Search Results transit part 4 « Burlington Gazette

For Burlington, Liberals choose hospitals, not highways.

By Karmel Sakran, Liberal candidate, Burlington.

We asked each of the candidates to tell you, our readers, what they thought was wrong with the election platforms of the opposing candidates. We asked that they write about “the other guy”. In a future feature each candidate will write about their party platform. We wanted to attempt to create a bit of a debate between the candidates. The Progressive Conservatives advised that they “will not be participating in the first half of our request. “We will get back to you ” they advised “with the 2nd half of the request regarding the PC Party Platform and what it will do for Ontario and for Burlington.” Here is what the Liberals had to say. The New Democratic comments appeared earlier.

BURLINGTON, ON September 12, 2011 – For weeks now, on doorsteps and events all over Burlington, I’ve been working hard to bring the message about our party’s positive approach to health care, our world-beating education system and the green jobs of tomorrow.

But here’s my main message for Burlington: it’s hospitals – not highways.

Jo Brant Hospital – not the mid-Peninsula highway

True to form, the Ontario Liberal government has approved the redevelopment plan for Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, while clearly stating that the mid-Peninsula highway that PC leader Tim Hudak wants so badly, will not pave over north Burlington’s valuable agricultural and sensitive environmental lands.

Karmel Sakran in front of his campaign office, which is located north of the QEW – a change from the usual campaign office locations on Fairview. Sakran says the decision to be north of the QEW was strategic.

The recent Jo Brant Hospital announcement was a long-awaited one that will benefit all Burlington residents. It came after two years of hard work by hospital officials, the City of Burlington, citizens and a group of private donors.

Rather than celebrate this decision as a good for Burlington, the opposition PCs and NDP chose to attack the efforts made by their fellow citizens, calling the announcement’s timing pure politics. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As someone who sat as a Hospital board member for five years, I know the province requires a “state of readiness” before providing capital funding for a project of this nature. As a community, we rose to the challenge and did just that – and within the all-important five year funding window.

That we now have a commitment for provincial funding is a huge step forward for Burlington, one that I’d hate to see disrupted or revoked by a Hudak-led Tory government, a regime that favours highways over hospitals.

We build hospitals – not close them like the PCs

This Liberal government builds – not closes – hospitals. In its first two terms, this government has built or launched 18 hospital projects. Compare that to the previous Mike Harris Tory government, when Mr. Hudak was a minister, which closed 28 hospitals.

As a founding board member of Burlington’s Carpenter Hospice, whose 10 bedrooms provide end-of-life care to about 110 residents annually in a home-like setting, I was delighted when our government increased its funding, August 31. The additional $320,000 added to base funding will strengthen Carpenter’s nursing and personal support services and enhance its ability to deliver palliative care in Burlington.

We strongly focus on education

The government’s relentless focus on education is paying off in our schools and the economy. Test scores are up: 69 per cent of grades 3 and 6 students are mastering reading, writing and math – a 15 point increase since 2003. We’re expanding online math tutoring for students from grade 7 to 10 and doubling teacher education to two years to give student teachers more practical classroom experience. Ontario Liberals are the only party with a plan to keep students on track, from full-day kindergarten right through post-secondary and into a good job.

Home care strengthened

The government continues to strengthen health care by bringing back house calls – a boon for some Ontarians with ongoing medical issues that make it hard for them to arrange office visits. Seniors especially will benefit because it will be easier to stay in their own home and remain independent while enjoying better health through regular check-ups and medical attention.

Tuition grants for university & college students

By creating a tuition grant that takes 30% off the average undergraduate tuition in Ontario, the Liberal government is moving Ontario forward by keeping the cost of post-secondary education within everyone’s reach. Annually, the grant will save families $1,600 per student in university and $730 in college.

Contrast this with the Harris-Hudak PCs, who cut post-secondary education by $435 million, slashed student aid by 41%, allowed fees to skyrocket by 67% and provided no help to middle-income families.

Karmel Sakran is a lawyer by profession and so it wasn’t all that difficult to convince the provincial attorney general to pay the city a visit. It was apparently a relaxing day for all.

The Hudak PCs’ $14 billion hole in their platform means they won’t help middle-class families afford post-secondary education, and will make deep cuts that send tuition through the roof, again. The current NDP platform barely mentions education but their legacy is clear; they were the party that eliminated up-front student grants, before we brought them back.

Let’s build on our progress & continue to strengthen Ontario

No question: Ontario needs the strong, steady hand of the McGuinty Liberal government to keep moving forward.

Over the past two terms, this government has hired thousands of doctors and nurses, built 18 new hospitals and improved access to primary care. Our health investments helped us go from having the longest to the shortest surgical wait times in Canada and 1.3 million more Ontarians now have a family doctor.

We lowered early-year class sizes, improved school buildings and introduced the continent’s first full-day kindergarten program. We’re also increasing post-secondary attainment by adding 60,000 new spaces – including three new undergraduate satellite campuses.

And to further help seniors remain in their own homes – in safety and dignity – we’re introducing a Healthy Home Renovation Tax Credit for things like ramps and walk-in baths.

Our platform also promises to create 50,000 new clean-energy jobs through Ontario’s world-leading FIT program. And we’re reducing electricity bills by ten per cent through the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit.

Liberal platform fully audited. PC & NDP platforms: hundreds of uncosted promises

The Hudak PCs’ platform – with its $14 billion hole – has 229 uncosted promises. And that will mean deep cuts to health care and education. The NDP has 119 uncosted promises in their platform and a crushing $9 billion tax increase.

Our platform features just 45 new, fully costed commitments to help Ontario families stay on track.

We’re the only party with a platform that has been audited by an economist – Scotiabank Chief Economist Warren Jestin – who confirmed that our numbers add up.

McGuinty Liberals support Burlington commuters

I also don’t hear any positive emanations from the PCs or NDP about the major transit and highway programs that have helped Burlington commuters go to and from their jobs. What we do know is that between 1999 and 2003, the PC government contributed nothing to GO transit leaving municipalities to carry the load. During the NDP time in office, they invested less than a third of what our government has invested and were the first to privatize highways.

Since 2003, the City of Burlington has received more than $48.8 million to support public transit plus nearly $13 million in gas tax funding. As well, the government added 600 new parking spaces at the Burlington GO Station, new weekday bus trips from McMaster to the Burlington GO, and a seasonal weekend and holiday Toronto-Niagara Falls train service with one of the stops in Burlington.

We’ve committed to $434.1 million to Halton Region for highway improvements since 2003. All this with a dedicated gas tax to municipalities. Not only are we improving transportation in Burlington and Halton Region, we’ve brought in tougher penalties for drinking and driving, speed limiters on most large trucks and banned the use of hand held devices while driving.

Powerful reasons to vote Liberal on October 6th.

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Another Liberal election promise – improved GO train service. Great idea – ahem, when will we see this?

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON September 12, 2011 It looks like it might be choo choo Dalton. The Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, told the Toronto Board of Trade today that his government was going to create 68,000 GTA jobs as the province expands GO train service.

“Our goal is to build a high-skills, high-wage Ontario economy. To get that, you need to keep goods and people moving,” said McGuinty. “That’s why we’re expanding GO train service to two-way service, all day, on all corridors.”

Two way service – all day. What exactly does that mean? Will we see a schedule during the off peak hours that is better than the basically hourly service we have now? This government is throwing the words jobs, jobs, jobs around like curses in a grungy bar. A little more detail please. We get that we have an economy that is under a little stress. And there are people out of work – we have something in the 7%+ unemployment range – so new work is good.

Improved GO service is another election promise. Mark that one down and see if they come through on it. Will this promise take as long as the hospital to come through ? And by the way the hospital funding is just that at this point – a promise.

The upgrade to the GO service will mean jobs in construction and engineering. Good high paying jobs – but there were no times lines attached to the announcement.

According to the Premier there are some 45,000 people from communities like Hamilton, Barrie and Oshawa take the GO train to Union Station. If all those people drove to work instead of taking transit, the GTA would need to build four more Gardiner Expressways and four new Don Valley Parkways to accommodate the extra cars. We certainly get how packed those four lanes on the QEW are and what a mess when there is an accident.

All good news – but why do we have to have an election to hear all this good stuff?

The Premier said the province has invested $4.7 billion since 2003 to build new lines, improve stations, add new trains and increase service. Now, there are 12 million more people riding GO than in 2003 — a 28% increase. Today, 94% of all rush-hour trains are on time and passenger satisfaction with GO is 82% — up from 59% a year ago.

The Premier used the occasion to remind us that the last PC government recklessly gutted transit — and made a mess of GO Transit in particular. First, they downloaded GO to the municipalities, then uploaded it again. Now, the Hudak PCs are at it again. They have a $14 billion hole in their platform — which would mean deep cuts to transit at a time when transit is most needed.

The last NDP government also cut GO service and now would introduce a crushing $9 billion in job-killing taxes.

Those are acceptable comments during an election. Are they true ?

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Three cultures managed to overcome differences and agree on a unique approach to creating a community centre.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON August 12, 2011 — It was a unique idea – why not put a school, a library and a community sports complex all in one place and attached to each other ? And why not do it in a brand new community. Do you think it would work?

Burlington is in the process of finding out if three organizations that are in place to serve the public can adjust their operating procedures enough to be able to work together. Cindy Mercanti, Manager Recreation Services for the city of Burlington speaks glowing of the process and how well it has worked so far.

Getting this project to the point where shovels will begin to dig into the ground had to work its way through reams of paper – and you know what that means: lawyers. There were so many lawyers on this file that they had to hire a law firm to write the definitive agreement to ensure that no one party favoured themselves. Nancy Shea Nicol advised a city council committee that herding the lawyers was not quite as difficult as herding cats and that except for some concerns with the drafting of the operating agreement – it went pretty well.

Organizationally it was quite a challenge but fair minded people with willing hearts put together a collection of committees and got on with the job of making it happen.

The last major housing development in Burlington is well underway. Occupancy should begin late in the year.

At this point, August of 2011, construction on the skate board park is well underway and should be opening sometime in the fall. Off in the background of where the skate board rink is being built one can see the frames of new houses going up and construction vehicles running up and down Tim Dobbie Drive, the street that dissects the location which is immediately north of Dundas and west of Walkers line.

The Skate Board park and playing fields will be to the east of Tim Dobbie Drive with the combined library, community sports centre and the school will be on the west side along with additional playing fields. The North Burlington Skate Park is being built as part of the Norton Park development. It is targeted to be complete mid-October, 2011.

Manager Recreational Services for the city of Burlington, stands in front of the transit being used by engineers as they work on the construction of the skate board rink that is part of the Norton development across the street from the high school, library, community centre complex. The only thing not on the site (yet?) is a Tim Hortons.

The Alton community was the last large greenfield residential construction project for Burlington on land that had been zoned for housing. At some point in the not too distant future some of the lands that are designated employment lands may get re-designated and become available for housing but at the moment Alton is the last big one – and big it is.

The city of Burlington, who are not the lead on this project, insisted that all the agreements be in place, signed and approved by the various boards involved before any tenders were awarded.

The community site is on the eastern side of Tim Dobbie Drive north of Dundas. A sports fields and a skate board rink are on the east side. Rink is expected to open in September.

The lead on the construction side of the project is the Halton District School Board. The project was tendered and the best bid came in from Bondfield Construction at a cost of just over $40 million. Burlington’s piece of that cost is $13.9 million. The bid is good until August 17^th – the same day that the city will open bids from construction companies for the completion of the Brant Street Pier. If all these project get completed on time 2013 is going to be a ‘gang busters’ year for Burlington. We may not be able to live with all that success. Shovels are expected to go into the ground for the community centre part in September. The project has yet to be given a name. Please not another politician, there is a veteran who got passed over just awhile ago – maybe time to remember him?

At a July Council committee meeting council members were brought up to date and advised how well the project was going. The only hiccup was mention of a budget shortfall. There no panic, but at the time the HDSB was still shy close to $1.7 million for their part of the project.

The Burlington Library, The Halton District School Board and the City of Burlington are all part of this unique arrangement with Burlington Hydro in the mix as well. They are installing the solar panels that will be on the roofs collecting sunshine and pumping that energy back into the electricity grid.

Architects rendering of what the three part complex will look like. A high school, a community centre and a library are all linked together into a single complex. Construction is scheduled to start in September.

So – what’s the big deal about this project. To most people it would make sense to have a library, a school and a community sports complex all in one place. The students could use the library, which would be part of the complex and evening sports events could use the gymnasium facilities that are part of the school. Common sense was written all over the idea. The stumbling blocks were at the organization level, where the operating cultures are quite different.

A high school principal runs one kind of organization and has obligations that must be met under the Education Act while the Chief Librarian runs a significantly different origination which is, yet again, quite a bit different that a community centre. Parks and recreation has a totally different culture and operating procedures. Each had to be identified and understood by all the parties involved and then adjusted enough to be able to work together seamlessly. Getting them all pulling together at the same time and in the same direction was much easier said than done. But in Burlington – it looks as if it is going to get done.

The people behind this are thinking well outside the box are not just linking up a couple of buildings. Heating and air-conditioning – vital – but did there have to be three separate systems? Why not just the one – sure but then how do you figure out how much each participant pays when the hydro bill comes in and who gets the benefit of those solar panels on the roof ?

Are you getting the sense that there were a lot of committee meetings going on. You betcha there were. And the lawyers were in their big time. First there was an all party Joint Development Agreement that set out the sharing of the design ands construction costs. Care to guess how many drafts that went through?

The project came together when Leo DeLoyde, GM Development and Infrastructure, asked then newcomer Scott Stewart if he would talk to the people at Parks and Recreation to see if anything could be done

This project however is planned as much more than a collection of organizations coming together to benefit from synergies and scale and the cost savings that come from a larger project. The group involved the Burlington Tourism office which was the first signal that something quite a bit bigger is planned.

Once the building is open and operational the layout above give you a sense of what will exist and how all the parts are linked together. One wonders where the hallway monitors at the high school will end their rounds. Maybe no monitors?

The city wants to create a centre where provincial level sports events can take place and Burlington is being positioned as the community that has it all. The focus is going to be on floor sports: basketball, badminton and volleyball are the original focus. Meetings have already been held with the provincial sports organizations and while there are no events scheduled for the facility yet – those 32 foot ceilings and four courts all in one large space with up to date change rooms and a large venue – will certainly put Burlington on the map for the provincial level sports community. Burlington Tourism will finally have something to sell – I mean Spencer smith Park can only take you so far.

While having a flashy new facility with all the whistles and bells will certainly draw flies, it has to work as a single entity – and that is where the magic in this initiative exists.

There was a Steering Committee, a Construction Team as well as an Operational Team, and various sub-teams. The Steering Committee has representatives from all three organizations and is overseeing the project and the development of the various agreements. The Construction Team deals with all aspects of construction and has representatives from all organizations as well as the architect.

Cindy Mercanti stands before the bill board that shows what is about to be built on the site north of Dundas and West of Walkers Line. Major change for that part of Burlington.

The Operational Team assisted the Construction Team with detailed design and has led in the development of the operating model and operations and maintenance agreement. Similar to the Construction Team, representatives from all three organizations participate. And there are sub-teams all over the place from the three organizations. As Cindy Mercanti explained it: “This was a very collaborative process” The city team included Parks and Recreation, Roads and Parks Maintenance and Community Strategic Initiatives

The three groups of people from three significantly different organizations made this happen. Let us return and tell you who they are and how they managed to make it all come together and work – so far.

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City manager to leave. Was he pushed or did he jump? Neither – he stepped aside.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON July 27, 2011 He has been with us for four years and is in the last stretch of his five year contract with Burlington as City Manager. Early in the year he approached the Mayor to get a sense of what his thoughts were on a contract extension – found that there probably wasn’t going to be one and discussed a number of options – one of which was to step aside – and that is what he did. Roman Martiuk leaves his office at the end of August.

Roman Martiuk listened and when he had a contribution to make – he was always heard. Here he communicates with Georgina Black during the Strategic Planning Sessions

What did he achieve while he was with us? Was he worth the $215,000 + we paid him? Is Burlington a better place because of what Roman Martiuk got done – and did the city ever really get to know the man?

For the most part he ran a happy ship. He is a great numbers guy and he knew the rules of the game better than anyone else on campus and has to be credited for developing his staff and introducing new systems, procedures and approaches

In a memo to his staff he said: “Throughout my career I have tended to stay with organizations for no more than five years, as I firmly believe that a key part of being a successful change agent is taking the organization as far as you can and then transitioning to a new manager who can build on your successes and take the next steps.” Was Roman Martiuk a change agent?

“The decision to transition to a new City Manager was one that was made after extensive discussion between myself, the Mayor and Council. In fact, it is a discussion that was in large part initiated by me and a decision which I fully support”, said Martiuk.

“In the last four years we have had a number of successes. These successes are even more impressive given the challenging nature of the environment and economy under which we were operating. Our accomplishments include:

Implementing a new budget system with a strategic focus
Introducing a cost containment program with $27.5 million in savings since the start of the program.
Developing a new 10 year capital plan achieving $69 million in savings
Implementing the asset management approach to capital budgeting
Increasing reserves from 6% to 10% of own source revenues
Designing and constructing a $40 million performing arts centre
Completing a corporate reorganization
Work load measuring and redeploying staff in response to the recession, and
The relocation of the McMaster school of business to Burlington

While Martiuk was involved in all of these accomplishments – he wasn’t the leading force in many of them. He lead a team that got these jobs done. He was a sound financial manager and he constantly hammered away at the significant infrastructure shortfall of more than 30% He never let an opportunity to make that point go by without a comment from him.

He came in when a very dynamic Mayor was leaving office and had to work with a Mayor who was very intrusive and a staff that was not as in sync with the community it served as it needed to be. Significant changes were made on his watch. All of his top line manager – the General Manager levels were changed while Martiuk was city manager.

The Pier fiasco took place on his watch but one can’t fault Martiuk for that one. A lousy contract was entered into before he had the keys to his office. The best he could do was attempt to manage a situation that went from bad to worse. In a somewhat plaintive tone, Martiuk says he “wishes the Pier had been completed while he was city manager. I would have liked to dance on it.”

The Burlington Performing Arts Centre got built on his watch but to be candid the BPAC Board raised the money and got the building in place on time and on budget. The project was designed and tendered by the city.

Martiuk came to Burlington from Prince Albert Saskatchewan and had to fill the shoes left under the desk by Tim Dobbie, who was Mayor MacIssac’s right hand man. He faced a staff that had to undergo significant refurbishment and at the same time work with a Mayor with a very distinct personality shaped by years as a Minister at Queen’s Park and absolutely no municipal experience. The two didn’t even know each other.

In leaving Prince Albert, Martiuk said: “I really hadn’t been looking. I was contacted by a professional in the (human resources) business and he told me about this opportunity,” said Martiuk. His first day on the job in Prince Albert was March 21, 2005.

The thinking it through was always part of the job – here Martiuk does his homework alongside staff and Council members.

Martiuk had family in Ontario and a daughter at McMaster and the money in Burlington was a lot better than that in Prince Albert.

During Martiuk’s tenure with Prince Albert, he established new systems, reduced costs, improved the city’s competitive position and recruited a number of new department heads. Which is basically what he has done for Burlington.

The guy has a remarkable education and, based on his resume, a pretty decent track record. He is clearly a solid administrator. The bulk of his career was with a Burlington Mayor that he found it very difficult to work with. Cam Jackson didn’t understand municipal government and Martiuk didn’t yet have the grip he needed on his team. Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor described Jackson as the Mayor who thought he had been elected President of Burlington.”

So – why did Roman Martiuk offer to step aside? He is adamant that he did not resign. resign – probably because he didn’t think he was going to be offered a contract extension. This Council works quite well. The newly elected Mayor knew he was going to need help and brought in a trusted colleague to help him steer his way through a thicket he wasn’t all that familiar with. The decision to bring in Frank McKeown, a very experienced corporate operative, has resulted in a more hard nosed approach to the way things get done. Add to that mix Paul Sharman, a new council member with significant corporate experience and not the least bit shy about making blunt comments and you now have a council that needs much different care and feeding.

The Mayor’s announcement – and notice that is was the Mayor’s announcement and not a joint statement by Martiuk and the Mayor, sets it out pretty clearly. The city wanted a different kind of manager and this was an opportune time to cut their ties with the existing manager and go looking for someone who was more “corporate”, prepared to work with a Council in a different way, get critical data in their hands in a much more timely manner and someone who bought into the concept of community engagement in a way that Martiuk wasn’t comfortable with. Many at City Hall thought the Shape Burlington report that Mayor Jackson commissioned and had done by an independent committee, was unfair to city hall staff and it took them some time to get comfortable with the report. Martiuk deserves credit for pulling his team together and holding their ground while the battle for supremacy took place.

Martiuk would frequently say that staff is in place to serve council and all they could do was give their best advice. It may have been very good advice but Council didn’t want another five years of it.

While this Council is backing away from parts of the report they all ran on in the 2010 election and supported it unanimously and they have a community group watching them carefully to ensure they live up to the eight recommendations in the document.

While Roman Martiuk is all business he has a well developed sense of humour that was evident in the costume he wore one Halloween – he came dressed as the devil. His was a happy ship.

The child of immigrant parents who met each other in Canada, Martiuk always worked after school and worked hard at school. He earned a Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering degree; is a Professional engineer; is a certified Management Accountant; has an MBA and holds two certificates in Human Resource management.

What then does Martiuk’s resignation mean for Burlington? That we are losing a well qualified man for sure. But there is more to all this than just that. Council has a very clear agenda and a direction it wants to take Burlington – and they just didn’t think Roman Martiuk was the man to help them get there. There are others at the senior level that don’t fit in with the agenda Council has. Can we expect to see more resignations?

Somewhere out there, there is a municipal council that needs a manager who can fix whatever financial mess they are in. Google Roman Martiuk or track him down in LinkedIn – he’s available

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Finally, it is official – Peggy Russell is to seek NDP Provincial Nomination for Burlington.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON June 17, 2011 – She was Vice-Chair of the Halton District School Board and served on that Board for ten years and has decided that it was time for a move up the political food chain. Queen’s Park was her choice with Peggy Russell today officially announced her intention to seek the nomination for the New Democratic Party in Burlington for the Ontario General Election this fall. Good luck!

Russell said she will make hospital funding her number one priority followed by will be to secure provincial support for Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital followed by concerns about development and intensification in the community. “McGuinty has forced growth upon Burlington” said Russell, “and has not provided the necessary supports for that growth. I plan to be a strong advocate to secure Provincial funding for the infrastructure needed to support growth in Burlington.”

Long time Burlington community activist Peggy Russell is answering the call again – this time she wants to sit at Queen’s Park. Her vote count in the municipal election was more than respectable; question now is can her leader, Andrea Horwath, provide enough in the way of coat tails for Russell to ride into office on.

Russell also cites what she calls the growing centralization of decision making at Queen’s Park as another reason for her decision to run for Provincial office. She provides two specific examples.

“The McGuinty Liberals took a heavy handed approach to planning in our region in their push for a new highway through Rural Burlington,” said Russell. “Both the McGuinty Liberals and Hudak Tories have failed to listen to Burlington residents who are overwhelmingly opposed to a new highway over the Niagara Escarpment.”

Another example of the Province dictating to communities in Ontario is in Education. Russell said, “As a Halton District School Board trustee I fought against Bill 177. This bill limits the ability of trustees to address the concerns of our community. As the MPP for Burlington I will fight to ensure that our community has a greater say in the education of our children.”

Russell and the NDP will also work to make life more affordable for families. This includes removing the provincial portion of the HST off of hydro and home heating, making gas prices predictable for consumers, and by eliminating ambulance fees.

Russell is a member of Shaping Burlington, the successor organization set up to follow through and advocate for the recommendations in the original Shape Burlington report.

She is currently a member of the Burlington Transit Advisory Committee and Poverty Free Halton as well as being involved in fund raising for the United Way via Burlington’s Amazing RACE. She has received numerous awards including being named the Halton Woman of the Year.

Russell was also a candidate for municipal office in the 2010 civic election when she ran in Ward 5 and earned a more than respectable number of votes. Had the field been smaller (there were seven candidates) Russell may well have come out the winner.

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Portland had many lessons for Mayor Goldring. Two million bus riders and an 80% voter turn out impressed him

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON June 13, 2011 – The Mayor spent three days in Portland, Oregon last week and came back with a briefcase full of literature and a notebook filled with thoughts and ideas to follow up on.

“Portland is a much more different city than Burlington but I wanted to meet people there because they have a transit system that works and works well and they have an approach to solving their problems that made a lot of sense to me’, was his opening comment during our interview..

Burlington Mayor Rock Goldring with Portland Mayor Sam Adams. Like minds meeting each other.

Goldring met with the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and with the Mayor of that city as well as the Portland Bureau of Transportation later in the same day. He also met with the Neighborhood Involvement groups and then with Portland’s BEST Business Centre (our BEDC) and then First Stop Portland

“They have their share of challenges” said Goldring “but what impressed me was the way they solve their problems – and he added “they run that city with a Council of five members.”

There was one statistic that really threw Goldring and that was their election turn out. In the United States voters first register, sort of the way we get our names on the voters list except that in Ontario the names of property owners are placed on the list automatically.

In Portland there is no list that is automatically created. Your name is on the voters list because you did something to put it there. In Portland – 80% of those whose names are on that voters list turn out to vote. Goldring came close to drooling when he quoted that statistic.

It isn’t exactly the view of Burlington from the Skyway bridge. Tgis is downtown Portland Oregon where our Mayor went to exchange views and approacheds to developing a sustainable city.

What worked most for the Mayor was the way the Portland city administration and the elected Council in Portland managed to put a “different lenses” on things that came up for discussion. “They consistently look at things differently. When a problem crops up they go out of their way to look at it differently – they would put a different lens on their camera and try to see things differently and not get trapped in older, less successful ways of resolving problems.”

Portland has 95 neighbourhoods that are very well organized, explained the Mayor. “The city is a very ‘grass roots’ community with the neighbourhoods organized into seven coalitions that are strong forces within the community and are not only heard at Council but listened to as well. The neighbourhoods are engaged.”

Portland has 2 million transit passengers that use a system that has all the technology in place to tell people when the next bus is coming – real time. There is no traffic congestion in Portland. There is a fare free zone in the downtown core. Their downtown is vibrant with a Pioneer Square that is heavily programmed by the city with an amphitheatre and a speakers corner. They have bike lanes as well as lanes for people who use roller blades.

Portland is a sustainable city which is a large part of the reason the Mayor stopped off for three days on his way back from a short vacation and a family wedding in Vancouver.

“Portland does not have the challenge that Burlington faces – which is the need to retrofit suburbia’ explained Goldring. “That city is made up of clearly defined neighbourhoods that live up to the 20 minute rule – getting to whatever you need in 20 minutes. It is also a much more diverse community 26.9% of the population is described as diverse – Burlington has some distance to go on that level.

Portland wasn’t always a healthy city. In the 70’s their downtown core was decaying badly and the neighbourhoods were not as clearly defined and didn’t have as much of a voice at city hall. Portland is a city with basically three parts. S solid downtown core with healthy neighbourhoods on either side of a river that cuts through the city. But ti works because they changed the way the approached their problems.

There was a statement in one of the Portland publications that seemed to sum up everything the Mayor brought back from his visit. Expect him to read this out frequently as he goes about the city talking to different groups.

The remarks were made by a member of one of Portland’s city commissioner’s and an announced candidate for Mayor of Portland in their 2012 election. “Other cities build landmarks to put their city on the map, Portland builds them to make life better for those who live in the city. Other cities use transit primarily to alleviate traffic congestion. Portland uses transit primarily to support neighbourhood street life.”

Had Burlington decided that landmarks didn’t do much for a city in the late 90’s, we might not have the mess that exists along the waterfront. The structure that has been approved at the bottom of Elizabeth at Lakeshore, that is now stalled because the developer hasn’t found the right hotel partner yet, was to be the “landmark” that would put the city on the map.

At a Waterfront Advisory meeting last week, committee member Michael O’Sullivan passed around a copy of a 1994 – yes 1994, seventeen years ago, newspaper article of a development that was going to transform that part of the city. So far they haven’t even begun to dig the hole in the ground. All we have is a motel that is a disgrace to look at and probably needs a visit from the health department.

Staff` at city hall talked of a Mayor who had returned from Portland “buzzed and really pumped up” over what he had seen and heard. Expect to hear more form him.

“I basically ran out of time. There were other people I would have liked to have met with but – I had to get back to Burlington.”

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He now sits in two Halls of Fame and will still blow the whistle on anyone who doesn’t get it right.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON June 9, 2011 – You can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy, which is part of the reason Ron Foxcroft will be recognized as the Burlington Entrepreneur of the Year Thursday evening. Foxcroft tells people he lives in Aldershot – it’s where he parks his Mercedes at night.

Foxcroft will join Michael Lee Chin, Harry Voortman, Mark Chamberlain, Michael deGroote Sr., Ron Joyce and Murray Hogarth, previously recognized entrepreneurs who built their organizations from a small idea into a substantial organizations that employ hundreds of people.

Millions sold in more than 100 countries. The Fox40, a Canadian product that dominates its market worldwide – made in Canada as well.

The now near legendary tale of the 1984 pre-Olympic basket ball game in Sao Paulo Brazil when the pea in the whistle he was using as referee got stuck and he wasn’t able to make a call and the fans rioted. Foxcroft, who makes decisions as fast as you can turn a dime, resolved to make a whistle without a pea in it and found a designer who would take on the task. Three years and $150,000 later ( which he didn’t have at the time) and there were two prototypes. Chuck Sheppard stuck with him and today that whistle is sold in more than 100 countries. They manufacture 40,000 of the whistles in a day

When the prototypes were ready Foxcroft and his wife Marie, who counts the cash for the company, traveled across the country to sell the whistle. Two months later – and zappo, not a single sale. “Marie told me I had the two most expensive whistles in the world – $75,000 apiece.

Foxcroft is no fool though – he knew the whistle was what the sports community needed and decided to catch the ear of the guys who would actually use the thing and attended a convention of sports referees – slipped into the hallway at two in the morning and walked around just blowing the whistle. Angry faces popped out of doors and Foxcroft had there attention and sales bean rolling in. There was no looking back after that stunt and today the whistled is used by not only sports people but by the US Coast Guard and numerous other organizations. You see the things in small water craft everywhere – legally every boat on the water is supposed to have a whistle.

It has become the whistle of choice for the world’s pro-sports leagues and minor league officials alike. Why is it called the Fox40? “I was 40 years old when the whistle was made.”

It is used by the NHL, NBA, NFL, CFL, NCAA, FIFA, and FINA. Because its effectiveness is not altered by water, it has been endorsed by the U.S. Coast Guard, Royal Life Saving Society of Canada, American Red Cross, NATO forces, and many more organizations.

Being a basketball referee was a full time job for Ron and that allowed him to get into other businesses without needing to take an income from the companies he was building. But serving as a basketball referee meant 35 years of being away from home far too many Saturday nights. You pay a price for that kind of thing.

He bought Fluke Transportation from the Fluke brothers (actually he conned them into selling to him because he knew they wanted out of the business) and because he didn’t have any money they took back a mortgage on the rolling stock, which at the time was three trucks. He guaranteed Bobbie Fluke a job for life and was now in the transportation business where he drove the tractors, loaded the trucks and made sales calls.

Foxcroft bought the rolling stock and also bought the name of the company which he turned into one of the best known corporate logos in the business: If it’s on time, it’s a Fluke. The best sale Foxcroft ever made was on the telephone on the Friday of a holiday weekend. The caller needed 30 trucks at a location Tuesday morning, explained Foxcroft, and wondered if I had any equipment. “I asked how many trucks they needed and they said 30 and I said where do you want them.” Foxcroft didn’t have 30 trucks but he had chutzpah and he had friends in the trucking business. That call from Proctor and Gamble 30 years ago paid off – they are still a client today.

Shortly after he bought the truck fleet from Newman Steel – again with no money. “Benny Newman wanted out of the trucking business so I bought his 20 trucks and he gave me a contract to cart steel for him. The revenue from the steel hauling covered the mortgage payments.” A classical Foxcroft purchase. What made it work was his commitment to never fail and his drive to keep his customers.

Foxcroft does client relationships like few others. The art of the deal – not the slick deal but the kind of deal where the solutions aren’t all that obvious. And THAT may be why Foxcroft is gong to be honoured Thursday evening because it was Christmas Eve of 2010 that Foxcroft called together a group of people to talk about the Hamilton Tiger Cats moving to Aldershot. Foxcroft knew all the players and he was prepared to not only referee but have some skin in the game as well. Time was of the essence and so the Christmas Eve call was made and the Paletta’s, our newly minted Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring and the people from the Tiger Cats gathered “right in this room – Pat Paletta sat right there”, said Foxcroft as he slapped his hand on the small boardroom table “and we ironed out the basics.”

There was a lot of skepticism about the deal at the time and the deadlines didn’t help but the idea that a massive sports complex could have been built doesn’t look as far fetched today when we see an NHL team going to Winnipeg and even the league mumbles about a second team in the GTA market. Foxcroft will tell you that it was a missed opportunity and that the decision to stay in Hamilton was a dumb business decision.

He might be impulsive but he knows what he’s doing when he lines up a shot.

Foxcroft’s entry into the world of business and his ability to get faced to face with the people that run the Fortune 500 companies comes through his being a basketball referee. No one wanted him to referee anything but they did want tickets to games and that Foxcroft was able to deliver on

This is a guy who failed high school and went on to buy a business with a couple of dimes in his pocket. He is one of those self made entrepreneurs who learned to let people who know what their doing run a company – he doesn’t have to micro-manage today but you kind of know when it “hits the fan” Foxcroft is one of the first people in the room cleaning up

Foxcroft proudly tells you that the whistle was invented in Canada and is made in Canada and then asks: “How many companies can you name that dominate their field world wide, not many” he tells you. But the Fox40 dominates its field. Having a patent on the product sort of keeps others away.

Getting to where he is today was not an easy road. A driven man who knew he was on to something good – Foxcroft couldn’t keep his hands off the trucking company and he micro managed like crazy until he realized there was a problem and that it was him.

That was the day he began to very difficult transition that many entrepreneurs fail to get through –letting the dream go and allowing others with different skills take the helm. Foxcroft made the transition. He learned to hire people who “were smarter than I am and then give them the room to do what they were trained to do.”

Foxcroft was the first, last and only Canadian to referee in the National College Athletic Association (NCAA). They don’t give out work permits for Canadians anymore he tells you. What he doesn’t tell people is that in 1999 he was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame.

Foxcroft learned that people do take advantage. “Some people mistake fairness as weakness. Good relationships, or even great relationships, can turn sour, and you must provide for it in your plans. I am very cautious, but not to the detriment of a good deal. I learned that I was a very impatient person that needed to learn not to be impulsive.”

He can sink a ball and he can chase a ball. And if you’d like to see how he does it – pay him a visit at his Stoney Creek office where he will play a quick game with you on the small court on the ground floor.

The Foxcroft group of companies use all the technology that is available to modern business organizations. “We can track everything, we know what has been sold and we know our costs down to the dime – that all part of doing business but what I regret” said Foxcroft “is that we are losing the art of communicating. Email is fine but it isn’t communicating. We need to put more emphasis on people to people communications skills.”

And that is what you can expect to hear from Ron Foxcroft when he stands before his peers at the Burlington Convention Centre and gets placed into the Burlington Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. “This ain’t about me” Foxcroft will tell you; “this is an evening to tell young entrepreneurs never to give up on the dream and to be who you are while you build great corporations.”

Today Foxcroft is still impulsive – but cautiously impulsive. He will jump into an idea if he thinks it has a chance – if an attempt to bring the Tiger Cats to Aldershot wasn’t impulsive then nothing is. He runs Foxcroft International, the whistle business from an office in Stoney creek; Foxcroft Capital is run out of an office in east Burlington and Fluke Transportation out of an office in Hamilton.

Ask Foxcroft why he still pushes and why he even bothered to get into business and he will tell you openly: “It was hunger and fear.” The days of fear and hunger are gone but for Foxcroft it’s the challenge and “I’m having fun. The day I stop having fun, someone else will be at this desk”. Sounds like a pretty good exit strategy but don’t expect that to happen tomorrow.

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Cover the environmental waterfront and fly a kite while you’re at it. Kite Fest June 5th – make it a family event.

Getting that kite up into the air is the first challenge – then the fun starts keeping it in the air.

BURLINGTON, Ont.— May 24, 2011 – This is a sure fire, family fun event. Pass along the link to every family you know with children.

The city (your tax dollars at work) is sponsoring Environment and Kite Festival on World Environment Day, Sunday, June 5 at Brant Hills Public School between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. at 2330 Duncaster Dr. in Burlington.

You’re going to get the whole nine yards from the environmentalists – energy retrofit projects, green building design and construction, water bottle refilling stations and the ‘Know where to throw’ staff waste diversion campaign are just some of the ways the city is cutting back on waste, increasing energy savings and continuing our progress as a sustainable organization.

Along with the opportunities to build and fly a kite, there will be a displays from the City’s Office of Sustainability; Burlington Transit; Halton Region Waste Management Services; Halton Region Museum; Conservation Halton; Burlington Hydro; Union Gas; Burlington Public Library; Burlington Sustainable Development Committee; BurlingtonGreen; Halton Environment Network; Iroquois Bruce Trail Club; and Environmental Defense. Representatives will be available to answer questions and discuss local projects and issues.

The event will also feature entertainment including Mountsberg Raptors birds of prey, Reptile Rob, a live performance by the Funky Mamas and the popular, “What do you know about water?” puppet show.

“As part of the city’s Thirsty campaign to promote regional water and reduce the use of single use disposable water bottles, there will be an onsite water refilling station available for visitors to fill their own reusable water bottles,” said Lynn Robichaud, Senior Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Burlington.

A blue sky and string upon string of kites. Great family fun. Don’t miss it.

Children of all ages can come out and build a kite with the free supplies provided on a first come first served basis. There will be separate areas available for children flying their kites and for professional kite flying demonstrations. New additions include a variety of vendors offering various items for sale such as light snacks and large colourful kites.

The Environment and Kite Festival will take place rain or shine.

If you want to know more about building kites and maybe make your own try going to https://www.my-best-kite.com/how-to-make-a-kite.html

The only thing in doubt is the weather but surely we’ve been given all the rain we need for awhile. Ya think!

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Commitment is there – but is the core the centre of a donut or is it the tasty outer ring you can sink your teeth into.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON May 24, 2011 – It started with Direction from the Mayor to city staff to provide an update on the status of the Core Commitment Initiative that would include a plan for delivering the vision. There hadn’t been much activity on this file but there had been lots going on in the background for some time and the Mayor wanted to bring things forward. Burlington’s Downtown Core Commitment was getting attention.

The Mayor had perhaps been influenced by comments made by Christopher Hume, Architectural columnist for the Toronto Star who was the Mayors guest at the first of his Inspire Series held at McMaster DeGroote School of Business on the South Service Road in April.

Mayor Goldring commented after the speech that much of what Hume said was “painful, but all too true”. Unfortunately there was only about 50 people in the room and what Hume had to say should have been heard by hundreds – if not thousands. “What you have done in the past and are continuing to do” said Hume “is not sustainable and this city as you know it cannot continue.” Some in the room did not want to hear what Hume was saying but because this is Burlington everyone was polite.

Council committee agreed to let the building go up. Councillor for the ward and local residents oppose the deal the city made with the developer.

The first person to put a question to Hume said: “We like Burlington just the way it is” – and that of courses is the problem; a serious one for Burlington’s long term existence. Mayor Goldring says frequently that Burlington and its suburban sprawl was created when gas and land were cheap. With gas having touched $1.40 a litre and land getting more expensive every week, the sprawl we have cannot be maintained. Will people want the homes with large back yards and swimming pools forty years from now ? Will they be able to afford to heat them and be able to pay for the gas to get home at the end of the work day. Provincial policy and a need to make better use of the land we have has started the city on a process of intensifying development. The recent decision to permit significant intensification on half acre lots in the Queensway area and the vote to be taken at Council tonight on a 14 storey apartment building just to the west of the downtown core are signs that the process had already begun.

City staff are working from a document written in 2005 – called the Downtown Core Commitment, which sets out goals and objectives and ties those tasks to the budget.. Each year, Jody Wellings, Special Business Area Coordinator and a certified planner, reports, to Council on where they are with the work plan.

Mayor Goldring asked for an update of the Core Commitment Plan which is now being worked up and that is where things are today. The report that Wellings will present to Council will talk about a significantly different downtown Burlington. Many of the retail establishments that were part of the Village Square fled to Brant Street when rents and management practices at the Village Square were felt to be onerous. Management at the Square is now in the hands of the owner’s daughters and new tenants are slowly returning. But they aren’t pulling any traffic from Brant Street – so it would appear that there is enough retail trade for both locations to thrive.

A large part of the difference is that there are now a number of condominiums that were not in place when the last draft of the Downtown Core Commitment was released. And a building that will contain both housing units and offices for the medical community in the northern part of the downtown core should see ground turned, probably sometime this year.

Council committee agreed to let the building go up. Councillor for the ward and local residents oppose the deal the city made with the developer.

The Pearl Street Café closed a few months ago and the two buildings sold as part of a land assembly that will run south to Lakeshore Road. The developers of that project have a part interest in Pane Fresco on Locust Street. Downtown Burlington is evolving and the task for Wellings is to keep ahead of the change and at the same time loop back and ensure that it is all moving along the way it should.

A downside to all this development is that property values have been driven up which results in property tax increases for the retailers and that has resulted in a few stores with sheets of paper in the windows.

Getting the right feel for the streetscape was one of the several points Hume made in his presentation and he put forward the notion that there is no public realm in Burlington. “Streets” he said, “are the destination” in vibrant cities but the streets of Burlington are not vibrant. “Burlington” said Hume “is indifferent to the public realm”, which he defined as that space that gives life to streets and creates spaces for people to gather.

Hume was close to scathing in his comments about the moral failure on the part of McMaster University when they located on the South Service Road, outside the downtown core. His belief is that the university had a moral responsibility to the people of Burlington to settle in a downtown location – but that one got away on us.

And so what does Jody Welling do with all this? How much can the planners do? Create reports; keep them up to date; make presentations at city council meetings. Wellings explains the document is a ‘guide’ – it sets out the vision but it isn’t a manual and “because streets are dynamic and change easily” all it sometimes takes is one “hot spot” to change a whole city block

Burlington explains Ms Welling “has always been good at public engagement” – a point on which the writers of the Shape Burlington report didn’t appear to agree with – and there have been, adds Wellings “some really hot public meetings”.

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Burlington is creating a Strategic Plan that will set out just what kind of a city it wants to be. Magi and Dwyer lead the process.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON May 6, 2011 – So, said the guy in the sales lot – you’re looking for a Strategic Plan – what kind of a budget do you have ?

Not all that much money and I need something that will last me at least four years.

How heavy duty will your driving be?

Not sure exactly, some of my travel will be very heavy duty will all kinds of passengers and many of them will have a lot of baggage – and then there will be those short runs to the LCBO. It will be a pretty solid mix.

Colour matter? Four door? Automatic transition? Sound system?

Probably blue – we’re a blue town. Four doors for sure and a hatch back – we are going to have people crawling in and out of the thing. Automatic would be nice – don’t need sound, there will be all kinds of talking going on.

If Burlington was buying a strategic plan from a sales lot that is how the conversation might go – but we are not going to buy a strategic plan we are going to build our plan with a level of community involvement that includes over 80 community groups and almost anyone else who has something to say.

The process is headed up by Allan Magi, Executive Director, Corporate Strategic Initiatives and Michelle Dwyer, coordinator of Corporate Strategic Initiatives. From now through to September they will be directing the effort that will have city hall staff, your Council and you the public figuring out and thinking through what the strategic plan for the city should be for the next four years.

With a Strategic Plan in place ( and we won’t have that until sometime in September) City Council can then begin to develop a budget for the remaining years of its term and move forward on each of the objectives set out in the Strategic Plan.

Council and senior staff members have been working through just how they want to create the Plan while Magi has been working on the relationship with the consultants and keeping in touch with Council members while Dwyer has been gathering data and getting input from staff. This, apparently is the first time staff have been as directly involved at input into a plan, said Dwyer and many appreciated being asked what they thought and felt the city should be doing in terms of the direction it will grow in. Dwyer pointed out that many staff members live in the city and they want to be able to comment both as citizens and employees who have an insight into what can and can’t get done. For Dwyer that realization was a pleasant surprise.

Much of the research and data gathering was done by Dwyer who came across an idea used in Edmonton that she thought could be used in Burlington equally well and that was a Work Book that people would download form the web site and complete.

Dwyer has been with the city for some time. She worked in Parks, the in Clerks and now with Community Strategic Initiatives. She was also the United Way associate for the city. Dwyer studied at Mohawk College.

Dwyer will tell you that this assignment is one of the most exciting she has worked on. She is getting an up close look at what the different departments see as the future of the city and at the same time working with stakeholder groups who have their own vision. Out of all these groups will come a Mission, Vision and Values statement and that, Dwyer will tell you, is a big deal.

Mayor Goldring mentioned the workbook at a Q&A held by the Chamber of Commerce and suggested that citizens gather with their neighbours in small groups and go through the Workbook. The idea didn’t exactly float but didn’t fall to the ground like a lead balloon either. It was a different approach, sort of like homework for the community, an idea that Dwyer came across in her research and convinced the Mayor to give it a try in Burlington – and it worked.. People downloaded the workbook, went through the document and sent them back to city hall. A number of people also did the one line survey that was put up.

The creation of the Strategic Plan is running on several levels. While Magi and Dwyer gather material, work with staff and then organize the more than 80 stakeholder groups in the city and arrange for presentations to Council, a group of Consultants hired by the city to take senior staff and council through the finer points of crafting a Strategic Plan. Just how do you create a Strategic plan anyway ? The plan that was in place for 2006 to 2010 had very little impact on the how the city grew and wasn’t much more than a collection of statements and a lot of nice pictures.

This Council didn’t want to make that mistake again but who knew just how to do this. The city didn’t have that level of expertise in house. The standard citizen Quality of Service survey was revised with input from both staff and Council – results of that work are in the review and analysis stage

Another phase is the community input, which is where community groups make presentations to city councillors. The first took place at the Burlington Arts Centre where seven groups presented. The second input session had 13 community groups telling Council what they think should be in the Strategic Plan. The community stakeholders resulted from a list sent to council for input – groups were added or deleted from the list. Forty four key stakeholder groups were asked to provide for council consideration three priorities they would like to see in the Strategic Plan. Some came forward with the “same old” but there were some interesting insights.

Allan Magi came to Burlington 20 years ago and expected to return to the consulting work he was doing – but hasn’t managed to do that. He explains that the Strategic Plan process he is leading will be the eighth Burlington has produced and that Burlington was one of the first municipalities to get into the process of creating a Strategic Plan.

Past plans have been less than inspiring and this Council wanted to do it differently and Magi was given the job of leading the process. “We first wanted to ensure that Council had ownership of this Plan” he explained. “We wanted the Plan to be more operational and to tie the first part of a 20 year plan to the term of office for the Council” In other words Magi was charged with coming up with a plan that was based on a 20 year vision

with clear objectives as to what would get done ion the next four years..

“There are huge intangibles in a Strategic Plan explained Magi. It is a Council’s vision that they drew from the citizens. We wanted ground level input and we wanted to cast our net as wide as possible. In the past the community input was somewhat limited and this Council didn’t want to make that mistake.

Magi was involved in the city portion of the Shape Burlington report that was the first document to put the city on a different path and has worked very closely with the Shaping Burlington people, who were the successor organization to the Shape group, that were commission by then Mayor Jackson to ask some fundamental questions as to just how the city worked and where the problems lay. Former Mayor Walter Mulkewich and the late John Boich co-chaired the Shape group and delivered a very significant document.

Magi came out of that process with a much different view of what the city wanted and is using much of what he learned to produce a Strategic Plan process that will build on what Shape Burlington taught us.

Magi learned that the city had to move much earlier on getting public input – “much, much earlier than it has in the past.” “We knew we needed more interaction but we weren’t completely sure how we would do that. We knew that we had to test ideas and try to anticipate the direction the process was going in to be sure we were on the right track.

A Strategic Plan can become a wish list and remain just that but this Council wanted a document that would have ideas and direction and be something that citizens saw as reflecting what they saw for their city. At the same time the objectives set out in the Plan had to deal with fiscal reality. Burlington is at the beginning of a shift into a different form of development. Gone are the days when there was “greenfield” development after “greenfield” that produced significant revenue from the development charges.

The city had to think in terms of making better use of what it has and that has meant quite a bit of infill development – and if the reaction to the rather small development in the Queensway community and the upcoming plans for a large apartment building at Brock and Ontario are any example – the infill process is going to be noisy and awkward.

There are challenges on several fronts. The city has frozen suburban development at the 407 and now faces the possibility of a new highway around Lowville and the Mt Nemo plateau which would have the all but immediate effect of moving the suburban development to that new road. Many feel this will be the end of the rural north for Burlington. Big, big community fight at that level – which saw one of the larger community demonstrations in front of a downtown hotel against any Niagara-GTA highway.

The city has to decide what it wants to do with its languishing western Beach and also what to do with the downtown core that isn’t living up to expectations. Understanding how we are going to manage the city for a growing seniors population and the challenge of bring high quality, high paying jobs, to a city that doesn’t have any Class A office space.

All these issues will, ideally, be reflected in the Strategic Plan that Allan Magi and Michelle Dwyer are stick handling through a very delicate process. Hovering over everything Magi and Dwyer di is the fiscal reality. Burlington managed to come in with a very small tax increase for 2011 – due to a very significant surplus from the previous year. The city may not be quite that fortunate next year and will have to teach its ratepayers how much what they want is going to cost.

Magi, who came to the city with an MBA tucked under his arm and a bit of consulting experience on his resume is now managing two consultants from a firm that has an international consulting practice who are helping Burlington put together a Strategic Plan that Magi would like to see, when it is completed, as one of the best any municipality in the country has produced. One wonders if Magi saw any of this coming the day he walked into a Human Resources office in Burlington for his first interview.

Magi has learned that there has to be more process and that while process takes time it does result in a more cohesive community. While this isn’t new territory for Magi it is stretching him and he seems to be having the time of his life on this assignment.

He came to the city to work in the engineering department, the moved over to water resources and on to Recreation and Parks and now he heads up the Corporate Strategic Initiatives and works closely with the KPMG consultants who were brought in to help staff and Council put in place the management tools and processes that will allow for the creation of a Strategic Plan.

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The Shape Burlington report as presented to city council in 2010

A report by the Mayor’s Citizen Advisory Committee on Civic Engagement – April 2010

Mission Statement

Through community consultation and research into best practices, to determine and recommend to the Mayor, Council, and citizenry, those methods the Committee feels will best enable citizens to become more engaged in their communities and empowered to effectively communicate their concerns to the government and other citizens, resulting in more timely citizen involvement in the decision making activities of local government

Letter from the Co-Chairs

Exceptional people do exceptional work. The people of Shape Burlington who put this report together are exceptional. They are eloquent representatives of the diversity of Burlington’s population as well as first-rate interviewers, facilitators, writers, and include a highly competent web master. All their time and personal expenses were contributed freely as caring and concerned Burlington citizens.

We thank you for volunteering and accepting our assignments without reservation. We congratulate all of you on a job well done.

We could not have developed this Report without the guidance and input of consultants Peter Macleod, Joslyn Trowbridge and Chris Ellis of MASS LBP.

We owe so much to Dr. Joey Edwardh and Ted Hildebrandt of Community Development Halton who provided the administrative services and expertise in community development.

We are honoured that Mayor Cam Jackson had confidence in our integrity and judgment to select a committee and to reach out to Burlington citizens for their views on better and more effective communication and involvement with City Council and Staff. We thank Mayor Jackson for this opportunity to serve our community. We believe we have fulfilled the terms of reference for this advisory committee.

For us, this has been a journey of discovery, which has reinforced our belief that we live in one of the finest communities in Canada.

This Report reflects accurately the views of those people who took the time and opportunity to share their opinions on how we might improve civic engagement and two-way communication with local government. City Council can honour these citizens by considering carefully each and every one of the recommendations. . . In our opinion, these eight (8) recommendations must all be implemented.

We understand that these recommendations will require City Hall and Burlington residents to re-think how local government communicates and interacts with the community in a more participatory and consensual mode. We believe the implementation of these recommendations will foster more informed deliberation, inspire greater confidence in local government, and build a more caring community.

John Boich, Co-Chair Walter Mulkewich, Co-Chair

Transforming the culture at City Hall – City Hall must reinvent itself.

As social, technological and demographic trends alter the face of every community, municipal governments are struggling to adapt their long-established practices to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving new world.

Burlington is experiencing a period of rapid growth and change. Citizens are more literate, more educated and more connected than ever before. They are also busier, more distracted and require more from those who represent them, develop the policies and provide the services in their community.

Formed at the request of the Mayor, Shape Burlington was given the freedom to act independently. We spent three months working with Burlington residents and City Hall staff and members of Council to learn more about how the City operates and how it engages with residents.

Shape Burlington is comprised of citizens who live in all areas of the city. They bring a broad mix of experience and expertise to their commitment. We were assisted in our research and procedures by MASS LBP, a public consultation company with expertise in citizen engagement and democratic innovation.

We investigated practices from communities around the world. Who is facing similar challenges? How are they doing it? What can we learn? What best practices are already being implemented, and how can Burlington create its own recommendations?

We conducted interviews with members of current Advisory Committees. We spoke with representatives of cultural and sports groups; representatives of the business community; citizen groups and high school students. We met with City staff at different levels from many different departments. We interviewed Department heads and managers, Councillors and the Mayor. And throughout, we met with many Burlington residents in public forums and listened to them via our website. Ail expressed their hopes for creating a better City and also their frustrations over how City Hail makes decisions or sometimes fails to listen.

Tasked with recording a broad spectrum of messages and observations, Shape Burlington has delineated 14 specific issues that were constant themes in our investigation. From this, we have identified eight recommendations that can help Burlington navigate the future.

Some are self-evident; some are bold. But all come from the people who live in and work for this City. They call for increased engagement and a dearer vision; for more communication to a recovery of trust; for a sense of belonging and more meaningful participation of all segments of our community.

Recommendations

Engagement: Transform the City Hall culture to promote active citizenship and civic engagement

Promoting active citizen engagement and meaningful public dialogue requires a culture shift at City Hall. A crucial first step is the development an Engagement Charter – a plain language policy document developed with public involvement that incorporates benchmarks and accountabilities, and describes the value, purpose and opportunities for citizens to influence city policies.

The charter would explain how to navigate City Hall and its services. It should stipulate best practices for various kinds of public consultation and affirm the city’s commitment to inform citizens and respond to their ideas and contributions. t would address the question of reaching out to a diverse population.

The charter would incorporate an early notification system to provide citizens and groups information about meetings, events and issues, and to allow reasonable amounts of
time to understand, discuss and develop positions before decisions are made. A guide for its development could be the Edmonton PublicInvolvement process.

Vision: Shift City Hall processes to greater involvement of all citizens in a shared vision of our city

Citizens should be more fully involved in preparing Burlington’s Strategic Plan after each municipal election. It is the single best time for them to influence the City’s long-term direction.

The 2011strategic planning process is an ideal opportunity to begin implementing the principles set out in this report. Citizens should be involved in writing the plan.In this way, they will participate in developing a vision statement for Burlington, set out with clear and measurable action plans that the community can buy into. Some participants could be chosen through citizen juries or random selection.

The strategic planning process and the municipal election itself should be linked explicitly in the minds of voters. n this way the election and the development of the strategic plan would be twinned democratic processes and act as the principal conduits through which the city renews and resets itself every four years.

Communication: Empower people by overcoming the communications deficit

The City should foster the development of an independent information service, including a web-based community news and information portal through start-up subsidies and encouraging community support.

In addition, the Communications Department at City Hall should be fundamentally transformed into a timely and reliable source of City information free of political bias. t is an essential step in providing more resources to foster information, education and continuous learning.

After a comprehensive review of diverse multimedia communications processes, the transformation would include a revamped and more frequent City Talk,webcasts of committee and Council meetings and a user-friendly, well-written website that incorporates the latest web2.0 and gov2.0 innovations to make government more accessible and interactive.

Members of Council are encouraged to develop their own communication vehicles that are separate from the corporate communications process.

A robust, independent professional media is essential in a functioning democracy. We encourage the local news outlets to develop the business and technological solutions that will allow them to reclaim their proper role in the community.

Trust: Improve the public’s trust and confidence in City government

Staff and members of Council should review their protocols and procedures for dealing
. with citizens to improve public trust,confidence and respect for citizens. This would include ongoing staff training programs and establishing cross-department and measurable
, customer service standards.

The delegation process should be overhauled so that is not an obscure or intimidating experience for citizens unfamiliar with City Hall or unaccustomed to public speaking. To make citizens feel more welcome, Council, staff and the public should work together to amend the Procedural Bylaw, develop a new manual and provide staff assistance to delegations as required.

To enhance transparency and access, Council could periodically hold its meetings in different geographical areas across the City, including libraries, community centres and schools where students could participate in the proceedings.

Belonging: Build a caring and inclusive community

The City should reach out to minorities, marginalized groups and all of Burlington’s geographical areas. This would include building greater social cohesion through strategic promotion of Burlington’s opportunities and celebrating each others’ success.

In partnership with the community, the City should establish a policy of inclusivity measurements to ensure that City policies, programs and services reflect our changing population. This includes the needs associated with changing population groups, such as seniors and people from diverse backgrounds, and the social, economic and cultural contributions of these groups. The goal is to forge a city where all participate in building the infrastructure for caring and the opportunities to belong.

As society moves faster and individuals become more mobile, creating a sense of place and marking important milestones become more significant. This can be accomplished through pageants and fairs, special occasions and events – a cycle of distinctive annual events that have widespread appeal and draw the community together.

An inclusive community is one that provides opportunities for the optimal well-being and healthy development of all children, youth and adults. All members of the community gain from social inclusion – those who are vulnerable for reasons of poverty, racism, or fear of difference – as well as the broader community that benefits when everyone is able to participate as a valued and contributing member of the community

Participation: Empower committees and community organizations that work for people

An Office of Engagement should be established to foster and implement recommendations contained in this report.

The Director of the Office, reporting to the City Manager, would implement the Engagement Charter, working with municipal departments to review their policies and design more effective forms of consultation and engagement. This would include a program to support different levels of.citizen access and providing meeting space for community/neighbourhood councils and other community-based groups organized around specific issues.

The Director should consider initiating discussions with community groups to develop a template for independent community or neighbourhood councils such as developed in Quebec City, Portland (Oregon) and Los Angeles.

The Director would provide support for Burlington’s Citizen Advisory Committees, important local institutions whose potential has not yet been fully realized because of variation in their

operation, constitution and purpose. Council needs to rethink the structure, responsibilities, standards and accountabilities of future advisory committees. One option is to establish committees that cut across different issue areas.

Youth: Reach out to the next generation

In cooperation with the school boards, Council should invest in meaningful initiatives at different grade levels. Members of Council and staff should be made available to speak to students in their schools.

A specific proposal is involvement in the Grade 10 Civics program, already in place.
Initial meetings with the Director of the Halton District School Board have produced enthusiastic interest in augmenting this program with a module that could be created with input from the City, the school boards and a committee with experience in both these fields.

Using their volunteer hours as currency, students should be brought into the planning process in ways that they help define: creating a website and social networks that allow them to engage with issues that are important to them: transit, sports facilities, bicycle paths, cultural events, festivals, environmental issues, education and diversity.

There is a genuine need, and value, to reach out to Burlington’s youth. Lifelong civic engagement begins here.

Governance: Define roles and responsibilities

A.governance review should be undertaken to clearly define and differentiate the roles and responsibilities of Council and staff.

Workshops, conducted after each election, would help ensure that Council members make effective decisions and spend their time appropriately and effectively at the policy-making level. They will also ensure that staff is empowered to do their job of administration, providing advice and implementing Council policies and decisions.

Messages & Observations

Burlington is using traditional models in a new age

The City of Burlington public involvement processes and methods of engaging the public for both decision- and policy-making are based on traditional models that belong to the past.

Significant social and demographic changes, population growth, increased urbanization, and new technology in the past 30+ years mean that changes in the modes of civic engagement and communication between citizens and government are necessary to relate to a changing society. In recent years, a wide variety of innovations in civic engagement and democratic inclusion have been developed in municipalities and communities in Canada, U.S. and globally.

Burlington is not on the cutting edge of these developments to match its leading edge economy and above average literacy and education rates.

Everyone recognizes the need for improvement

There appears to be as a broad consensus among the public, City staff and members of Council that the processes of public involvement should be improved. However, there are many different viewpoints on what and how extensive these improvements should be.

The public wants more extensive change than City Hall does.

While staff and members of Council generally agree that improvements are needed, most believe that the City is doing a better job in communicating and promoting and civic engagement than does the public. Further, the public appears to favour greater changes than those suggested by Council or staff.

Many believe that City Hall is not listening

There is a broad consensus among representatives of citizens who deal with City Hall as well as the public at large that City Council and staff is not listening. Citizens want to see that their input is taken seriously and has a meaningful impact on outcomes.

Citizen confidence in local democracy is declining

There is a broad consensus that public confidence and trust of the City and its democratic processes have declined, especially in the past few years. Most members of Council agree.

Tomorrow’s major transformative issues will require a new form of leadership.
Burlington will face a number of significant transformative issues over the next decade: greater urbanization and intensification 1 the impact of build-out on taxes, an aging population, and the need to adjust services for seniors and youth, low income groups and those from diverse backgrounds.

These issues will require leadership at all levels of City Hall to enhance civic engagement.If there is not effective public involvement in the decisions and policy-making processes, the community could become even more distressingly polarized.

Good citizenship means citizen responsibility

Good citizenship is a two-way street Citizens have a responsibility to help make a better community and take part in decision and policy making in an appropriate manner and with mutual respect. The public involvement process should give citizens the greatest opportunities to exercise those responsibilities.

Issues Governance – the roles of Council and staff
Some citizens suggested that a lack of unified direction and leadership from City Council made it more difficult for staff members to do their job and, further, that staff members were not sufficiently empowered and trusted. Others suggested that staff had undue influence over Council and its decisions. These questions of leadership and respective roles are governance issues, but they have a significant impact on the ability of City Hall to establish a high level oftrust for effective public engagement. Some citizens suggested
that staff members are frustrating to deal with because they do not have a sense of Council’s direction or goals. The public has difficulty putting issues into their strategic context when they do not understand Council’s goals or feel Council’s directions do not represent a community consensus.

Governance – size of Council

There was a widespread view that the size of Council should be re-visited. Many citizens felt that Council members were too overburdened to make good policy decisions or be able to respond as well as they should to public demands for input and service. However, Council has been the same size for 13 years and it appears that only in the past few years has the concern about its size become a major factor. So are other factors at play? There were some suggestions that the issue is not so much size as one of establishing better standards, measurements, and process for accountability. There were some suggestions that Council members need not spend as much time on service issues and they should restrict their time and efforts to focus on policy directions and major issues, and show greater trust in City staff to do their job.

Service quality and process

Many citizens thought that the quality of service, response time and staff attitude has declined. Interestingly, several members of Council agreed. Citizens’ experience with City Hall is a major determinant in creating trust in municipal government and the democratic process. Citizens have a right to be well treated, as customers and as citizens. The City does not appear to have a clear quality service policy, although one is in early stages of development.

Not au citizens feel included or respected

Some citizens felt business groups and other organizations have a better relationship with City Hall than those involved in activities such as social justice and the environment They believe that the City should do more to reach out to all citizens and sectors of society.

A number of citizens said they felt intimidated and faced an adversarial attitude on the part of Council when they attended Council or committee meetings as delegates,

Staff reports and presentations

A specific suggestion, repeated several times, was that staff reports should, as olten as possible, include options for Council and public to consider so that there is a greater ability to evaluate the best possible direction. Further, the suggestion was made that staff presentations at public meetings should be dear, succinct and relevant to the audience.
And, the suggestion was made that the Chairs of public meetings, whether they are Councillors or staff, should be trained in conducting meetings.

The need for more and better information

While we live in an information-based society, communications about the local community, local government and local issues have declined. To have information is to have power.
The local information deficit is significant and is a major deterrent to public involvement. There was agreement among all participants that the decline of traditional media as a source of information and platform for debate is a major issue, Fewer professional journalists cover City Hail. Council and committee meetings are often unreported.
Compared to 15 years ago when Burlington had three newspapers and frequent radio and television coverage, fewer pages are devoted to City news and there is no radio or television coverage to speak of. Cable TV is still present but competes in a multi channel and multimedia universe. There was some feeling that the media often shows bias, City Talk received mixed reviews, with a large number of people perceiving it as more of a political document than an information provider. Citizens, especially those involved with
various organizations, expressed a desire to receive information before issues are discussed.

The need for more education

A common comment was that many residents do not understand City Hall’s procedures and policies and therefore require some basic education so they can navigate the system better and have more confidence to engage.

Importance of early citizen engagement

There was wide agreement among the public, Council and staff that it is important to involve citizens as early as possible in the decision-making process, especially for major issues. Citizens felt that they are consulted too late, after the staff report is already in a final or semifinal form. The timeline after a final report is publicly tabled is often only a few days before a committee meeting, leaving citizens little time to adequately prepare if they wish to express their views effectively.

The need for meaningful dialogue

Public information sessions and many public meetings do not allow citizens to become engaged in dialogue with each other to arrive at a consensus. We heard from some members of Council that meetings and processes where residents have dialogue and help frame solutions result in better buy-in because citizens feel they have had an impact.

The influence of single-issue groups

The influence of single-issue groups received mixed reviews. Some citizens considered them to be a major barrier to allowing the opinions of the large spread of citizens to be heard effectively. Several members of Council indicated that this was an issue. Other citizens believed single-issue groups are positive and effective.

More effective use of digital communications

Digital communication and new information technologies are enabling improved interactivity, information-sharing and collaboration as well as a range of social media services, wikis and biogs. They are substantially changing how we communicate and use information. With some exceptions, most people have access to this digital world, particularly young people whose civic involvement is so important. The City should be prepared for the next wave of wireless technology. The City’s website has come in for criticism because it is not user friendly and does not contain useful information. The City has not yet entered the web 2.0 stage. So the City’s proposed website revisions and social media considerations are timely. Some have suggested that web-based communication tools can complement and even replace many traditional meetings. Burlington’s knowledge base could be expanded by a Burlington Wikipedia, a repository of public-sourced information on a range of local subjects.

The importance of public involvement in major policy plans of the city

The Strategic Plan, Official Plan, Capital and Operating Budgets, the Parks and Recreation Master Plan and the Transit Plan are all policy blueprints. Typically, they are the most difficult for the public to provide critical input. There is a need to develop processes to obtain better and more effective public input at the earliest stages. Further, there was a strong feeling that the Strategic Plan does not include sufficiently specific and measurable goals to be effective.

The need to make more effective use of Citizens Advisory Committees

There is a public perception that the Citizen Advisory Committees are not listened to sufficiently. The City is not taking full advantage of this important resource.
Representatives of Advisory Councils have mixed reports on the effectiveness of their activities in terms of influencing City Council decisions and the community’s quality of life. A common issue is that the committees often have difficulty meeting timelines to provide advice.

North versus South,new versus established

It was noted that different geographical areas in the City, particularly new neighbourhoods in the northern and eastern areas, do not feel part of the Burlington community. Some residents of these areas may feel closer to neighbouring municipalities in terms of entertainment and shopping.

Excelence in government

One of the best measures of a city’s quality of life is the successful engagement of its citizens with their elected local government. This has been an ongoing issue for Burlington for many years. Citizen engagement is a broad and complex issue, which, ultimately, has its roots in the state of social cohesion in the community. One aspect of citizen engagement is the effectiveness of the communications between the local elected government and the citizens they serve,

In 1997, the City of Burlington hosted a citizens’ workshop on community-based government. Subsequently, City Council appointed a Citizens’ Community-Based Government Committee, which presented a report to City Council in October 1997 with recommendations to improve citizen engagement and communications. After 1997, City Council changed from seventeen elected members to a smaller size of seven members including the Mayor, all of who also served on Halton Regional Council. Other dramatic changes since 1997 include the diminished role of the local media, the use of digital and web based technology, and rapid population growth.

Mayor Cam Jackson has expressed his belief that the City’s communications with its citizens needs to be enhanced to achieve higher levels of awareness and civic engagement. Others have expressed similar concerns. Encouraging broader citizen engagement and improving the way local government communicates with its citizens is a commitment that should involve ongoing, two-way community dialogue. Mayor Jackson has announced the creation of a “Mayor’s Citizen Advisory Committee on Civic Engagement”.

He has asked respected community activists John Boich and Walter Mulkewich to co-chair the committee and select the committee members ensuring a broad range of representation, including gender equity, diversity and geographic representation from across the city. This committee will prepare a report for the Mayor. Their recommendations will be shared with the public and council. John Boich is the former Chair of the Rambo Creek Ratepayers Association, a local citizens group advocating for the citizens in the greater downtown area. Walter Mulkewich is a former Mayor of Burlington and was a member of the 1997 Community-Based Government Committee.

Terms of Reference

1. Review the 1997 report on Community-Based Government (Report of the Community Based government Committee,October 29, 1997; City File: 130) and other relevant information on citizen engagement.

2. Review civic engagement with local municipal government through research of current modes of communications between the City and its citizens, as well as the type and level of citizen engagement with the City through Advisory Committees and other means.

3. Develop a work plan, including a communications plan and a budget to meet the mandate of the committee.

4. Solicit information and ideas from members of City Council, City Staff, ratepayer and citizen groups, community organizations, high school students and the general public.

5. Review best practices in communication in the public and private sectors as well as civil society.

6. Consider the culture required to incubate and nurture the engagement of the public, in the public decision making process.

7. Hold focus groups in different areas of the City, which will include invited participants representing a broad cross section of Burlington life, as well as being open to the public.

8. Prepare a final report on its findings and recommendations by March 31,2010. This committee will present this report for the Mayor and share their recommendations with the public.

Purpose

The Mayor’s Citizen Advisory Committee on Civic Engagement is established to move us closer to realizing our Future Focus Seven goals to be “customer focused where residents are part of City Council’s decision-making process” and “striving to keep residents informed and engaged so that all members of Burlington community have the opportunity to have their voices heard.” This Committee will provide ideas and recommendations that could be helpful to implement this Council’s approved goals and strategic actions of the Future Focus Seven strategic plan: ·

Future Focus Seven: Excellence in government

12.2 Engage citizens more effectively in city Council’s decision-maki ng processes by: 12.2.A Exploring every opportunity to raise awareness of city services through different forms of communications technology and offer additional opportunities for citizens to provide their views to council; and,
12.2.B Develop framework and protocol which council may consider for undertaking enhanced public consultation.

Committee composition and organization

Committee Members: Maximum of 10

Administrative Support Departmental Resource Support External Resource

Recruitment and selection

Voluntary, inclusive citizen representation ensuring balanced gender and geographic representation
Mayor’s staff As requested TBA

1. The Committee shall be selected by the Co-chairs.

2. The Committee shall be representative of the social and community fabric of Burlington. Citizens who have had active experience with City Hall as users of services or participants pertaining to City government will be an asset to the committee’s work.

Resources

This committee will be resourced through the Mayor’s office. City staff and Council are asked to be available to provide information and input to the Committee’s work, as requested by the Committee.

Acknowledgements

This Shape Burlington Report is only possible because of the huge commitment, hard work, and outstanding contributions of many people in a short period of time from November
2009 to April 2010. Therefore it is important to not only acknowledge them, but also thank them.

Our citizen volunteers

We thank an incredible group of committed citizens from every geographic area of Burlington representing the diversity of our population who attended many committee meetings and consultations with the public as well as doing individual research.

• The Co-Chairs: John Boich and Walter Mulkewich
• The Steering Committee: Doug Brown, Leslie Bullock,Amy Collard, Ken Edwards, Hussein Hamdani, Blair Lancaster, Paul Sharman, Lorraine Sommerfeld, John Searles
• Sub-Committees (Research, Communications, Community Dialogue, Writing): Marilyn Abraham, David Auger, Kale Black,Neil Bryson, David Conrath, Joey Edwardh, Larissa Fenn, Mark Gregory, Mark Henderson, Tim Lindsay, Paul Mitchell, Rennie Mohammed, Roland Tanner, Chris Walker.
• Other participants: A number of citizens were only able to attend some meetings. Carolyn Forbes, Kurt Koster, Anisa Mirza, John Morrison, Yaw Obeng, Karen Parmenter, Andy Rotsma, Judi Smith, Bob Wood, Ken Woodruff, Pat Wright.

Mayor Cam Jackson

The project was initiated by Mayor Cam Jackson who appointed the Co-Chairs and approved the Terms of Reference. We appreciate his support and commitment without input or interference from his office or City Hall, allowing our committee and report to be independent. We also appreciate his support by providing the resources of his office.
Finally, we appreciate the contribution from the Mayor’s Pride in Our Community Fund (within the Burlington Community Foundation) and financial support from the Mayor’s budget.

The public

We thank people in the Burlington community who responded to our request for input.
• Citizens who attended our three public roundtable workshops.
• Representatives of community organizations who attended three small group conversations
• Representatives of the City of Burlington Citizen Advisory Committees.
• Students at Corpus Christi and Central High Schools.
• Citizens who participated in our on-line survey and dialogue on our website.

Council and City staff

We thank all the members of Council and staff who gave us their time to openly share their experience, skill, knowledge, and vision.

Burlington Community Foundation

Shape Burlington is extremely thankful for the $15,000 grant received from the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) through its Mayor’s Pride in Our Community Fund. This grant made it possible for Shape Burlington to enter into a partnership with Community Development Halton (CDH) and to engage MASS LBP as consultants to our project. We are also thankful for the interest shown by BCF in our process and for the input of representatives of BCF at several Shape Burlington meetings.

Community Development Halton

Community Development Halton (CDH) is a community-based organization providing Burlington with social planning and community development capability. We were pleased to have CDH as full partners as advisors and participants. CDH assisted the Co-Chairs in the supervision of our consultant, MASS LBP. Joey Edwardh, Executive Director, and Ted Hildebrandt, Director of Social Planning, participated in many of our Shape Burlington committee meetings and public conversations as well as being full participants in our Research Committee. We thank them for their knowledge and skills, as well as meeting space for several meetings.

MASS LBP

MASS LBP is a new kind of company that works with visionary governments and organizations to deepen and improve their efforts to engage and consult with citizens. We were pleased to have Peter Macleod, Joslyn Trowbridge and Chris Ellis work with us throughout this project. MASS LBP helped establish a context and direction for our work plan and final report. They provided us with two important papers, a reflection paper on the trends in local democracy and an environmental scan of trends in innovation in civic engagement in local municipalities. They attended a number of meetings of our Committee and sub-committees, and they facilitated the conversations with City Staff and two of the public roundtables. They also helped facilitate our conversation with the representatives of the Citizen Advisory Committees. Finally, they summarized all our research, conversations, interviews, and meetings and gave us their analysis of the process and its findings to help us shape our final report.

Website (www.shapeburlington.ca)

We are grateful for the many hours of volunteer time of our Webmaster, Roland Tanner, who created and maintained the website. We also thank for the members of the Communication Committee who provided advice.

Three General Managers met with MASS LBP and the Shape Burlington Co-c.::hairs for a candid conversation on the role of citizens in municipal governance. The General Managers perceive a shift in municipal governance that is moving to a more upstream process of citizen engagement and public consultation, doing more engagement earlier in the policy making process. They see staff and Council working more cooperatively with citizens now than ever before, making an effort to be transparent and more open about the constraints facing the City and the changes that are in Burlington’s future. This shift to a more robust process of citizen engagement is still in its early stages, the General Managers say, and thus the implications are still ill defined. Nevertheless, they feel there is a consistent effort being made at City Hall to improve the public’s awareness of new cost containment policies and the impacts this has on the City’s services.

Internally, City Hall faces several challenges to engaging citizens more effectively. The first is a lack of clear measurement of which departments are working collaboratively. This is related to a lack of standards for public consultation and engagement across the departments – while some departments, such as Planning, must adhere to Provincial standards in notification and consultation, others do not. Not measuring what departments
are doing in terms of consultation, and not having best practices and standards to adhere to give the feeling, in the words of one General Manager, of being in a pinball machine, with many consultation activities happening across departments. Without the time and resources to benchmark engagement practices, effective public consultation will be harder.

Other internal challenges include the lack of diversity in City Hall staff, which detracts from the City accurately reflecting the growing cultural and linguistic diversity of Burlington’s community. This lack of diversity can present challenges for customer service and engagement activities. Finally, General Managers expressed concern over the formal rules of Standing Committees and delegations to Council meetings, which can prevent some citizens from communicating their views in a way that makes sense to them.

External challenges to effective public consultation and engagement identified by General Managers include the lack of public trust in democratic institutions and the high expectations and volume of demands placed by citizens on staff and elected officials. The lack of public trust makes positive messaging of the City’s activities difficult – General Managers feel that the public assumes staff is not very involved or caring and not on the public’s “side.” At the same time, citizens are demanding more from staff and elected officials, expecting quick turnaround times to their questions or concerns. These factors combine to make communication, messaging, and consultation resource-intensive.

Speaking about the process of public meetings in particular, General Managers identified two problems. First, they feel that citizens only come out to a meeting if they are upset or unhappy with a situation. This means that broad and inclusive representation is hard to achieve, as only vocal individuals with a stake in the outcome attend. It also compounds efforts to get high levels of participation in priority-setting and visioning meetings, as these meetings do not offer a point of contention for participants to engage on.

For example, consultation on the City’s budget traditionally sees low participation, but offers citizens the greatest opportunity to affect change for the future. Second, an increasingly mobile population means high turnover for neighbourhoods, and thus a different slate of participants show up at each public meeting. This erodes the consensus and knowledge
built through previous consultations, placing more constraints on moving forward through an issue during a series of consultations.

Based on these internal and external challenges, General Managers identified opportunities for improvement to the City’s public consultation and engagement practices. These opportunities are as follows:

• Set standards of engagement and consultation across departments and embed them as aspects of performance management to help change the culture at City Hall
o Look at best practices within City departments and establish corporate consistency
o Establish measurements and benchmarks to respond to citizens in an appropriate manner and time frame, especially when considering vocal groups and contentious issues
o Promote a culture in which staff recognize citizen knowledge as complementary to their own professional expertise
o Help the next Council term to look at expectations and roles around communication and engagement

• Work towards a “one window” service approach where all staff are ambassadors for all City programs and services to break down “professional silos”

• Improve communication with and messaging to citizens by:
o Being clear about expectations and how cost containment strategies will
affect programs and services
o Encourage broad conversations on the City’s future rather than just ‘hot button’ issues
o Use new technology better and begin a social media strategy to reach out to the public in a variety of ways

• Improve citizens’ knowledge of how city government works, potentially by offering educational sessions on and offline

Department Directors

MASS LBP and the Shape Burlington Co-Chairs met with seven department directors, representing the Traffic and Transit, Parks and Recreation, Roads and Parks Maintenance,
·Engineering, Corporate Strategic nitiatives, Finance and Environment departments. The Directors agreed that the rapid pace of technological change require their departments be able to adapt their modes of communication. n light of technological advancements, increased resources and staff time need to be dedicated to learning, using, and sharing new technologies. They noted that the main internal challenge lies in determining the priorities for devoting money and training time to keep pace with new technologies for internal and external communication.

When asked about their views on the role citizens have to play in municipal governance, City Directors felt that overall citizens are deeply engaged. This engagement contributes to high citizen expectations of interaction with Burlington municipal government, especially in comparison to other municipalities. Directors perceive pressure from citizens to provide increased transparency and accountability, and for government to present a sound rationale for its decision-making. The challenge in responding to that pressure lies in providing information that is succinct while using a convenient mechanism for input and feedback.

Directors note that their staff has trouble determining what and how much information they should provide to the public, as well as the amount of resources to dedicate to this task.
They also said that while certain segments of the population, particularly retired or older citizens and those who oppose an issue, can regularly attend and be vocal at public meetings, other demographics such as commuters and younger citizens with families are harder to get feedback from. However, the consistent positive responses to the City’s Quality of Services survey leads Directors to believe that the majority of citizens are satisfied with City Hall.

When asked what they thought was working well in terms of public consultation, Directors expressed pride in a “commitment to excellence in governance at the top” in City Hall culture, including engaging and consulting with citizens to incorporate citizen input into decision-making. Council was particularly praised for its efforts in this regard. Directors identified the ability to make materials such as reports available to citizens online as greatly facilitating City Hall’s ability to provide citizens with an abundance of real-time information. They were also pleased with the interest citizens demonstrated in providing feedback. As noted above, the Quality of Services Survey consistently results in a high rate of return and positive comments. Opportunities for interest groups and special focus groups to make presentations to Council also garner a high level of participation.

Building on these successes and responding to the challenges identified, Directors discussed opportunities to improve the City’s public consultation and citizen engagement activities.
These opportunities are as follows:

• Better communicate the existing opportunities for engagement and consultation

Use more web-based media to counteract the decline in local print media, For example, use web-casting for sessions on the budget

@ Involve commuter citizens and those without young families/lack of time

Modify the Quality of Services survey to include more questions on engagement

® Consult citizens on improving the website to identify what types and how much information the public wants

Finally, the Directors expressed the need to communicate to citizens that their job, as staff, is to bring many different perspectives of an issue to the conversations that interest groups and citizens are involved in, but not to advocate for any particular perspective. Their challenge is to remain neutral during consultations and allow all options to stay on the table throughout the duration of public input, which can conflict with citizen demand for direction, guidance, and the elimination of unpopular options.

Other Staff

Thirteen staff, including Clerk’s department and communications staff, Councillors’ Assistants, customer service and accessibility coordinators, T and business staff and graphic designers, met with MASS LBP and Shape Burlington to discuss their perspective as frontline staff who communicate with Burlington residents often, if not daily. Many of the challenges they identified related to customer service and the transactions that occur between citizens and City Hall. nternally, staff recognized that they had limited capacity in serving citizens and other customers with different linguistic backgrounds, and that the elderly may not find their services accessible.

The counters on the first floor of City Hall are often the first point of contact for many citizens, and the staff recognized the need to constantly strive for improvement in customer service. n addition, staff identified difficulty in using plain, simple language to inform citizens about an issue. One participant remarked that some reports produced were even difficult for Councillors to understand.

On communications, staff felt that there was a lack of strategic and standard marketing across departments, and expressed concern that some official City communications looked like advertisements for Councillors, instead of focusing on City information and activities. Finally, staff echoed the concerns of General Managers and Directors that the formal rules for presenting to Council and the language used in Council meetings could alienate and discourage citizen participation.

External challenges to effective public consultation and engagement identified by staff included only receiving negative feedback from citizens and thus not being able to identify what staff was doing right, and the lack of initiative from citizens to inform themselves about the issues. Staff felt that they were doing a good job of getting information out to citizens, and expressed frustration when citizens emerged at the end of a public consultation process to claim they had not been informed. t is often too late to consider public input at the stage in which citizens start to provide input. This “not in my back yard” impetus for getting involved is frustrating to staff who feel that they have provided avenues for input early in the decision-making stage.

Finally, staff felt that there was a low level of awareness of the division of responsibilities between Federal,Provincial and Municipal levels of government, remarking that citizens often asked staff to change services that the City does not provide.

Other external challenges identified by staff echoed what we heard in conversations with General Managers and Directors, as well as in departments. The public perception that government employees do not work very hard, the need for staff to remain politically neutral throughout the consultation process, and the difficulty in engaging young citizens were mentioned as factors preventing effective engagement.

While staff felt that their role in customer service, particularly having a live answer switchboard, was making a positive impact on how citizens perceive municipal government, they were concerned that one “hot button” issue that receives negative press can be detrimental to citizens’ positive perceptions.

Opportunities for improvement i dentified by staff include:

• Break down issues to show how they impact citizens and localize meetings to increase engagement
o For example, show how the Official Plan or other planning/visioning documents can affect citizens

•Involve the public earlier on issues and keep them involved throughout the decision making process

• Mail and communication from the City should reflect City business and be politically neutral

• Citizen participation in Council meetings should be less formal,more modern and “real”

•Implement standards and training for customer service for frontline staff
o This is currently being reviewed

• Measure how departments are faring on customer service, implement a system for following-up with complaints

• Market the City better to increase a sense of pride, use strategic marketing

• Advertise outside of City facilities (we go to them instead of expecting citizens to come to us)

Clerks and Communications Department

We spoke with five Department staff responsible for community relations, council services, committee services and communications. This session addressed current practices to interact with and respond to citizens as well as the successes and challenges staff have experienced when connecting with citizens. The department faces several internal
11challenges to effective consultation and engagement. Citizens are demanding more
f information and expecting quicker response times. This places pressure on staff to balance
completing their daily tasks and core work while responding to this demand.

Taking on new staff and using new technology to increase department capacity is a potential solution, but these both take time and resources for training and management. Staff struggle with reporting back to the public on how public input will be used to make changes, and have difficulty communicating operational plans in plain language.
Communication costs, such as marketing, branding, and ensuring consistency across departments, can be high, and the public is usually at odds over this spending, as it competes with spending on core services. Thus staff face increased demand for clear, fast and effective communication, but there is a lack of public will to spend money to obtain this kind of communication.

The Clerks and Communications staff also identified the difficulty in staying neutral during public consultation on a contentious issue, and are often asked by citizens for information on the “best option”,which City staff cannot give. Finally, staff identified a “work squeeze” in the middle of a Council’s four year term, where pressure for results mounts as the lead up to the next election begins. They felt that the “City sees customers, but Council sees voters.”

A main external challenge Clerks and Communications staff face is “private sector demands” on the public sector. n the private sector, niche marketing, customized experience, and access to information and technology raise customer service expectations. These are often replicated in the expectations citizens place on elected officials and public servants.
However, the process by which the public sector gathers, interprets, and weighs competing demands and remains neutral and open to all opinions prevents them from offering customized services to each citizen. For example, many staff noted that citizens demand an unrealistic response time to emails (usually two hours). Many citizens send a second email if they do not receive a reply within two hours or so, placing demands on staff that staff simply cannot meet.

Other external challenges echo the conversations with other City staff – the public misconception that staff do not work hard or long hours, a changing audience at public meetings does not allow staff time to keep up with input and demand for changes to plans, and the lack of public awareness of the division of services between the City and the Province. Despite these difficulties, Clerks and Communications staff felt that they did provide excellent customer service and that considering the volume of requests, their response times were adequate. They pride themselves in working to be information providers and to get the right information to the right person, and hold their internal communications to a high standard. They identified the following opportunities for improvement:

• Need research that establishes:
o What does the public think of us?
o What information do you want to hear?
o How do you want to hear it?

• Consistent public notification and consultation process prior to the drafting of reports
o Find a best practice that works with the legislative requirements

• Dedicate more staff and more staff time to the Citizens’ Advisory Committees

• Expand the department’s arsenal of communication methods, including the use of social media and new information technologies

Planning Department

Six staff from the Planning Department responsible for Policy, Development, Planning, Site Plans and Urban Design met with MASS LBP and the Shape Burlington Co-Chairs to identify challenges their department faces when consulting with the public. They identified a shift in the planning and development field towards more public input and consultation, but noted that this takes time and resources to do effectively. The complicated nature of planning

presents staff with a significant challenge when communicating with the public. Specifically, documents and reports, such as the Official Plan, contain information that is imperative for citizens to understand, but are often written “by bureaucrats for bureaucrats.”

This makes it difficult for staff to help people make an informed contribution, and significant resources are required to communicate both the big picture vision associated with planning and the specific tradeoffs associated with a particular project. n particular, staff noted the lack of citizen understanding of the legislative requirements around city planning, which means citizens are asking to change plans that are not always up for negotiation.

Staff feels that the public is only engaged on a topic when it affects them personally, and that citizens do not understand nor respect the stages of consultation associated with planning. They noted that citizens have the greatest opportunity for input during the policy, visioning, and budgeting stages, but usually participate in public meetings that happen after these stages and are mostly meant to inform the public of what is happening. This results in frustration on both sides. Staff also find that citizens come to a public meeting misinformed, thus forcing time to be dedicated to educating and informing citizens on the project rather than providing input or feedback. n addition, the length of time between consultations presents a challenge, as neighbourhoods change and different people show up to different stages of the consultation.

This makes Planning Department staff feel as if they are “speaking to a parade” and erodes the knowledge and consensus built in previous public meetings. Staff also noted that participation rates in rural areas are low, contributing to uneven consultation across the city. Finally, staff felt that citizens are generally adverse to land-use change, and have difficulty communicating the demographic necessity of these changes for Burlington.

Despite these difficulties, the Planning Department prides themselves on their public engagement efforts, noting that they often go above and beyond the legislative requirements for consultation. They try to use public consultation activities as “teachable moments” to help educate the public on how the planning and development process works, and note that of 2000 Customer Service Questionnaires distributed last year, less than 2% had negative comments.

Opportunities for improvements identified by Planning Department staff are:

•Implement a more streamlined, continuous process of engagement that focuses on the positive implications of development

• Dedicate more staff and more time to innovations in public consultation

• Explore ways to cope with the changing audience in public meetings

• Fill in gaps left by the decline of the local media
o Use website to better communicate planning and development projects in a more timely manner

City Talk

The five conversations with City Hall Staff included a short discussion on City Talk, the City of Burlington’s corporate newsletter. Many staff agreed that the newsletter is in need of redesign, and that this is in fact underway (City Talk was previpusly outsourced and is now being brought back in house). They agree that City Talk is an important source of information for citizens who are not online, but feel that it has “lost its way” over the past few years. Staff would like to see City Talk include more information on what is happening in the City and less space devoted to Councillors’ activities. One staff member suggested a survey or inquiry into how the public uses City Talk and what they would like to see it contain.

The job is done, the harvest is in but there are no seeds to be sown next Spring.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON April 18, 2011 – There is always a sense of relief and regret when a term of office ends. If it’s an elected position there is huge regret when you lose. It isn’t much different when a term of office for community service comes to an end. You get the plaque, the (hopefully) warm round of applause and the complimentary comments on the job you did. And then you go home, you put your feet up – and then what do you do ?

A knowledge economy at work. Gregory spends as much time at a keyboard as he does promoting Burlington.

If community service is one of your passions, if you believe that part of your reason for being on this earth is to serve and make the place better for others – sitting at home watching television isn’t very high on the priority list. And that is where Mark Gregory finds himself this week. He serves in other capacities in the city but the task that kept him really busy and invigorated was the Chairmanship of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation. BEDC, a non profit that looks for new companies that think they might like to call Burlington home. An equally large part of the job is to make sure that those who have chosen Burlington stick around.

Gregory who served as a member of the BEDC for four years got chosen by the Board to lead the corporation at a time when layoffs were being made throughout the city and while no one had to shut down and cease operating, it was far from smooth sailing for the Burlington economy as the world weathered a nasty recession.

That recession impacted many organizations in Burlington, including Locomotion, a Burling based communications and public relations firm of which Gregory is the Managing Partner.

Gregory chose to use the time to grow the business community rather than to go into a defensive mode and out of that growth came a number of intriguing initiatives that appear to have served the city exceptionally well. Kyle Benham, Executive Director of the BEDC developed a Rapid Response protocol to deal with those extraordinary situations when a deal was close to closing but needed that extra push to get it done.

For Gregory it was vital that the BEDC take a strategic approach to the situation they faced and he gives an example on how the organization could be “strategic” using the membership it had on it’s Board. Gregory explains that the talent within the BEDC is what makes it possible to pull together a Rapid Response team which is a significant plus – but the talent on the Board is exceptionally deep. “We have a Board member from the IT field, Louise St-Pierre, Senior Vice President, Residential Services, Cogeco Cable Canada LP who was at one point the Chief Information Officer for her organization and is now an Executive vice president located in Burlington.

“She has her finger tips in every significant information technology change on the horizon and we have that talent at our table. We get briefings at every Board meeting and if we see a situation where we need some advice and content briefings when a new prospect is looking at Burlington, a very informed comment is available to us. Few communities have this depth of talent on their Board and we can use that talent to help make strategic decisions.”

One of the effective and pleasurable working tools Gregory developed was his Friday afternoon beer sessions that he will regret letting go. But we all move on and Gregory can let that one go. However, I’m pretty sure Gregory will take a phone call to get together for a beer almost any Friday afternoon.

Mark Gregory cover off last minute details with Lauren Griesbach before the start of the BEDC AGM.

Gregory fully understood the need for Burlington to create a “knowledge economy” and he sees the role that the DeGroote school of Business is going to play, as it works its way into the fabric of both the city and the business community, as a very significant part of the transition. That DeGroote facility came on stream during the last part of Gregory’s term of office. “Innovation has to be our top priority” maintains Gregory and he realizes that our continued growth depends upon being innovative.

Mark Gregory will chair the Nomination Committee for the next two years and in that way continue to have an impact on the new blood being brought into the BEDC. He will also serve on the Executive Committee that Executive Director Benham turns to when there is some heavy lifting to be done.

Asked if he did the job he set out to do when he became Chairman, Gregory demurs and says that is for others to say.

The BEDC sponsors a number of events that serve as a networking hub for the large corporations in the city. They include the Economic Outlook Breakfast, the Mayor’s Networking Lunch and their Signature event at which they recognize and honour the entrepreneur of the year.

While economic development is a passion for Gregory the city of Burlington has him getting all mushy and soft. He has worked in many cities; Lethbridge, Edmonton, Regina – and none he says compares to what Burlington has to offer. He was obviously a natural to lead the BEDC. As Chair of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation at a time when the city was struggling to get through a recession we could do nothing about, Gregory maintained the course and has now turned the helm over to someone else. His dance card has an open spot on it.

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He is getting better. And he is developing a vision and wants wide public input on. Will we give it to him?

BURLINGTON, ON March 24, 2011 – He sat there wearing an orange shirt that must have been a Father’s day gift, sitting in a large, leather covered, wing back chair and answered the more than 30 questions put to him by a room filled with the city’s economic leaders at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast held at the Burlington Golf and Country Club. And he did just fine. Better, said some, than he did at the State of the City address he gave a number of months ago.

So – what do we know about this Mayor and the city he leads? Well first – he addresses issues head on and when he doesn’t know the answer to a question he just says he doesn’t know. When asked about THE Pier, and he is always asked about the Pier, says that the city is in the process of hiring a new contractor and that he is hopeful to have the Pier opened in 2013. He was asked if the design could change – nope, he replied, the design was seen as build-able by the experts – so at this point in time, no design change.

No one asked about the delays in getting an RFP out to the construction community. Had that question been asked there would have been an awkward answer. And no one asked what the city would do if no one responded to the RFP. There is one council member who is afraid that no one will want to even look at the job. We may have attracted a bit of a reputation on this one. No fault of the Mayor’s but he is the goat carrying the can on this one. What many don’t realize that most of the people who got the city into this mess are no longer on staff, city hall doesn’t announce the departures – just the arrivals.

Mayor Goldring wants everyone to get a copy of this workbook and do their homework.

One of Mayor Goldring’s favourite topics is the Strategic Plan process and he touts the Workbook the city ha prepared and actually asks people to get together in small groups and go through the document and feed their ideas back to the city.

Burlington has prepared Strategic Plans for seven terms of office. Goldring wants to put together a 20 to 25 year vision for the city and as part of this process he has created a Workbook that can be down loaded, as well as a well thought out questionnaire that you can complete online. The questionnaire will tell you a lot about your Burlington.

The Mayor has never been through an Official Plan revision. Given that the next revision we do in 2012 will be critical to how we handle sensitive parts of the city – the downtown core and the West Beachway, our Mayor has some homework to do. Does he want to rely on what old timers Craven, Taylor and Dennison will tell him ? These are the guys that approved a 22 story “landmark” building right on the waters edge

He is going to travel. He has a trip planned to Portland Oregon where they have instituted some innovation transit ideas and our Mayor, who understands better than most on city council how tough a job we have to, as he put it, retool suburbia to meet the times we now live in. Goldring uses the phrase “…we build this city fifty years ago when land and gas were cheap…” and we now have to deal with urban sprawl that requires a car to get around.

Mayor is going the intellectual route; bringing in deep thinkers to inspire the locals.

The Mayor also touted the Inspire Burlington series he has planned for the year with the first event taking place April 12^th, 7 pm at the McMaster University deGroote School of Business, South Service Road campus. Featured speaker will be Christopher Hume, the Architecture critic for the Toronto Star. Registration forms are at: https://cms.burlington.ca/Page6907.aspx

Is Burlington a tourism destination one man asked? We are in between Niagara Falls and Toronto explained the Mayor and it is difficult to stand out with lights that bright on either side of you, but we do have something to offer people. Lunch on the waterfront and walk up Mt Nemo; take in a performance at the Performing Arts Centre and if the elite sports cycling event manages to overcome its problems it has the potential to make Burlington a destination for those who cycle – and there are apparently loads of them, although some of the numbers tossed out were nothing more than exaggerations.

It was a pleasure to learn that Goldring has not yet become a slick politician with answers to or evasions for every question tossed at him. When asked about traffic light synchronization he said he had a complete “non-answer:. The best he could do he said was “dodge that bullet”. For that he got a laugh.

Asked if he liked his job, the response was immediate – “this is an awesome job. If it was easy it wouldn’t be fun, if there were no challenges it wouldn’t be fun. This is a really, really fun job.” This mayor just may have a speech writer working for him when he delivers lines like that.

There were some tough questions. What asked Keith Hoey, President of the Chamber of Commerce, was the 2010 surplus ? $9.3 million was the answer and the follow up question was – what are you going to do with it ? The Chamber wants the city to commit half of any surplus to the hospital re-development fund so that hospital funding doesn’t have to appear on the tax bill, which Chamber members pay a large part of.

Others in the room wanted the city to be administered in such a way that the surpluses are lower with better financial administration.

We have a Mayor who thinks he could serve for at least two terms. If there were an election today he would run un-opposed. Ooops, forgot about the Greek hair stylist. OK, so he’d win in a landslide.

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Dressing up for the first formal, critical look at the playbill.

The Burlington Performing Arts Centre will appear before a Council committee next week and detail their budget projections for the next fiscal year and explain their business plan for the next few years as well.

The BPAC, a project that is the pride of many in the city or one of those “nice to have but not necessary” for others, depending on which side of the cultural divide you have chosen to sit on, is getting close to Opening Day. The staffing compliment is growing as they get ready to market and promote programs for the fall season and at the same time keep public anticipation as high as possible.

This is the look the Performing Arts Centre wants to take to the community in its branding, advertising and promotional material.

As part of the pre-launch process the centre released a new “brand” that will be used in all its marketing initiatives. Graphics are thing you either like or don’t like – here is what the Centre is going forward with.

Past chair Keith Strong has explained that the Centre is going to go for what he calls a “soft opening’ which will have the community able to tour the building and get a sense of what has been built and showcase the opportunities and the potential.

Almost a little too much resemblance between the Mental Health Association logo and that chosen by the Performing Arts Centre. Is there a hidden intention here?

The decision was made not to open with a loud, expensive boffo event but to let the community warm up to the space with events that are low key and not all that expensive.

The 12 member Board for the Centre (with the Mayor as an Ex officio member) is in place and is made up of:

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Chairman Allan Pearson

Allan was born in Hamilton and has lived in Burlington for most of his life, having grown up in the downtown core. He has been in the automobile business since 1976 and is President of Discovery Ford Sales in Burlington.

Allan has served on the Ford of Canada Roundtable, is a former Board member and past Chair of the Board at Wellington Square United Church and currently sits on the Board of Trustees. Allan is a past Board member and Board Chair of the Burlington Community Foundation. He is current Vice-Chair of the Canadian Ford Dealer Pension Board of Trustees, and sits on the Board of Directors for the Carpenter Hospice. Allan has completed the DeGroote School of Business/United Way not-for-profit governance workshop.

Vice Chair Rick Burgess

Rick is a business lawyer based in downtown Burlington. He is an Instructor-Business and Labour Law, Niagara and Sheridan Colleges; Mediator & Group Facilitator; Instructor-Negotiation / Mediation / Dispute Resolution. From 1980 to 1989 Rick was a business lawyer in Toronto. He has been a member of Ontario & California bar associations since 1980.

Rick’s community involvement includes:

Past Chair, Burlington Community Foundation Board (2009-2010)
Past Vice-Chair and Member, Halton Regional Police Services Board (2005-2010)
Past Chair, Burlington Chamber of Commerce
Past President, Creative Burlington (2008-2009)
Past President, Burlington Art Centre (2002-2004)
Burlington Art Centre Foundation Board (2004-2005)

Rick has lived in Burlington since 1992 with his wife, Brenda Bowlby, who is also a lawyer, and their daughter Lindsay, who attends university.

Keith Strong

Keith has resided in Burlington for the last 42 years. He moved to Burlington as an employee of Windsor Salt which later resulted in being employed by Metasurf Canada. In 1970 Keith purchased a small mobile wash in Hamilton and has been self employed from that time. In 1985 Keith designed and built the first totally enclosed hazardous waste transfer site and instituted the first permanent household hazardous waste location in Ontario. In the late 80’s Keith sold his business to Laidlaw. Over the last 15 years Keith has helped small business to grow and expand. The remaining of his time has been spent giving back to the Burlington community. Keith has a daughter Terra and a son Scott both married, living in Oakville raising their families.

Philippe Pango

Dr. Philippe Pango’s inventions and technologies have been successfully implemented in millions of wireless Bluetooth headsets, hearing-aids and ground penetrating radars throughout the world. A long time resident of Burlington, Dr. Pango’s career started as a Senior Design Engineer for Gennum Corporation, where he was instrumental in the company’s transition to digital hearing aid technology. In 2006 he launched his first start up, CAYCe, in partnership with McMaster University. Dr. Pango is currently the Chief Technology Officer of Vitasound Audio Inc., where he oversees the research and development of advanced audio processing technologies, including hearing aids and hearing protection devices. An avid musician, Dr. Pango understands the importance of arts in a perfectly balanced life, and its positive impact on a community. He plays electric and acoustic guitar, five-string bass, piano, organ, djembé percussion, sings in a choir that promotes the African culture throughout the Halton region, has authored two novels, and claims to be unbeatable at tennis.

Mary-Ellen Heiman

Mary-Ellen’s professional background includes skills in building strong relationship amongst volunteers, staff, major donors and business partners. She has held positions in the direction of the performing arts sector as Chair of the Board, and board member, for the St. Lawrence Performing Arts Centre in Toronto, with direct reporting to the City of Toronto. She has also been a consultant to various music, drama and heritage organizations. Mary-Ellen has also worked in the visual arts sector as Executive Director of a public non-profit art gallery. Through these roles she has distinguished herself as a strategic planner and partnership builder with strong Board of Joseph Brant Hospital.

Presently, Mary-Ellen is the Director of Development and funding for the Canadian Centre of Emergency Preparedness. In her previous consulting career, she was a consultant in needs analysis, strategic planning, promotional enhancement, program design and board development. Mary-Ellen’s skills include partnership building, workflow analysis, communication methodology and organizational change, with direct experience in marketing, governance, sponsorship and grant funding, financial and event management. Mary-Ellen has completed the DeGroote School of Business/United Way not-for-profit governance workshop.

Dominic Mercuri

Dominic is a leader in financial services marketing and is currently the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for TD Bank Financial Group. In this capacity Dominic leads a global marketing team and is responsible for the bank’s overall market positioning, and oversees the development and execution of TD’s global marketing and brand strategy. Dominic, his wife Carol, and their children Jennifer and Frank have lived in Burlington since 1995. He is also a member of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital Foundation Board.

Ed Hannah

Ed Hannah was born in Collingwood, raised in Hamilton and has lived for the past 18 years in Burlington. Ed is a graduate of Yale University (B.A.); York University (M.B.A.); Osgoode Hall Law School (LL.B.); and Harvard Law School (LL. M.).

Ed has spent 22 years of his 27-year professional career as a lawyer at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, LLP (Toronto) where he currently practices law, specializing in Corporate/Commercial Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, Structured Finance and Corporate Governance.

Ed has also been a Senior Vice-President of Score Media Inc., a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed public company, and Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development and General Counsel for Magna Entertainment Corp. and its parent corporation, MI Developments Inc., both public companies cross-listed on U.S. and Canadian stock exchanges. Ed has served on several public company and charitable boards of directors.

Ilene Elkaim

Ilene Elkaim, a Burlington resident since 1994, recognized for a distinguished career in Logistics and Information Systems for Retail Administration and Operations, founded Six Dynamix in 2005. Six Dynamix partners with small to mid-sized retail or wholesale organizations enabling them to improve efficiencies in their business processes. She has developed an effective process of working collaboratively with their clients to optimize administration and operations during all economic times, including software selection and implementation.

Ilene is also an active thespian within the Hamilton/Halton area since 1996. Her involvement includes acting, back stage activities as well as having been an active participant on various Boards, including The Aldershot Players and Performing Arts Burlington (now known as Creative Burlington).

Ilene looks forward to joining forces with her fellow board members and management to make constructive, progressive contributions for the Burlington Theatre Board Inc.

Mayor Rick Goldring (Ex-officio)

On December 1, 2010 Rick Goldring was sworn into office as the City of Burlington’s 28^th Mayor, after serving four years as Ward 5 City & Regional Councillor. A lifelong Burlington resident, Rick went to Nelson High School and earned his BA (Economics) from McMaster. He lives here with his wife, Cheryl, and they have a combined total of seven daughters.

Having been in business locally for 30 years, most recently as a senior financial advisor with Assante Financial Management Ltd., Rick has always been actively involved in community affairs. In addition to co-hosting Taking Care of Your Future on TV Cogeco, Rick is a member and past president of the Hamilton Chapter of Advocis – Canada’s largest association of financial advisors. Rick is a Rotarian, and has also been on the Board of the Ron Edwards (Burlington) Family YMCA and the Burlington Chamber of Commerce. As City and Regional Councillor for Ward 5 in Burlington, he chaired both the Budget and Strategic Planning and the Community Services Committees.

Rick is passionate about his community and plans to address major concerns during his term including sustainable development, environmental issues and fiscal responsibility.

Peter Ashmore

Peter Ashmore has lived in Burlington for over 20 years with his wife Marla and their two children both who are now attending university. He is a principal in MLA Enterprises Inc. an investment holding company. Peter is a member of the Burlington Theatre Board and Chair of its Finance Committee. He has been involved with the Fundraising Campaign Cabinet for The Burlington Performing Arts Centre and the Performing Arts Centre Board Development Task Force. Peter is currently President of the HoliMont Ski Club: a 1400 member not for profit club located in Ellicottville, New York. He has served on the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital Foundation Board where he held the position of Treasurer. He was also active in the development of the Triathlon Club of Burlington were he remains as director.

Denise Walker

Denise Walker has been an entrepreneur for the past twenty-five years. She started High-Q Computer Education where she taught various software applications to small businesses. Her business has evolved into doing contract work, which includes event planning, client appreciation, business data analysis and marketing support. She is currently working at Lakeshore Clinic and CIBC Wood Gundy in Burlington. Denise started as a member of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre Fundraising Campaign Cabinet for more than 5 years, and is now a member of the Burlington Theatre Board Inc. Denise is also currently the Fundraising Chair.

Denise is passionate about the project and is currently working on completing the 11 million dollar Capital Campaign.

Denise is a Wilfrid Laurier Graduate with a degree in Economics.

She was born in Montreal, but has been a Burlington resident for 41 years. Denise and her husband Kevin have three children; one doing postgraduate studies and two in university. Denise has completed the DeGroote School of Business/United Way not-for-profit governance workshop.

Steve Zorbas

Steve Zorbas is currently Acting General Manager of Development and Infrastructure for the City of Burlington, Ontario, Canada. At the City of Burlington he has also held the positions of Acting Director of the Parks and Recreation Department and Executive Director of the Finance Department. He has over 27 years financial experience within local government, which have included the Town of Richmond Hill and the City of Mississauga. Prior to entering local government he also worked in the private sector in various financial positions in both the retail and manufacturing environments.

His academic accomplishments include holding a Bachelor of Commerce degree, diploma in public administration as well as being a professional accountant, Certified Management Accountant (CMA). He currently is a board member (MPAC) at the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation and also Chair of the MPAC Audit Committee.

He has served as Chair/Past-Chair/Vice-Chair as well as board member for the Municipal Finance Officer’s Association of Ontario (MFOA). In addition he has been a board member on the Government Finance Officer’s Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) subcommittee, Committee of Canadian Issues (CCI) as well as serving as a budget review officer and budget program advisor as part of GFOA’s distinguished budget award program.

Councillor Rick Craven

Rick Craven is a four term member of both Burlington City and Halton Regional Councils. He is a recipient of the Lyn Benson Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to the Community of Aldershot and the Halton Award of Excellence for promoting a safe and Healthy Community.

Councillor Craven currently serves on Halton’s Health and Social Services Committee, Halton Police Services Board and is President of the Halton Community Housing Corporation.[/box]

The Performing Arts Centre is getting to the point where it will soon actually look like the architects rendering we have seen for so many years. Delightful.

These are the people you want to button hole and share your views on the Centre and its programming. Most are volunteers and have gotten the Centre to the point where it will soon open and in the process have raised just under $11 million in public funding. The Centre is owned by the city and run by the arms length Burlington Performing Arts Centre with the city picking up any deficits while the centre gets itself on its feet.

The creation of an audience and the development of a program that meets the interest of the community is part marketing science with a lot of creativity and sensitivity to the community added. Executive Director Brenda Heatherington came to Burlington from St. Albert, a community just north of Edmonton. Alberta where she was hugely successful developing local theatre.

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Recognizing the very best in our community. An award that has led many to serving the community in some elected capacity.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON March 3, 2011 – The deadline for nominations for the annual Burlington Civic Recognition Awards closed on Tuesday and now the task of sifting through the nomination papers gets started. The following people are on the Committee that will determine who the recipient will be for each of the six awards.

Lisa Boyko, Linda Cupido, Bob Hilton, Jane McKenna, Ann Coburn and Keith Strong have accepted the call to choose the person to receive the community award for each category. Each of the six were appointed to the Burlington Civic Recognition committee for a tem that expires at December 31, 2013. Susan Zidaric Seymour is also on the committee and Adam Smith serves as chair of the eight member committee who meet by themselves with just a Clerk joining them to advise on protocol and procedure.

For those awards that are sponsored – the Arts award being an example, the sponsor of the Award has the right to have a person in the room for those deliberation but Deb Caughlin, Manager Council Services points out that there is seldom anyone from the sponsoring group taking part. This is the first year Caughlin has served as the Clerk to this committee. She describes it as an “awesome event”.

The award categories and their sponsors are:

Citizen of the Year – Sponsored by Service Clubs of Burlington: Aldershot Lions, Central Lions, Optimists, Royal Canadian Naval Association, The Rotary Clubs of Burlington: Burlington, Burlington Central, Burlington Lakeshore, Burlington North

Junior Citizen of the Year – Sponsored by B’Nai Brith

Senior Person of the Year – Sponsored by the Heritage Place Retirement Community

Environmental Award – Sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Burlington: Burlington, Burlington Central, Burlington Lakeshore, Burlington North

Community Service Award – Sponsored by Cogeco Cable Inc.

Arts Person of the Year The K. W. Irmisch Arts Award – sponsored by the Irmisch Family.

The Citizen of the Year recipient along with the nominees is announced in early May. The recipients of the other five awards are announced at the event. Each person nominated for an award is given a certificate

Awards night for Civic Recognition. Tickets priced at $30. each. Great deal.

The event that celebrates the announcement of the awards and the presentation of the certificates takes place on May 26^th at the Burlington Convention Centre. Tickets will be available at City Hall in the next few days. Tickets are $30. each and are available from the city 905-335-7600, ext. 7493 or visit www.burlington.ca/civicrecognition

“This is not a fund raising event” explained Caughlin. “All we do is cover the costs and have reserved 250 spaces at the convention Centre.”

The Awards have been given out since February of 1965. Before that different groups gave awards and the city decided it would be more effective and meaningful for there to be a single event at which all the recipients were recognized.

Transit appointments:

The following citizens were also appointed to the Burlington Transit Advisory Committee for a term that expires December 31^st, 2012

Christopher Cottingham (Resident-Youth) and Amy Collard (Alternate, Halton Public school Board Trustee. Jennifer Hlusko was approved as an appointee to the Burlington Transit Advisory for a term that expires December 31, 2013.

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Who are these people and why do they think they can pressure city Hall?

Basically it is a bunch of people who give a damn. The logged in hundreds of hour producing a report they felt could not be left to gather dust on a shelf and so they organized and lobbied and delegated and now wait to see what the city is going to do.

The only complaint one ‘might’ have with the group is that they are ‘self’ appointed. You can apply to be part of the group but the group decides who will become members. This approach invites the description: A “self appointed interest group” that was used by one Council member at a recent meeting.

Shaping Burlington consists of former members of the Mayor’s Citizen Committee on Civic Engagement (Shape Burlington) working to encourage the implementation of the Shape Burlington Report recommendations by the City of Burlington.

	David Auger David Auger has lived in Burlington for twenty-five years. His career spanned banking, marketing, planning, and publishing at financial, technology, and non-profit organizations. In 2009, David founded Community Media Burlington on the notion that individuals and communities benefit from a broad-based and inclusive exchange of public dialogue, news, and information.
	John Boich John is a retired educator who has been active in local government through involvement in a number of advisory committees to City Council.
	David Conrath Dave is a retired academic (information systems) who, after 25 years at the University of Waterloo, moved into administration, most recently as the Dean of Business at McMaster and then at San Jose State (CA). He is a political neophyte who hopes to bring the perspective of an outsider to Shaping Burlington.
	Ken Edwards Ken has been active in municipal government affairs for 20 years, when he chaired a local residential committee in negotiating a large land development proposal. Since then, Ken has participated in a number of city, community and regional committees, including the redevelopment of the Burlington Art Centre, the City of Burlington Smoking Committee, Waste Water Management Committee, an information gathering committee pertaining to Governance in Halton Region, among others.
	Larissa Fenn Larissa Fenn is a Burlington-based communications professional with a background in public policy. She has developed and implemented communications and government relations strategies on topics ranging from municipal infrastructure projects, to environmental and consumer financial issues. Larissa currently leads the Communications function at a GTA Conservation Authority.
	Shannon Gillies After more than a decade working in the publishing industry, Shannon is now a teacher with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. A lifelong resident of Burlington, she lives in the downtown core.
	Mark Henderson Mark has been an active Burlington citizen and educator for years. Currently a member of the Ward 2 Citizen’s Advisory Committee, Burlington High School Parent Council, worked on the Shape Burlington Mayor’s Advisory Committee, and helps train Chinese teachers of English in China in his spare time.
	Paul Mitchell Paul worked for more than 30 years in daily journalism, including 27 years at the Hamilton Spectator where he was Business Editor and Business Columnist. After leaving The Spectator, he joined Brickworks Communications in Burlington, where he worked with clients in both the public and private sectors, including the City of Burlington and Burlington Transit. Paul graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in Politics and worked at the BBC in London before immigrating to Canada.
	Walter Mulkewich A Halton Regional and Burlington City Councillor from 1976 to 1991 and Mayor of Burlington from 1991 to 1997, Walter has had successful careers in education, business, and social services, and has been an active participant and leader in Burlington political and community life since 1962.
	Liz Nield For over 10 years, Liz has been involved in collaborative planning and community engagement throughout many different communities in Canada – on a wide range of topics and issues. Most of her work has been focused on public sector policy development and planning. Her passion is to better engage communities, committees, organizations, schools through all ranges of audiences. She is currently the CEO of Lura Consulting an organization focused on community-based planning and collaboration.
	Peggy Russell Peggy was a very active Halton District School Board Trustee for 10 years, including being elected Vice Chair, and continues to be involved in a wide variety of community activities regarding children, women’s and family issues. For example, she is currently a member of the Burlington Transit Advisory Committee and Poverty Free Halton as well as being involved in fund raising for the United Way via Burlington’s Amazing RACE. She has received numerous awards for her community work, including Halton Woman of the Year.
	John Searles John moved to Burlington 13 years ago from the United States where he practiced law for many years. Experience includes several years as a small business consultant in Canada and the USA. Married to a Burlington native in 1997; became Canadian citizen in 2007.
	James Smith A resident of Burlington for 23 years, James is a Designer, CAD Technologist & Instructor working with a wide range of clients across Canada and the United States and is part of Phillip H. Carter Architects Design Team that was recently given an Ontario Library Award of Excellence for Toronto’s S. Walter Stewart Branch. He is a founding member of the Burlington Conserver Society and was a member of Burlington’s Official Plan citizens advisory committee as well as serving on the board of the Burlington Arts Centre.
	Roland Tanner Roland Tanner is co-owner of Tanner Ritchie Publishing and Tanner Ritchie Web Applications, and has been based in Burlington since 2003. He manages development of websites and applications for a number of Burlington voluntary organizations and businesses, as well as publishing academic resources for leading universities and research institutions worldwide. Prior to coming to Canada, Roland worked as a historian, specializing in parliament.
	Chris Walker (Chair) Chris is a retired professional planner with wide community involvement experience e.g. the Burlington Sustainable Development Committee, the Rolling Meadows School Council, City of Burlington Council citizen representative on the Conservation Halton Board of Directors, and Shape Burlington. He is currently on the Niagara to GTA Corridor Study Community Advisory Group and the Stakeholder Advisory Group for the Dundas St. Improvement Study. He also serves on the Burlington Transit Advisory Committee and is Chair of Shaping Burlington.

Sports complex in Aldershot being considered by city

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON December 28, 2010 – Mayor Rick Goldring and Ward 1 Council member Rick Craven met with the owners of the Hamilton Tiger Cats after a Christmas Eve telephone call about the “possibility” of the team locating in Burlington at a site in the Aldershot community

There is talk of a triple A hockey team coming to the community which would add an arena to the mix. Add in the parking lots and the hotel that would be part of the complex and you have a financial draw that would result in restaurants, clubs and all the other commercial ventures that cluster around this type of economic focal point.

A spokesperson from the Mayors office said the rest of the Council had been advised of the discussions and that there was enough interest for the Mayor to get into more detailed discussions. City staff has been directed to prepare a detailed report for a January 6^th meeting – so much for their holiday.

The proposed site is a piece of property between Waterdown Road and King Road and between the 403 and the GO train tracks.

The Tiger Cats are basically going to be without a stadium to play in – with the Hamilton city council unable to agree on a location for a new stadium that meets needs of the football team’s owners and the group organizing the PanAm games to be played in 2015.

Hamilton couldn’t agree on Coronation Park, couldn’t afford the millions for the CPR yards, the west harbour didn’t work for the team owners and the Mountain site was also out.

With nowhere to go – unless significant sums were sunk into renovating the old Ivor Wynne Stadium the Hamilton football team was running out of options. There was never going to be another opportunity like the one the PanAm games had dropped on their doorstep.

Wowy Kazowy – this is big time stuff … in Burlington?

The Aldershot location gives the football team owners what they need and that is exposure on a main traffic route – it doesn’t get much more main than the 403. Access to public transit – the GO train tracks are right beside the property which is owned by the Paletta family who are reported to own 54% of the employment lands in Burlington.

Those requirements are exactly what the PanAm games people were looking for as well. One can see talk of a swap that would have Burlington employments lands rezoned for housing and the Aldershot property becoming available at a price the players can afford. This now is pure speculation – but then that is what developers do – they speculate.

Burlington doesn’t have a dime to contribute to this initiative however it does have zoning power and the Paletta family and the planners will surely have one of those “you give us this and we could give you that” conversations. Developers like to call these “win-win” situations.

Queen’s Park has money and the PanAm Games organization would dearly love to get a soccer stadium in place in time for those games in 2015. Gosh, Burlington might yet get Pan Am Games soccer.

While Queen’s Park has the dollars Burlington doesn’t have the Rolodex that former Mayor Cam Jackson had and no one on city council knows quite who to call.

Enter stage left: Halton Region Chair Gary Carr who does have a Rolodex and people will take his calls. Carr can certainly see the huge economic boost that a sports complex would bring to Halton. As one politically connected wag put it: “This is one of those once in a century opportunities for Burlington but we have to have real good political smarts to pull this off.” Carr could well end up being the guy who carries the pig skin.

Queen’s Park would love to send Burlington money but we have to ask for it and we don’t know quite how to do that. Come October there are two provincial government seats up for grabs, Burlington and Halton. The Liberals want those seats and a sports complex could be just the trick to take them both away from the Tories. Joyce Savoline is said to be ready to retire but there isn’t the name of a candidate they can put on a lawn sign yet – unless the lawyer with the political ambitions decides he can find the energy to actually run a campaign. Ted Chudleigh could also go down if there were a serious challenge.

The trick then is to bring the community on side. An opportunity for the Burlington council to show how they would use the words: transparency, public input and community involvement is staring our Council in the face. Are they up to it? They aren’t doing all that well with the Pier but that wasn’t a problem they created (well some of them certainly have to wear some of that responsibility for that one, but all will be redeemed if the Hamilton Tiger Cats play on a field in Burlington.

If the city can build enough public support for an Aldershot sports complex they could overcome the bad taste the Pier with it’s 2013 “grand opening” day and $10 million price tag have left in the mouths of many. Pulling off something like this also gives the Region of Halton one heck of a financial boost.

A stadium in the Aldershot community would shift the financial focus of Burlington from Brant Street west because the plans being discussed include a football field that could accommodate soccer and with very few additions a track and field facilities.

The Burlington Downtown Business Association will become small fish when compared to what the Aldershot BIA grows into – and what do you think this opportunity is going to do to the development of the city’s Strategic Plan?

Mayor Goldring has shown some leadership in that unlike some of our previous Mayors he consulted with his team and is listening to what they have to say. Kudos for the Mayor on that one.

How did all this come about …

It all started with a Christmas Eve phone call from Scott Mitchell, president of the Hamilton Tiger Cat Football Club to Mayor Goldring which led to a led to a meeting with Mayor Goldring and ward 1 council member Rick Craven who has been an advocate for sorts facilities in his ward for some time.

But it all goes back even further than that. This is actually a circle that began when Goldring, then ward 5 council member, voted for the PanAm soccer games being played in Sherwood Forest park. He reversed his vote on that idea when his constituents revolted and said not in our back yard. That took the location for soccer games to New City Park which doesn’t yet have a building permit.

Meanwhile, down the road a bit Hamilton proves that it is even more dysfunctional than Burlington and keeps voting against different proposals for a new stadium in that city.

In deep background is the fact that the Paletta family own a chunk of land that the Hamilton Tiger Cats are said to covet but no one wants to makes a move until Hamilton completes their self destruction.

The municipal election puts a new Mayor in both the Hamilton city council and the Burlington Council. Burlington gets a guy that is quite a bit softer in approach than his predecessor while Hamilton gets a radio announcer who isn’t able to get his council to agree on a location for a stadium in that city.

: Stadium looks a little crowded – team needs more room.

An outfit called HOSTCO (they are the people that are organizing the PanAm games) are getting really antsy and they tell Hamilton that they have to make a decision by February 1^st on a stadium location or the soccer games go somewhere else – with Markham, Mississauga and Brampton getting mention as possibilities.

With Hamilton going nowhere that’s when the Christmas Eve phone calls get made – and the making of a deal begins to take shape.

HOSTCO doesn’t say – “this is a great idea” – they wait for Hamilton to completely self destruct. Meanwhile the Paletta people, the Hamilton Tiger Cat organization and Burlington’s city council meet and pow wow and see what can be done.

If there is a sports complex in the Aldershot community by 2015 it will be because Hamilton really blew it and Rick Goldring reversed his vote on Sherwood Forest.

Could this really happen?

There are enough people with the kind of money needed who are ‘interested’ in being at the table but Hamilton has to first finish with screwing up the opportunity they have.

The Tiger Cat ownership may well be using their meeting with Mayor Goldring to squeeze the Hamilton city Council – that’s the way the big money guys play the game.

BUT – if Hamilton does fail to come up with a location that is acceptable to the HOSTCO guys then Burlington is certainly in the running. Ya gotta know that the telephone lines are burning with everyone calling everyone.

All it will take to get this through Burlington’s council is four votes and the Mayor has what he needs to make this happen if the financial numbers are right. Craven is in, Taylor and Dennison will be in – if the numbers are right. Sharman will love the idea – this is just the kind of game he loves to play – and he is good at it. He will be in. Lancaster will want to ensure that best practices are followed and then her vote will be in. Could Meed Ward be the odd man out on this one?

Both Ward 2 council member Marianne Meed Ward and Craven of Ward 1 put a note on their Facebook pages. Craven linked his people to the Spec article and Meed Ward commented that there was a $30 million shortfall in the funding and said “this is not a done deal.” It would be nice to see this Council, after looking at all the numbers and doing the due diligence, stand and give a unanimous vote to go forward. A chance to show Hamilton how it’s done. Goldring has instructed city staff` to prepare a report for a January 6^th meeting. Good solid first step Mr. Mayor – keep your cards close to your chest and don’t give away the farm – but bring the bacon home.

The PanAm Games in Burlington, in a new sports complex in 2015 – do you suppose the first soccer game could take place before the Pier opens?

Burlington Mayor’s State of the city address

Delivered at a Burlington Chamber of Commerce Breakfast

January 20, 2011

I have to tell you….the first time I became aware of this event was September 22, at the Chamber Lunch where General Rick Hillier was guest speaker.

A PowerPoint presentation announced the Mayor’s State of the City Address would take place on January 20^th. It was a very sobering moment during the campaign as I remember thinking, THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE I could be the one delivering that address.

I have so much respect for both the current and past leadership as well as the members of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce.

During the late 80’s and early 90’s, I had the opportunity to serve on the Chamber Board as Chair of the Political Action Committee, Chair of the Financial Trade Show Committee as well as a member of the Career Education Committee.

During the election campaign, I would often think of how I would be spending my time if I was not successful. In addition to being back full time in business, I would definitely want to play a meaningful role in this organization.

I am honoured to be able to present a State of the City address this morning.

My first draft simply stated “things are great…any questions”………. however, I expect that everyone here is looking for a little more insight than that.

My remarks today will focus on the current State of our City; what my Vision is for the City; and a five-step action plan to achieve these objectives.

When you leave this morning, I hope you remember just four things:

My Vision for Burlington is a place that is viewed as affordable, inclusive and complete.
I will lead our City by listening and learning from others and wherever possible building consensus.
Working together, we will tackle the challenges ahead with a measured approach that balances our wants, our needs and our ability to pay.
What you see is what you get. Expect me to be honest, direct, clear and enthusiastic. A Mayor that values gaining and maintaining your trust and confidence.

Now a little bit of background about me.

I speak honestly and directly. I haven’t yet learned the art of the non-answer.
The Pan Am/Ticat Aldershot stadium discussion provided me with great on the job training but I still have a lot to learn.
I am a sports fan and love going to live events especially NASCAR races. I go to several races a year with some long time friends and don’t see that changing.
I was a hardcore runner and ran on average 35 miles per week for 20 years and completed five full marathons. However I am now happy to get to the “Y” 3-4 times a week.
Many people know that Cheryl and I have seven daughters between us.
And oh yes, I recently changed jobs.

Current State of the City

As you all know in this room, we have all just come through a global recession. Canada has weathered the storm very well. While Ontario has experienced challenges especially in the manufacturing sector and Burlington has experienced some of this, we have come through the recession in good shape.

Our local unemployment rate peaked in 2009 at 9.2% and is now reported at 7.6%. This is higher than we would like to see, however the trend is going in the right direction.

The Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) reports that we have added 852 new jobs in Burlington, up from 577 in 2009. We remain prosperous.

Burlington has the 16^th highest family income in Canada and remains more affordable than Oakville, Newmarket, Mississauga, Milton, Hamilton, Toronto, and Richmond Hill.

At both City and Regional Council, we like to talk about complete communities and 2010 saw progress in this area.

The City has started setting aside funds to support the $312 million Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital re-development and expansion.

The Burlington Performing Arts Centre that is on time and on budget will be open in the fall of this year. This is a significant addition to the cultural fabric of the whole city and will provide significant positive impact to the continuing development of our downtown.

Individuals and corporations have contributed over 10.3 million dollars toward the capital cost of the facility. The facility is governed by an independent board composed of a broad cross section of people including entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, as well as people with experience in the arts.

A new twin pad opened at Appleby Ice Centre in the fall of 2010, providing continuing opportunities for youth and adults to remain active. The Users have funded a large part of the project.

In 2010, the DeGroote School of Business of McMaster University opened the new Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington. This outstanding facility is the centre for the DeGroote MBA program.

Also, Charles Sturt University, one of Australia’s largest publically funded universities has expanded its Ontario Campus in Burlington to offer Degrees in Education, Science, and Business with plans to add Degrees in Nursing and other fields and to grow into a full-fledged multi-disciplinary University.

Yes, there has been capital spending, however because of the recession, much of the spending was at costs lower than originally budgeted.

One of the best times for the public sector to build is during an economic downturn when resources are available and costs are reduced. As an example, the projected cost of the Appleby Arena dropped by over $3.0 million with the recession and Performing Arts Centre was able to include many important components to the building that we originally thought would be deferred into the future.

Federal and provincial stimulus dollars have helped this City and province manage through the recession.

In total, the City received some $22.4 million in Senior Government Funding through various stimulus programs. This stimulus funding provided for among others:

Appleby Arena
New dressing rooms at Nelson Arena
Paving of multi-use pathways which are seeing increased use
Northeast Burlington Fire Station # 8
New Transit Operations Centre

In addition, at the Regional level we received $90 million towards the upgrade and expansion of the Skyway Wastewater facility on the Beachway. Not very exciting, but a very important investment in our Regional infrastructure.

Traffic is being improved with the King Road Grade Separation and the Waterdown Road Interchange.

Our City also saw some key improvements in Public Transit.

The Presto fare payment system was introduced in May this year and will ultimately improve the usability of our system and connect Burlington’s transit system with the GTA network.

Burlington Transit ridership increased by 5.4% in 2010 and the introduction of low floor fully accessible buses has dramatically improved accessibility.

The Burlington Public Library is reaching customers in new ways and has put access to the Library in the palm of your hand with the City’s first mobile APP.

Our best practices and outstanding staff were recognized this year with a number of awards and honours.

The City continues to be an innovative municipal leader.

City Finances

I think it appropriate to also speak to the financial status of the City itself.

Based on my education and experience I’d give us a B+.

Taxes are comparable with other communities. Our balance sheet has a little more debt than I would like to see and we have seen a moderate deterioration in asset maintenance spending.

The City has $2.0 billion in fair market value assets. Roads and facilities are the bulk of the assets. We need to spend about 2% per year of fair market value just to protect and maintain these assets. We have not been doing that.

Municipal councils throughout Canada have similar challenges and have to juggle priorities and balance the need for infrastructure renewal, with additional services and other community needs.

Over the last four years the City portion of property taxes increased by 29%.

I have set a target of 10% over the next four years and I want to keep this number a priority in our civic agenda.

I’d like to talk a little bit about why 10%.

First, we need to set targets that are meaningful and achievable and I believe that this target is both.
Second, I believe that it is time to review our services and operating structure. Our operating structure has been relatively static for 15 plus years and the City has changed in culture, size, demographics, development profile and needs.

It is my observation that despite the tax rate increases that we have experienced, council continues to ask staff to do more with less and this cannot continue. We need to take a different approach.

Thirdly, the City has to think long term about its human resources. Over the next four years we have a number of staff retiring. If we want the right people, the City should be an attractive place to work and build a career. It is in all our best interests.
Fourth, I believe that the City has to review its processes and its use of technology and communications tools to be more productive and more effective.
Lastly, I want to restore a culture at the City of Burlington where Council, Staff and Community are working together to fulfill the long term vision of the city.

I believe that our circumstances call for an focused, collaborative and measured approach with the objective being an updated City Hall operation which deals with 21st century issues using 21st century technology, people and processes and which demonstrates the ability to operate within a sustainable economic plan.

As we move forward together we have some key challenges:

Burlington is now growing more slowly than any other community in the GTA and will see less revenue as a result.

We will have to approach City operations and services in a different way.

Burlington’s demographics are changing. Burlington is soon expected to have 20% of its population at retirement age or older.

These key issues lead us to the key questions that we as a community have to address:

How do we live within our means with slower growth and a changing demographic profile?
How do we re-align the City’s services to meet the needs and priorities of the community?
How do we keep a motivated professional staff in place at the City and deal with the costs?
How do we support and grow our local economy to maintain our quality of life?

Some thoughts on City Issues of the Day

Community Engagement: We have a very engaged community with an abundance of service groups, special interest groups, volunteer sports groups, foundations and fundraising organizations. That said, we can do a better job getting the views of our citizens.

During my first term as a Ward Councillor I conducted several leading edge community consultation processes. These were very effective and helpful and I believe that this type of engagement is an example of ways to improve our connection with the community.

Downtown and the Waterfront: We have an excellent Downtown / Waterfront Plan which was developed with extensive public consultation and included input from over 1400 citizens.

I plan to revisit it through a public symposium, and update it to ensure it continues to reflect a 10-20 year community vision. We also have to expand this neighborhood approach to other areas of the City.

The Pier: The new Council has spent 14 hours in briefings on this issue and is united in our resolve to complete this project. We will fix this as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.

Thinking of community-building brings to mind a recent inspiring speech by Barack Obama last week.

Some of the themes spoke to me and I’d like to share with you now.

– We need to keep the ‘civil’ in civil society.

– We need to be more respectful towards others, and rediscover the virtue of humility and modesty in private and public life.

– We need less ego. In City-building, we need more ‘we’ not ‘me’.

– We need to accept that we live in a complex world. The challenges we face are complex.

– The truth is not always black and white.

– Solutions to every problem are not always quick, easy, simple or even possible.

– We need to listen better.

– We need to be willing to work with others to achieve agreement, even if it means compromise.

– We need to accept that a meaningful community debate means sometimes hearing what isn’t popular. Achieving good public policy is most often a messy process.

– We need to have the courage to share our ideas with one another and encourage others to contribute and improve on these ideas.

A Vision of Burlington

So it’s fair to ask, what is my Vision of the City, and how will we achieve it together?

I feel we should continue to strive to make Burlington an affordable, inclusive, complete community.

Affordable so new families can move here and seniors can stay in their community. Inclusive and complete communities offer an attractive quality of life.

It’s time to take a regional view of the place we call home. Let’s appreciate and embrace the amenities, services and facilities next door as part of our unique Quality of Life.

McMaster, a university ranked in the top one percent of comprehensive universities globally is a 10 minute drive away and we have easy access to Mohawk and Sheridan Colleges.

We have an emerging technology centre in Kitchener-Waterloo an hour away with one of the most successful technology companies in the world.

We also have a world recognized wine district in Niagara.

And Burlington sits in the epicenter of all these amenities and attractions.

My Vision for the City also rests on a foundation of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Enterprise and the amazing contribution business create through wealth-generation, jobs and prosperity is what will help keep Burlington an affordable, inclusive and complete community. The Burlington business community must continue to thrive for all of us to prosper.

So what will Burlington look like 25 years from now?

Imagine:

– A city of about 193,000 nestled on the lake with an escarpment and a rural backyard.

– A city with a strong local economy which allows more people to work close to home.

– A public transportation network which connects Burlington with the GTHA and allows us all to move around better and preserve the environment.

– Increased access to lifelong learning opportunities so that our community can compete and thrive in a global economy.

– An inclusive community which provides for youth and seniors and is a tolerant and cultural oasis in the region.

– A beautiful and well-maintained city with unique and diverse neighbourhoods that are pedestrian and cycle friendly.

– A community that values and achieves sustainability through clearly defined ecological and environmental practices

To achieve this Vision I’m proposing a five-step action plan.

We need a New Strategic Planning process for the community. Council will be defining a very different process that will provide all citizens a variety of opportunities to provide input into the future of our city. The result will be a more meaningful and measureable civic strategic plan.

I am proposing to start a new relationship with our community stakeholders with the Mayor’s Community Roundtable. We will have our first conversation next week. The 25 or so Community leaders attending represent a broad cross section of the community through their members, congregations and participants.

I will be introducing a series of lectures leading up to our next Official Plan review to inspire Burlington to look at ways of changing and improving our quality of life.

We need to support efforts of the BEDC and the Chamber and others to bring new business to our community and to help existing businesses be successful. Burlington needs to be open for Business including not-for-profit, co-ops and other forms of emerging social entrepreneurship.

We will create a 4 year financial plan to maintain a manageable level of taxation and live within our means while delivering the services the community wants and this plan will be sustainable in the long term.

In summary, we live in a prosperous caring community blessed with a tremendous natural environment. We have the opportunity to live an urban, suburban or a rural lifestyle. We have the infrastructure and the services needed to provide for the community and most importantly we have a community of citizens that show their commitment every day to our city and the people that live in it. Our opportunities are many and it is up to all of us to build our community to care for those around us. I have complete confidence that we can do this together.

Thank You.

News analysis:

Mayor gives his city a B+

on its financial score card.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON January 22, 2011 – It was the “be at event” for the week and more than 400 business people bought tickets for the State of the City address by the Mayor and hosted by the Burlington Chamber of Commerce. Those who attended described the room as “a happy place”. Mayor Rick Goldring told the audience who he was and what he was going to do.

The event, usually held in October of each year, was moved permanently to January. The theme the Mayor chose for this his first address at a Chamber event was “Building an affordable, inclusive and complete City that works together.”

The Mayor of Burlington is an “inclusive man”. He is almost too decent. He is patient, listens, sometime far too long to all sides. He is, most of the time, content to be in the background and is always prepared to give way for someone else. He doesn’t have to seize the agenda and he doesn’t seem to have to let people know that he is in charge. That is not to say he is a pushover – he’s just decent and polite. As he said in his address –“Expect me to be honest, direct, clear and enthusiastic. A Mayor that values gaining and maintaining your trust and confidence. What you see is what you get.” That is who you elected to office.

He is also prepared to admit that he was wrong or made a mistake – sometimes that honesty makes him look a little simple – and he isn’t simple. “I speak honestly and directly”, said the Mayor. “I haven’t yet learned the art of the non-answer.”

Mayor Goldring leads a Council that hasn’t fully gelled yet. He has three new members and they are fitting in well enough and learning the ropes, each at their own rate and each developing competencies of their own. He is proud to work with them and he adjusts to their styles and approach to the job.

Goldring wanted to leave his audience of business people with four things to remember:

His vision of Burlington as a place that is affordable, inclusive and complete and that he will lead by listening and learning from others and wherever possible build consensus. He emphasized that the challenge ahead was to balances our wants, our needs and our ability to pay.

He said the Pan Am/Ticat Aldershot stadium discussions provided him with great on the job training. That experience also brought from staff the view that Burlington was not big enough to handle a of project of that size.

Current State of the City

“As you all know in this room, we have all just come through a global recession, “ said the Mayor. “Canada has weathered the storm very well. While Ontario has experienced challenges especially in the manufacturing sector and Burlington has experienced some of this, we have come through the recession in good shape.”

The Mayor reported that local unemployment rate peaked in 2009 at 9.2% and is now reported at 7.6%. The Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) reports that we have added 852 new jobs in Burlington, up from 577 in 2009. We remain prosperous. What wasn’t reported or commented upon was the amount of land that is identified as “employment lands” in the official plan and what the Mayor would like to do longer term to attract the high paying jobs that the city wants. No mention was made of what is going to happen in the near term with the Maple Leaf processing plant on Harvester Road. There are a significant number of jobs that will disappear when that plant closes down and it will eventually close down.

“The Burlington Performing Arts Centre is on time and on budget”, said the Mayor and “will be open in the fall of this year. This is a significant addition to the cultural fabric of the whole city and will provide significant positive impact to the continuing development of our downtown.” Our Mayor could have expanded on how he and his council propose to handle the deficits that are part of the agreement with the arms length non-profit corporation that runs the BPAC with a volunteer Board. Council has yet to receive either a Budget for the year we are now into or a longer term business plan.

“Individuals and corporations” reported the Mayor, “have contributed over $10.3 million toward the capital cost of the facility. The facility is governed by an independent board composed of a broad cross section of people including entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, as well as people with experience in the arts.”

The Mayor said: “Yes, there has been capital spending, however because of the recession, much of the spending was at costs lower than originally budgeted.” “Federal and provincial stimulus dollars”, he added, “have helped this City and province manage through the recession. In total, the City received some $22.4 million in Senior Government Funding through various stimulus programs. This stimulus funding provided for among others:

The new Transit Operations Centre was badly needed but not as badly needed as a transit policy. This city still hasn’t decided what level of transit service it wants to provide the public. There are some that talk in terms of a “one bus” transit system. Burlington Transit ridership increased by 5.4% in 2010 and the introduction of low floor fully accessible buses has dramatically improved accessibility.

City Finances

The Mayor felt it appropriate to also speak to the financial status of the City itself. “Based on my education and experience I’d give us a B+”, said the Mayor. That’s a fair mark but there have to be some comments in the margin of the report card saying that we are only managing to get 68% of our roads up to the standard we set out and that we are about to go into a phase were close to more than half our roads are at the point where they need significant work to be kept up to standard and we do not have a reserve to do that work. And it is substantial.

“Taxes”, said the Mayor, “ are comparable with other communities. Our balance sheet has a little more debt than I would like to see”, he added, “and we have seen a moderate deterioration in asset maintenance spending.” It would have helped if the Mayor had set out just what the debt is and what the city has in the way of reserves in its various reserve funds. His audience was made up of sophisticated, financially informed people, who understand a balance sheet and have very close relationships with profit and loss statements.

In order for a society to function it has to be informed and there was a wonderful opportunity for this Mayor to fully inform his audience. He missed that opportunity. It was fine to say how much he respected the Chamber of Commerce as an organization he had served on – he could have should have shown that respect by laying out all the facts. He has nothing to hide.

“The City”, said the Mayor, “has $2.0 billion in fair market value assets. Roads and facilities are the bulk of the assets. We need to spend about 2% per year of fair market value just to protect and maintain these assets. We have not been doing that.” This was one of his better important bits of information and his audience understands what he is up against.

“Municipal councils throughout Canada have similar challenges and” the Mayor advised, “we have to juggle priorities and balance the need for infrastructure renewal, with additional services and other community needs.” Here our Mayor could have and should have expanded and set out some of the options he is looking at. Where might the cuts be made? It would have been interesting and certainly novel had the Mayor asked his audience what level they thought the cuts should be made at.

The Mayor also said: “Over the last four years the City portion of property taxes increased by 29%. I have set a target of 10% over the next four years and I want to keep this number a priority in our civic agenda”. He expanded a bit on his 10% in four years objective. He had an opportunity to mention that his council member with the best financial smarts was advocating a 0% increase. The Mayor could have put that in context and commented on its likelihood. Opportunity missed. The room was filled with people who wanted to listen and confirm the sense that this Mayor is a good guy; decent, responsible and not someone who is going to try and snow you. When he makes a mistake, which he will, this Mayor is going to tell you and take responsibility for his mistakes. It doesn’t get better than that.

“First”, said the Mayor, “ we need to set targets that are meaningful and achievable and I believe that this target is both. Second, I believe that it is time to review our services and operating structure. Our operating structure has been relatively static for 15 plus years and the City has changed in culture, size, demographics, development profile and needs. He went on to say: “It is my observation that despite the tax rate increases that we have experienced, council continues to ask staff to do more with less and this cannot continue. We need to take a different approach.”

“Thirdly”, he pointed out, “the City has to think long term about its human resources. Over the next four years we have a number of staff retiring. If we want the right people, the City should be an attractive place to work and build a career. It is in all our best interests.”

“Fourth, I believe that the City has to review its processes and its use of technology and communications tools to be more productive and more effective.” Kind of a bread and butter statement – one of those “non-answers’ perhaps?

“Lastly”, said the Mayor, “I want to restore a culture at the City of Burlington where Council, Staff and Community are working together to fulfill the long term vision of the city.” Well there is some work to be done at the Council/Staff relationship, which we will report on elsewhere. Where this Mayor is dead on is the need for community to work with him to manage some of the stickier problems. While the Mayor didn’t challenge the business community to work with him, the Chamber and its members need to support this man and the work he is doing. He can’t do it all by himself. Rick Goldring will listen – talk to him.

I believe that our circumstances call for a focused, collaborative and measured approach with the objective being an updated City Hall operation which deals with 21st century issues using 21st century technology, people and processes and which demonstrates the ability to operate within a sustainable economic plan. Another one of those non-answers ?

“As we move forward together we have some key challenges: Burlington is now growing more slowly than any other community in the GTA and will see less revenue as a result. We will have to approach City operations and services in a different way. Burlington’s demographics are changing and is expected to soon have 20% of its population at retirement age or older. Has the business community factored this fact into its longer term plans”. The Mayor might think in terms of a Symposium to look at just what it means to have one fifth of the population in the retired column.

Among the questions such a symposium might ask are:

How do we live within our means with slower growth and a changing demographic profile?

How do we re-align the City’s services to meet the needs and priorities of the community?

How do we keep a motivated professional staff in place at the City and deal with the costs?

How do we support and grow our local economy to maintain our quality of life?

All very good and relevant questions. The Mayor and his city hall staff cannot come up with these answers on their own. They need input from the people who do business in this city.

“We have”, said the Mayor, “an excellent Downtown / Waterfront Plan which was developed with extensive public consultation and included input from over 1400 citizens.”

“I plan to revisit it through a public symposium, and update it to ensure it continues to reflect a 10-20 year community vision.”

The Pier: The new Council has spent 14 hours in briefings on this issue (How many in his audience cringed when they thought of the size of the legal bill for all this. The problem is not one this Mayor brought about – he’s the poor guy who has to clean up a mess left by others. He needs support on this one.) and is united in our resolve to complete this project. We will fix this as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.

A Vision of Burlington: “So it’s fair to ask, what is my Vision of the City, and how will we achieve it together?”

“I feel we should continue to strive to make Burlington an affordable, inclusive, complete community. Affordable so new families can move here and seniors can stay in their community. Inclusive and complete communities offer an attractive quality of life. It’s time to take a regional view of the place we call home. Let’s appreciate and embrace the amenities, services and facilities next door as part of our unique Quality of Life.

“McMaster, a university ranked in the top one percent of comprehensive universities globally is a 10 minute drive away and we have easy access to Mohawk and Sheridan Colleges. We have an emerging technology centre in Kitchener-Waterloo an hour away with one of the most successful technology companies in the world. We also have a world recognized wine district in Niagara. And Burlington sits in the epicenter of all these amenities and attractions.”

Strung together these really don’t amount to a vision – more a description of the environmental, geographic setting we exist within. All true, but they don’t constitute a vision

“So what”, asked the Mayor. “will Burlington look like 25 years from now?”

Imagine:

– A city of about 193,000 nestled on the lake with an escarpment and a rural backyard.

– A city with a strong local economy which allows more people to work close to home.

– A public transportation network which connects Burlington with the GTHA and allows us all to move around better and preserve the environment.

– Increased access to lifelong learning opportunities so that our community can compete and thrive in a global economy.

– An inclusive community which provides for youth and seniors and is a tolerant and cultural oasis in the region.

– A beautiful and well-maintained city with unique and diverse neighbourhoods that are pedestrian and cycle friendly.

– A community that values and achieves sustainability through clearly defined ecological and environmental practices.

I don’t think this is what is imagined – but more a what the public expects.

To achieve this Vision I’m proposing a five-step action plan.

“We need a New Strategic Planning process for the community. Council will be defining a very different process that will provide all citizens a variety of opportunities to provide input into the future of our city. The result will be a more meaningful and measurable civic strategic plan.”
“I am proposing to start a new relationship with our community stakeholders with the Mayor’s Community Roundtable. We will have our first conversation next week. The 25 or so Community leaders attending represent a broad cross section of the community through their members, congregations and participants.”
“I will be introducing a series of lectures leading up to our next Official Plan review to inspire Burlington to look at ways of changing and improving our quality of life.”
“We need to support efforts of the BEDC and the Chamber and others to bring new business to our community and to help existing businesses be successful. Burlington needs to be open for Business including not-for-profit, co-ops and other forms of emerging social entrepreneurship.”

This one has all those upside buzz words but they ring a little on the hollow side when we read that city hall staff thought the proposed Aldershot Stadium, that had us all worked up for a few days was too big an undertaking for this city. Does the city council and the city staff really have an entrepreneurial spirit

We will create a 4 year financial plan to maintain a manageable level of taxation and live within our means while delivering the services the community wants and this plan will be sustainable in the long term.

This, this Mayor will do. He is responsible.

“In summary, we live in a prosperous caring community blessed with a tremendous natural environment. We have the opportunity to live an urban, suburban or a rural lifestyle. We have the infrastructure and the services needed to provide for the community and most importantly we have a community of citizens that show their commitment every day to our city and the people that live in it. Our opportunities are many and it is up to all of us to build our community to care for those around us. I have complete confidence that we can do this together.”

That last paragraph is what our Mayor is all about. We don’t know yet if he can handle a crisis. We don’t know yet how deep the vision is, there wasn’t much that was exciting about it and perhaps that is the way his citizens want it. This time next year is a better opportunity to review his performance. Nothing dramatic yet, and there may never be anything stellar about his term of office. The city didn’t vote FOR Rick Goldring – they voted AGAINST the other guy. Goldring came in with a clean slate and so far has kept it that way.

Premier backtracks very quickly on fund raising practices - she wants to get in front of the parade and not get trampled by a herd of protest.

By Staff

April 12, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

The Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne released the following statement earlier today.

I have just had a meeting with the Leader of the Green Party of Ontario to discuss election financing reform. I want to thank Mr. Schreiner for a very positive meeting to discuss these much-needed changes. He provided input, advice and feedback on the areas for reform and on the questions I asked of him — the same questions I asked the Leaders of the Official Opposition and NDP yesterday. There was much agreement between me and Mr. Schreiner on the areas for reform.

Wynne RibFest-Rotary-guy-+-Premier-595x1024

GypTech president of Gary xxxx escorts Premier Wynne during a RibFest in Burlington.

Mr. Schreiner made some specific requests that I would like to respond to directly. He said he wants to make sure the legislative committee process to consider election financial reform is open, has time to hear from witnesses across the province on the draft legislation, and allows for a full consideration of the draft legislation after both First and Second Reading.

As I said yesterday, I intend to bring forward legislation in May before the Legislature rises on June 9. With the agreement of the Legislature, we would send that legislation to Standing Committee sooner than usual, after First Reading to allow for a first opportunity to make amendments based on public input, before Second Reading. In addition, further legislative committee hearings after Second Reading will allow for another round of input and amendments.

This would allow for consultation immediately, while the Legislature is still sitting, and for further consultation during the summer, across Ontario, in agreed-upon locations. The first government witness invited to appear before the legislative committee hearings would be Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer. In the meantime, as the legislation is being drafted, we will consult regularly with the Chief Electoral Officer.

The second government witness invited to appear before the legislative committee hearings would be Mr. Schreiner.

Was it the smile that drew these two together? Does he have influence?

In an open letter prior to today’s meeting, Mr. Schreiner asked that “big money” be taken out of politics, and asked the government to bring in comprehensive reforms that include eliminating corporate and union donations prior to the next Ontario general election. The legislation we will introduce this spring will propose a ban on corporate and union donations and I am committed that changes be in place or significantly underway before the June 2018 election.

He has also asked that the government end the practice of “selling access to Ministers of the Crown.” As I said yesterday, political donations do not buy policy decisions. Any suggestion otherwise is completely false. As Premier, I’ve always been clear that decisions made by me and my Cabinet are always made with the best interests of Ontarians in mind.

Ministers need to fundraise, just as all MPPs do, to support their work during campaigns. Ministers can do small group high-value fundraisers with two stipulations:

1. The event is publicly disclosed before it occurs.

2. The Minister is not meeting/fundraising with stakeholders of his/her ministry.

I have made the decision to immediately cancel upcoming private fundraisers that I or Ministers attend.

Future Liberal fundraisers will be made public on the OLP website.

Wynne Kathleen - looking guilty gas plant hearing

Premier Wynne can be very convincing.

To recap, our government has already undertaken a number of initiatives to make election financing more transparent. In 2007, we introduced third-party advertising rules and real-time disclosure for political donations. Last June, I announced that we would make further changes to the Elections Act. And, as I announced last week, our government plans to introduce legislation on political donations this spring, including measures to transition away from union and corporate donations.
The legislation we will bring forward this spring will include the following:

First — reform of third-party advertising rules, including definitions, anti-collusion measures and penalties. Maximum spending limits on third-party advertising will be severely constrained for election periods and constraints considered for pre-election periods.
Second — a ban on corporate and union donations.

Third — reduction of maximum allowable donations to a figure that is in the range of what is permitted federally for each Party; to all associations, nomination contestants and candidates, as well as leadership campaigns.

Fourth — constraints on loans/loan guarantees to parties and candidates, including leadership candidates

Fifth — reform of by-election donation rules.

Sixth — overall reduction in spending limits by central parties in election periods and introduction of limits between elections.

And seventh — introduction of leadership and nomination campaign spending limits and donation rules.

To reach critical decision points associated with these issues. I have asked the following questions of all three party Leaders.

Ribfest-Prsemier-with-ribs-and-helper1-1024x1007

Premier Wynne has been to Burlington on a number of occasions. She learned how to flip a rack of ribs pretty quickly at RibFest. She also personally recruited current MPP Eleanor McMahon to run as the Liberal candidate in the last provincial election.

• On the issue of third-party advertising, we are proposing a much lower spending limit. What should that limit be? What should the constraints on third-party advertising be between elections? Should there also be an individual contribution limit for those advertising campaigns?

• We are proposing a ban on corporate and union donations, which would begin on January 1, 2017. Should there be a transitional subsidy based on vote counts from the previous election? If so, how long should the transition period be in order to allow all parties to adjust?

• We are proposing a lower limit on donations. Should that limit be phased in over time?

• We are proposing that, during by-elections, that there be no special doubling of donations to the central party. By-election campaigns should be restricted to raising funds only to the allowable limit, both locally and centrally. What are the other Leaders’ thoughts on how we should manage any by-elections that occur before the legislation is in effect?

• We are proposing overall spending limit reductions in the writ period and setting limits between elections. We would like the Leaders’ input on this.

• We are proposing setting spending limits for leadership and nomination campaigns. What should these spending and donation limits be?
The government also intends to bring forward separate legislation this fall to amend the Elections Act, including proposals to:
• Change the fixed election date for the next general election to the spring of 2018

• Allow provisional registration of 16- and 17 year-olds

• Establish a single address authority in Ontario

• Eliminate the first blackout period for all elections, and

• Integrate, simplify and modernize a range of election processes as per the advice of the Chief Electoral Officer.

It is clear that there are flaws in the current legislation, which all parties have been operating under. The reality is that Ontario’s election financing system has not kept up with changes made federally and in some other provinces. The current system also does not meet today’s public expectations. I am determined to make changes that are right for Ontario. And I believe it is important that we now move expeditiously to make these changes.

It is important to get this right. I look forward to hearing further from all three Leaders as they consider the answers to the questions I have asked them, so that we can move quickly to bring about these needed reforms.

Ray Rivers on election funding.

The times they are a changing- the public has gotten to the point where they just plain don’t like the way the politicians climbed into bed with any special interest with a cheque book. The conflict of interest was just too blatant. The tip of that iceberg was identified by the Globe and Mail when they published a series of articles on how the politician raised the money they need to fight elections. The opposition parties didn’t make too much noise over the news reports because they too rely on corporate, union and special interest money.

But the media coverage was a little too strong to ignore – and so now the Premier has set out an aggressive set of changes that everyone is going to get a chance to have their say on. Note though that the Premier made this announcement after meeting with the Green Party – she is avoiding what the NDP and the Conservatives want to do to her neck.

Premier Wynne does deserve credit for getting in front of the parade and not getting trampled by a crowd reaction.

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David Auger

John Boich

David Conrath

Ken Edwards

Larissa Fenn

Shannon Gillies

Mark Henderson

Paul Mitchell

Walter Mulkewich

Liz Nield

Peggy Russell

John Searles

James Smith

Roland Tanner

Chris Walker (Chair)

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Mayor gives his city a B+

on its financial score card.

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