By Pepper Parr
April 1st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
It’s official, sort of – she is running in May to keep her seat as the ward 2 council member.
Kearns works her ward – she know most of the hospitality sector and is out meeting with them and hoisting a few as well
Lisa Kearns said: “It all depends on how many people tell me they want me to represent them.
Which is what she claims happened when she threw her hat into the ring in 2018.
Lisa Kearns did indeed seem to come out of nowhere.
She was part, a small part of the group that created ECOB and showed her smarts when she walked into the Rotary room at the Art Gallery and totally upset the Reverse Town Hal meeting then Mayor Rick Goldring was holding.
She went on to declare as a candidate and used the base she had created with her ECOB (Engaged Citizens of Burlington) work.
Promote, promote, promote. Every opportunity for a photo op is taken. Does it make a difference – she thinks so.
Kearns has an incredible brain; she grasps the complex quickly and can handle details like no other member of this city council.
She has a strong understanding of the big picture and frequently surprises the two senior members of Council – Mayor Meed and and Councillor Paul Sharman – who have two terms of experience
Her depth and experience in the private sector served her very well when budgets were debated.
Sounds great – but then there is that skittishness. The Provincial Liberal Association asked Kearns if she would seek the nomination of the party for the June election.
She said yes. Then Marian Manaa, a young Muslim women filed nomination papers and within days the Halton District School Board chair Andrea Grebenc filed her nomination papers.
That looked as if there was going to be a very healthy race for the party nomination. But before things could get rolling Kearns had a telephone call with Grebenc and decided that she, Grebenc, was the better choice and Kearns withdrew.
Will there be as many candidates running for the seat in October – probably not. One for certain.
All within ten days Startling to say the least and the expected stability was in question.
Kearns is the first council member to hold ward meetings that were both virtual and live. She holds walking tours of her ward and was the first council member to create a registry that sets out who she meets with.
Aggressive, progressive – but there is that skittishness.
Running for public office is not for the timid or weak at heart. It is also at times a very thankless job that requires considerable amount of time away from your family. And there is always someone out there who thinks they could do better. I have the upmost admiration for anyone who runs for public office, even if I do not agree with their positions. Our downtown area will never become what I think it could have been, but then that is my personal opinion. The downtown ship left the port long ago and I believe we have to come with grips with the fact that tall buildings will occupy most of our downtown landscape.
If we are going to look anywhere for how this came to be, we need look no further than the intensification policies that were foisted on our community by past governments. The greatest folly of our past council was to call our “bus station” a “mobility centre” because that was the genesis for what will follow. You couldn’t pay me enough to take on that role, so whatever you decide to do, Thank You Lisa.
Penny, Penny, Penny, you seem to have a personal vendetta with Lisa Kearns. Maybe you should throw your hat into the ring come next election.
You could head up this Fact Checking group, just make sure that you report ALL of the facts, not just what aligns with your agenda.
I feel that your response to Pepper’s article lacks merit, your statements are conjecture.
I myself feel that we are very lucky to have Lisa Kearns as part of council, not just for Ward 2, but all of Burlington as well as Halton Region.
Lisa you have my vote next election, thanks for all that you do
She and the Mayor told us they could fly the plane, before they in reality could. They should have known that. If they didn’t they should never have been elected.
In reality a stuffed deer head would have got elected, as long as it repeated No Development No Development. Sadly the know nothing Banana Nimby’s in the downtown core flocked to them like the Messiah.
The fake pilots are now crashing to earth. taking the Planning and Development depts. with them. Did anyone ever total how much these lost appeals by the City cost the taxpayers of this community. I would venture to say in the millions.
Lisa and the Mayor are the equivalent of a laywer who never won a case in there life. The Nimby fools hired them. Paul Sharman was the only councilor honest enough to tell us the truth even when some of the Nimby’s demonized him for it for being nothing but honest. If he is not our next Mayor we will have lost a great leader. When looking at a problem he would solve it with the intention of what was best for Burlington not what was best for him to get re-elected. Our present Mayor cares only to get re-elected. If it works screw the citizens of Burlington.
Some of us down here like the new look and the vibe of the city. As long as the new look doesn’t destroy the street level vibe. Places like ‘Kelly’s cup cakes’ is very popular. Empty store fronts under and around towering condo’s is what would bother me.
Great news, great person, that holds interest and positives for Ward 2, but over the past 4 years there has been little to no positives to a gal, that was initially so strong with ECOB on change for overdevelopment of the downtown. Getting our vote in 2018, to make a difference, which was always her word, action for lower high rises, less intensification in the downtown, has not in 4 years shown any signs of success on cutting back on the original “Grow Bold” words for the downtown.?????????
Councillor Kearns’ participation in ECoB”s provided her with name recognition. ECoB’s platform was to save the downtown area, and other areas in the city from over development and to keep our lakefront free of high-rise condominiums.
Councillor Kearns ran on this platform. Promises made but promises unable to be achieved. Granted it was almost impossible for any new candidate to know just what was happening at City Hall. It must have come as a shock when reality set in.
It was made perfectly clear prior to the last municipal election that in order to try to slow down or control the development in the downtown it was imperative that the designation of the MTSA on John Street had to be removed along with the moving of the Downtown Urban Growth Centre boundary.
The new council waited and waited and waited to take this seriously and instead decided that the ICBL was the way to go. This has proved to be the opposite with developers running to the OLT with their appeals at the same time they were putting in their proposed development applications to City Hall.
At a meeting in January 2018 which was hosted by Councillor Kearns a question was asked to Heather MacDonald concerning the ICBL – “Would the OLT go ahead with appeals from developers because the city was not going to fulfill the time requirement to bring a development application report to council? Her answer at the time was “they were hoping that this would not happen”. One would think that this would have been investigated before going through with the ICBL. She was wrong and the city is still dealing with the backlog of development appeals at the OLT. In some cases “settlements” have taken place by the City.
One only has to look at the approved condominium applications all over the city to see how this present council has failed in its promises to the residents of Burlington. It will be interesting to see what ends up happening with the Water Front Hotel property and the area known as the “football”. Two areas that this council failed to protect.
This council can no longer put the blame on the previous council. Two current members of council sat on the last 2 councils. One councillor was very transparent on the reality of the development situation in the city.
Walkabouts and virtual and in person meetings, only work if councillors are transparent and the absolute truth about just is happening in their ward explained. To date I don’t think this has transpired.
The candidates that ran last time and were honest about what was happening with development in ward 2 were discounted.
My suggestion would be to have a Fact Checking group of residents who are prepared to question and look into what is being promised by potential candidates, and share this information with all residents.
I hope that this time residents of Ward 2 look at realities rather than campaign promises that are not feasible. This is not a popularity contest. Votes should be based on knowledge and transparency.
Penny, sign me up to your Fact Finders group please. I have been collecting a lot of facts for a long time and know how to. Take the lead built on your ECoB organization.
Tom Muir
Lisa will have my vote. She is doing a hard job very well. Look what she got landed with…
She is sharp, articulate, intelligent, competent and personable. What more could we ask for.