Comments for Wellington Times

Comment on A little off the top by Douglas Ball

Douglas Ball — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:59:44 +0000

Let me see … Mississauga has a population of some 700,000 and has a council of eleven members other than the mayor. Now PEC has a 16 member council and a population of 25,000! Something is wrong here, and it isn’t with Mississauga. Cutting council by 75 per cent to 4 members would be a good start.

Comment on Buried by Douglas Ball

Douglas Ball — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:31:17 +0000

In so many ways this council shows itself to be an amateurish one. Here is one more example. Cuts may have been necessary, but not informing the cemetery board is not.

Comment on Now what? by Wolf Braun

Wolf Braun — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:07:39 +0000

” It begins with a simple question: what should the municipality do? It is a question that might better have been asked 12 years ago—but I suppose this is better than asking the question 12 years from now. ”

Wrong question !

We elect others for a term and invest them with some temporary powers….

…until the next election. We constantly relinquish our responsibility to people who are no more capable than the rest of us and the body politic. Yet the media continues to ask the same old questions. Nothing changes. Taxes and spending keep going up…

…in fact the single message the media and The Times delivers everyday is — “You’re doomed and there is no way to survive this tax and spend crisis.”

I disagree.

If County tax payers want to mount opposition to ever increasing taxes and the way municipal government operates, folks need to beginning talking amongst themselves and coalesce around a set of opposing values voters come to prefer. I don’t see the current council and staff who can do that any better than the rest of us….

… so direct the questions at the electorate….

….folks need to have discussions with their fellow citizens of the County and develop a clear and concise purpose of municipal government statement…

… what do we want council and bureaucrats to stand for when developing strategic plans and policies…

… carefully bring forward some people who understand and agree to running our local government based on agreed upon principles and purpose….

…choose the issues that matter the most to all County voters and develop solutions that are in synch with ‘their’ purpose of municipal government.

Oh wait, that would mean councilors and bureaucrats would have to listen to what County folks really want.

… So the question that needs to be asked by all

Comment on Buying support by Chris Keen

Chris Keen — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:36:47 +0000

Of course it was the bureaucrats intent that developers try to buy municipal support. And Mayor Mertens is right – it stinks. Not only can there be division within a community over a specific project, but now the ugliness increases with the addition of potential payoffs. This is nothing short of bribery.

It’s nice to see that Ontario tax dollars are supporting green energy jobs building solar panels … in China!

Comment on Watch the pennies by Chris Keen

Chris Keen — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:14:08 +0000

This sure is a “dog ate my homework” story. Instead of deferring discussion of the roof while the required information was retrieved by the Commissioner, Council elected instead to waste time discussing roof replacement without having the information required to make an informed decision. Surely Council members recognize this is not efficient? Do we really have to spend money to teach them this?

Comment on Tweaking by Janice Hanthorn

Janice Hanthorn — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:11:24 +0000

Good for Alec Lunn….that is what we elected Council to do….not just rubber stamp proposals from staff.

Comment on Takedown by Chris Keen

Chris Keen — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:55:37 +0000

Athol Councillor Jamie Forrester seems to be in an obscene hurry to see IWTs in the County and apparently doesn’t think placing them next to an Important Birding Area or possible health concerns for nearby resident should be taken into consideration. Of course none will be situated where he lives, so with no skin in the game, why worry about others?

Comment on Costly justice by Infrastructure Ontario helps Municipalities in Ontario to achieve …………… BANKRUPTCY?? « The Big Green Lie

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:00:56 +0000

[...] be a concern to the taxpayers of Ontario. One example is their financing of a 173,000 square foot courthouse in Belleville at a cost of $270 million or $1,500 per square foot. To put that in context Scotia [...]

Comment on Hounded by David Norman

David Norman — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:04:38 +0000

I noticed in the headline for this article that the “n” is missing from “then”… coincidentally I just received a Tax notice from the County addressed to David orma. This “N” thing has become epidemic. Where will it e d?

Comment on Hounded by Janice Hanthorn

Janice Hanthorn — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:30:39 +0000

What will stop the County from imposing a license fee and inspection on each and every business in the County? If this is allowed to happen, and the County is looking for cash, YOUR business could be next.
They are inspecting for lights, water, plumbing and heating etc….do they really think it was removed the day after the last inspection??? Absolutely ridiculous was of time and money. An initial inspection for a new start-up is acceptable, which was done and accepted when this business opened. It is not necessary year after year.