In My Humble Opinions

On a Personal Note…

One of my favourite things about attending Council Meetings is being given the opportunity to talk to residents and listen and understand their community concerns. In the last couple of years, I’ve been privy to a lot of issues that residents feel are being overlooked – things that I didn’t realize were issues – and its been such a great learning opportunity for me! If you don’t come to council meetings, I’d still love the chance to hear what’s on your mind…what are your biggest concerns in Orangeville right now? Leave a comment on the blog or send me an email mrsposty@outlook.com – I’m looking to write a post that focuses on some of your key issues in the upcoming month.

Question Period

A handful of residents attend most meetings, and Mr. Alan Toms is one who is regularly in attendance and is often prepared to speak at Question Period when he has concerns. On Monday night, he shared his concerns with the way the OPP costing presentation was handled – clearly our Town is beginning to outgrow our Council Chambers as the majority of residents who attended were moved into the Theatre to watch it from there on the live stream. Mr. Toms hoped that by addressing Council on Monday, it would allow sufficient time and planning for the Town of Orangeville to look at alternate venues for the ‘Public Meeting’ that will be upcoming at the end of April where residents will be given the opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns about the policing situation in Orangeville. Council Chambers just will not work – policing in Orangeville has been a hot topic for many years and there will be hundreds of residents in attendance. Thank you Mr. Toms for voicing your concerns at Council – you are bang on correct – perhaps now would be a good time to look at using the Cafeteria at ODSS or somewhere with sufficient space.

Will you attend that meeting?? Would the venue determine whether or not you will be in attendance? I’d love your opinions and suggestions on how it should be handled.

Parking Study Presentation

Have you ever tried to park on Broadway at a “busy” time of day? I have – and it’s not fun! Especially on Saturday mornings during the Farmers Market, dinner time on a Friday night when a show is on at the Opera House, or during any special events….actually pretty much any time of day, I find there are parking challenges.

Well, the consultants have spoken and according to the report, there is sufficient parking in the Downtown….even during special events such as Founders Day. Consultants from Paradigm Transportation Solutions LTD presented their extensive study on Monday night and  the end result of their study was that “the need for an increase in parking supply has not been identified.” Based on their numbers, they identified that even at it’s peak, only around 80% of available parking is being utilized…I was shocked to see those numbers because in my experiences, that just simply hasn’t been the case. (the full study and presentation is available here)

The part of the presentation that I found the most interesting was the results of the community consultations that they shared. They received opinions from around 500 residents and business holders and the theme was quite consistent amongst those asked. When asked what they liked about the current parking, the number one reply was that it is free public parking – that response was the same from the stakeholders. When asked what needed improvement, the response was overwhelming that there was a need for more parking…some residents and stakeholders suggested the need for a parking structure in the Mill St Mall area while others suggested removal of the median to go back to angled parking. The other issue that was brought up was the lack of accessible parking and the abuse of the 2-hour time limit.

I would love to hear your opinions on Downtown Orangeville Parking – do you think there is enough? Do you have suggestions to improve the current state? Does a lack of parking ever deter you from attending an event in the Downtown area?

Next Council Meeting

A reminder that the next Council Meeting will be held on Monday, April 3rd, 2017 – at this meeting, there will be a presentation made by OPS’s Chief Kalinski with other members of OPS scheduled to be in attendance. Hope to see you there!!

On Monday night, Jim Hill, a resident of Montgomery Village spoke at Question Period with concerns about tickets that his family is receiving overnight while being parked in the overflow parking in the community. This winter alone, his family has received in the neighbourhood of 30 parking tickets at $25 a piece. Mr. Hill plans to fight each of these tickets. Mr. Hill has lived in the neighbourhood for 20 years and is concerned that the change in the bylaw is going to force him to relocate his family. Members of council said that the bylaw hasn’t changed, rather the bylaw dept has become more diligent with enforcement of the bylaw.

Councillor Wilson proposed an option where perhaps permits could be purchased on a first-come-first-serve basis by residents of the area to allow parking, and this proposal gained no traction.

After a lengthy discussion, Mr. Hill was quite obviously frustrated when Council chose not to pursue any changes to the current bylaw and no resolution was sought.

No Changes to The Way We Vote

On Monday’s agenda, Council was asked to look at various voting options for the 2018 Municipal Election. Options included changing to a ‘Ranked’ system, as well as possibly adding Internet Voting to the mix while continuing with Paper Ballots and Vote Counting Machines.

Trevor Castiglione spoke up at Question Period asking Council to consider adding in the Internet Voting to help combat our low voter-turnout.

Council chose to keep our voting methods the same and opted out of adding Internet Voting to the 2018 election.

In my humble opinion, I would have liked to see Council do some more investigation into the addition of online voting. I can understand why people would not want to cast their vote online, in fact, I don’t think I would ever use online voting personally..however, I would have liked to see some more investigation into this as an option. What do you think? Would you ever cast your ballots online? Would you have liked to see Council change anything about the way our elections are handled?

Council Remuneration Review Committee

This committee is set to review remuneration for the next term of Council and the committee will be formed after a motion to do so was passed.

Mayor Williams recalled that in the previous term of Council, staff were to investigate whether or not the role of Mayor should be a full-time position and noted that no actions had been taken…and this was not including as part of the motion that was passed on Monday.

In my humble opinion, the role of Mayor in The Town of Orangeville should remain part-time…I don’t know that as a Town, we can afford the increase in salary that would come from having a full-time Mayor…what do you think?

Public Meeting for Orangeville Policing Issue is Coming

Councillor Kidd requested that a ‘Special Meeting of Council’ be scheduled through the week of April 24th with the sole agenda item being policing. This would give residents the opportunity to weigh-in on both the OPP costing presentation as well as the upcoming OPS presentation that is scheduled for Monday, April 3rd.

Having it scheduled as a Council Meeting, rather than a Public Meeting will afford the possibility of it being televised on Rogers TV which Councillor Kidd felt was an important factor.

Staff will be looking at dates and coordinating with Rogers TV and will announce the date once it is confirmed.

With this being such a hot topic and HUGE million dollar decision for our Council, will you plan on being in attendance?

Next Council Meeting

The next meeting of Council is scheduled for Monday, March 20th! Hope you see you there!

Have a safe and happy March Break 🙂

 

 

Quite a few years in the making, but Monday night was finally the night – The OPP Costing was presented to Council. The gallery was packed and the Opera House was opened up for overflow seating with a live feed to the Council Meeting. This meeting did not allow for any public input – further ‘Open House’ sessions will follow in the coming months. The process is far from over and the public is encouraged to send their comments and questions by email to all members of Council. Orangeville has to make their decision by mid-August 2017 and leading up to that date, there will be a further presentation by OPS (as was requested by Council on Monday), OPP will also be back to break down the costing that occurs after the first 3 year contract is completed, and there will be a public Open House where members of the community will be encouraged to voice their opinions and ask any questions.

I will start off with a public thank you to the members of the OPP who conducted the presentation. I found the presentation to be quite thorough (although I do have further questions that I will discuss later in the post) and I found them very professional, knowledgable and very respectful to Chief Kalinski, the PSB and the entire team of OPS. The OPP is a very well-respected force…if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be policing 300+ municipalities in Ontario – I preface with this because there has been a lot of speculation put out through various media sources about the possibility of a decline in service quality with the OPP and in my humble opinion, that is simply an unfair speculation.

The Level of Service

If Orangeville were to accept the OPP Costing, we would become the 4th Zone in Dufferin County. (Zone 1 is Mono, Zone 2 is Murmur/Melancthon and Zone 3 is Amaranth/East Luther/GrandValley/East Garafraxa. These 4 zones would be part of the Dufferin Detachment. Within the detachment, there would be 11 officers on duty at all times…7 of those officers would report to work in Orangeville. There were a number of concerns from members of Council about those 7 officers potentially being “called away” from Orangeville to assist in a neighbouring municipality if the need arose.

Dollars & Cents

The OPP presented a costing of $7.8 Million per year (for the first 3 years) plus a one time start up cost of approx $1 Million. The current OPS Budget for 2017 is $8.2 Million after its revenues of $1.4 Million. So, it looks like about $400,000 in savings per year for the initial 3 year contract.

However, there are other costs to take into consideration which have not yet been answered – I anticipate further information being released at future information sessions.

There are upgrades needed to the current police station in order for it to house the OPP – the costs of those upgrades were not included in this costing – to me, that is a huge variable. Also, the cost of severances based on collective agreements as well as the ‘pension divestment’ could potential be at a HUGE cost. There would definitely be some cost recovery based on the disposal of OPS’s current assets, but again, no precise dollar amount was presented. In my humble opinion, these are factors that need to be locked down before any decisions are made as they all could affect the dollars & cents in a big way.

The other cost question that remains a mystery up to this point is a full understanding of how the costing model works after the first 3 years – The OPP will be back for another session with Council at some point in the coming months to explain the ins and outs of this. So stay tuned for more information.

Public Open House

As I mentioned earlier, this process is far from over. OPS will be presenting to Council at the meeting on Monday, April 3rd. As mentioned above, there will also be another session from OPP in regards to the 2nd phase of the contract (after the first 3+ years) and there will be a public open house. In the meantime, here is my ask. Please don’t let your voice go unheard. This is perhaps the biggest decision this Council will ever have to make and it will affect every taxpayer in Orangeville for years and years to come. Please don’t wait for the Public Open House…send your emails now…send them to every member of Council at the email addresses that I have enclosed:

• Mayor Williams: jwilliams@orangeville.ca
• Deputy Mayor Maycock: wmaycock@orangeville.ca
• Councillor Wilson: swilson@orangeville.ca
• Councillor Bradley: sbradley@orangeville.ca
• Councillor Campbell: gcampbell@orangeville.ca
• Councillor Kidd: dkidd@orangeville.ca
• Councillor Garisto: ngaristo@orangeville.ca

Other emails to send to are:

• oppcosting@orangeville.ca
• CAO Ed Brennan: ebrennan@orangeville.ca
• Town Clerk Susan Greatrix: sgreatrix@orangeville.ca

Please ensure you include your name and contact information on all correspondence. Send your opinions, questions, and concerns. Make sure your voice is heard before this decision is made.

My Humble Opinions

I have been asked a number of times where I stand..OPP or OPS…and until the presentation on Monday night, I was hesitant to reply simply because I didn’t have all of the information. While I still don’t feel like I have all of the information, at this point in time, I am definitely leaning towards OPS and here is why. When it comes to the money side of things, the cost is comparable. I was expecting a larger savings with OPP and it’s simply not the case. There are too many variables as listed above (severances, pensions, upgrades to the Police Station) that would bring the cost over and above the current OPS budget. As for the level of service, I again believe that this is comparable. Both forces are top-notch and I don’t think there would be any advantages to our service level by going OPP – yes, they do have specialty units and divisions that we could benefit from, but we are already able to leverage those services if they are required. The one advantage to OPP would be for the officers directly – officers for the OPP have more opportunities for advancing their careers if they so choose.

But, until further information is obtained, my vote right now lies with OPS. What are your thoughts? Did your opinion change after the presentation on Monday night? If you were tasked to voting one way or another today, what would your vote be?

….And Then There Was Drama

As you may recall back in November, the Mayor was quoted in the Orangeville Banner stating that “A good Council supports its Mayor. A good CAO supports its Mayor”. Councillor Wilson took offence to the implications of his statement and asked him to apologize. At that time, Mayor Williams informed Councillor Wilson that he was misquoted in the paper and that if Councillor Wilson had an issue with that, he should take it up with the reporter.

Well, Councillor Wilson did. He went and spoke with the reporter who confirmed that the quote was accurate and even provided his hand-written notes of the interview to Councillor Wilson. “I stand by my earlier request that you owe an apology to the staff here, specifically the CAO. I’d like your response to it because I know you have not apologized to Mr. Brennan for your comments in the paper that day.” Mayor Williams replied with “You asked for an apology and I will not be providing one because I’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve said nothing wrong. If you don’t like the way that a particular writer writes an article or if you don’t like a particular newspaper, then either don’t read it or write your own.” and continued to state that he said nothing offensive.

At this point, Councillor Kidd jumped in “With all due respect, would it hurt you to just shake Ed’s hand and say ‘if I said something wrong, I’m sorry.’…” and he went on to say “Be a Man and just step up and shake his hand”. The Mayor asked for a motion to adjourn….no one answered. He then tried to move to bylaws…no one answered. Not one word. In the end, the Mayor never did apologize, but shook his hand, albeit begrudgingly.

There is so much wrong with this entire interaction and the events leading up to it that it’s hard to know where to even begin.  So, I will start here. In reference to the Mayor’s comments in the newspaper…were they inappropriate? Yes they were. The role of a CAO is NOT a political one. So to suggest that a “good CAO” must support its Mayor is wrong. In my humble opinion, a good CAO advises council and the Mayor without political bias. A good CAO is looking out for the best interests of the residents of the community and the best interests of Town staff. Should the Mayor apologize to Mr. Brennan for his comments…yes, he probably should. Thankfully Mr. Brennan is a professional and continues to do a fantastic job for us, the residents, with or without an apology.

Councillor Kidd’s response to the situation was also inappropriate. I respect his intentions…however perhaps some sensitivity training is in order as his comments were incredibly disrespectful. This ‘Code of Conduct’ that was enacted last year clearly has no merit.

A good leader will accept feedback and use it to grow – and all of the elected ‘leaders’ of our Town need to be reminded of that. If the Mayor honestly didn’t believe that he had said something inappropriate, a better response would have been ‘Thank you for the feedback, I will take your comments into advisement’ and move on. Instead, the deflection, denial and defensiveness was successful in creating yet another hostile environment.

There have been many embarrassing moments over the last 2+ years of this term of Council and this was perhaps one of the most embarrassing because in attendance were half a dozen or more members of the OPP looking to do business with our Town – if I were them, I don’t know what I’d be thinking…but I likely would have gone back to the higher ups of the organization and questioned whether this was a Council we want to be associated with.

Well Wishes for Councillor Garisto

On Monday, Council passed a motion approving an extended medical leave for Councillor Garisto until the end of April. At this time, I’d like to wish Councillor Garisto all the best and send hopes of good health and a speedy recovery.

Next Council Meeting

The next Council Meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 6th, 2017.

 

For this post, I am going to do things a little different…I am going to start from the end of the meeting – yesterday an article arose from one of our local news outlets that seems to be factually incorrect (it appears as though this article has since been updated, however)…so I thought I should start by reporting what actually happened at the end of Monday’s Council Meeting.

It was reported that the Deputy Mayor breached procedural bylaws and “seized the power” to adjourn the meeting after the mayor had called for a break. In the article from The Orangeville Banner, they reported that Mayor Williams had said “I don’t think he should’ve taken over because a break was called. That was improper. The deputy mayor did not follow procedure.” and that “When somebody breaks procedural policy and takes over a meeting when they have no right, that’s concerning.” In The Banner’s article, Mayor Williams had also suggested that he had merely stepped outside to “get a Gravol” as he had been under the weather.

Let’s flip back to reality now…here’s what actually happened. Was Mayor Williams under the weather? Yup. He was late arriving to the meeting because he had actually called in sick…however changed his mind and decided to come. Was Deputy Mayor Maycock “seizing the power”? Nope. Did he break protocol? I would say no. And here is why.

If you take a few minutes and watch the meeting (which is available online on Rogers – click here) – Don’t worry, you don’t have to watch the whole thing…just fast-forward to the end…with a few minutes to spare. You will hear Mayor Williams say “At the end of bylaws, I think I shall take my leave and hand over the reigns once agin to Deputy Mayor Maycock and I thank you for that.” And as the vote to approve the bylaws is happening, Mayor Williams is seen packing up his laptop and such. At the end of the vote, Mayor Williams calls a 5 minute recess and immediately, the clerk leans over and says something to the Mayor. (likely asking why the heck you would call a 5 minute recess when the only thing left on the agenda is adjournment…but I’m just speculating there…) The Mayor then says there is a motion to adjourn moved and seconded…Councillor Wilson put up his hand and states that he wanted to move a motion to continue the closed portion of the meeting and while he was mid-sentence, he was {quite rudely} interrupted by the Mayor who banged his gavel, called a 5-minute recess and left.

At that point, a very stunned and awkward silence filled the chambers. And puzzled looks were being shared by members of Council, Town Staff AND the members of the public and media that were still present. It was odd. It was awkward. It was baffling. A couple of minutes passed, and the Deputy Mayor took the chair (as he was told previously by the Mayor that he would be) and asked for a motion to adjourn which was moved, seconded and voted in favour of unanimously.

I know the story sounds better when it would seem that the Deputy Mayor went rogue…but that’s just simply NOT how it all played out. Watch it…you’ll see.

In my humble opinions, what is very clear is that the issues with Council have not improved. There still appears to be the need to create drama rather than focusing on the task at hand…RUNNING THE TOWN!!

More Procedural Issues?

Councillor Sylvia Bradley had some issues with the procedural bylaws not being followed at the prior meeting on November 28th. Her biggest concern was impartiality – specifically with the discussion regarding the contract with the Citizen as well as the discussion about the “kill switch” as brought up by Mark Whitcombe at the previous meeting. There was also concern about procedure not being followed when a member of council “called the vote” at the previous meeting – according to the procedural bylaw, when a member calls for the vote, discussion must cease and the vote be taken. However, at the last meeting, a lengthy discussion continued after a vote was called. Councillor Bradley felt that as Chair, it was the Mayor’s responsibility to maintain order and ensure that procedures are followed. She stated that she hopes going forward, there will be a return to decorum in the New Year. Mayor Williams replied that he has tried to be pretty lenient as Chair and that everyone has bent the rules of procedure at some point.

Age-Friendly Community

A 3-yr strategic action plan was presented to Council by Councillor Scott Wilson as chair of the Age-Friendly Committee. The plan includes identifying the areas that the Town of Orangeville needs to prioritize to ensure that Orangeville can gain status as an Age-Friendly Community – A vibrant and safe community where we can all age with dignity, respect and purpose. Many areas were identified as strengths in the community but there was also a number of opportunities that were recognized. The action plan presentation with all of the priorities outlined can be found here

Donor Clinic

A local resident needs our help – Wayne Bryan is battling leukemia and requires a bone marrow transplant. TODAY, Wednesday, December 14th, there is a swab clinic being help from 3pm-8pm at DCAFS Building at 655 Riddell Rd. If you are between the ages of 18-35, pop in and get swabbed…you could be his match and help to save his life! If you are unable to attend, or don’t fall into the correct age group, there are other ways to help – Attend a blood donor clinic that is being held on December 28th at The Best Western in Orangeville from 3pm to 8pm!

Stockings for Seniors

In a previous post, I sent out a call to action and challenged each one of you to stuff a stocking for a senior. The response has been GREAT, but there is still more needed. At this very moment, Tracy Haworth still needs 250 stockings over the 6 days to ensure that every senior will get a stocking this Christmas! For information on how to give, or what to give, visit this link! And drop your donations off at 158 Parkview Drive in Orangeville. HURRY – There is still time!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I would like to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas! May your holidays be bright and full of love and time spent with family!!

Monday’s meeting allocated some time at the start of the meeting to recognize two amazing Orangeville residents…Ralph Harkies was recognized as Orangeville’s Senior of the Year and Molly Mullin was recognized as Orangeville’s Youth of the Year! Congratulations!  I’d like to send out a big THANK YOU to both of them for all of the love and dedication they have given to Orangeville by giving back to the community in various ways! Thank you! People like you are what makes Orangeville such an amazing place!

Overnight Winter Parking over Christmas

As you may recall, last year was an exceptionally mild winter – with no snow in the forecast, it was decided that there would be a short amnesty from the winter parking regulations over the Christmas Holidays. This year, a number of residents have already sent letters in to the Town and the topic has been circulating over social media, requesting the same amnesty over the 2016 Christmas season. There was some discussion and some input from the Director of Public Works, Doug Jones and at the end of the discussion, Council chose to simply receive the correspondence. So as of now, there will be no lift to the overnight parking bylaw over Christmas. How do you feel about the winter parking issue?

Censorship of Orangeville’s Residents

In a previous post, I made you all aware of a concern that was voiced by Orangeville resident, Mark Whitcombe regarding a “kill switch” that is manned by the Mayor and when pressed will mute all microphones in Council Chambers with the exception of the Mayor’s. Mr. Whitcombe believes he was the victim of the switch being used by Mayor Williams when he was addressing Council at the November 8th Strategic Planning session. Mr. Whitcombe has requested that answers be given as to why the use of this switch is in the hands of an elected official and has posed the inquiry of whether the switch could instead be in control of the Town Clerk. When asked, the Clerk, Susan Greatrix said that if the switch were in her control, it would only be appropriate for her to activate it under Council’s direction. Mayor Williams had not publicly confirmed or denied Mr. Whitcombe’s allegation until a recent post on in a local Facebook group where he states: “side note: I’ve never used it. Councillor Kidd claims Adams used it to censor him last term, and I know Mary Rose says she used it for audio feedback issues. In my opinion the issue is dumb. Yes I have my ‘finger on the button’ in case things go wrong, but it won’t launch the nukes right? Know what I’m sayin’? #MountainsMolehills )”

The issue is being reviewed by town staff and they will come back with a report and perhaps some recommendations will come back with it.

FINALLY! A Crosswalk will be installed by Westside Secondary

Mr. Hollywood, the father of the Westside Secondary School student that was recently struck by a vehicle on Alder St while crossing in front of the school spoke up at Question Period to plead with Council to install a safe crossing for the hundreds of students that cross Alder St at Montgomery Rd every day. At the end of September, Philip McClosky, a teacher at Westside delivered a presentation to Council addressing the need for a crosswalk at Alder and Montgomery and also presented a petition signed by almost 600 students who agreed. At the September meeting, Council directed staff to look into options and come back with a report and recommendations. On Monday, the report came back to Council with a number of recommendations and Council voted in favour of a “Pedestrian Crossover” which will have all of the road markings plus an overhead post (similar to a traffic light in style), that will have lights to warn motorists of an upcoming crosswalk. The cost to install is approx. $25,000 and installation will likely take place in the spring.

Print Advertising

Council approved the continuation of publishing the weekly Town Page and other Town advertising in the Orangeville Citizen at the cost of $47,000 per year.  In a fairly unorthodox presentation to Council, a member of the Orangeville Banner’s advertising sales team delivered a sales pitch to the members of Council suggesting that the Orangeville Banner be allowed to bid on this again and alluding that they could offer ‘more’ to the Town for $7200 less. When the Town changed over to The Orangeville Citizen after a tender in 2014, the cost to the The Town to continue with The Orangeville Banner would have at that time been almost double what they were offered by The Orangeville Citizen. So, until February 2018 for sure, you will continue to find the Town Page and other Town advertising in The Orangeville Citizen.

People of Orangeville

Have you all seen the ‘Humans of New York‘ website? It is honestly one of my faves! In the upcoming weeks, as part of In My Humble Opinions, I will be doing a weekly “People of Orangeville” feature. We live in such a AMAZING community and I am excited to be starting this project to shine some light on some of the awesome people that are around our Town!! So, here is where you come in! Is there someone you know in Orangeville who you think would be an awesome feature for this project? Someone who is an inspirational leader? A volunteer? A great nurse? An amazing business owner? Someone who you think has a super cool story to share? PLEASE – send me your suggestions! Send an email to inmyhumbleopinionsorangeville@gmail.com with your nominee’s name, contact info and why you think they would be a great feature in my blog!! I am SOOO Excited to get started!!

Next Council Meeting

Back on topic….the next Council Meeting will be held on Monday, December 12th at 7pm at Orangeville’s Town Hall! Hope to see you there!!