By Pepper Parr
June 10th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
The city manager sits in on every Standing Committee meeting as well as Council meetings.
The City manager is the only person that Council hires. The city manager runs the administrative side of the city delegating the authority he got from Council to his team.
Members of Council chair the Standing Committees – as Chair they make decisions on how the procedural manual is to be interpreted and remind speakers if they have run out of time or if they are wandering from the subject matter.
Earlier this week, for the first time in the ten years I have been covering city council Tim Commisso, the City Manager caught the eye of the Chair and said the following.
City manager Tim Commisso at Standing Committee earlier this week.
“I think it’s one of the things we’re very fortunate yo have which is a great relationship with the Chief, but I would just caution council, I don’t know if it’s fair for the delegation to be talking in depth about operations.
I’d be honest with you, I think certainly perspective on NFPA. You know, and that I just think you’re going to hear from the on the presentation on the master plan in front of the chief.
So I just suggest that the in depth nature of fire operations and I know, Mr. Vanderlelie is more than capable of speaking about it, but I think it’s really questions that are directed, I think in conjunction with the Master Fire Plan.
Finally, the other thing that raises and it’s a very good point is the growth intensification comes with certainly a set of questions is whether we need to be in a position to fund something like a new station downtown in advance or once we see that growth in the tech space so I just I would just suggest it through the chair. The questions really don’t focus on operations so much.
Thank you.”
For the City Manager to suggest that a Fire Service Captain should not delve into operations when he was specifically asked by a Council member to do just that is a bit more than surprising.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
You can have a ladder reaching to the sky, it’s not like proping one up to clean your gutters. The higher the ladder extends the larger the area needed for the outriggers, not sure how many downtown streets are wide enough.
If Mr. Commisso will suggest publicly to Council that they do not go down the operations road, with the fire chief, what is he suggesting behind closed doors? We still do not know who suggested the date LPMA found out about denied insurance was covered up with the use of the word “recently”. We all know these practices that we find out about are just the tip of the iceberg. What we don’t know but could after the next election if those who can vote cast them in a fully informed manner may well be shocking!
Interesting that Tim Commisso would suggest that the Fire Services Captain “should not delve into operations when asked by a council member to do just that”.
What should the Fire Services Captain report on – the colour of the fire engines?
“Finally, the other thing that raises and it’s a very good point is the growth intensification comes with certainly a set of questions is whether we need to be in a position to fund something like a new station downtown in advance or once we see that growth in the tech space so I just I would just suggest it through the chair. The questions really don’t focus on operations so much”
Mr Commission fails to acknowledge that there are many approved development applications in the downtown and therefore there already exists as will be many more residents living in this area.
Perhaps what needs to be addressed is the fact that presently the ladders required to help people in the event of a fire only reach to the 11th or 12th floor. What are the residents who live on the higher floors of the approved developments ( up to 29 floors) supposed to do?
If they were smart they wouldn’t buy on the floors the ladders can’t reach.
If they are really rich they could have a helicopter on the roof.
Seriously, they take the stairs.
The fire codes protect the stair wells.
Part of what the delegate explained was that the tall buildings need more fireman to guide people down the stairs to evacuate the building.
I really was impressed by his presentation, but I think he did go into more detail in the answer to Councillor Kearns question than was really required.
Many members of council can’t handle the level of detail he provide, I will be generous and say they are more big picture people.