Moment in time
Iwas early for a meeting on a grey November morning in 1992. Deposited in a meeting room of a brokerage firm overlooking Bay Street, I impatiently prowled the circumference. On the wall by the heavy oak door was a painting of the founder, an earnest gentleman leaning forward sternly from his ornate chair. Next to […]
There’s time
The digging hasn’t begun, yet the cost to build the first two bits—a new water tower and the pipes connecting it to the Wellington waterworks plants—is already more than double the amount planned just two years ago. It is time to reconsider the assumptions. The options. The possible alternatives. It is time for an open […]
The art of persuasion
Buy today and don’t pay a cent for 24 months.’ It’s a pitch that moves furniture. And municipal budgets. budgets. In either case, it is unlikely the buyer’s prospects will have improved much in two years. It is equally unlikely they will have put money aside in the intervening months. The sales technique works because […]
Good things
It is a good thing that residents care about their community. It is good that smart, experienced, and able folks ask questions, offer opinions, and pose alternative ideas. It is good that hundreds of folks gather to talk about the place they live. It is good that they bring with them ambitions to shape their […]
Have faith
Nothing to see here. Kindly move along. The experts are on the job. The rest of you are just in the way. The story emerging from some corners is that waterworks is complicated. Therefore, it is best left to the experts. You, as a layperson, have nothing to add. Nothing to contribute. You won’t understand […]
No consent
This is not how to engage with a community.” Christina Zeidler likely hadn’t intended to go to the microphone at the Wellington Community Centre last Wednesday. But when she did, her words echoed through the room and into the broader community. They echo still. Ryan Guetter is a pro. He is smart and charming, and […]
About governance
How did we get here? How did we get to a point where Shire Hall has already spent tens of millions of your dollars and is gearing up to spend $100 million more on works that few understand? Or want? The 6,000 County families who will fund this massive borrowing don’t know why it is […]
Wishful thinking
It was always just make-believe. ‘Build it, and they will come,’ Shire Hall said. Five hundred folks came to a meeting in Wellington, hoping the story was plausible. They wanted facts. They wanted evidence to support the assumption that Wellington is about to grow fourfold. They wanted to know why they should pay $100 million […]
Wait and see
What’s the rush? Shire Hall seems intent on plunging waterworks customers into a deep pool of debt. Why? Where’s the urgency? $100 million in spending in Wellington alone. Perhaps another $100 million to bring Wellington water to Picton. Maybe farther? What is driving this breathtaking and unrelenting ambition? The only bit that is clear is […]
Pump the brakes
It is now just a pile of rubble. The platform upon which hundreds of millions of dollars was to be spent in Prince Edward County has collapsed. The County’s experts have debunked the assumptions driving massive investment in expanding waterworks infrastructure. It is time to stop. And to reconsider our next step. Estimates of a […]