From Shire Hall to Main Street
Our village is in a slump. Gaps are appearing in the smile Wellington presents to customers, visitors and investors. These are more than cosmetic concerns. They are warning signs about the health of the local economy— and their consequences extend beyond the village. That makes Wellington’s recovery a County-wide concern. It also makes Wellington a […]
Let’s go
It’s time to get back to work. By the time the new mayor and council gather for the first time, Shire Hall will have been without oversight for 70 days. While the pause may be welcome to some, it leaves a lengthy gap in public accountability. Besides, there is much to do. Among its first […]
For mayor
It’s time to choose the next council. As I’ve done since 2008, I’m putting my choices on the record. These endorsements are mine alone—not those of this newspaper or its publisher. Approval, outrage and everything in between: my email address is below. Correction: Brad Nieman was first elected to council in 2014 in then-Ward 6 […]
How?
The runaway train of waterworks infrastructure spending has, for now, been slowed. In this lull, we need to understand the foundational mistakes made and how a bad premise cascaded into years of poor infrastructure planning. How was it permitted to get so close to a catastrophe? To be clear, the municipality has spent $50 million […]
Resistance
The resistance will continue. It must. Many, including your correspondent, exhaled when council declined to endorse a $360 million waterworks infrastructure plan last month. A richer, deeper breath followed after outgoing mayor Steve Ferguson backed off his intention to invoke strong mayor powers to push it through. The plan would have impoverished the municipality, stuck […]
Few imagined
It may be the most important election in Prince Edward County since 1998. Strains are pulling at the fabric of this place. The centre is fraying. It may struggle to hold together. With each passing decade, it becomes harder to see our prospects, opportunities, and community ambitions through the lens of local government. More and […]
Myths and misses
Mayor Ferguson spent his final weeks in office with a finger hovering over the strong mayor button. Whether he pressed it mattered less than the questions behind it: Why did he think he needed it? And why did his story keep changing? Who was he serving? (In the end, the mayor chose not to push […]
The humiliation of Steve Ferguson
A sad and shame-filled way to leave the stage. Whatever legacy Steve Ferguson left after 12 years on County council, eight as mayor, he has, in one astonishingly thoughtless act, burned it to the ground and tossed the remnants onto a fetid, smoking pile. The fallout is likely to do the same to his friends […]
Still burning
Until a couple of weeks ago, the prevailing argument for spending hundreds of millions of dollars on waterworks infrastructure was that a wave of population was about to swamp Prince Edward County. That argument has now been exposed as fiction. The County’s demographic experts never thought it was true. Now they are saying so out […]
Time to tend the vines
The County’s grapevines have been snipped. Most will be buried for winter; others sheltered under wee tents. Some may never see another harvest. Come spring, a few more acres will likely be torn out. After decades of growth that helped transform the local economy, the County’s wine sector is in retreat. For the economy, the […]