Ward Councillor gives us a peek at what they are thinking about.

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

July 31st, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Each of the city Councillors maintains a Newsletter which they send out to the constituents – if you’re not on the list – just ask and they will happily add your name,

Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte finds that “City Hall has been an interesting flow of priorities. At first, all of the regular work of the City came to a halt as City Hall, libraries and community centres emptied and all of the focus was moved to the Emergency Response.

Councillor Stolte looking for a response to her motion - put forward last April

Councillor Stolte looking for a response to a  motion she had put forward.

Then, as spring turned into summer the work of the City slowly resumed and began to reopen, and now we are finally at the stage of getting the function of the City fully back up and running while we learn to live in co-existence with this pandemic.

The priority will still be to ensure that the citizens of this city are safe and that our business community can recover and thrive again while we also work hard towards moving this City into the future.

There are many projects on the go from

improving public transit
inspiring environmental initiatives
solidifying the Official Plan
crafting a Housing Strategy
an Affordable Housing Action Plan
introducing automated Speed Enforcement on our city streets
exploring Electoral Reform options

Several of these haven’t been heard of at either a Standing Committee meeting or Council meetings.

The public will want to know a lot more about Speed Enforcement as well as Electoral Reform.

Are these initiatives that Stolte is heading up? She was quite effective with her share the road that resulted in more space for pedestrians to walk around and she got the city to produce a bylaw making the wearing of face masks mandatory. On that face mask issue she had to arm wrestle the Mayor to maintain control of her initiative.

I think we are seeing more information on new issues from the ward Councillor than we are from the Mayor.

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9 comments to Ward Councillor gives us a peek at what they are thinking about.

  • Alfred

    Lynn.

    Unless you have been hired by Marshall to be his or her spokesperson and the question was asked of them not you. I’m having difficulty understanding why this is any of your business. Marshall stated he had some trouble with home builders in his part of his ward 4. Also something to do with an Oak tree. He’s complaining about builders and you are talking about developers. Or do you even know what you are talking about? Taxpayers have the right to know where their money is being wasted. I suggest we wait to see if Marshall is brave enough to tell us what the so called problems were and then we can decide if the the complaints are invalid in taxpayers minds. You know the story of the little boy who cryed wolf once too many times. The village stopped listening to him. I don’t think Marshall needs your help. Unless of course your nimbism has spread to the stable low density areas. I suspect we are talking about single family homes here. Your clear distain for housing begs the question. Do you live in a cave?

    • Blair Smith

      Oh, I think that Lynn hit a nerve Albert. Just sayin’.

    • david barker

      I agree with Alfred. It would be helpful for Marshall to elaborate upon what “issues” that community has had with builders and what “problems” have been encountered with oak trees. Having made a broad statement like Marshall has does require him to provide a bit of background to the type of issues and problems encountered. So over to you, Marshall

  • Phillip Wooster

    As I look at Stolte’s list, they involve two things that Stolte most likes to do–increase spending and subsequently increase taxes. Nowhere is regard for the taxpayers and fiscal accountability part of the equation. Given that the City is looking for a “bailout” from the provincial and federal governments to solve its current budgetary deficit, it is clear that a key focus for this Mayor and Council has to be improving the fiscal situation at City Hall–and this can’t be done by raising taxes. The economic impact of this pandemic has been most acutely felt by people in the private sector–lost wages, lost jobs, business closures and bankruptcies, and increasing debt loads. The public sector has been well insulated from these types of impacts–the public sector is already receiving higher wages, benefits and pensions than people doing similar work in the private sector–can any government now go to taxpayers and say, “We’re raising your taxes” to avoid incurring any economic pain themselves. And this economic pain in the private sector is real given the revenue shortfall at City Hall caused by the pandemic.

    I believe City Hall needs to control its spending–if Stolte wants to spend on her pet projects, she can repurpose the money within existing spending, but raising taxes is not on. To quote one of her socialist heroes, “We’re all in this together”—OR ARE WE????? And to quote the same hero(?), “You’re asking for more than we can give”.

  • Alfred

    Marshall.

    Maybe you can elaborate on the problems the builders and the Oak tree have caused all the people in your part of ward 4 . Curious to see where and on what the taxpayers of Burlingtons money is being used wisely or wasted on. Are the people in your part of the Ward chronic complainers or is this a first time thing. Just curious.

    • Lynn Crosby

      Yes, the developer wants to know. Albert, why don’t you identify yourself properly so your bias is clear? So if people have complained about developers before, they are “chronic complainers” – does this make their opinions invalid? Just curious.

  • dave turner

    My question, one that I raised with all Council members, but which fell on deaf ears, is “why was there no business continuity contingency plan ready to be implemented once City Hall had to be shut down so as to allow for regular services to continue to be provided ?

    The only response I got from anyone at City Hall was; well a pandemic had not been contemplated.

    Well it certainly should have been contemplated both by those charged at City Hall with oversight of the Cities risk management & mitigation and insurance purchasing. Probably also by the City’s third party professional risk and insurance management advisors.

    But whether City Hall is un-occupiable due to a fire, a flood, an earthquake, a windstorm, a pandemic or other reason, the same business continuity plan must be ready for immediate implementation. The plan should have a course of action laid out for senior City and emergency services personnel to deal with the health and safety issues arising out of the emergency; and another course of action so that staff may continue their usual service functions remotely. That is what happened with those in the services sector, such as accountants, lawyers, insurance brokers, insurance companies. Services to their clientele were never interrupted. The City’s services were down for weeks.

    I’m surprised no commentator has questioned the City’s unpreparedness. Just as when the fraudsters conned staff into parting with $500,000, everyone focused on “how could it happen”. Nobody asked “what risk management procedures were in place to prevent or mitigate the eventuality; and is the City insured for that eventuality? If not, why not?”.

  • Marshall

    Councillor Stolte has been very active in our part of ward four. We have had issues with builders and a problem with Oak trees and she has attended and contributed to most of the discussions. I also suggest that the other members of council be asked what they have contributed over the past five months.

  • david barker

    Bravo Councilor Stolte, for sure ! But why focus on the question on the Mayor ? What about the other 5 members of Council ? Why no equal focus upon them ?