was evident, clearly evident, was a council that did not want this venture to fail but found itself with not nearly enough information and basically out of the loop while the Board went its own way.
To say Burgess and Ashmore were somewhat contrite but fully aware that a newer more collaborative relationship was needed would be a stretch. Just what they took away from the meeting is not clear – but know this – things are different.
Most disturbing is that Mayor Goldring and Councillor Craven sit on that Board and should have been fully aware of the problems and how severe they were. The rental situation is one that they had to be aware of – does management not give the Board a report every month on how many events took place and how many seats were sold? If they aren’t doing this – then this city has a major problem on its hands with the Performing Arts centre.
If the information was made available to the Board and the two city representatives did not convey this to their council colleagues – well that`s a pot with a lot of flame underneath it that is going to boil over at some point.
Councillor Dennison, who always brings his business acumen to budgets wanted to see the people on the marketing side given base salaries and then bonused for the added business they bring in. Ashmore didn’t think they could pull this off with the staff in place now; truth be told, he didn’t appear to have any appetite for taking aggressive steps.
Some wondered if raising the ticket price would do the trick. Burgess explained two fundamentals which council members did not appear to appreciate. Upping the price of tickets for commercial events will increase revenue but it will also reduce the number of people who attend.
What isn’t as clear as it could and should be is this. Does the city have a situation where they are dealing with what Peter Ashmore called a start-up that is having its teething problems or are there some fundamental problems with the business plan.
I suspect Ashmore isn’t certain as to just what it is yet and if the treasurer doesn`t know – then the Board members are a little adrift. That`s not to suggest Ashmore isn’t competent; this is his fourth year counting the beans. Entertainment is a different business; it is more art than science and they are still learning the ropes.
Councillor Craven explains that the Board has leaned some lessons and that management has also learned some lessons – which is good – but they are doing all this learning on the public’s dime and the fear is that they may fail and Burlington will be in the same mess Hamilton is with their facility.
There are solid, competent people on staff who have yet to get a solid understanding of the city and what it thinks it wants in terms of culture. The city has an executive director, Brenda Heatherington, in place who brings loads of experience on growing and nurturing the appetite for culture. What she may not yet have is a solid understanding of the market she is catering to – the public letters between the city hall reporter from the Post and Executive Editor Brenda Heatherington’s response made that clear.
This story isn’t over – council will have a very focused debate on this later in the week. What the city does not want to find itself having to handle is a facility that many in the city didn’t want that now requires a million dollar annual intravenous line to keep it alive.
If that happens Burgess was very right – it will not be him serving as chair for very long.
BURLINGTON, ON February 27, 2013 City hall prepares for what we all hope is the last storm of the winter and announces that it will close all recreation facilities for public use the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 27. City Hall will be open during regular business hours, 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Angela Coughlan, Aldershot and Centennial pools will be open for school programming if the school boards remain open.
City hall is expected to be open.
The city will provide an update on what’s open and closed on Wednesday morning.”
Environment Canada has issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of southern Ontario, including Burlington. Northern Burlington is expected to receive up to 25 centimetres of snow, while accumulations along the lakeshore will be a mix of 15 centimetres of snow and 10 millimetres of rain.
The snow will begin later this evening, with the heaviest accumulation predicted before Wednesday morning’s commute. Travel conditions will be very poor overnight and into the morning rush hour.
BURLINGTON, ON. February 23, 2013 Artists use their paint brushes to present their interpretation of a person or a scene. There are traditionalists, modernists, post modernists and some artists whose work look as much like a photograph at it does a painting.
Where is the line between photography and art? There are photographers who have found ways to use light, filters and the angle they shoot from to “interpret a scene much the way an artist uses brush strokes and colour to interpret what their eyes capture.
The differences between art and photography are vast and the similarities at times almost eerie. In the photo essay that follow Frank Myers, captures glimpses of the past
By Frank Myers.
Since my earliest days as a photographer, I’ve been fascinated by the exploration of forgotten places. There is a certain resonance there – a palpable sense of lives lived and the passage of time. There is more to it though; I also see much beauty in the old and decrepit and this combination is what makes abandoned places irresistible to me.
The passage of time also interests me. One useful aspect of photography is its ability to interrupt that process by capturing a moment in time. Although the rate of decay differs from one site to the next, it’s interesting to me that I’m capturing a unique moment in this process.
And it is a process; I have been able to return to some of these sites over the years and observed how, in many cases, nature reclaims the space once occupied by mankind.
These remnants of the past are crumbling and disappearing daily. I believe it’s a worthy pursuit to interrupt that process and capture some of the resonance and beauty they contain through photography.
Frank Myers is a member of the Latow Photographers Guild. The photographs in this essay are the property of Frank Myers and cannot be used without his express permission. Myers can be reached rs4@gmail.com You can see more of Frank’s work at https://frankmyersphoto.ca/
In Northern Ontario, many mining towns are threatened once the ore runs out. This abandoned gas station is located in a town that has been deserted since the late 1960s. Aside from a few homes salvaged as cottages, this town has mostly been reclaimed by nature.
This image is from the cemetery at a silver mining village near Thunder Bay. The mine operated on a tiny island in Lake Superior for only 16 years, closing in 1884 when it was irretrievably flooded. Now lost in the woods, the cemetery holds many graves, perhaps a testament to the dangerous working conditions and harsh life on the shore of Lake Superior.
Farmland is abandoned or given over to other uses every day in Canada. Much of what passes for farmland in Canada is marginal, but that hasn’t stopped enterprising souls from attempting to farm the land in many rugged areas. All over Canada, derelict farm houses hold the stories of those hard-working families.This farm house near Blind River is covered with graffiti and the upper floor is collapsing. To me, it still remains beautiful and it’s easy to imagine the family living within its rooms or relaxing on the verandah in the evenings.
This house on the outskirts of Burlington has been abandoned for years. Although heavily vandalized and near collapse, it contains many signs of the lives lived within its walls. Notice the jars that appear to hold dried beans or peas on the kitchen counter.
I often take time while travelling to search out abandoned spaces that I’ve learned about on-line or from other photographers. This is a cell block at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. When it opened in 1829, its architecture was revolutionary, as was the theory that strict isolation was the key to reform. This soon became a model for prison design. It finally closed in 1971 and is now operated as a historic site.
Unlike the penitentiary, few derelict institutional and industrial spaces are public. For that reason, this one will be unnamed. It’s an abandoned railway freight terminal somewhere in the United States. Inside, one can easily feel reminders of the years when untold tons of freight were handled by several generations of workers.
Across Canada, particularly along the Trans-Canada Highway, we pass many remnants of a vanished way of life. These are the derelict gas stations, motels and restaurants where often-independent operators made their living serving the travelling public. Situated on Highway 69 north of Parry Sound, this must have once been a busy operation, with its gas pumps, service bays and restaurant.
At one time motels like this one, a motel and campground operation, were popular with travellers. Although they were rustic by current standards, their remains show a variety and individuality missing in today’s operations.
BURLINGTON, ON. February 23, 2013. The work police have to do can at times get a little sticky. People don’t like their names reported when the reason for the report is not one you will be putting on your resume.
Police try to ensure that victims of criminal acts are not further victimized by having their names in a publication.
Intersection of Guelph and Sinclair in Georgetown, scene of a fatal accident where driver was charged with using a hand-held communications device; a cell phone. The vehicle in this photograph was NOT the vehicle involved in the fatality.
Thus, when a very serious accident took place in Georgetown, police said in the media release that they would not be naming the victim nor would they be releasing the name of the person responsible for the accident.
The first media release went like this:
Georgetown Senior Struck by Car – Critical Condition
Halton Regional Police are investigating a serious pedestrian/car collision that occurred in Georgetown on Monday afternoon.
Shortly after the noon hour the senior, an 89 yr old Georgetown woman, was crossing Guelph Street at Sinclair Avenue when she was struck by a 2005 Ford Focus. The impact threw the senior several metres.
After being assessed by Halton EMS at the scene, it was decided that the woman be taken directly to Sunnybrook Trauma Centre in Toronto. She remains there in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. The driver of the car, a 36-year-old Georgetown woman, was not injured; she was taken to 11 Division where she provided a statement.
Due to the seriousness of the injuries, the Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) attended and took carriage of the investigation. Reconstructionists from the CRU and a Forensic Identification officer collected evidence, photographed and measured the scene.
Police will not be releasing the names of the pedestrian or driver.
Due to the infancy of the investigation, police will not make comment on any charges at this time. Some witnesses have come forward however investigators from the CRU ask any further witnesses to contact them at ext.5189.
A day later the police issued a second media release. :
Second media release:
Georgetown Senior Dies of Injuries
A Georgetown senior who was struck by a vehicle on Monday afternoon has died of her injuries.
Patricia McCarthy, 89 yrs of Georgetown, was pronounced at around 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Her son and daughter were with her at that time.
The Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) of Halton Regional Police are continuing the investigation into this incident. The Toronto Coroner’s Office has assumed this case and is being assisted in their enquiries by the Halton CRU. A post-mortem has been scheduled for later this morning in Toronto.
We will not be making comment on charges at this time, however alcohol has been ruled out as a causation factor.
The driver of the car, a 36yr old Georgetown woman, has been cooperative with investigators. Police will not be releasing her name.
Any witnesses to this collision are still asked to call the CRU at ext. 5065.
This is the 11th traffic fatality to be investigated by the CRU in 2012 and the 7th involving a pedestrian.
On February 22, 2013 the police issued a third media release:
Georgetown Woman Charged in Pedestrian Fatality
After completing an investigation into the December 17th, 2012 collision that caused the death of Patricia McCARTHY, 89 years of age, the Collision Reconstruction Unit has charged a 37year old Georgetown woman with two offences under the Highway Traffic Act.
Jennifer Unsworth has been charged with one count under section 130: Careless Driving and one count under section 78.1(1) : Drive with Hand-held Communications Device.
She has been issued with a Part III Provincial Offences Act Summons to appear in Milton Provincial Offences Court on Monday March 25th, 2013 to answer to the charges.
Did the surname of the person driving a car while using a cell phone have anything to do with the way this case has been handled?
BURLINGTON, ON. February 21, 2013 We were accepted as full members of the Ontario Press Council last fall.
The Press Council serves at the body that listens to the public when they feel media have been unfair. Anyone can take a complaint or a concern to the Press Council. The address is set out below.
Ontario Press Council, 890 Yonge St., Suite 200, Toronto M4W 3P4. Telephone: (416) 340-1981
There is no cost to anyone going to the Press Council.
As member of the organization we are required to abide by their decisions and publish any decision they make. Because we are an electronic publication any Ontario Press Council decision related to anything we have published remains on our web site for anyone to see. The decisions of the press council are also on the Press Council web site.
Many people don’t understand the role of media in a society. Communities with small local newspapers are often poorly served by those publications. Burlington’s “information deficit” was brought to light in 2010 when the Shape Burlingtonreport was published.
That document, written by former Mayor Walter Mulkewich and the late John Boich, set out quite clearly what the problem was and where the responsibility for the information deficit lay.
One of the Shape recommendations was to create a Community Engagement Charter and the city is in the last phase of finalizing that document and deciding what it wants to do with the numerous recommendations that have been set out in draft versions of the Engagement Charter.
Another recommendation was for the city to fund some form of media that would help reduce the “information deficit”. The city should not be in the business of funding media, look at City Talk,the city’s quarterly magazine that is filled with puff pieces written by Council members or their staff. Terrible waste of money.
John Boich convinced me to use my 30 years of publishing experience to produce some form of electronic media; that conversation resulted in Our Burlington that came out October 2010.
The relationship between the different organizations in the city and the media is usually a strained one. People and organizations want nice things said about them. Our job is to say nice things if there are nice things to say but we are also there to report and explain. We have chosen a cheeky and irreverent style. We are constantly amazed at how bland most of the statements that come out of city hall, the Region or the offices of the MP and the MPP are; self serving puff pieces for the most part.
Here is what the Mayor had to say about us last summer.
The two or three media people who cover city hall are there to observe and report. Running a city is a complex business and its matters are complex. Saying the tax rate is going to be increased is a statement of fact – but those facts have to be put in context. One percent of the tax increase last year was to pay for the city’s portion of the hospital re-build.
Saying the pier is now on schedule does not mean we don’t also say that the thing is over the initial amount it was expected to cost by more than 200% – and then asking why this happened. Getting a straight answer is easier said than done.
Asking why city council always goes into closed session when the city solicitor speaks about the law suits the city is involved in over the pier and continually asking how much has been spent on legal fees is part of what media does.
We also reported on the 58 Burlingtonians who were awarded Jubilee medals.
We see more of the council members and staff than most people and we arrive at conclusions. There are some very good people doing fine jobs at city hall; there are others just putting in the time until the can leave on a pension.
There are some that are always helpful and others that snow you with a dozen documents or refer you to someone else when their job is to provide information and inform.
Our Burlingtonhas had some major differences with some people; some of those differences get resolved, on others we just disagree.
City hall has 1000 people on the payroll and is run by a top tier team of three people – with five layers of management between the city manager and the entry level clerk.
There are more really smart, energetic enthusiastic people at city hall than there are slugs. And more often than taxpayers realize, they give very good value.
Our relationships with the members of council are all different because they are different people with agendas of their own. Their public image is basically a brand they use to get themselves re-elected. Re-election for a council member is like a promotion to other people; they work hard to get them.
The Mayor is, we believe, in place to show leadership. While the Mayor has just one vote he does have the opportunity to lead and to set the tone. For those who don’t think the style of leadership and the tone of the city council is important, look back to how quickly this city decided it didn’t want Cam Jackson as Mayor, even though he had served the city as its MPP for many years. Adapting a Queen’s Park skill set to city hall was something Jackson was not able to do. Voters saw that inability and chose someone else to be Mayor.
While we have been critical of Rick Goldring in the past, and will be critical of him again in the future because that is part of what media do – we will never forget the evening he basically said goodbye to John Boich a week before he passed away. He treated John Boich with great dignity, deference and sympathy and in doing so reflected what this city is about.
We really liked the comments the Mayor made about Our Burlingtona couple of months ago – note sure Goldring would say them today but they reflect the kind of man he is.
BURLINGTON, ON. February 21, 2013 Shortly after 2:30 a.m. on February 18th, 2012, unknown suspect(s) broke into the Mohawk Gardens Public School at 5280 Spruce Ave.
Kindergarten classroom trashed when punks break in. When caught, and they will eventually get caught, a Judge might find a tougher school for them
The suspect(s) smashed a window to gain entry to a kindergarten classroom on the northeast side of the school. Once inside, suspect(s) completely ransacked the classroom by overturning desks, chairs and rummaging through the contents of the closets. The ceiling and fluorescent lights were also damaged. The total damage and clean-up was estimated at $1,500.
Might these suspects show up at the next school reunion?
Anyone with information on this or any other crime is asked to contact 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).
BURLINGTON, ON. February 21, 2013 BurlingtonGreen has published an Open Letter addressed to our Member of Parliament, our Member of the Provincial Legislature, Chair of the Region, the Mayor and members of city Council – Whew, a lot of them isn’t there?
Dear MP Wallace, MPP McKenna, Mayor Goldring and Members of Burlington Council, Chair Carr, cc: media
As our city’s (and Regional) leaders elected in part to safeguard the interests of the people and environment of Burlington, we are writing to you today to convey BurlingtonGreen’s continued concern for Enbridge’s proposed Line 9 pipeline project that cuts across Burlington’s landscape. Many BurlingtonGreen team members attended the Feb 7, 2013 public meeting hosted by the City where Enbridge officials shared their proposal to provide a route for diluted bitumen by reversing the flow through its aging pipeline.
The circled area shows where creeks are located to the south of the Enbridge pipeline route. A rupture or even a leak would be disastrous for the communities south of the Escarpment. Do you see your street in there?
Line 9 intersects essential watersheds across the GTHA flowing to Lake Ontario enroute to Montreal refineries. At the meeting Enbridge spoke about lessons learned since their devastating spill that took place in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in 2010 and how, in the event of a Halton spill, Enbridge would be far better prepared.
However, we found there to be insufficient assurances provided of the measures planned to prevent a spill in the first place highlighting a significant contradiction. Enbridge stated that protection of the environment was a top priority for this and all their projects yet we would argue that if this was indeed the case, they would not propose a project with such high risk elements.
Enbridge was clear that the project is driven by economics but at what potential cost to human and environmental health? Pumping the maximum line capacity (300,000 barrels) per day, through an aging pipeline that has never before transported bitumen that carries with it known carcinogenic agents is not placing the environment or human health as a priority. On top of this, we understand the pressure of flow will be at the maximum allowable by Canadian industry standards. Combined, we trust you would agree, the proposed project is simply far too risky.
US citizens are saying NO to the Keystone XL super pipeline. People in western Canada are saying NO to the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal because the risks are too great. Safe drinking water and a protected landscape here in Halton and across Southern Ontario is of equal importance.
We recognize that some of you have or may suggest you have no legislative power to affect this issue. However all of you do have the responsibility and opportunity to demonstrate effective leadership by safeguarding the interests of the people and environment of Burlington. You can demonstrate this by sending a collective message to the National Energy Board that you oppose the current proposal and want a comprehensive Environmental Assessment conducted before any decision is made.
We look forward to learning from each of you what your proposed next actions are for this most significant issue.
The Enbridge pipeline monitoring site on Walkers Line – looking west. Enbridge can control the flow of oil through this location from their control rooms in Edmonton. Does that make the line safer? The satellite dish in the upper left handles the signals
The BurlingtonGreen people are certainly right with their concern but it is now increasingly evident that we haven’t a hope of stopping the application Enbridge has made to the National Energy Board for a permit to reverse the flow of liquids through that 39 year old pipeline.
The Enbridge pipeline route looking east. There are a lot of creeks that run south from this part of the Escarpment.
National economic interests are such that too many people have too much to gain by having that oil flow east. The billions of dollars that are at play here are too much for anyone to care all that much about Burlington. The state of the national economy is what is at risk and that trumps oil running down the side of the escarpment. Sad, disgusting actually, but true.
In 1940 we sent thousands of men to their deaths while fighting a war in Europe – it was a national interest.
The best we can hope for is a solid set of procedures and safety measures should there be a leak and an oil spill. And here is where we have a hope in Hades of protecting ourselves.
The National energy Board announced funding that is available to groups that want to intervene at the energy Board hearings that will determine if a permit is to be issued.
This is where BurlingtonGreen can apply pressure on behalf of the community.
Unfortunately, when we brought this to the attention of BurlingtonGreen Executive Director she said she wasn’t aware of the funding program and wasn’t sure if her organization wanted to take federal money.
Rethink that decision and apply for funding or join other groups that will undoubtedly apply for the funding. The person handling the funding applications is: Mathieu Fecteau, Participant Funding Program Administrator. They apparently answer the phone if you dial 1-800-899-1265 Ext. 3659 Email address is PFP.PAFP@neb.one.gc.ca
Michael Benson is the Process Advisor and his contact information is: Telephone – 1-800-899-1265 Ext. 1992. Email address is: michael.benson@neb-one.gc.ca
Real municipal leadership would have had the Mayor informing himself of what the National Energy Board funding was all about and then offering some administrative, research and graphics support which would allow BurlingtonGreen to put together a strong application for funds so they could intervene on behalf of the citizens of this city.
There is the potential for very serious damage to Burlington, its environment and water supply if there is ever a leak or a rupture to that pipe line.
The first thing Our Burlington wants to know is the state of that pipeline. We want Enbridge to dig up sections of it and do a physical inspection and determine just what condition it is actually in. The steel used in that pipeline is just one quarter of an inch thick – a half an inch when the pipe goes under a creek or a stream.
Close up – Burlington’s MP Mike Wallace looks closely at a piece of art at the Art Centre. Can BurlingtonGreen convince him to help them take a closer look at the state of the pipeline that runs across the northern part of the city – it is a federal issue.
We need more information; we are entitled to more information – and BurlingtonGreen is just the group to go after Enbridge to get that information.
Don’t expect any of the politicians you’ve written to do much for you.
BURLINGTON, ON. February 21, 2013 A number of months ago we mentioned to you a problem we had with the keepers of the information keys at city hall. Staff screened a video of the King Road grade separation for council and when we asked for a copy of the video were told that we couldn’t have a copy because the US Homeland Security people said it would compromise their interests – which we thought was total poppycock.
Our Burlington had done a number of pieces on that event and we were excited at what we saw and wanted to share it. The city streamed the construction work live on its website that was watched by hundreds of people; many staying up much of the night to watch the trucks roll in and out of the hole that was being done at two-minute intervals.
We dug away and made phone calls and had a lawyer lined up to go after CN Rail, who were the people who told the city the video could not be given out – even though it is scheduled to be used by the city’s engineering department at a couple of conventions later this year.
Finally – the city relented and sent us a copy. It isn’t quite what we saw originally back in November, 2012, but it seems to be the best the city could do.
What you will see is a minute long video clip that compresses what was done over last Thanksgiving weekend when the King Road grade separation was built – in a three and a half day marathon effort. THAT was an amazing engineering feat.
The video is quite the thing to watch. The version you see will have white patches in the upper right hand corner, which is where you would normally see the CN trains rolling along. Four of the five railway lines were taken out while the grade separation was done; a fifth was kept in place and long, long freight trains passed over the construction site – albeit at a snail’s pace.
Check out the video and then wonder why the American security people didn’t want you seeing the trains go by. What you will see is a 5000 ton concrete tunnel being shoved into the hole that was dug out. Quite fascinating to watch.
You might want to look at the clip a few times – what you are seeing is three days of work compressed into just over a minute. Let us know if you can figure out why the Americans demanded that CN block out parts of the image.
The really amazing part is when that 5000 tonne tunnel get pushed into the hole that was opened up beneath the railway line.
Enjoy.
The grade separation is not yet complete. The contract to build the road that will go under the railway tracks has been let and early construction work has been done. King Road will be closed for a short period of time September 21st to October 22nd, after which there will be a grand official opening when every elected official still breathing will show up to have their picture taken. Trains will still run along the track – but the Americans may not want anyone to film that.
BURLINGTON, ON February 19, 2013 Part of what makes Burlington a great city is its community involvement. This summer, 54 community-minded Burlingtonians were named recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. They are among 2,000 recipients from Ontario and 60,000 from across Canada. Four more citizens were added to the list Tuesday evening.
The Jubilee medal, worn on those occasions set out in a protocol manual that comes with the medal.
The recipients receive a medal, a certificate and a lapel pin. The medal, designed by the Canadian Heraldic Authority at Chancellery of Honours at Rideau Hall, will be given out to all recipients by February 28, 2013.
Here, in alphabetical order, are Burlington’s 54 Diamond Jubilee Award Winners.
Bogdan Adamczak: President of the Polish National Union of Canada Branch 17, helped to build a vibrant and active Polish community in Burlington.
Catherine Allen: Works with Girl Guides of Canada to provide a positive environment and help build self-confidence in young girls.
Don Allen Has been the musical director of the Burlington Teen Tour Band for many decades and is now the director of Burlington Concert Band.
Derek Baranowski: For dedicating his time to promote charity work put on by firefighters in the area.
Dorothy Borovich: For her role in developing, organization and delivering Youthfest, a program connecting youth to a life of volunteerism.
Rev. William Bond: Serves the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 60 as padre, and worked for many years to help veterans and their families.
Kevin Brady: Received Burlington’s Philanthropist of the Year award and has helped more than 40 local charities, as well as taken the leadership role in fundraising for the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital redevelopment project.
David Anthony Brennan: Mr. Brennan is an Officer Cadet with the Burlington Army Cadets. He is noted for his work with youth and with the Royal Canadian Legion
Rick Burgess: For the work he has done in Burlington’s arts and culture sector in addition to his work with the Burlington Chamber of Commerce.
Teresa Cascioli: Credited for turning Lakeport Brewery into the third largest brewery in Ontario. She is also a philanthropist and supporter of St. Joseph’s Healthcare who now works as an adviser for KPMG.
Commissioner Dudley Coles: Attended the Queen’s inauguration as a representative of Canada while working for Canada House 60 years ago. As an Officer of the Salvation Army, he has worked around the world to help the less fortunate. This year he attended the Jubilee in June 2012.
Julie Davey: Provided grief support to parents, more than 25 years of being a volunteer, as well as the director of Bereaved Families of Ontario, Hamilton-Burlington.
Thomas Dykes: Mr. Dykes is honoured the positive impact he has had working with youth at the local, regional, national and international level and for his efforts promoting awareness of Canada’s Naval History.
David Estok: The former editor-in-chief of the Hamilton Spectator, he now works as vice president of communications at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Ron Foxcroft: Was inducted into the Burlington Business Hall of Fame in 2011 and is famous for the Fox 40 Pealess Whistle. He is chairman of the Foxcroft Group of Companies, Fluke Transportation Ltd., Fox 40 International and Foxcroft Capital Corp.
Andy Frame:Worked behind the scenes for Drury Lane Theater, president of the Canadian Club of Burlington.
Barbara Frensch: Member of BurlingtonGreen, was a key element in expanding the group’s role in the local environment.
Joanne Gardiner: Is an active volunteer with Halton Food for Thought. As well as holding a leadership role in the organization, she helps to provide breakfasts and lunch programs in elementary and high schools throughout the Halton region.
Joelle Goddard-Cooling: Key role in revitalization of Burlington Downtown as a member of the Board of Directors for Downtown Burlington.
Elizabeth Grandbois: For battling Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, for the past 15 years and more importantly been a champion at raising funds to find a cure for ALS.
Wendy Hagar: Began Sew on Fire Ministries over 12 years ago, and has sent over 300,000 gift bags and items to humanitarian aid groups and the disadvantaged in Canada and 92 other countries around the world.
Jim Holmes: Driving force behind the “We Remember” project that is helping to bring veterans and youth together.
Ancilla Ho-Young: A volunteer with Caribbean Connection, also helping to add to the multicultural mosaic of the city.
Jane Irwin: A lead authority and researcher of Burlington’s Built Heritage who has preserved and enhanced public knowledge of Burlington’s history.
Cam Jackson: A former city mayor, who was appreciated for his work during his term as well as his activity in the community before and after serving in office.
Bev Jacobs: Volunteers for a multitude of groups, most specifically for breast cancer events and organizations.
Doug Leggat: An auto dealer chosen as Burlington’s philanthropist of the year in 2011. He has a history of personal and corporate giving to many corporations, including the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford and Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital.
Bill Line: A business man, appreciated for giving to hundreds of charitable causes each year.
Matt MacPherson: President of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 60 is credited for his significant impact on the sustainability and initiated change within the branch.
Rosemary Marsh: Credited for her co-owner of Business Insurance Services, and chair of Banyon Community Service. She also lives in Burlington.
Jim Matz: Worked to connect Burlington Youth with partner cities in the United States, and has played a crucial role as the Leader of the Burlington International Games (BIG). For many years, he led in the relationship with Burlington’s sister city Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
Rosemarie Maurice: Founded the Burlington Footnotes Seniors Dance Troup, more than 15 years ago and built its membership from six to more than 100 people.
Rob McIsaac: Awarded for his activity in the community before and after he was in office as a former city mayor.
Don McMillan: A local voice at TVCogeco for 43 years. He worked as a volunteer commentator providing an outlook on all aspects of life in the area.
Walter Mulkewich: A former city mayor, appreciated for activity in community before and after serving in office as well as his political career.
Rainer Noack: Founder and visionary of the Burlington Student Theatre and K.W. Irmisch Art Person of the Year.
Sandra O’Reilly: Run director of CIBC Run for the Cure and sits on a variety of charitable boards.
Angelo Paletta: Angelo and the Paletta family were honoured with contributing to such facilities as the Tansley Woods Community Centre and Habitat for Humanity Halton.
Karen Phelps: Chair of Warwick Surrey Community Association and volunteered for many years. She has a vast understanding of the unique aspects of a high-density neighbourhood.
Reg Pollard: Owner of Pollard Windows, he has had a long career in the family business. He was enshrined in the Burlington Business Hall of Fame in 2012 and has provided funds to the Juravinski Cancer Centre.
Dr. William Procter: Dr. Procter has been a family physician in Burlington for 50 years, and was instrumental in the founding of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital.
Mark Runciman: The chief executive officer of the Royal Botanical Gardens, one of Canada’s largest plant sanctuaries.
Joyce Savoline: Served as Halton Regional chair and Burlington MPP, as well as being an advocate for the people of Burlington and region.
Constable Drew Scott: A constable of the Halton Regional Police has been awarded for his service to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. The program teaches more than 6,000 youth in Halton each year about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and how to make positive choices.
Don Smith: Worked on health care and other issues affecting seniors.
Winnifred Stewart: Focused on Burlington’s history for 35 years as a volunteer with the Museums of Burlington.
Keith Strong: Sought challenging projects, and played an important role in the development of Youthfest and the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
Margie Swire: Volunteered for the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital since its opening in 1961 by doing a number of important jobs.
John Tait: Served many years leading the Burlington Eagles Rep Hockey program and performing endless hours of volunteer work.
John Taylor: Mr. Taylor is Burlington’s longest-serving councillor, representing Ward 3 since December 1988. Serving Brant Hills, Mountainside, Kilbride and rural communities west of Walker’s Line, he is now in his eighth term on City Council.
Joan Tomblin: For leadership in planning and implementing the annual MS walk, helping raise more than $1 million for research and support of those with MS.
Jack Van der Laan: Developed the successful Netherland-Burlington Friendship Days.
Joe Veitch: Initiated “Breakfast at the Bistro” at the Burlington Seniors Centre and worked with seniors for many years.
Mike Vencel: Has helped with the veteran community by ensuring the veterans’ events are put on in a dignified and respectful manor.
Priscilla de Villiers, M.S.M.: For her leadership in helping victims of crime, and for her research on restorative justice in Ontario.
Mina Wahidi: Founded the Compassion Society, touching lives of more than 5,000 people who need her caring and generous spirit.
Ryan Wheatley: Chair of the Firefighters Benevolent Committee.
Fred Whiskin: With Scouts Canada since 1930, a place where he continues to give support.
Craig Stevens, Project Manager for the city on the construction of the Brant Street poses in front of the node that will rise 4 metres from the deck of the pier and have a 12 metre beacon on top. Stevens, who oversaw the construction of the Performing Arts Centre believes the pier will be ready to be opened during the Sound of Music Festival – IF the weather cooperates.
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. February 19, 2013 In the cold winter weather we don’t get out as often which means we don’t get to the waterfront and we don’t get to see the work that is getting done to have THE pier ready for an official opening during the Sound of Music Festival which is about four months away.
The only impediment now is weather. And that so far has been a really doozy up and down situation. In October the schedule lost eleven day: “eleven days in October” exclaimed Craig Steven’s, the city’s man on the project.
November was good as was December with basically nothing lost but January was not as good –there were five days lost and so far in February they have lost four days. “In January: said Stevens, ”we had temperatures that ranged from + 16 to -27. It’s all but impossible to plan – but plan they do and they go forward as well.
Early stage construction of the four metre high node that will sit atop the pier deck and have a 12 metre beacon sitting on top. The beacon is at this point purely decorative – it was to house the wind turbine that the city backed out of last year.
The first part of the node is in place. They are now putting the re bar in and getting ready to pour concrete around the base of a structure that will rise four metres and have a beacon atop it that will rise 12 metres for a total height of 16 metres. It will be quite something to see when it is completed.
The beacon part of the node is being fabricated now at a shop in Kitchener where it will go through a final quality control check and be shipped to Burlington and put in place.
The node will have stairs that wind around the side leading to the observation deck.
Brad Cassidy, the Graham Infrastructure guy who is the man you have to get past if you want to get out on the pier stands with one of the balustrades that will line the pier. The bottom piece of aluminum that will be coated with Burlington blue powder is a rubbing streak with the top piece the actual top of the rail. The balustrades will be bolted to the deck and have steel wire cable strands running through the holes drilled in the balustrade. There will be 200 of the things on the pier.
The feature that will make that pier safe for everyone is the balustrades that will be quite high and be made of galvanized steel which will give them a silver-grey look and aluminum rail and rubbing streak that will be painted with a powder that will be adhered to the surface and done in what construction people in this city like to call Burlington blue.
They will have cable strung through several levels preventing anyone from falling over the side. There will be more than 200 of these stanchions placed around the pier. Falling over just won’t be possible – jumping over – well that’s another matter. Bets are being placed on which high school gets to make that claim to fame first.
The balustrades – what most people call the railings have gone through several modifications which raised the question: why design decisions at this point; which brought the response: “We’ve never gotten this far before”, said Stevens, and indeed after more than six years of work and close to $20 million tax dollars spent – this is as far as construction of the pier has ever gotten.
It is as cold as it looks out on the pier on a windy winter day. The last of the concrete forming work is being done around the node that will have a stairway winding up the side leading to a deck four metres above the pier platform.
The node that is now being put together will have a large beacon placed on top of it. That beacon was to be part of the support for the win turbine that got trashed by city council when no one appeared to be able to figure out where the power to light up the pier at night was going to come from or how it would be paid for. A major opportunity to save serious dollars over the life of the pier and to make an important environmental statement was lost.
What we used to call the mini-beach on the west shore side of the pier is not so mini anymore. If this thing keeps growing many Burlingtonians just might get the boat dock they thought was going to be part of the pier.
At the base of the pier, in close to the shore, the mini-beach grows a little more each month. While the lake water level is low right now, once the construction trestle is taken out there might be accumulation of more sand. The city might actually get a boat dock without having to spend a ton of money.
Meanwhile on the legal front the Examination for Discovery process continues. Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd., the contractor who is suing the city, and who is in return being sued by the city, has been examined and the Director of engineering for Burlington has gone through part of his Examination. Those proceedings have been adjourned until the week of the 25th of February.
If the temperature out on the pier is cold – the temperature in the Examination for Discovery room is not quite frozen but certainly very frosty. Some painful discoveries are being made.
BURLINGTON, ON. February 19, 2013 Three new recipients of the Jubilee medal will be recognized at city Council this evening. The commemorative medal was created to mark the 2012 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada.
The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal is a tangible way for Canada to honour Her Majesty for her service to this country. At the same time, it serves to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians.
The following will receive their medals this evening:
Officer Cadet David Anthony Brennan
Officer Cadet David Brennan was nominated for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal by Captain Philip Harris, Commanding Officer at the Burlington Army Cadets for his exemplary record as a volunteer and dedication to Canada as an active member of the Burlington Army Cadets.
Officer Cadet Brennan is a tireless volunteer within the Cadet program and has inspired and motivated both his peers and subordinates within the program. For over five years he has volunteered his time towards the Royal Canadian Army Cadet program, serving as captain on five local cadet teams, including flag party, shooting team, rifle drill team, orienting team and the drill team.
Officer Cadet Brennan has given many hours to working alongside younger cadets to help them overcome a number of issues that young people often struggle with such as bullying, stage fright, and academic challenges.
In addition, Officer Cadet Brennan has volunteered hundreds of hours towards our local Legion, assisting in selling poppies, hosting diners for the veterans, and working on a number of fundraising activities.
Officer Cadet Brennan is a natural leader who also demonstrates his pride and commitment to community and Country. He has recently been sworn into the military with the rank of Officer Cadet and is planning a military career with the Canadian Armed Forces. This past September, Officer Cadet Brennan was selected to participate as one of a limited number of Canadians in an international paratrooper exchange program, representing the Canadian Forces Airborne and the Royal Canadian Army Cadets, after completing his Canadian Forces basic Parachutist course in 2011.
Officer Cadet Brennan also recently earned his Gold Duke of Edinburgh award. He is a student at McMaster University, studying history.
Mr. Thomas Dykes
Thomas Dykes was nominated for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal by Andrew Irwin, former president of the Toronto Branch of the Naval Officers Association of Canada for the positive impact he has had working with youth at the local, regional, national and international level and for his efforts promoting awareness of Canada’s Naval History.
Thomas Dykes is a retired history teacher and now an Educational Assistant at T.A. Blakelock High School
Mr. Dykes developed and designed a unique multi-discipline teacher resource on the Royal Canadian Navy’s role in World War II. This initiative involved coordinating the direct input of the Canadian, British and German naval veterans, with active support from the history departments in four high schools, both in Canada and England. Through this work, The Battle of the Atlantic initiative became inter-disciplinary, cross-graded, multi-generational, national and international.
Recently, an electronic version of this resource has been placed on The Historica-Dominion Institute, making it available to thousands of educators around the world. This project has been so well received that Mr. Dykes has been invited to present it to the prestigious Naval History Conference to be held in England this spring.
Mr. Dykes also developed the Canadian Navy Centennial National Essay Contest with a great team of Blakelock teachers and he has been providing Burlington students the opportunity to write and be published in The Burlington Post’s Youth column since 1983. In additional, Mr. Dykes designed the Police Ethnic And Cultural Education Youth Leadership Program (PEACE).
Dr. William Procter
Dr. William Procter was nominated for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal by his daughter, Susan Procter for his dedication to the practice of medicine, his commitment to his patients, and his leadership in the community.
Dr. Procter, has been a family physician in Burlington for 50 years. Dr. Procter was practicing medicine in Burlington before the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital was built and was instrumental in having the hospital constructed for the city. Dr. Procter was one of the first members of the medical staff.
During his lifetime, Dr. Procter has made and continues to make significant contributions to his profession as a mentor to medical students, a respected peer to his colleagues, and as a trusted doctor to both his patients and his community.
Dr. Procter has received the Certificate of Recognition for his ‘exemplary contribution to family medicine’ from the Ontario College of Family Physicians and has also been honoured with the Physicians Care Award by the Ontario Medical Association.
Dr. Procter has been active in hospital leadership, participating in and chairing many committees and heading the Department of Family Medicine.
Dr. Procter has been involved in a number of community activities including the role of ‘clown’ in the Burlington Santa Clause Parade, the role of sponsor for one of our local t-ball teams, the role of patron for Opera Hamilton, and is also an elder and long-standing member of Knox Presbyterian.
Dr. Procter has been described as kind, compassionate, dedicated, thoughtful, knowledgeable, general, reassuring and supportive. A friend and mentor, and a much-loved father.
BURLINGTON, ON. February 18, 2013 He is the longest-serving member of the current city Councillor. He is certainly the strongest liberal thinker this council has and is the most passionate member of this council as well.
John Taylor was first elected in 1988, he was actually acclaimed, and has been representing the interests of Ward 3 which includes since Brant Hills, Mountainside, Kilbride and rural communities west of Walker’s Line. His eighth term on City Council began in December 2010.
John Taylor, has served on city council longer than any other individual.
John Taylor’s official biography will tell you all about the things he has done – and it is impressive – but working at it for 25 years ,what else should we expect.
We wanted to dig a little deeper and tell you about the John Taylor that you don’t see every day. The man who knows more about the city than any other council member and frequently wears his heart on his sleeve.
John has lived in Brant Hills for the past 37 years along with his wife Kathie and their son Ian who has recently moved to develop his professional career in finance.
His “official” biog tells of his 24 years of management experience in the private sector where he gained extensive and diversified skills in both the packaged consumer goods and pharmaceutical industries. He also holds an honours degree in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia.
That chemistry degree was evident when the public relations people from Enbridge Pipeline were in town recently trying to convince the 85 people in a city hall conference room that there was no problem reversing the flow of a pipeline that runs through John’s Ward.
John Taylor strongly believes that municipal government works best through the active involvement and participation of the city’s residents.
When John holds a community meeting it is more like a club meeting. The first event at which I watched him interact with his residents he was at a table with four other people playing a game that involved checkers. People would drop by, sit down and chat about an issue and then move on.
John Taylor sitting at the side of the room while a loyal constituent, John Timmins takes in the meeting.
On another occasion, in Lowville when the changes to the park were being discussed, John sat at the side of the room and people came over to talk to him. He seldom goes to the front of the room to take the microphone – unless the public is talking about putting a highway through the Escarpment and then John Taylor is front and center.
John Taylor won’t always be with us – and there doesn’t appear to be anyone that will carry the torch as high and as consistently as he has.
As City and Regional Councillor for Ward 3, John is committed to continuing work in partnership with residents to build on past successes and tackle the urban and rural challenges facing Burlington and Halton this term. such as:
The city’s media release points out the John continues to fight for a more affordable multi-year financial and organizational plan that will result in no more than a 3% annual City tax increase. That one is going to be a challenge for John – but he has some ideas up his sleeve that will get put before his fellow council members later this month. John will want to move more funds into infrastructure repair – which is more than $10 million short. One does need to point out that John was on Council for the past 25 years when the shortfall took place.
Taylor in full campaign mode greeting a voter.
Our Burlington has a good photo file for John Taylor but we wanted pictures from his early years in politics and maybe even some of John with a full head of hair. There are pictures of John in a suit canvassing door to door.
Kathie adds that “John had always been interested in politics and this seemed like a great fit for him. He is definitely a committed individual and the opportunity to serve the community was just up his alley. It gave John an interest outside of work and as it was considered a part-time position, it would not impact the family dramatically. We had no idea what we were getting into!” She nevertheless welcomed the idea of John becoming involved in Municipal politics.
“When John first ran for public office there were two Councillors per ward – one at the City level and one at the Regional level. John took over a position for the City. One Council meeting and a few reports to read was my understanding. Boy was I wrong!”
Joan Little, who sat on Council with Walter Mulkewich and was once his campaign manager, now writes a by-weekly column for the Spectator, didn’t know John Taylor all that well but will tell you “that he faithfully attended every council meeting in the months before the municipal election in 1988 – took it all in, the way he does now. I just remember John being very informed.”
When Nelson Aggregates bought the land shown in the small orange rectangle it was John Taylor alerted the community to what this could mean to north Burlington. That was the first step of a seven-year fight to have the application for a quarrying permit turned down.
I also recall him spearheading the Mid-Pen fight right from the time the province (I think Mike Harris himself) made a presentation in the Niagara area, and that’s been his baby ever since.”
The city’s media release says Taylor “has been described as the hardest working member of Council since his election 25 years ago. He is passionate about fiscal responsibility and has a broad perspective of his responsibilities, devoting as much time to Regional issues as he does to City concerns. He has been a strong voice for Burlington at the Region and has frequently bridged gaps between the two.”
The people at the Burlington Art Centre will tell you of the ideas he brings to Board meetings over there. John at one point thought the Art Centre might be moved to the parking lot on Elizabeth Street that was once going to be the home of the McMaster University DeGroote School of Business.
John does manage to get some time for himself and his wife. He once came close to apologizing to council for being away on a cruise with his wife and asked if a matter that was on a future agenda could be moved until he got back.
John manages his files – how shall I put this, in his own unique way. Paper work has never been his strong point – but details seldom gets past him. He has been around long enough to know where the strengths are at city hall and where the level of accountability could be stronger.
If there was ever any doubt as to his political affiliation the smile Taylor wears as he sits at a desk in a replica of John George Diefenbaker’s office answers that question.
He is also the best link the city has between our city hall and the Regional offices. Not a strong player at the provincial level – and one is never quite sure which side of the political spectrum John favors, he will go where he has to go to get what he wants. For John Taylor it is all about Burlington – he is just an actor in a production he wants to see go on forever.
Taylor joined a Council that was led by Roly Bird. Joyce Savoline was a member of that Council as was and Walter Mulkewich, who went on to become Mayor.
Mulkewich says he “first met John Taylor when he was a citizen activist lobbying myself and City Council on the subject of then controversial subject of market value assessment in the mid nineteen eighties. As a citizen activist he was knowledgeable, tenacious and committed to evidence based research.
“John brought those characteristics to his work as an elected Councillor for the past twenty-five years. Most significantly, he carried into his role as a member and leader on Council, his citizen roots, a strong sense of community, a belief in fairness, and an ability to frame specific issues within a larger picture of where the city needs to go to continue to maintain an excellent quality of life for its citizens.”
Those who work with John will tell you of his approach to problems. When the Bethany Residence had some problems – John was there; when the owner of the Phanton House in Kilbride had some problems, John was there. When the fight to prevent Nelson Aggregates from getting an additional permit to quarry land in the Escarpment was really tough, John was there.
You will frequently see John meeting with someone who heads up a community group and slipping a cheque into their hands.
When the politicians want to do something John feels is fundamentally wrong council solidarity get tossed. There was one occasion when Burlington’s city council wanted to go into a closes session to discuss a city salary matter and John said that if they did he was going to leave the council chamber and stand in the atrium of city hall and tell anyone who would listen, what council wanted to talk about in private.
The city’s solicitor recently wanted council to go into closed session to talk about (wait for it) the pier and John said he wouldn’t go along with that one – not until the report with the numbers in it was in his hands.
John reads the reports he is given and scoots around city hall to talk to staff and dig a little deeper. He’s been doing this for 25 years and staff knows he has done his homework.
John can be impish at times. He can also be very impatient as well. When Ward 2 Councillor Meed Ward once called for a recorded vote on five – might have been six – matters, Taylor who sits beside her, rolled his eyes and stood up each time to vote against her motion.
While John was a true believer when it came to getting the hospital upgraded he wasn’t about to just turn over $60 million to the hospital. In the early stages of the negotiations John argued strongly against the city putting up the money that was going to pay for a parking garage. John wanted a bit more than that for $60 million.
There he stands, in the center, with members of the British Peerage, Lord and Lady Acton on the left and Regional Chair Gary Carr on the right. They all got along just fine.
While Region likes to believe Burlington has an agricultural base John fully understands what there is north of Dundas. He was part of a Regional tour more than a year ago during which he met the fifth Lord Acton. Burlington seldom sees members of the British peerage in the city – but there he stood. John Acton, a pig farmer who got along with those farmers on the tour, that is until Acton told the farmers that he loved all the pigs he had – about a dozen – and he knew the names of every one of them. The room immediately saw a different farmer in front of them.
John Taylor stood beside the man whose forbearer, the first Lord Acton who in 1887 gave us the phrase: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”. When you talk about Burlington – you have to talk about John Taylor – and the power he had – he didn’t allow an ounce of it to corrupt him in any way whatsoever.
We are fortunate to have him.
Councillor Rick Craven on the left recomended John Taylor for the Jubilee medal. The two of them are the city’s strongest committee chairs.
Councillor Rick Craven put John Taylor’s name forward. Other medal recipients are: Thomas Dykes, Dr. William Charles Procter and Officer Cadet David Brennan.
By Pepper Parr
I also recall him spearheading the Mid-Pen fight right from the time the province (I think Mike Harris himself) made a presentation in the Niagara area, and that’s been his baby ever since.”
