By Pepper Parr
October 17, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
He’s calling the first four years of his time as Mayor the “cleanup/set up” phase for what one might assume is going to be the new beginning for Burlington. The phrase was used in an interview the Mayor gave recently.
What was there to “clean up? The city certainly has its problems but is there a load of stuff that had to be cleaned up?
Infrastructure needs money, transit needs attention, the advances made with the arts and cultural file have been good.
We still don’t have an Economic Development Corporation that is going to do great things for us. Yes, they do need time to put the new story together but we said the same thing about the Executive Director that it took more than a year to get rid of.
On the surface all the public is seeing is an organization that holds networking events. The next biggie that will speak to the commercial elite is our own hometown girl Lisa Lisson, president of FedEx Canada.
We hear precious little from this Mayor on what could be done with the Air Park. Staff have carried this one – what the public is going to gulp at it how much money has been spent on legal fees. Is that clean up or has the public been set up?
Mayor Goldring has taken the position that he put the pier problem to bed – and except for a few minor details that file is closed: what the Mayor will not live up to or taken responsibility for are the several mistakes that added a couple of million to the cost of the thing.
This city managed to go through two city managers while Rick Goldring was Mayor. They pretty well fired the one that was in place when Goldring took office – the second one took a hike to a greener pasture – and if anyone thinks the council Jeff Fielding had to work with was not a part of his decision to change addresses – then they have the same limited vision our Mayor has.
When Goldring was elected there were some questions asked about his work as a financial planner/wealth manager. At the time we were told that Goldring had given up the various licenses he was required to have and that he would be a full time Mayor. We now learn that he “owns” a local branch of Assante Wealth Management from which he has taken a leave of absence – not quite the same thing as getting out of the business.
The public has heard nothing about what Rick Goldring’s vision is for the city. We do know that he is “not on” for the 28 storey tower the Adi Development people want to put up at the corner of Lakeshore and Martha but we know nothing about what he thinks that part of the city should look like.
There are parking lots in a large part of that area. Private and corporate property owners don’t operate parking lots – they hold land until they are ready to develop. Burlington needs to decide what it wants to see in an area that is going to have a 22 story condominium tower and an eight storey hotel just a block away from the proposed 28 storey tower.
Saying that Burlington already has the legacy tower it wanted (that was back in 1985) it a pretty weak argument for not permitting a 28 story tower.
The “set up” here is our Mayor failing to really fight for what he thinks is best for the city he is supposed to be leading.
At the recent Chamber of Commerce debate Rick Goldring, in an aside to candidate Peter Rusin, the Mayor is reported to have said he agreed with Rusin’s views on any NGTA highway but couldn’t say anything for political reasons.
How’s that for leadership?
I’ve been appreciative of the Mayor’s support for many changes in direction, but agree that we haven’t heard overly abundant evidence of a new vision.
The lack of other candidates can hurt Burlington in the long run, if there is no reason for the Mayor to make any commitments of his own.
I don’t see an issue with maintaining an “ownership” of a business, as long as there is no conflict of interest with City contracts, etc. Otherwise, everyone should be allowed to retain some financial security, as long as their primary duties and time commitments in office are not compromised.
I’d like to hear more on the future of the Economic Development Committee and the Cultural Action Plan… Would be great to see Burlington reach for a more connected, sustainable infrastructure that supported density increases in the core and considered the traffic conundrum… Personally do not want to see a highway through the escarpment and think the citizens of Burlington have a vested interest in preserving the lands and waterways surrounding our City.
Thanks for giving us something to think about….
Mayor Goldring has been at best, a weak Mayor. After this election, he will continue to be our weak Mayor. That’s not to suggest every problem we have in this city is his fault, because it’s not, but he’s our leader, so naturally we look to him for direction. No, the city isn’t going to die under his command, but it’s certainly not going to grow or prosper either. It will simply be more of the same. Traffic problems will continue, new business investors will still look elsewhere, basements will eventually dry up, and all the while we will hope that a legitimate replacement steps up over the next 4 years.
If his first term is any indication, he clearly has no vision for this City, as that would require him to take a position on something, which ((gasp)) may not be popular. All great leaders must at times make unpopular decisions in the short term, for longer term gains. Not this Mayor. The Province will continue to pursue the future mid-pen highway, so he doesn’t have to do anything there, besides that’s more of a Provincial issue anyway. The Ontario Municipal Board will continue to approve higher density developments, so he doesn’t have to do anything there either, he can pass those tough/unpopular decisions on to them. Before he was Mayor he was all over environmental protection and green initiatives, but as Mayor, he’s been fairly quiet on that front. The vocal activist groups and Councillor Meed Ward take care of that for him. Another issue successfully sidestepped. Just go with the flow… keep my hands clean.
Burlington is desperate for traffic/congestion improvements, but rather than do anything, he recommends further studies. By the time those multi-year studies are completed, the problem will have only gotten worse, so they’ll likely require updates. More time and money will be spent. Consultants will just keep raking it in, gladly creating more reports to pay for their BMW’s and summer cottages. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather see my tax dollars spent on actual road and transit improvements than more studies that tell us what we already know. This “why actually fix the problem when you can study it to death” mentality needs to change. Sure, there’s a level of studying needed to weigh the pros and cons, but at some point a decision needs to be made!! Many of these “improvements” they’re studying now are still 10+ years away!! And that’s the problem. Nothing actually gets done. Plenty of talk… no action. Let’s get on with it already!! If Mayor Goldring was a hunter, he’d sit up in his tree watching the animals walk by, never pulling the trigger. He would still say he was hunting though.
Mr. Rusin started his campaign too late. Despite having some solid ideas and the potential to make things happen in this city, he is quickly running out of time, and doesn’t have the name recognition or Council experience to draw on, which is a real shame. He’ll draw some votes, but won’t seriously challenge for the win. Marsden… forget about it. Mayor Goldring will retain his seat. The question is, will that seat be at the head of the table leading this City towards greatness, or up in his tree again, watching the deer walk by?
Well said James
Using Jackson as a scapegoat for GOldrings poor leadership and lack of visible results in the community is akin to the Liberals still blaming ourt problems on Mike Harris.
I agree that this article is really going out of its way to slam Mayor Goldring. The Assante business – the point is, he’s focussing on mayoralty and not a business career (owning frees up more time than running) – and being such an uncertain career you can’t blame him
On the tower business – I’m in favour of intensification. For all our transportation and arts initiatives to take off this is the future. The suburban model is inefficective – we need higher density to make this city hum.
And I really am quite alright to not hear a token vision. He’s shown vision in what he does. I like the doing over the hearing about. And if he’s too busy doing that he spends less time talking about what he does then I’m ok with that.
“We do know that he is “not on” for the 28 storey tower the Adi Development”
Well, thank goodness for that, at least.
I enjoyed this very useful article.
How does a mid peninsula highway reduce increasing east west gridlock on Fairview and Lakeshore? I don’t think that it does. It may ease the QE gridlock issues but not internal transportation issues in Burlington itself. If the QE closes down, Burlington will still get spill over on to Fairview Plains Rd. It took the skyway bridge accident to show that Burlington’s internal traffic is severely impacted by external transportation. The cultural aspects of a mid peninsula highway are significant but basically out of Burlington’s municipal decision making. It is the provincial politicians that we elect will do that. Burlington needs to deal with its own internal traffic grid lock that is increasing. The mid peninsula highway will not solve that.
It seems to me when I look at Goldring’s first term as mayor that it was a cleaning up. I may be wrong but the writer was not here during the Cam Jackson fiasco term. It is during Cam Jackson’s term as mayor that Burlington slid downhill. Previous to Jackson we had a mayor who promoted smart growth and community consultation (McIssac). During the Jackson era the entire stagnation of smart growth was here. Now, is the time to move forward though.
Mr Parr is correct that there have been some modest but significant arts and culture improvements but Burlington is still about fifteen years behind the neighbouring communities. Citizens still leave Burlington to spend their money on arts and culture. There is change but more change is needed. There is a need for an external arts body separate from city hall. There is the need to hire a Cultural Manager if we are to “catch” up. Culture draws companies to establish themselves here as part of an economic growth.
Mr Parr points out some significant needs and clarification for Burlington going forward. Economic development that matches cultural attitudes about lifestyle are still needing development. Burlington has long had a more clean approach to economic development. Dirty industrial manufacturing has not been a part of Burlington’s culture. Personally, I think that a twenty two storey landmark building downtown is too high. I think that there are many in Burlington who hold a similar view. I hear few promoters of a twenty eight or forty storey building downtown outside of developers. I may be wrong but ten to fifteen years ago was the “landmark” not somewhere around a thirteen storey height? No candidate for mayor is promoting forty storey development for the downtown area of Burlington or any where in Burlington.
It seems clear to me that the Gazette is harsh on Goldring and soft on Marsden and Rusin. Rusin has have baked ideas without experience in municipal government. Burlington doesn’t need Rob Ford thinking.