By Pepper Parr
May 12, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Each term of office city council has some opinion research done on what the citizens think of the way their city is governed and how good or bad the delivery of services is.
The Gazette will report on that document in some detail – it is a little on the complex side.
Politicians being politicians they are interested in knowing how they are doing in their wards.
The research provided an interesting glimpse at what you the public felt about how services were being delivered in your ward.
The chart, explained the researchers, presents top two box satisfaction ratings (excellent/good) for each service offered by the City of Burlington by Ward.
The data in the ward comparison table highlights the extent to whichthe differences between the wards on each service are statistically higher or lower than each other. The sample size for the opinions at the ward level was 125 people.
On the other extreme the folks in ward 5 where Paul Sharman is the council member have nothing they are happy with and a number of things they are unhappy about. The August 2014 flood impacted the opinions of people but that flood wasn’t in just ward 4; Councillor Dennison did much better in terms of the way his constituents saw him working for them.
Marianne Meed Ward, in ward 2. had two areas of concern: transit and the way the community is designed. Many tend to see Meed Ward as a very strong advocate on how the community is designed – the opinion poll suggests otherwise.
Dennison seemed pleased with how his residents ranked the delivery of services in his ward.
Councillor Dennison seemed both surprised and pleased wit the rankings he got; a private tree bylaw still isn’t a go for his ward. Given his views on spending on the arts his ranking there was a bit of a surprise. Ward 4 seems to have decided to live with how Dennison has decided which of the city’s bylaws and zoning provisions apply to him. The public is waiting for the Ontario Municipal Board decision of his appeal against a Committee of Adjustment decision to nor permit the severing of his Lakeshore Road property.
Blair Lancaster’s constituents seemed happy with what they are getting. Everything is coming up roses for the Council member who now wants to ride off to Ottawa to continue serving the people.
The responses Blair Lancaster got for the work she does in ward 6 will serve her well in her quest for the federal Conservative nomination in the newly created riding of Oakville North Burlington.
Quite why the people in ward 3, where John Taylor reigns, are unhappy about cemetery service is something he might want to explain.
Interesting data. They all did get re-elected.
Most of these things just happen, no matter who holds the office. It’s what the city does with the taxes. So it’s the city performance that is really being rated.
In any case, I don’t know how a valid sample of residents would have any idea how their Councillor actually performed, on a factual basis, on any of these things, with the odd exception that is public knowledge.
And assigning numbers like this is subject to a great deal of sampling bias, so the numbers are inherently subject to wide variation and expected differences.
Personally, being honest about it, based on facts of performance I know of, and not personal biases about the Councillor, I would just be guessing.
I kind of like the fact that Rick Craven scored highest in the class. He has represented his ward consistently with class and accomplishments, quietly and without engaging in some of that other nonsense that seems to go on in other parts of the city. I think Rick manages the city business with common sense and is fair to all sides of an issue. It is surprising to see some of the other low scores being reported in the other wards.