As of the time of writing this blog newsletter, we are roughly 100 days away from October 24, 2022.
This will be the day when Milton residents will choose the next Halton Regional Chair, Milton Mayor, regional and local councillors along with public and catholic school board trustees.
I can tell you the last 3 terms of council, which has totalled close to 12 years has been an incredible experience for me. Not only have I been living my dream of public service to Milton residents, I have also been involved in many decisions that have shaped and will continue to shape the vision of community for years to come.
Over these past years, I pride myself on being accessible to everyone and to ensure your voice has been heard when making these decisions.
I have communicated with you via this website, which includes entries from my first run at Milton Town Council back in 2006 all the way up to today.
I’ve kept all those entries for one reason … transparency to the voters.
Lots has happened over the three terms of council and I have learned a lot … and I am not afraid to saying my views on a few things have changed. More on that later.
Over the next few posts, I will outline a number of items that I have worked on with council, with Town staff and especially with you in these last four years and how I believe it has and will make us a stronger more complete community.
I just wanted to take the time today to say thank you to so many people for their support, their input on issues, sharing their opinions and yea at times changing mine.
As I said before this is a passion of mine. Being able to works with so many incredible people in the community, those on the Town staff and the amazing people I sit with around the council table.
While there have been times this council has seemed divided on some issues, I can assure you all – everyone … all nine members of council have the best interests of this town in mind.
These last 4 years have been a struggle. From the moment we were sworn in we had to deal with and continue to deal with financial pressures and tough budgets. This council and especially Halton Region had to deal with what was called a “Regional Government Review” Do we remain 4 municipalities or to we band together to be one.
Then March 2020 came at us and as the saying goes “life changes drastically”. We were dealing with a virus that was spreading worldwide and information was coming at us from every direction and we were making decisions based on that changing information at both Halton Region and the Town council.
We stayed home with our families. We struggled as to what was coming next. Masks or no masks? Gloves? We closed playgrounds because the information at the time couldn’t confirm if this virus was transmitted via air or touch.
We banded together as a community to look after each other. Groups were formed at a moments notice to help those in need, our small businesses and restaurants and these efforts continue this very day (Shout out to #MiltonStrong for example)
It took awhile to get to the point where a vaccine was developed and all levels of government had to roll out a plan to get it those people who needed it the most and the general public. Frustrating beyond all words to say the least but we all based together to get it done and now over 90 plus percent of Halton residents have received 2 doses and the booster numbers continue to rise.
And all while this was going on both Halton Region and the Town of Milton had to develop and plan for growth … official plan reviews … community consultation in the new normal of Zoom/Teams/Skype. Challenges still came at us and we worked through them.
It wasn’t without its frustrations on my part. At Halton Region we have to deal with many and some conflicting visions for growth that didn’t match what Milton residents have been working on for many years – many of those frustrations I’ve shared here on this website.
There were many times I grew frustrated with a lack of spark to represent Milton at Halton Region. The coming term is so important to the vision of Milton, I can’t begin to express in words other than this election is probably the most important one in recent memory.
Milton needs to step up and change the ways we have done things in the past. This past 4 years we have done many service delivery reviews of each department to highlight our strengths and weaknesses and develop, along with members of council and town staff, a roadmap to getting better.
These studies have highlighted many good things that Milton does – being a lean operation is something many municipalities strive for but can’t reach. It has however, highlighted a lot of weaknesses and areas for rapid improvement – to modernize the way we do business and service the taxpayers.
In order for this to happen the right way, we need to change the way things are done from an administration level to ensure the effective delivery of services that you want. We need a strong voice to lead this process … one that will step up and get things done and change the ways of the past.
Milton is approaching 150,000 residents – a huge difference from when I first moved here with my wife and family back in 2003. We need to ensure that we keep our eye on that future for all of our families. It’s likely that we will be a town of close to 300,000 in what will feel like the blink of an eye.
Let’s continue to set that course for the future working together.
As I mentioned earlier, there is more to come before we head into the official campaign time … less than a hundred days away. May seem like a lot but as we’ve figured out these past few years … time is flying.
I’ll see you at the doors.