Last night’s meeting…sigh. Where do I even begin? I guess I will begin with the fact that the Budget portion of the meeting began at 5pm…how much more inconvenient does it get than that? It made it impossible for people like me, who have jobs and/or commute to get to the meeting. I wasn’t too concerned about missing the first hour of the meeting because I always have it PVR’ing anyways – so I figured I would arrive late and catch up on what I missed later on Rogers. Unfortunately, Rogers experienced some technical issues, and last nights meetings did not broadcast. So I will preface my post with an apology that I will not have any information from the first hour of the meeting, nor will I have any direct quotes…but I will do my best to get as much information to you of the happenings at Council as I can – Hope I don’t miss anything.
I arrived at Council chambers just shortly after 6pm and they were right in the middle of budget talks…tempers were already flaring – I guess it was foreshadowing for what was to come through the rest of the meeting. I didn’t miss much in the way of progress in the first hour – the budget amount was the same as the previous meeting. In fact, the only item that changed last night is that the $42,000 for the flag was removed from the budget (thanks to Paul Korsten for taking the lead on a fundraising committee for the flag), but they did add in $60,000 for handrails at Tony Rose which increased the proposed budget to 3.03%.
Councillor Garisto, chair of the meeting, was adamant that the budget be sent to Council for approval last night – even though a number of Councillors had expressed that they were not happy with the budget as it was. Deputy Mayor Maycock expressed that budget deliberations should continue in the finance committee rather than carrying it on in Council and asked for the floor to ask some deeper questions to the Treasurer about a few specific line items in the hopes to find some savings. Councillor Garisto continuously (and quite rudely) interrupted his questions and even went as far as accusing the Deputy Mayor of “stalling”, to which he took great offence.
The Deputy Mayor went on to explain how the tax increase would work, using last years numbers as an example of what an actual taxpayer would see as an increase (combining Orangeville portion, Education as well as County numbers) and again, Councillor Garisto had to jump in – he made accusations that the Deputy Mayor was using “his own numbers” to confuse the situation – Deputy Mayor explained that they weren’t “his” numbers, they were numbers provided to him by the Treasurer for this exercise and he was just explaining this because the media typically will only report the Orangeville portion during budget deliberations. Councillor Garisto again hot-headedly (making up my own words…lol) had to interrupt, raise his voice and act in a very unprofessional manner in retaliation asking “Are you saying the media is lying?” – Deputy Mayor explained that no, they weren’t lying at all, however this wasn’t a full representation of the tax impact. This exchange went back and forth and the Deputy Mayor used my favourite line of the night – “Perhaps the media should just be reporting what a Gong Show this is!!!” Well Deputy Mayor, I couldn’t agree more! Mayor Williams jumped in at this point stating that it was NOT a Gong Show…Not sure which meeting he was at…
In keeping with the true insanity of it all, Councillor Garisto had to make his attempt to reduce the budget by stealing from the reserve contributions – not surprisingly, this attempt didn’t fly. I don’t understand how this is even still a viable option in his mind – Councillor Garisto, if you are actually working towards a ‘zero percent’ as you claim, FIND A LEGITIMATE WAY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!! You are not Robin Hood, you can’t steal from one to pay another…that is NOT progress!!!!
Although little was accomplished to actually change the budget numbers, the Finance Committee still decided to send the budget to Council for approval as it was rather than continuing deliberations in committee – so you know what this means, now the same people will be arguing the same issues, in the same room but using Council Meeting times to do it. (Council did vote AGAINST the budget as it is later in the night – so you can look forward to more budget talks soon)
OPP Costing & the Drama that follows…
This is a really interesting one. As we all know, the Town of Orangeville requested a costing from the OPP for providing policing services…this request was put in before the election in 2014. There was a moratorium put on the OPP Costings by the Province of Ontario which resulted in a delay. Recently, the Province removed the moratorium and allowed for OPP costing to proceed and Orangeville was required to send notice to them that they wished to proceed…which they did.
Members of Council were shocked yesterday when they received a letter from the OPP stating that they must withdraw their proposal to provide policing services to Amaranth in order to proceed with the OPP Costing. The shock came because members of Council had absolutely no idea that the Orangeville Police Service and the Police Service Board were in talks with Amaranth in the first place. There is clearly a disconnect in communication…so much for transparency.
This opened up an entire can of worms at Council as most Councillors felt very blind-sided by this. They were compelled to immediately make a decision whether to proceed with a proposal for Amaranth, or have an OPP costing because the Police Services Act does not allow both.
Not surprisingly, Mayor Williams, chair of the Police Service Board, wants to cancel the OPP costing…although his campaign that got him elected was quite the opposite. Councillor Wilson spoke quite passionately about the need for the costing to continue. I was very surprised, however, that Councillor Garisto (who prides himself on being all about the mighty dollar for residents), was very vocally AGAINST the OPP costing stating that he has concerns about the level of service they would provide – Insert really long story about a time that the OPP let him down here (I will kindly spare you the story). Well, how do you know exactly what service they will provide if you haven’t even had a conversation with them?!?!?
In the end, after lengthy discussions, the decision was made to proceed with the OPP Costing with Mayor Williams, Councillor Campbell and Councillor Garisto voting against.
My humble opinion? Well, as you all may know, I am a HUGE advocate for Chief Kalinski and all of the work that he and the PSB have done to make some great positive changes in the OPS in the last year or so. HOWEVER, the right thing to do for the taxpayer is to have ALL of the available information and an OPP costing would provide that. Only then can Council really make the BEST decision for our Town. It is irresponsible, in my opinion, to make such big decisions (and this is HUGE $$$) without having all of the information.
One More Thing
During the Council Meeting, reference was made to the Remuneration Committee (the committee that was established around 2010 give or take a year that was to decide salary increases for members of Council). Councillor Garisto stated that this Committee was full of ‘political insiders’ and was not a fair committee – to put words in his mouth, he was hinting to the fact that the committee was ‘stacked’ to benefit the members of Council.
During question period, a member from the gallery, Todd Taylor stepped up to the podium to challenge what Councillor Garisto said – as he was the chair of the committee – and most definitely not a political insider. This exchange became quite heated as well as Councillor Garisto continued to make false accusations…during the exchange, the Mayor had to call for a break for everyone to cool off – it was a HOT MESS. During break, Councillor Garisto approached Todd Taylor in the gallery to attempt to continue the argument. I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it with my own eyes. Another resident, Mark Whitcombe, who also was a part of the Remuneration Committee, also came over to attempt to talk to Councillor Garisto and give him the facts, but he would have none of it.
How unbelievably inappropriate. To disrespect 2 residents of Orangeville in that way…shame on you. Not to mention the other residents who sat on that committee who weren’t in the gallery last night. The Town of Orangeville Council asks members of the public to VOLUNTEER their time on these committees to help give input into making Orangeville a better place and this is how they are treated?? A public apology from Councillor Garisto is in order, in my humble opinion.
Time for YOUR humble opinions!
I apologize for how lengthy this post is – I hope I didn’t miss any of the big stuff. A 5 hour meeting has ALOT of content – especially when THAT much drama happens. It is a real shame that Rogers was unable to broadcast this meeting – the residents of Orangeville NEED to see the #GongShow that is happening inside Council Chambers. I would love to hear any humble opinions you have – leave me some comments!
Well as Councillor Sylvia Bradley put it ” They can’t SUCK AND BLOW THE TAX PAYERS” and yes what a gong show it was last night.
Thanks for the updates. I must say this particular Council seems to be quite an embarrassment. While I do agree with many of your points, the OPS vs. OPP costing scene i do not. There will be nothing gained for this town by bringing the “OPP Corp” to our small town. Once you move to a larger company to manage your services we lose all of the small town community engagement, which is part of why this town feels safe, and I for one am fiercely proud of our OPS.
I am in agreement with you – I don’t necessarily think that we will gain anything by moving to OPP, however I am a firm believer that in order to make a fully educated decision, you need to have all of the facts – and by getting a costing done, Council will have all of the information they need. Much in the same way you price shop for a new TV…you may check a few places for prices and in the end, if you spend a little bit more to get a better quality TV, you will know you did your homework first. Same applies here – I am a huge advocate for OPS and Chief Kalinski and if we have to pay a little more for better service, I’m all for it, but I want to know what else is out there for options too! Thanks for the comment and thanks for reading 🙂
Interesting read as always Lisa!
What I don’t understand is why the OPP made it an ultimanium in that you can’t seek other options (while awaiting for their option)?
These demands early could be a sign of what is to come.
How is this strategy in good faith to help people get all the information, while representing what is best for Orangeville? To me it’s “there way or the highway”.
Keep up the great work!
I’m embarrassed and ashamed that these gong show participants are allowed to make important decisions about this town in such an unprofessional, aggressive, hostile, and ill informed manner.
Thanks for being there Lisa and sharing what you witness and your opinions with us.
I have no words. Why did we elect these people? #gongshow
all I can say is thank God above that I dont live in Orangeville. I live in Mono, never in a hundred years would this crap fly here. Very good reporting and the 5 p m start is sooooo disrespectful to the thousands of commuters who pay criminally high taxes. Im shocked that people still want to move there quite frankly
Orangeville is a great town with wonderful, caring people.
It is indeed a breath of fresh air!
John Green
Not denying that for a minute John, but the way its run fiscally is definitely NOT a model for most towns. Taxes have to increase annually? Seriously? Wheres the money going? We actually ask that question in Mono
I agree with your comment Andy. The province needs to give authority to the Ombudsman to audit the finances of all town councils.
Until this happens it is really difficult to follow the money trail.
John Green
Agreed! The council needs outside help, not just now but in the past as well. I get the sense because they also sit on committees this can lead to a lack of objectivity and there’s personal bias. There needs to be more arms length decision making. On a side note, am concerned about the police budget and the impact on property taxes when the industrial tax base isn’t there to support it.
Not much has changed. To bad.
It sounds to me like Mr. Garisto needs a lesson in appropriate behaviour towards people. If anyone disagrees with him, he seems to feel it is his right to speak to them rudely.
Mr. Garisto is clearly an embarrassment to the town. How did the citizens of Orangeville manage to elect such a group of clowns.
Because you may have helped voting the idiots in
The Council is an embarassment – maybe a vote of non confidence is in order. Nothing will ever be accomplished because there are way to many personal agendas on the table and zero common sense. It is prudently responsible government to get a costing from the OPP – regardless of how touchy feely everyone is about the Orangeville police force (and don’t get me wrong I think Chief Kalinski is doing a great job of cleaning up). Perhaps residents should call Town hall and ask what the police budget is annually before they decide if they are pro or con to the OPP suggestion – then they have all the facts – and that is what this Council needs – all the facts in black and white – service for service. Just throwing this question out there – What if millions of dollars could be shaved off the budget with an OPP patrolled town ? Would you change your mind then? The OPP also do a good job of policing the rural landscape and the response time is likely the same as it is in Orangeville –
Thanks Lisa – always love to read your posts – you also tell it like it is……. I am waiting for the headlines Orangeville Council a Disgrace – (if only the papers were listening or had the balls to actually print it.
I think Lisa you need to be a little more professional in your comments, no doubt you a good blogger but by no means are you a reporter, you are only 1 sided, you speak like you are part of the council and quite frankly these opinions of yours are a waste,
It’s not one-sided when she is reporting exactly what happened. It doesn’t take a journalist to be able to listen and hear.
Sounds like you’re a little butthurt lthat she isn’t tip-toeing around certain people behaving like children.
Also many of us like seeing her opinions, as they provide a personal view articles in either paper do not.
Perhaps you should learn to follow the golden rule of the internet — if you don’t like what someone has to say, scroll right on by.
At no point do I ever claim to be a journalist….I’m lucky in that way because as a blogger, I get to share what happened AND my opinions on those events! I’m also not a member of council…what I am is a concerned resident who loves this Town. As someone who did run for council in the last election what I noticed was a real disconnect…residents didn’t know or care what was going on at Town Hall and that in my eyes is a problem…so I sit at every council meeting and let residents know, in a quick blog post, what is going on and my opinions about it.
I don’t agree with any one Council member 100% of the time and I am typically quite professional in my comments….however, when the people I am paying to manage MY MONEY are spending 5 hours acting like children in a Gongs how. …I am NOT ok with that…that, in my humble opinion, is unprofessional.
But, agree or disagree wth me, I thank you for taking the time out of your day to read In My Humble Opinions
You keep it up Lisa – unfortunately when we expose our opinions, we expose ourselves to this type of rhetoric. I for one really like your updates, even if I don’t always agree, I do respect what you are doing for all of us, and grateful. I hope to see you in the running for next council, I think you would be great!!!!
I am a little surprised and a lot disgusted at your comments FR but then you can hide behind a couple of initials and remain unknown so you dont have to wear your big boy or girl pants and can speak with forked tongue – it must be sad to live in your little world – because last time I checked this was Lisa’s blog page so you actually had to log in to read and comment – so if it was a waste of your time we would all benefit from you staying off it. Sorry Lisa I could not resist – I mean seriously – your writing is great and appreciated – and better than most articles in our local papers because at least you speak the truth and dont pull any punches – which is the way it should be. AND for someone like this to preach professionalism in comments – perhaps they should have read what they wrote before hitting POST. And I wont hold my breath waiting for a reporter to tell both sides of any story ever –
Obviously Lisa you are anti Garisto and probably a friend of Sylvia Bradley
Once I believed in you but not any longer
You would be the same as Bradly,Campbell,Wilson and long time useless Deputy Mayor(only my OPINION) Maycock
Why give yearly raises to the Town staff while seniors and minimum wage earners get zilch?
Why do not have a strong council and and do the right thing by closing Tony Rose and 1 library?
This takes real leadership.
Why do have so many on the sunshine list?
Why pay police chief car money? Do we get this?
Should we not evaluate a possibility of laying of town staff as we certainly do not need all we have
It seems that the over tax over burden residence are providing lucrative jobs for the Town staff
and fully backed by the Council.
Most of the current Councillors earn above average wages from their jobs along with the political
venues and tell me how they can relate to the average overburden taxed payer?
Ask them if the job was on a volunteer basis would the participate(doubt it very much)
GO NICK GO
I am not saying I agree with Lisa at all Peter, Lisa and I have had a number of shall we say debates on topics! But I will say her outlook on some things is very much the same as some on Council, she is vocal in her opinions and trys her best to put Council meetings info out for all to see. Just as I am criticized by some for speaking my mind and putting out my opinion and public info so will she be. As I am very well aware with my 3500 + members when you stand up and speak your mind your not going to make all happy but to have the courage to speak it and stand behind it is more then I can say for many people. I find the fact that Lisa is one of very few that try to get the info out shows me and this is me, that she really cares. Just my opinion
Thank you for that Trevor 🙂 You’re right, we most definitely don’t always agree on things – but I respect your opinions nonetheless!
Peter, I need to correct you on a few things – First of all, I am not anti-Garisto…in fact I am not anti-anyone. I give kudos to ANYONE who is willing to step up, run for office, and get elected, because I truly feel like they all have good intentions. I am not “friends” with anyone on Orangeville Town Council, but I do have respect for all of them – however, that being said, I don’t have to agree with them and what they stand for. If I were on council right now, I would be “aligned” with no one…in fact, I have a lot of the same opinions as you do – Tony Rose is nothing but a HUGE burden on tax payers, Orangeville does not need 2 libraries, and the way money is being spent is, in my humble opinion, irresponsible. There are a few people on council currently who believe in a zero percent tax increase and that’s awesome…however, none of them are willing to look at closing Tony Rose OR a library!!! You can SAY zero percent all you want, but until your ACTIONS on council reflect your words, you are just spouting out words that have absolutely no meaning!!
Last night’s council meeting was EMBARRASSING…the citizens of Orangeville should be OUTRAGED that this is how their elected officials are treating their money – as a tax payer, I am outraged. And Peter, you should be too. I don’t go to these meetings week after week and spend hours blogging about them because it is fun…I do it because I care about what happens in this Town and if I can do a blog post to let residents know what is going on and have them more engaged in the process, then it’s a big win in my eyes. With a voter turnout of 40%, that says to me that citizens need to be more engaged and involved in what is happening with their money.
Hope you keep reading, Peter – we can’t agree on everything 🙂
Thanks Lisa for posting the turnout rate in the last municipal election 40 percent.
To get elected you have to get the vote out and name recognition is very helpful.
The rest of the taxpayers need to get out and vote. This is what elected officials understand and they are very good at getting their people out to vote for them. They count on voter apathy and they use it to their advantage.
Cui boni?
John Green
Sorry there are a few errors in my statement and there is no edit options but
am sure you get the picture
We would like to thank you Lisa for updating us on the goings-on at the so-called “council meetings”. It was quite unfortunate that last night’s meeting was not televised. It was the consensus today that maybe Rogers was instructed to find a “problem” so that the anticipated “gong show” couldn’t be televised. We also feel that the leaders in our community only reflect the mentality of those who voted them in.
Lisa , Thank you for the first hand info. I agree with most of what you report here. Particularly the Gong Show comment. I send the same terminology in a Facebook discussion earlier tonight. It’s no wonder we never get anything done with this kind of behaviour. They should all be proud !
It seems the term “public service” has been forgotten.