Into better hands
The second floor of the town hall in Wellington sits empty. Abandoned. Unusable for perhaps a century. No one remembers the upstairs of the town hall ever being occupied. We have no memory of the top half of this building. So it sits. Dark. Year after year. Decade after decade. The County can’t afford to […]
Unfixable
Only once since amalgamation have residents been asked what they think. Officially, anyway. Shire Hall conducts plenty of surveys and consultations. More perfunctory than curious. But only once in its 26 years has a question been deemed important enough to pose on an election ballot. In the 2010 election, voters chose from a selection of […]
Remembering Darryl
Darryl Kramp was the consummate retail politician. He was good at it. He enjoyed serving his community. He enjoyed meeting his neighbours and was genuinely curious to know how he could help. In return, this community rewarded him with four consecutive terms as their federal representative, each plurality larger than the last. His winning streak […]
Searching for purpose
Shire Hall has a property problem. It has too much. Way too much. Worse, when the municipality acquires a property— or finds one it didn’t know it had—it is nigh impossible to dispose of it. So the portfolio of obscure and decaying assets grows. Unchecked. It’s been more than a decade since there was a […]
Thickets and trade-offs
One of the more pernicious phrases in public policy formation is “For the price of a cup of coffee…” The benign opening is often followed by a frighteningly expensive proposal—framed as a necessity. If we don’t agree to fund this plan, the sun may fail to rise again. But don’t worry, the cost, when compared […]
Man of letters
Ian Inrig said the quiet bits out loud. He was unapologetically direct. He preferred that others spoke the same way. But even as I write this, I sense Ian about to interject sharply in a deep, rich baritone, “Let me say this about that,” before embarking on a wellenunciated and forceful rebuttal. Few ideas or […]
The limit of hope
It was not the outcome water ratepayers were hoping for. By now, many had expected Council would have understood the outrageous risk they were taking on behalf of water users in Prince Edward County. They expected Council, senior leadership, or waterworks staff to see that their project was much too big. And that the result […]
The way
The promise is great. The prospect of transforming the former air force base into a collection of communities, shops and businesses is encouraging. Inspiring. The notion that this development will drive economic and cultural activity in Prince Edward County is already evident. And we need more homes. As the former provincial finance minister said last […]
Stand up
It was never going to be a fair fight. Developers are more motivated, more agile, and less morally restricted than regulators and municipalities. They wage battles in communities like ours every day. They have the tools, the expertise, and the incentive to win. So they play hard. However, even the most optimistic developer could not […]
Everything. Everywhere. All at once.
It’s a lot. Waterworks. A new McFarland Home. And about 100 decaying public buildings. Each file has a price tag of more than $100 million. Add to this list municipal ambitions to build affordable housing. To make every County road smooth. To build a new hospital. To pay doctors. To modernize the fire service. To […]