By Pepper Parr
December 16th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The last meeting of City Council was a reflection of how the year went – not all that well and at several points no one really knew what was going on and wondering – who is running this gong show.
It was a Council meeting – these are chaired by the Mayor who traditionally wears the Chain of Office. Mayor Meed Ward was wearing red – but no chain of Office – because she wasn’t in the Council Chamber.
The meeting got a late start which was an hour and a half after the scheduled time.
There was one delegation in the Council Chamber – waiting to speak.
About an hour and a quarter after the scheduled 9:30 am start the delegator was taken to a different location on the ground floor of city hall where she would do her delegation virtually – even though she was in the building.
In that hour and a half before the meeting was called to order the A/V technicians were moving from desk to desk around the horse shoe – fiddling with microphones.
Mayor Meed Ward chairing the last 2023 meeting of Council. It did not all that well.
At one point Mayor Meed Ward said there were technical problems. Councillors Kearns, Stolte and a little later Councillor Galbraith were gathered around a monitor giggling away at something no one else could see.
City Manager Tim Commisso would wander in and out of the Council Chamber.
The meeting was eventually called to order, the national anthem was played – but we couldn’t hear the music.
When the delegator had completed her delegation she returned to the Council Chamber – except for the Deputy Clerk and the Committee Clerk there wasn’t a single person in the Council Chamber.
The City Manager is always in the Chamber when a Council meeting is taking place.
There was no public explanation at the time is as to what was going on.
There have been problems with the software that handles the web cast – it seemed to have problems every meeting. Quite why the city hasn’t assigned someone to look at the software being used and doing the fixes that are needed is something people can only complain about.
City Council did not end the year on a high note.
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Sounds like a pathetic end to a miserable year!
I am grateful to all the tax paying public who delegate and comment on procedural correctness, as someone who just basically scratches and pecks around on the surface as to what actually gets done at city hall.
Bing Crosby just popped into my head
‘We’re busy doin’ nothin’
Workin’ the whole day through
Tryin’ to find lots of things not to do
We’re busy goin’ nowhere
Isn’t it just a crime
We’d like to be unhappy, but
We never do have the time”
Why they have not yet fixed:
1. Agenda and minutes calendar pages for minutes June 9, 2016 to December, 2018 that have been missing since several months before the election The web page claims they are there Kevin Rjoon who is responsible for access to OUR Committee and Council minutes promised in 2022 they would be fixed they are not and Commisso is silent as to why or even why the Clerk is missing in action on a valid or invalid leave.
2. Why several of our corporate policies, that Kevin Arjoon is responsible for reviewing on expiry dates and amending if necessary are long past review date. Includes Transparency and Accountability that were removed by a Meed Ward led group that failed to keep minutes or be properly appointed removed from our Procedure Bylaw.
3. Why has there been no explanation from Mr. Commiseo for the use of funds provided bt the province to help Rural businesses to fund a downtown rainbow crossing, light fixtures and furniture. Why has neither the internal nor the external Auditor picked that up?
There are many more “why nots” that will be brought to Ministerial and public attention over the next little while, that have significant municipal impact on best interests, safety, health, democratic rights and finances.but if we could get answers to these from our strong Mayor, it would be great.