By Pepper Parr
The AMO Board of Directors is comprised of elected municipal officials from various member municipalities. AMO has issued a call for nominations to their Board of Directors for the upcoming term of August 2020-August 2022.
Someone at city hall saw an opportunity to forge a closer relationship between LUMCO, the GTHA Mayors, and AMO through the Mayor’s participation on the Large Urban Caucus (an AMO sub-group) to achieve shared goals when speaking with a unified voice;Thus a resolution before this evening’s Council meeting: Be it resolved, that Burlington City Council endorses the nomination of Mayor Marianne Meed Ward to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Board of Directors, Large Urban Caucus for a two-year term beginning August 2020 and ending August 2022.
Marianne Meed Ward – the night she won the election in 2008
No one has stood up to take credit for seeing this opportunity.
What isn’t totally clear is – is this an opportunity for the Mayor or an opportunity for the city.
All this appears to being done to the strains of Leonard Cohen’s song: First we take Manhattan – then we take Berlin.
Premier Doug Ford meets Mayor Marianne Meed Ward on her turf, a tour of the Joseph Brant Hospital – does he realize that she has her eyes on his turf?
It is well known that our Mayor has political aspirations – what isn’t clear is – are they at the federal or provincial level.
Council is expected to order the Clerk to forward the resolution indicating City Council’s support to AMO before noon on June 22nd, 2020 to qualify Mayor Meed Ward as a nominee for a position on the AMO Board of Directors, Large Urban Caucus for a two-year term ending August 2022.
The City of Burlington’s Government Relations fund will assume any costs associated with Mayor Meed Ward attending AMO’s Board of Directors, Large Urban Caucus meetings.
Rob.
Maybe you can give us some examples of her accomplishments?
I voted for MMW in the last election but I now regret my decision. MMW does an excellent job of communication—mostly to keep her name front and centre and give the illusion that she is getting a lot done. But when you start to scratch beneath the surface some disturbing trends are developing. Ask yourself–is Burlington today better than when she took office? I don’t see any improvement in City services; the City bureaucracy is still running the show and not very well. I haven’t noticed any improvement in control over development–something that has been alluded to in other articles in this paper. But the City is spending more, particularly on |”high-profile environmental virtue-signalling” and taxing more with City taxes being up by some 7% since MMW took office.
But MMW lets us know how much she is doing and the message is carefully managed, although controlled would be a better word. If you visit the Mayor’s FB page or emails and comment on them, her “communications manager” (almost censor) uses some very wide “commenting guidelines” to delete posts which are highly critical of MMW. Of course, all posts that are complementary are certainly allowed to create the illusion of overwhelming public support. This message would surely be deleted under her commenting guidelines.
At this point in her tenure, I have concluded that MMW is a disciple of Big Government–she truly believes that government has all the answers. She likes to spend. She likes to tax. She likes to virtue-signal. She will make an excellent Liberal candidate.
MMW does have an agenda. She definitely wants to aspire to a more powerful position. She like any career minded person does the same so no shame in that. What this group at AMO can do that LUMCO does not when it comes to her objectives for her and the city can be debated. One thing is certain, she and many other mayors want more power than the province hands out. This is not America and as such it is appreciated if this mayor works within her given guidelines and limited powers. Take care of the long term goals of this city first is all I ask.
Didn’t vote for Mayor Marianne Meed Ward. But she has performed well beyond expectations. I don’t blame her of she has aspirations beyond Mayor. We are lucky to have credible leaders in Karina Gould and MMW.
Voted for a mayor – not a stepping stone – a little more commitment to the city would be appreciated
From the article: “The Association of Municipalities of Ontario represents the bulk of Ontario’s 450 municipalities. It works to make municipal governments stronger and more effective while promoting the value of the municipal level of government as a vital and essential component of Ontario and Canada’s political system. The AMO Board of Directors is comprised of elected municipal officials from various member municipalities. AMO has issued a call for nominations to their Board of Directors for the upcoming term of August 2020-August 2022.”
Why wouldn’t we want our mayor to have a key role on this board? The AMO’s very existence is about commitment to local municipal governments. I don’t know how this translates into a lack of “commitment to the city.” Do you feel the same about the other board members?
We Need More People Like Mayor Marianne Meed Ward at All Political Levels ….. City .. Provincial & Federal. … Integrity … Leadership & Follow Through !!!
Good luck, Marianne!