Milton
Tomorrow is the day you cast your ballot in the byelection for the open seat in Ward 2.
Your choices are:
Mike Bugala
John Challinor
Peter Haight
Ron Furik
Greg Nelson
You can check out some of my other postings for comments on each of the candidates that are running for who I feel is the best choice for council. The most important thing is to get out and vote. Who do you think will best serve YOUR concerns on council?
Make your voice heard!
This past Saturday was AMAZING. For those of you who took the time to attend the Milton 150Th Anniversary Event in downtown Milton there was a lot of fun to be had.
Bands such has topp crime from Milton played in the evening and there were loads of events and fun activities for everyone of every age. It was indeed a success. As soon as we get some pictures in of the event, I’ll post them. Judging by the smiles on peoples faces throughout the day, I think that this will become an annual event. Lets hope!
Also, its getting closer to the election date for residents in Ward 2. This Thursday they will have the opportunity to choose who will help lead this council for the next 3 plus years.
As Ive stated in my blog many times, I think that John Challinor is by far the front runner in the eyes of the voters and judging by the number of signs that pop up on lawns it seems that the momentum John had going in, hasn’t slowed down one bit. John has been hitting the doors and the phones heavily over the past few weeks, doing what hes done for many years as local councillor…addressing peoples concerns and helping them.
This past Thursday, ironically enough on the date that former Ward 2 councillor now Justice of the Peace Mark Curtis was being sworn in, the 5 candidates for the position squared off in a live debate on TV Cogeco. This debate will be replayed many times before this Thursday so stay tuned to TV Cogeco for times and check it out.
It was clear from the beginning who the two front runners were as the moderators asked the questions of each of the candidates. Noting full well that 3 of the 5 candidates have never held public office (not that its a pre requisite) their answers to questions were not as informed as both John and Ron Furik.
Ron Furik ended up agreeing with most of what John was saying. Judging by his statements “I have to agree with John” and “as John said in his answer” it almost sounds like he feels John would make the best candidate. The one issue that’s still in many peoples minds is the motion Ron moved a few months back RIGHT before the November vote that council was going to do what it could to slow down growth. The only problem with that motion is nothing came of it and growth is spurring along just fine. You can read all about that motion from my blog back in September where Ron stated that “this council is not to blame” for the growth issues that Milton is facing.
From that Champion article…“Furik also addressed the naysayers who’ve been publicly blaming the current council for the development problems since he announced his intentions to come forward with the motion.”I laugh to read it’s this council’s fault,” he said, noting he feels the councils from five to 15 years ago were the development decision makers — councils he said he was sitting on as a local representative.In an interview with The Champion, he went on to say, “Don’t point fingers at this council. They had no decision making in this development. It’s not fair.”
In other items, the question of a pesticide ban came up where John stated emphatically that he was against it, due to the fact it covers the agencies who provide the service but not the actual product that you and I can buy in any hardware store. Ron agreed again with what John stated and also said he felt it was a provincial issue and didn’t really say if personally he was for or against the ban as it was laid out to council. The other 3 candidates had their reasons but were short on details of why.
Peter Haight is a candidate who really wants to focus on the development of the downtown core. Mike Bugala, given his career as a transit operator with the City of Toronto, is focused quite a bit on the development of the transit system here in Milton.
Greg Nelson’s answers seemed unprepared and almost robotic by nature and lacked focus on details. In one statement he made mention we were “short of by laws officers” and that we should hire more. The only problem with that is the fact hiring more officers costs taxpayers money. How would we pay for them? Raise taxes? Cut spending? How can it be done?
There are a number of issues that we are facing as a town need to have a clear plan. It cant be just some make shift plan of generalisms and vagueness. The town needs councillors with a clear plan of action on how to address things with a common sense approach and not good election quotes.
With the last few days ticking down to this Thursdays vote it should be clear now that John Challinor is the choice to be sent back to council. It comes down to ideas and leadership. It doesnt take much to identify problems but it takes a leader to come up with solutions.
Regardless of who you support residents of Milton need to get out and vote. Yes the weather is great and there’s lots of things to do. With all the advance polls that were available and a few minutes on election day there are enough opportunities for Miltonians to have their say.
Make sure that your voices are heard.
Well, not everywhere it seems. But in Milton’s Ward 2 things are beginning to heat up for the municipal by-election on June 14th.
The list of candidates has been finalized and they include John Challinor, former Ward 2 councillor (most recently he was the Ward 4 councillor); Peter Haight, who came in 3rd place in November for ward 2; Mike Bugala who is a new comer to the political landscape in Milton; former Regional and Town Councillor Ron Furik who was defeated in November by a returning Colin Best, and Greg Nelson, who ran two previous times in Ward one back in 2003 (placed 3rd) and most recently against yours truly in 2006 where he placed 4th.
The date has been set, the race is under way and the sign “war” has begun. Driving around town this morning I had noticed a large number of John Challinor signs on ward 2 lawns and the early status of front runner hasn’t held him back. Rumour has it that John has been hitting the doors talking to residents outlying his experience both as a Ward 4 and Ward 2 councillor. John has a strong knowledge of the ward and its issues since he both lived in and represented the ward when he first came to council.
Even after the election in November, John has continued working with the town in many different aspects. Most notably he has been helping out the 150th Anniversary Master Committee in starting up the Milton WALK OF FAME. He, along with Bruce Carlin of the Milton Historical Society, will be the hosts of the Canada Day activities where we will officially introduce the first inductee’s of Milton’s Walk of Fame.
Not much is known about Mike Bugala and the issues and experience he’s bringing to the table. You are beginning to see, very quietly, some lawn signs appear on the boulevards of ward 2.
Peter Haight is also in the running, and his site has been recently updated to show the new election date and information on why he is running. Peter came in 3rd place in November behind current Ward 2 councillor Mike Boughton and now former councillor Mark Curtis, who has gone on to be a JP for the province of Ontario.
Ron Furik, taking a page out of the book of yours truly (see, someone IS listening) now has a blog and website he plans to update during the campaign. What is more important to see is if he continues the site after the election is over. I had pledged during the campaign in November that I was going to continue to blog about Milton happenings, issues and keep people up to date on town hall, and I’ve done my best to keep it up to date. Having a site during an election is great, but you have to properly use it. Ron’s entries from the November campaign were all erased and he’s starting from scratch. As an aside, I’ve kept all of my entries from the past and will continue to have them available for everyone to read.
Greg Nelson, who lives in ward 2 also has a website with his information and what has driven him to run again for council. I understand there’s a long tradition in his family for public service, which is a noble thing.
What this town needs is real ideas on what needs to be done for Milton, and not generalized statements about what is wrong … we need ideas of how we can make things better. Anyone can point out we have some traffic issues in many parts of town, or growth needs to be controlled, but how can we fix them and what can the councillor for the area do to better the quality of life here in Milton.
Anyone who is living in Ward 2 should do their best to contact the candidates and ask them the hard questions…what have you done for Milton in the past and what plans do you have for Milton’s future? Each of the candidates has to ask themselves why they are running for council. The candidates need to offer the residents a concrete plan of what they will do as councillor and what they will do to improve the quality of life in Milton.
So far, it looks like John Challinor is continuing the trend as front runner in this race. Town council needs his experience and his input on things that Milton is facing in the coming years. Johns level head-ness and common sense has been missed around the table and the residents of ward 2 will be best served by returning John Challinor to town council.
Got back from Town Hall earlier this morning after filing…
NOW before anyone says WARD 2…it was to file my financial statements from the last municipal elections. I was a little late and thank goodness I did it when I did as if you were a candidate and DIDNT file the financial statements by the 16th of April, you could be disqualified from running for office for 6 years (according to the Municipal Act). That would’ve meant that if I failed to file, yours truly, in case I wanted to run again for Town Council in Milton would have to sit out the next general election in 2010. Not a good plan. So consider it done.
I was at Troy’s Diner in downtown Milton last week when I was asked again if I were considering running for the open position. By the way, the date of that election is June 14th and so far there are only 4 official contenders that have filed their nomination papers (John Challinor , Ron Furik , Mike Bugala – no website and Greg Nelson – no website)
There are a few other rumoured names still yet to file such as former Ward 2 Candidate Peter Haight but thats expected shortly.
Ward 2 encompasses the entire downtown Milton area and while there are many issues shared by all parts of Milton, the downtown area requires an experienced hand in dealing with them. Recently there was a special council meeting to discuss the establishment and implementation of a ban on cosmetic uses of pesticides that was quite interesting. I attended the meeting on April 2nd to hear presentations from a number of people on both sides of the issue. The current edition of the Halton Compass has an article by Ann Kornuta that outlines many of the issues involved in this.
From my understanding this has been brought forward to council previously with no resolution and this time around council has asked for a report from staff to be delivered for review and discussion at the earliest possible time with the intention of having a bylaw set in place MAYBE by the end of the summer.
Like the global warming/climate change arguement, there are many sides and LOTS of information available on the pro or anti side and its quite difficult to sift through them all. Many rural farmers are opposed to it because they see it as the “thin edge of the wedge” and once pesticides are banned for cosmetic purposes, they feel that agricultural bans will soon follow.
Up until that meeting I had no clue that the entire province of Quebec had a ban on cosmetic uses of pesticides in the entire province. The story goes on one side, that its completely dangerous to plants, children and pets and should be completely banned while the other side says its ok as long as there is no direct contact during application.
If Milton Town Council is going to initiate this ban, I would hope they do their homework, and not rush through a process and have an ineffective bylaw. Who would police it? Will complaints be registered the same way people complain about street parking, dog leash violations, and noise? What happens if the town bylaw departments are too busy to answer calls like this? Will town need more staff to drive around to answer each complaint? There is so much to look into and if we rush this process, something can get missed very quickly.
I realize that I might be in the minority when I say council did the right thing (eventually) that night after bouncing back and forth with amendments and other councillors trying to drive through the bylaw right away and who was going to second the motions etc. We need all the answers to all the questions before we put something in place, that once in will be very hard to repeal if they were wrong.
There are so many other downtown issues that need to be addressed in some ways. There was an interesting letter to the editor in the Champion by Milton resident Rick Serafini outlining the reasons the downtown area should have the new Arts Centre.
Speaking of filing, April 30th is the deadline for taxes. Now that I have one filing out of the way, I think I should get to another no?
This past Monday, Milton Town Council decided that it would be better to have a by election for the vacant position in Ward 2. This means that some Milton residents will be going back to the polls, probably in June. The decision has to be ratified by council in March and the nomination date will follow shortly after that.
In case you haven’t heard, one of the council positions for Ward 2 was deemed vacant when Father Mark Curtis was appointed to the Justice of the Peace recently, which effectively ended his political career as town councillor. He was appointed by provincial Attorney General Michael Bryant and his position started immediately. Good luck Father Mark!
As I mentioned before in my last entry and to a number of people who emailed me, I wont be running for that position. I honestly feel that a person who represents a ward should understand that area and its concerns. While many of the issues we face on daily basis are similar, downtown Milton is very unique and it will take an experience hand, one who had or has lived there for many years, to do the job. While I am very flattered at being considered, I am not going to seek any elected office for Ward 2.
I am however very excited to see there are a number of others who will be vying for the council seat. And the names continue to pop up.
The front runner position HAS to go to former Ward 4 town councillor John Challinor, who grew up in that area and represented ward 2 for the years of 1991 and 1997. He has already thrown his hat into the race to fill the vacancy and you can find out more about him www.johnchallinor.ca
Other names being bandied about are Ron Furik, who lost to Colin Best for Regional Councillor Wards 2 & 4 by close to 20% of the vote back in November. Apparently hes announced already but if you go to his website the home page just says Announcement Coming and it hasn’t been updated since Feb 20th, so there is a bit of confusion to say the least.
Peter Haight, who came in third place by close to 600 votes is also another possibility but nothing official as his campaign site hasn’t been updated since the November election.
And after the council meeting on Monday, former ward one candidate (you might remember his name) Greg Nelson has decided again to run for council. He had lived in Ward 2 for sometime but in the last election ran in ward one against yours truly, Brian Penman and Rick Day. While he lived in ward 2 he ran in our ward because he “ran here in 2003 and had gotten to know a lot of the residents.” He ran in 2003 and 2006 running in third and fourth place respectively.
In that same Champion article, he said “its not about geography…its going to be an election of who can come up with ideas.”
I certainly hope that the candidates have already come up with these ideas, before deciding to run for council.
As it stands right now, it looks to be that John Challinor is definitely the front runner to replace Father Mark. Close behind him would be Ron Furik and Peter Haight.
This will make the summer a lot more interesting.