Month: August 2009

Aggressive Storms and aggressive driving

Mike Cluett

All I can say is WOW!  Last Thursday is a day I’ll be remembering for sometime.  For a number of reasons, and moving from my home on Yates Drive is the least of them.

The Champion has a couple of articles on what happened and the confirmation that it indeed was a tornado that hit Milton last Thursday evening.  Jennifer Smith has a few pictures on her website from that day as she was even closer to the line of the storm that day.

Needless to say many Miltonians will have their “where were you when the storm hit” stories.  Here’s mine.

As I mentioned before Pat, Anthony, Miranda and I have moved from our home of the last 6 years on Yates Drive to our new home on Arthur’s way…exactly 2.7 kms away.  Thursday was our closing date and the movers were doing their thing over the course of the day getting our furniture and memories packed up on the truck.  I have to admit, it was hard leaving.

There were some hiccups with the closing, as most closings go, and we were delayed a bit in getting the second half of the delivery completed.  Thats when things got very eerily quiet.  The air went very still for about 3 minutes and I had this funny feeling something was about to happen.  Standing in my garage, I looked out towards the road and I heard a very loud rumbling sound, almost like a train.  Before I knew it the sky went very dark…almost black and then sheets of rain suddenly appeared.  There were no drops of rain to announce its arrival but it was like someone turned on a very large faucet and it came down.

Winds were blowing madly as the very young trees on our street bent over from the force of the wind and the rain.  The movers were making mad dashes to get off the moving truck and leaving all the metal objects where they were for shelter.

The movers then had to call off the move because of the weather and the potential for more lightening.  Thankfully the new owners of our house were moving in the next day and let us keep our belongings there until the morning.

I am very grateful that no one was injured in Milton but the pain of the damage will live on in many peoples minds.  As my parents always told me, you can replace belongings but you cant replace a person.

***

RoadRage

Another thing caught my attention in the Champion was a letter to the editor from Christina Drapeau who detailed her experiences while driving in and out of Milton along Derry Road.  The reason why it caught my attention was I was witness to some very questionable driving skills from an individual going south on James Snow Parkway to Waldie.

As I was coming home in the right lane, a blue Pontiac Sunfire blew past me at a higher rate of speed.  I was doing 70km/hr and they must have been going almost 90km/hr.  This car was driving in the left lane and as we got around the bend towards the light at Waldie the car cut in front on another car in front of me, slammed on the brakes and made a very dangerous right hand turn into the subdivision at Waldie.  Thankfully there was no collision, but it does illustrate that there are some people out there who are driving to aggressively. 

A little shaken up, I continued down to Derry Road to continue towards Louis St Laurant.  I am now in the left lane for those of you who are keeping track…as the right lane ends shortly after Derry.  There was a large pickup truck in that lane waiting for the light to turn green.  The lane we are in is adjacent to the left turn lane to go east on Derry and after the light turns green the truck in front of me, instead of going straight makes a bee line left turn and almost cuts off 2 cars in the process.

So I understand what Christina is talking about when she voices her concerns on continued aggressive driving in Milton.

Do we really have to be in that much of a hurry?  Think twice.

A familiar story about Milton Taxes

Mike Cluett

Who says going on vacation reduces stress?  My family just came back from a wonderful trip to Newfoundland.  The weather was amazing with the sun shining down on us more often than the clouds with a cool breeze coming in off the Atlantic Ocean.  It was Anthony’s fourth trip out to the island and Miranda’s first.  Like a trooper, she handled the flight to and from perfectly and both Pat and I were amazed.  The vacation was well overdue and included an encounter with a Minke whale…up close while fishing.  It’s something that Anthony and I won’t be forgetting any time soon.

I’ve posted a few pictures of our trip on Facebook so click on, and request an add if you’re not already a friend.

While on vacation, I did take some time to go online to the Milton Canadian Champion and read up what was going on in our beloved town.  Unfortunately some stories didn’t surprise me.  And it has to do with taxes.

As I’ve discussed many times on this blog, council had decided to go the route of spending and taxing like no other municipality in the last few years.  Sure we are under the pressures of growth and we need funds to pay for things like infrastructure to keep us moving.  Ever since this new council has been elected, we as taxpayers have been subjected to year after year of tax increases.

2010 and 2011 are looking to be the same.

In this article published in the Champion July 31st, they discuss the proposed tax increase for Milton taxpayers in the range of 7.5% to 9.5%.  This means another increase of roughly $40 per household over $300,000.  It’s the same old story played out again and again and again with the same result.  Silence.

The argument you end up getting from council is that “its only $30 or $40”   My response is that if it’s only $30 or $40, then work at finding the savings somewhere.

The last council was elected in 2006 and from that point on taxes have gone up at an alarming rate.  2007 budget increased by 3.0%…2008 budget increase was 2.5%…2009 budget increase was 4.5%.  And now the town staff is recommending a 7.5% increase?

Many of you know that council has received 3 pay increases since taking office in 2007.  Salary for the local council position was approximately $21.000 in 2006 and they are now $28,000.  Benefits have increased and the costs of paying our local officials have increased as well.

As outlined in the article, the main reason for the increase is…salaries and benefits.

“Part of the forecasted increase for the next two years is due to the estimated $1.5 million in extra salary and benefits for existing employees, along with an estimated half million dollars for new employees, according to the 2009 budget documents.

The Town recently bargained three three-year agreements with unionized staff. The 29 unionized staff of the Town’s fire department will receive annual 3 per cent pay hikes this year and the next two years.”

The main reason for the increase is salaries and benefits.  There’s another city out there that is having severe financial issues due to problems with salaries and benefits…the City of Toronto.

I’m not sounding the alarm bells yet with Milton, don’t get me wrong.  We are not at that stage yet…far from it.  But if we don’t get a handle on the town purse soon, there will be issues.

Town Council has spent a lot of money in the last few years which includes a wasted investment of over $3 million dollars in Milton Transit.  Just imagine if they had been smarter and not spent that money.  If $ 1.5 million in increased salaries and benefits represents a majority of this tax increase, what could have $3 million dollars done?  We wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Council’s priorities are off.  They are not looking at the future impact of their decisions and if this lack of focus continues, we are going to be having more conversations like this in the future. 

Tax increases can be justified and most people grin and bear it.  Most people don’t have a problem with it if that increase makes sense.  The last 4 years of increases can’t be justified.  They simply haven’t been smart with their spending and don’t show any signs of improvement.

It’s just another $30 or $40.  Justify it then.