ECoB event sells out in less than 12 hours - larger space being arranged.

News 100 yellowBy Pepper Parr

March 26th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Interesting how things change. What was once defined as an organization that had little if anything in the way of credibility grows to become what looks like a growing and politically influential organization.

high profile 421

People were stunned – they saw it as mind boggling. When the development of a 24 storey development across the street from city hall was first shown to the public there wasn’t a lot of protest.

ECoB was created by a group that was stunned by the kind of growth that was taking place in the city’s downtown core. The possibility of a 24 storey building rising across the street from city hall was mind boggling to these people.

The approach they perceived was being taken by the city’s Planning department and the degree to which the city council that was in place at the time was just too much for what was initially a small group of people who were described as “the anti-development crowd”

During the 2018 election three of the members of council seeking to be re-elected: Blair Lancaster, Paul Sharman and Jack Dennison would have nothing to do with the group that organized and held ward level debates that produced packed church hall meetings.

Sharman seat at ward 5

Councillor Paul Sharman was a No Show at the ward 5 debate

Sharman wouldn’t take part in the ECoB ward 5 debate, neither would Lancaster who arranged to hold her own debate. Dennison said he wouldn’t attend and jerked the ECoB people around with scheduling. Dennison did see that he was making a mistake and left a city council meeting early to take part in the debate at Nelson High School – he still lost; mostly because he was running against a single candidate with no vote splitting possible.

ECoB met a public need and has decided to continue to do what it could to ensure that there is an informed electorate that can be made aware of what is going on at city hall.

ECoB debate at Baptist on New

Crowds like this for a ward level debate were close to an unheard of event in Burlington.

They took up one of former Mayor Rick Goldring’s ideas – he created the Inspire Series of speakers that came to Burlington. It was a good idea.

ECoB created their Inform series –the first takes place June 13th, and will feature Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Oakville Mayor Rob Burton in conversation about issues that matter to both communities.
Roland Tanner will serve as facilitator of the event.

The event was scheduled to take place in the Community Theatre in the Performing Arts Centre. They “sold out” in less than 12 hours after the free tickets were made available.

Penny Hersh

Penny Hersh – ECoB co-chair

One member of council wasn’t able to get a seat – she waited too long. A waiting list was set up.
Penny Hersh – ECoB co-chair (Roland Tanner is the other co-chair) looked for a way to book the Main Theatre which can hold at least 750 people.

“It’s a bit of a gamble” said Hersh “but the demand seems to be there so we took the risk”. Hersh added that some of the strong supporters wrote big cheques to help cover the cost. Kelly’s Bake Shop decided to be a supporter – think Cup Cakes when you are downtown next.

donations box

Paper money please for the donation box at the ECoB Inform event on June 13th.

And think donation when you take your seat – there will be highly visible donation boxes – think paper money.

ECoB is a bit of a different fish when it comes to their organizational structure. “Our goal” said Hersh, “was to help people in each ward create their own ward level organization that would focus on their issues. We don’t tell them what to do. We support them, answer their questions and give them any advice when they ask.”

There are active ECoB groups in all six wards. “Some are better organized than others, some are truly representative of the community,” said Hersh.

Return to the Front page
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

1 comment to ECoB event sells out in less than 12 hours – larger space being arranged.

  • Penny Hersh

    ECoB was able to secure more seats at the Burlington Performing Art Centre. Here is the link https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/a-tale-of-two-cities-a-conversation-with-mayors-meed-ward-and-burton-tickets-9361080243 to register.

    The link might indicate that the event is sold out – enter your information to go on the waitlist, which will be cleared and an email will be sent to acknowledge your registration. Please print off the acknowledgement and bring it with you on June 13th. We look forward to seeing you at the event which should prove to be interesting and informative.

    The Resident Ward Committees are attracting more residents and becoming very organized. As co-chairs, Roland Tanner and I are very pleased with their progress and will be posting information coming from these committees on our website – engagedburlington.ca