Why do we learn again and again that city staff and city councillors have either forgotten how to listen or just don't want to listen

By Pepper Parr

August 26th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

We learned yesterday that the city has had a report, put together by citizens from Oakville and Burlington, on how to better manage the coyote problem and the risk they present to the public.

We learned that the report sat on a shelf, it was apparently not even acknowledged. The group did everything they could – shown clearly in the time line they provided.

To say that the people on both the administrative and the elected sides should be ashamed is about all the average Burlington can do.

Stephen White

When Stephen White met with Mayor Meed Ward to talk to her about a neighbour’s cat that was mauled to death (all there was left was a paw”) she asked White why he didn’t delegate.

White made clear to the Mayor that delegating is one of the most useless things a Burlington citizen can do – “you people don’t know how to listen” he said

Burlington staff spend hour upon hour discussing risk management and risk mitigation. Workshop sessions have been devoted to the subject.

White told the Gazette that the group deliberately did not go to the media. “We didn’t want to make a lot of noise – we just wanted to put some information in front of the people who make the decisions.”

However, said White “when we saw the story in the Gazette yesterday, Julie and I had a talk and decided that we would give the report to the media and be available to answer questions.”

Councillor Sharman has kept on top of the coyote file – but he made no reference that we are aware of that a citizens committee had put forward some strong recommendations.

White did say that Councillor Sharman was very good – he listened, he was attentive as well.” But that appears to be all that was done.

White points out that coyotes are more aggressive in the fall and the spring.

Learning that there were three serious incidents in the past couple of weeks is disturbing – it doesn’t fit the pattern.

The pattern that does fit is city hall’s inability to hear what the public has to say.
Is it arrogance, hubris or an inability to understand that their job is to take care of the public’s welfare?

Should some child be hurt in the weeks ahead, perhaps maimed – imagine the law suit – we are talking tens of millions in a case in which the BOCM report and the article in the Gazette would be major pieces of evidence.

We believe that every member of Council was aware of the report. If the Mayor did not share what she knew or if the City Manager did not share what he knew – one might ask “Why are they there”

Indeed – why are they there ?

 

Related news stories:

The BOCM report with the time line

Report recommendations

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.

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26 comments to Why do we learn again and again that city staff and city councillors have either forgotten how to listen or just don’t want to listen

  • Blair you must have me mixed up with someone else. I ran against Cam Jackson as an Independent. I also ran for the Hamilton Nomination in a By election. I did not like what the male candidate was doing and publicly said so, he stepped down and Horwath popped up. The federal NDP leader’s brother who is the MPP calls me the King Maker LOL. Horwath made several promises to me, but did not keep them. The only votes Mike Wallace got from us were for Dorothy Lundy who was an amazing constituency secretary and helped us deal with some very serious issues in terms of vulnerable seniors. Mike ducked some very serious issues saying the files were closed. Certainly did not vote for him as Mayor.

    I also ran for the nomination of the Burlington NDP. I also ran as an Independent against the Conservative Paul Miller in the by-election up North, that was fun! Paul said I did a great job. I ran for MP in 1997 for the Canadian Action Party after receiving a personal invitation from Paul Hellyer, a great man who passed recently. So don’t see where the exception proves the rule. I have always supported those I believe can do the best job. In this case it is Tim O’Brien. Jane McKenna I only started to support after she committed in writing to help get rid of the downtown MST and agree the UGC could be moved. Check the January 2020 public meeting webcast. I run against those who I do not believe deserve the position they are going for. Hopefully, 2022 will see me pull a Diefenbaker who lost time and time again and then won a majority government as PM. Signing off now to go and get my Thistle Fish and Chips before they close.

    • Blair Smith

      Anne – I stand corrected on your party affiliation. You do indeed have multiple and varied associations. BTW, I remember the January 2020 meetings well, particularly Council, as I and several of my colleagues delegated and advised that the MTSA mis-designations should be immediately removed and the UGC relocated. The general response was stoney silence and an unwillingness to listen. As I remember, staff advised that movement of a Urban Growth Centre had never been approved by the Province. The truth was that it had never been attempted before and staff/Council were unwilling to attempt it until the New Official Plan was approved and placed before the Region. Such an unwise response and critical mistake that cost the City time, resources and required the off again/on again extension of the ICBL. Good luck with your campaign.

      • If only the unwise response and critical mistake just cost the City time, resources and required the off again/on again extension of the ICBL. It is a lot more than that Blair. The truth will only be known if I take the incumbent mayor down and I can then call a Special Council meeting to present the evidence to Council and the public. Dave and I love retirement and spending time with our seven grandchildren. If this matter was not as serious as it is, I would not be running for Mayor, all our friends tell us we are crazy…… there might be a little truth in that but both of us have a passion for truth and justice and knowing what we know cannot sit idly by. Thank you Blair for recognizing that I do not limit my support to a particular party member, always I want the best person for the job. Quite frankly Dave and I believe there is only one councillor who should be returned – Shawna Stolte. After hearing the evidence we believe the public will agree with us.

  • Elan

    Fact: Four of the sitting Councillors have private business jobs outside of Council. Sherman, Galbraith, Bentavenia and, off and on, Kearns. To what extent is any of this their focus? Only Stolte, the Mayor, and her toady, Nissan are full time reps. I believe the only voices who are desperate for solution are Stolte and MMW. City staff are truly the roadblock to solution, led (in the city managers absence) by the deputy City Manager, who refuses to understand this is a civic emergency.

  • David Barker

    OK. Any communication to anyone deserves a response of some sort from the recipient. The nature of that response may or may not be a capable to the sender. But a response is a must. That is only polite and respectful.

    Burlington City’s staff are absolutely awful at providing timely replies. I was once told in an apology from a planning staff member that the lack of response to my question was because something really important came up. Implying my mattercwas not important.

    Having said all of that, yes Mr White deserved a response and probably a response along the lines, “your report recommendations are interesting and may have some merit. We will have staff review the report, and get back to us.We will be back in touch with you by (date).

    Just because Mr White or me or any resident delegates to or lobbies one or more members of council with an opinion on a specific matter does not mean that opinion should be accepted and acted upon. I have not read the report nor its recommendations. But it seems to me that just because Mr White has taken the time and effort to write a report with the assistance of a third party organization people here seem to think council should simply accept the report and instruct staff to enact the recommendations. That’s a mind boggling position to take.

    • Blair Smith

      ” … just because Mr White has taken the time and effort to write a report with the assistance of a third party organization people here seem to think council should simply accept the report and instruct staff to enact the recommendations. That’s a mind boggling position to take.” No one said that David or adopted that position; they said that it deserved consideration and a respectful response/acknowledgement – not silence and shelf dust.

      Good to see you back btw.

  • Doug P

    How did the coyote get into the home where the cat lived, or did the writers neighbour open her door and let the cat roam free. Hopefully this cat owner and other’s will think twice next time.

  • Denise W.

    Not popular, but they should be cleared out. (But elected officials are too voter sensitive to do that.) This is not a problem we should be living with. They are overcoming their fear of humans and will start to see children as part of their food chain. It is a larger, wild flesh eating carnivore, what can anybody expect? I don’t want to see coyote protocols written in blood.

    I see them during the day, on people’s front lawns, in the afternoon. Cats and rabbits, a great food source for them. It seems in every neighborhood is a poster looking for a wayward cat. Isn’t there a bylaw about letting cats roam at large anyway? And a lot of parks have become off leash parks for dogs in the early am or 5 to 8 pm. So many things “are off the rails”.

    Was there some place to (easily) report sightings? But to what end? I didn’t know I was in a hotspot. But I see them regularly, like raccoons in the evening, not so nocturnal anymore.

    “Burlington staff spend hour upon hour discussing risk management and risk mitigation.” This is why goobermint looks broken at times. Instead, why not make a decision, that will make a difference. All this RM and RM accomplishes nothing at the end of the day. If it were a business, it would be out of business.

    I agree, delegating about anything is an exercise in banging your head against a brick wall.

    • David Barker

      Reporting via the 311 phone line outside of business hours issues that require immediate attention by a bylaw officer via the 311phone line is a joke. Except it’s not funny ! There needs to be in place a 24/7/365 City of Burlington staffed hot line dedicated to the reporting to Burlington’s bylaw officers of issues that needs attention.

  • Blair Smith

    It seems to have become a common refrain amongst those, like Stephen White, who worked hard to elect a reform Council, that the promised respect for ‘local voice’ has fallen on deaf, uncaring or incompetent ears. In 2022, incumbents generally will benefit from weak, placeholder challengers. It is democracy at its worst; ‘defacto acclamations’ enabled by an electorate that has become too cynical to really care. However, there is some hope if the stars align; strengths to build on in ward 5 where Paul Sharman promises to bring a sound and mature business perspective to the table, ward 4 where Shawna Stolte will continue her call for increased transparency (but with necessary ‘steel and fire’), ward 2 where likeable Lisa Kearns might finally become comfortable applying her considerable intellect and energy to her elected role and sleepy ward 3 where newcomer Jennifer Hounslow could well unseat a complacent and virtually (pun intended) absent, “black screen” Rory Nisan to provide the type of insightful, empathetic representation that every ward deserves. Councillor Galbraith in ward 1 may decide to ‘man up’, realize that carrying the Mayor’s water is more demeaning than the job is worth and ward 6, as always, will get the abysmal representation that its ongoing complacency deserves – regardless of who wins. The possibilities aren’t endless but they certainly are fascinating.

    • While you are entitled to your opinion Blair in terms of Lisa Kearns considerable intellect we do not think she served us Ward 2 residents at all well. Her latest goof up, there is not enough room to list them all, is she failed as a Chair to recognize the Procedure By-laws definition of quorum and held a meeting of the Audit Committee outside of that definitation. After almost four years on Council to get these definitions straight we don`t believe she deserves a second run. There are many more issues that we have identified do not to seem to support the competence and listening ear requirememt Ward 2 residents like ourselves deserve .

      Although we don`t agree with Tim O`Brien on his position regarding intensification and lawyers he is certainly the best of the Ward 2 candidates in our mind.

      • Mary Hill

        Mayoral Candidate Marsden, is it not the job of the city clerk to determine if a quorum exists and to advise the Chair accordingly? As mayoral candidate Marsden has admitted that even as an avid auditor of city proceedures and bylaws she was unaware there was a bylaw prohibiting the feeding of wildlife. So can she not cut Councilor Kearns some slack and take aim at the city clerk, if she feels she really must take aim at anyone.

        By the way Doug P, I believe there is a city bylaw that prohibits owners allowing cats to roam free outside. Stupid as I believe it to be, it’s on the books.

      • Blair Smith

        Well, I beg to differ Anne (and Dave) but that’s what respectful debate is all about.
        Lisa has, by any definition, the most complex and difficult ward to represent. Apart
        from certain career vacillations, I believe that she has done a very credible job. I
        have a number of ‘issues’ with your past and current endorsements and your
        direction generally. You are transparently conservative and you seem to put
        blinders on when someone wears the “Tory Blue”. Good municipal politicians
        really can not afford to have such open, ‘shirt sleeve’ alliances. Secondly, you are
        immersed and almost obsessed with procedural detail, such as our example
        above. You literally “sweat the small stuff” and, I believe, lose sight of “the bigger
        picture” – sometimes, there is one. Finally, I would suggest that you investigate Mr.
        O’Brien’s rather doctrinaire opinions on the place of religion in the educational
        system. As an advocate of a singular (and totally secular) school system, I could
        never support such a candidate.

        • Blair your statement: “You seem to put blinders on when someone wears the “Tory Blue” “, is simply not true. I actually have no idea what Tim O’Brien’s politics are and nor do I care. If your statement bore any credibility why would I encourage Mariam Manaa, who is without doubt a Liberal, to run for Council as I have done through the Gazette comments section? Further, why would Anne express her disappointment again through Gazette comments that she is not on the ballot.

          Part of the make-up of this city is residents who have very strong opinions on the place of religion in the educational system. There are Burlington families who send their children to Christian Schools, Catholic schools and Muslim Schools to our knowledge who receive city services and pay city taxes. Are you saying someone who differs from your opinion regarding totally secular education systems has no place at the Burlington Council table? If so we would suggest that attitude has no place in the inclusionary City Anne hopes to represent as Mayor and CEO, exactly the same as a person’s politics are not a factor that should be considered when selecting your councillor.

          • Mary Hill

            So if you don’t know of Mr O’Brien’s politics, which will have an immense bearing on his policies, how the heck can you endorse him as you have?

            “…..as a person’s politics are not a factor that should be considered when selecting your councillor.

            That is a crazy statement !

            I would suggest neither the RC church nor the HDCSB is at all inclusions. In fact quite the opposite.

        • Blair your statement: “You seem to put blinders on when someone wears the “Tory Blue” “, is simply not true. I actually have no idea what Tim O’Brien’s politics are and nor do I care. If your statement bore any credibility why would I encourage Mariam Manaa, who is without doubt a Liberal, to run for Council as I have done through the Gazette comments section? Further, why would I express disappointment again through Gazette comments that she is not on the ballot.

          Part of the make-up of this city is residents who have very strong opinions on the place of religion in the educational system. There are Burlington families who send their children to Christian Schools, Catholic schools and Muslim Schools to my knowledge who receive city services and pay city taxes. Are you saying someone who differs from your opinion regarding totally secular education systems has no place at the Burlington Council table? If so I would suggest that attitude has no place in the inclusionary City I hope to represent as Mayor and CEO, exactly the same as in my mind a person’s politics are not a factor that should be considered when selecting the best candidate for Mayor or Councillor.

          • Blair Smith

            Gee Anne – do I get to reply twice to your reply; once as myself and a second time as my “melded identity” (that’s a joke). To be clear, I wasn’t referring to Tim as a Tory (potential for good alliteration there). You should read the comments more carefully. I was referring to your past endorsements of Jane McKenna and Cam Jackson, and others of similar ilk. I believe that your support of Mariam was the exception that proves the rule. And, again to be clear, I do not believe that the church of whatever hue has any place in the educational system. And anyone who does and does so very strongly will never have my support. To be really, really clear this has nothing to do with inclusion or supporting diversity; it bears on the wise and sound division of church and state. God has his house and the educators theirs – or they should have. Full stop.

  • “It is our understanding that the City of Burlington By-Law 083-2015 enacted September 28th, 2015 provides for a fine of $100 for any resident found feeding wildlife.” Health and safety issues whether connected to the Halton Health Board and local hospitals, city hall employees or residents who enjoy living close to or visiting park with woodlots, have not been a priority with the 2014 – 2022 councils. Neither has by-law enforcement that protects residents and taxpayers or indeed by-law compliance when it comes to Council and its Procedure By-laws (more on that when debates start).

    Council cannot blame COVID for the blatant negligence in not promoting this bylaw. For the last several months we have been helping the squirrels and chipmunks with their winter storage programme feeding them nuts. This is in direct contravention of the by-law set out above which we had absolutely no knowledge of until we have incidents of residents being mauled by coyotes.

    Kudos to those who worked so hard on preventing these incidents. Shame on a Council and city staff that allowed it to happen despite the excellent prevention report related to the absolute common sense recommendations and consideration of health and safety of our community behind the report. Heads need to roll on and after October 24, 2022.

    • Denise W.

      ” provides for a fine of $100 for any resident found feeding wildlife.” That is just what is happening when people let their cats run at large. Maybe the pet owners should be fined for feeding the yotes. Last I heard there is also a fine for letting cats be at large, off your property. And there is no keeping them penned in.

      I didn’t know three were attacked. This is on the City for letting the numbers get so high. We have a right to be (not just feel) safe. Signs telling me I am in a coyote area, are really are telling me not to walk there. I might be attacked.

      People don’t want them culled, I can’t figure out why. They attack children. If a dog were to attack a person, there is a good chance it will be put down.

      We kill geese because they crap on people’s lawn and sidewalks. That is what is happening with the spring egg oiling program. Some will say it is not killing geese because it is just an egg. These are viable fertilized eggs. The same people, discussing abortion will then argue that life begins at conception/fertilization.

      Geese living by a major lake, is that really a problem? But for the geese, nobody says, “They were here first.”

      Cull the numbers down, and raccoons would be okay too. One time I have seen 5 in my back yard and it was only 4 pm. How many is too much? I think we are there now. (Yes, I know, some people would never vote for me.)

      The attacks shouldn’t have happened and it isn’t right to put the onus on the citizens. I wonder if the parents will be suing the City. Would seem proper to me.

    • Mary Hill

      So, mayoral candidate Marsden you have here admitted to breaking city bylaw 833-2015 by your feeding of squirrels and chipmunks. You have also in your commenttaken Council and staff to task for not promoting that by law. By oromoting I take it you mean enforcing.

      So as a mayoral candidate that should be setting an example to the rest of us ibask if you will be making a voluntary fine payment that reflects the multiple times you have broken the bylaw.

      I’m surprised during your numerous audits of city businesses you had not come across this bylaw and be aware of it.

      • Blair Smith

        Mary – good to see you commenting again as well. But the typos and misspells!!! Could this be a case, as you replied to one of my earlier comments, of too many “wobbly pops”? 😉

  • Jim Barnett

    Maybe its time for Meed Ward to get off the campaign trail for a day and address the content of Mr. Whites presentation.

  • Lynn Crosby

    Thank you Stephen for your efforts and for sharing that the mayor asked why didn’t you delegate? I am so sick of the fact that unless one goes public to the media or by delegating, nothing happens at all. You are correct that delegating is a waste of time, that we aren’t listened to and frankly we don’t owe them our valuable time to attend their meetings. They are paid to be there; we are not. Writing to or calling the council members and staff at our convenience should be a perfectly acceptable way to communicate and be heard. Add it to the long list of 2018 promises not kept.

    And by the way, I reported a sick-looking coyote acting strangely months before the attacks. I am sure others did also as many neighbours were worried about the animal. Perhaps the attacks could have been prevented if anyone had acted then or had they acted when Stephen and Julie asked for help.

  • Penny Hersh

    Experience has taught many of us that the only way to get action from the city on certain issues is to go to the media. “What is reported to city hall often stays in city hall”

    I chuckled at this response “When Stephen White met with Mayor Meed Ward to talk to her about a neighbour’s cat that was mauled to death (all there was left was a paw”) she asked White WHY HE DIDN’T DELEGATE ” and the reality of his response”

    “White made clear to the Mayor that delegating is one of the most useless things a Burlington citizen can do – “you people don’t know how to listen” he said”

    SO TRUE.