By Pepper Parr
September 14th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
There has always been a concern with the thinking Mayor Marianne Meed Ward does when it comes to financial matters.
Many people sense that she does not have a firm grasp of balance sheets and profit and loss statements.
Hydro reserves were raided to pay for Marian upgrades.
There is a tendency to spend, a habit of raiding reserve funds to pay for projects she wants to go forward with.
Frugal is not a word used by this Mayor.
Now that she has Strong Mayor Powers the Mayor can get away with almost anything – given the size of the city council it will be hard to defeat anything she comes forward with.
There was nothing wrong with the idea of rainbow crosswalks. But did they all have to be done in the one year and then add rainbow benches as well?
There are some who think Councillor Sharman will serve as a modifying influence – not something we want to depend on.
Power is not equalizing; power corrupts; power reveals.
The people of Burlington have seen what this Mayor can do when she gets the bit in her teeth.
Will this be her finest hour? Stand By – this could be painful.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
The so-called “Community Marina” which was rammed through despite the vast majority of citizens being opposed is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Major spending money for the privileged few in this city. It seems that the movers & shakers, the old boys & girls clubs get whatever they want & to blazes whether it makes sense or will benefit the “community” or city as a whole. Its about time the folks down Brant Street & the woman running the show start to realize MONEY does not grow on trees as the saying goes & what the citizens want is NOT in most cases what the politicians want. Our pockets are not lined with gold as they seem to think!
Charlie, we have not read a more accurate finger on the pulse of families of Burlington that we serve through our Pro Bono Health, Safety and Access Advocacy service. . We need more like you to join us in getting public opinion across to the provincial government through the upcoming legislative committee review for the one and two tier municipalities of Halton and Burlington. It has been a very lonely battle that we have waged since Marianne Meed Ward was first elected in 2010 and democracy, accountability and transparency slowly washed away like words in the sand are washed out by the incoming tide on a daily basis.
Marian upgrades – love it.
Councillor Meed Ward was on the side of the Environmentalists on the Marina Issue.
Mayor Meed Ward switched sides. The Marina was uselessly rebranded to the Community Marina. What was Undertaken in the Addendum to the Environmental Study Report of November 2018 was ignored. Alan Magi and the Mayor remember it differently.