hawthorne village

Potential 6.91% Increase To Be Discussed Monday

Mike Cluett

Well it looks like I have some reading to do.

The agenda for this coming Monday’s meeeting was online this past Thursday which includes a number of items that will keep both the councillors and us “shadow cabinet” candidates there for some time.  There is also going to be a couple of public meetings regarding 230 Ontario Street and Cancast Inc as well.  Click to see the agenda for those items.

Quickly reviewing the Budget Call Report CORS 063-10 it looks like it will be the hottest item of the night.  Staff report shows that they will be recommending a 6.91% increase in the mill rate to pay for a number of new items that have come online, including the Milton Centre for the Arts among others.

Being an election year, you know the show will be out in full force.

Here’s a quick breakdown from the report.

Take some time to review the document and if you would like to make a presentation, you can email the town and let them know you would like to be a delegation to the meeting.  Make sure you let them know by Monday at 10am.

If not, email me your questions and I will present those to the council members at that time.

Remember, this is just a suggested amount and the final decision will take place at the budget meetings in December 2010, after the new councill is elected.

Follow me on Twitter  and I will also provide updates from the council meeting as I have been doing for some time.  There will be candidates from other wards doing it as well, so you can get an idea of who might be representing the town come December 1st.

I look forward to hearing your comments, and until then I’ll see you at the doors.

Transit Information Sessions

Mike Cluett

Last night was the first two of four information sessions put on by Milton Transit at the Seniors Activity and Milton’s Sports Centre.  According to Transit Coordinator Tony D’Alessandro the first session was well attended with over 25 people showing up.  Last nights session at the Sports Centre had roughly 10-15 people attend to find out about the newly designed routes through town (the files are about 3MB so if you have a slower internet connection be warned) and the plans for the future.  Jan Mowbray, one of our current town councillors who is an advocate of transit in Milton, was also in attendance last night

There are two more sessions tonight (Thursday August 19th) and they will be held at the Milton Public Library (Beaty Branch on 4th line) from 2-4pm and Town Hall will host the final one from 7pm to 9pm.  If you have time, make sure you come out.  There will be lots of people from Milton Transit, the transit advisory committee and the company who runs the buses and they’ll love to answer any questions you may have.

As I brought up before here on the blog, I told Tony some of my concerns about each of the routes.  The routes that run through Hawthorne Village, while they cover the area very well, all revolve around the GO Station as the main hub.  For instance if someone from Ward 6 wanted to go downtown Milton to shop or eat would have to take the bus to the GO Station, transfer there (waiting approximately 10-15 minutes) and then take the bus to downtown.  Going through the schedule that trip would take roughly 30-35 minutes if everything is running on time.

The alternative is someone from Ward 6 getting into their car and driving downtown Milton which at non rush hour times takes roughly 10-15 minutes.  Where is the incentive from a time and convenience aspect for someone to say “I’ll take the bus instead of my car.”  Nothings perfect of course and the transit system is still in its infancy but these are concerns that are brought up at the door when speaking with voters.

These routes are constantly being reviewed and alternatives can be considered depending on usage.  Tony mentioned that ridership is up 15% since the new routes were put in place which sounds encouraging but I’d like to look at the numbers from a paid ridership point of view.

As our town continues to grow over the next several years, the need for a vibrant and efficient transit system is a must.  If we get the Wilfrid Laurier campus on the west end of town and as the Derry Green Corporate Business Park is developed there will be added pressure to ensure the transit system works, is efficient and able to meet the needs of the public.

I won’t be at the Transit meetings tonight as there is another public meeting at the Sports Centre about Milton Hydro’s proposal to install 2 vertical wind turbines in front of that same sports centre.  I was the first to bring up the meeting back in July and while I have been out at the doors the last few weeks, this issue has been on the mind of many voters.  They have concerns about how they will look, possible sound pollution and what benefit the Town of Milton will get from such a proposal.

There will be a presentation made followed up by a question and answer session where members of the public will have an opportunity to get answers.  Following this public meeting a report will be sent to council for review and approval.  I don’t know about the timing of the report and when the decision will be made, so it might be this council that makes that decision or it could be the next after Oct 25th.

I hope to see some of you out at tonight’s meeting and at the transit meetings later today.  This is an opportunity to have your say…so get out and speak.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

 

Ask & You Shall Receive

Mike Cluett

*QUICK UPDATE*  I’ve updated the IN THE NEWS section of the website with links to news articles that have covered my campaign and some updates on the “Milton TigerCats” situation.  Over the course of the next couple of days, I’ll be putting together a page on my site devoted to news, talk and updates on the TigerCats and their possible move to another location.

NOW..Just yesterday I posted about how nice it would be if we had some “connected” councillor from Milton to give us a status update on the AMO Conference.  Ask and you shall receive.

The Association of Municipalities in Ontario are holding their annual conference this week in Windsor and one of the major issues on the minds of Milton and Halton regional councillors is the expansion of the Milton Hospital.  In the Champion last week, some of the 5 councillors that are attending the conference made mention that they will be lobbying hard with provincial and fellow municipal representatives to see if we can get the ball rolling and raise awareness that Milton is in dire need of hospital expansion.

On the ever popular Milton forum, the Hawthorne Villager, Regional Councillor Colin Best posted an AMO update with some feedback on what the status in on their agenda items.

For anyone interested in the Association of Municipalities Conference I have a short update on the conference and our meetings with ministers and their staff.www.amo.on.ca

I am at the conference as a regional delegate along with Chair Carr and councillors from Oakville and Halton Hills.

On Monday we met with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing regarding the new official plan which still has to be approved by the province and various housing projects which Chair Carr and the delegation requested further help with seniors housing which is a real need throughout the region.

Next the delegation which included Donna Danielli our school board trustee met with the Minister of Education regarding the Best Start program, school construction regulations and surplus school sites which the Board, Towns and Region will be submitting a resolution to the Ministry soon regarding our concerns with delays in the process and having surplus school sites like the Laurier Avenue site in Milton kept as parkland for the neighbourhood.

The group which also includes Councillor Lunau the Town representative on the Halton Health Care board met with the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy regarding the funding for the hospital expansion which the Minister requested a detailed funding request from the board to fit into their 10 year capital plan a good sign as this Ministry has the lead role in allocating the billions of dollars of requests for provincial funding.

Next the group met with the Minister of Transport highlighting the need for funding and action on the #401 corridor, Tremaine Road interchange and GO transit upgrades as well as concerns over the proposed GTA west highway that may cross the middle of Halton Hills. The minister and staff indicated they would review our requests as part of the Big Move plan to improve GTA traffic and transit infrastructure.

Lastly on Monday we met with the Ministry staff of Correctional services requesting their support for the hospital expansion as at any one time Maplehurst residents account for 2-6% of the bed use at the hospital and they indicated they would raise the issue with the Ministry of Health.

On Tuesday the group met with the Minister of Health regarding the hospital expansion and she indicated that they would seriously consider the request as part of their 10 year capital plan based on Milton’s growth and needs for various services. Mayor Burton of Oakville also raised the request for turning the current Oakville-Trafalgar hospital into a long term care facility with would help relieve some of the pressure off all the halton hospitals as about 20% of the beds are currently used for chronic care use that would be more suitable in a long term care centre which the existing hospital would be suited for and this change in use has been done in other communities such as Guelph.

Lastly the group met with the Minister of Natural Resources and Chair Carr and Councillor Lewis of Halton Hills stated the groups concerns with quarry applications in the region and the affect on the community from quarry activities such as heavy truck traffic and the need to reform the existing royality payments from quarries to communities to maintain roads in the immediate area of quarries.

Throughout the conference there has been a number of sessions regarding energy efficiency, the new Green Act, municipal services and policies that I will be raising at the next Council meeting.

Sorry that this was a long post but it is a quick summary of over 3 hours of meetings which the mayor indicated was the most he has ever seen in 45 years of attending these conferences of behalf of Milton and Halton.

You can also see more details on the conference at the AMO website.

Colin Best
Local & regional councillor

Thanks for the update Colin.  Its much appreciated and we look forward to hopefully a few more over the course of the week.  There are a few more councillors there and hopefully they can provide their perspective on the AMO Conference.

Until the next update, I’ll see you at the doors.

AMO Status report

Mike Cluett

Keeping in tune with a previous article by Christina Commisso from the Milton Canadian Champion last week about elected officials and candidates being “online & connected” it made me wonder about the AMO conference that is going on this week.

She had also written an article about our 5 councillors who are attending the AMO Conference in Windsor this week.  She spoke with a number of them and they all mentioned they would be pushing for the expansion of Milton District Hospital.  You can read the article here.

Seeing how this is an important issue to many Milton residents it would be helpful if we got some updates from those councillors at the conference.  Problem is, we dont know whats going on.

Just imagine if they posted updates on Twitter for instance saying “discussing Milton hospital with provincial officials at the AMO Conference…things going well” or something to that affect.  Those of us who follow on Twitter or on the candidates/councillors websites can from the comfort of our home get an understanding of what is happening and the status of those talks.

I know that at least one of the attendees at this conference is on Twitter so hopefully they will get the message and let us know how things are going regarding the Milton hospital issue.

One of the most common concerns I am hearing at the doors during this campaign is making sure residents are kept up to date on issues that face Milton.  Does it have to be instantaneous?  Not at all.  But something is better than nothing.  My promise to you as your councillor after Oct 25th is to keep that flow of information going so that residents are kept in the loop. 

It doesnt take that long to post a 140 character message on Twitter or quickly update a website/blog so that people know their concerns are being looked after.  I know its summer and the last thing on the minds of many residents is politics but quick postings here and there can go a long way.

I look foward to the councilors report on this conference at the next council meeting and how discussions went with other municipalities about a united front to lobby the provincial government to allow the use of development charges to fund the local portion of the hospital and discussions with provincial officials that are there about the importance of and the need for expansion of Milton District Hospital.

Maybe a quick update from one of the attendees is in order.  I’ll keep checking Twitter and see.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

 

Are You Online?

Mike Cluett

That question seems to be coming up on a regular basis as I knock on doors in Ward 6 over the past several months.  Ever since late March I have taken the opportunity to go out to visit residents and speak with them directly.  Some I get a chance to spend some time with to discuss issues that are important to them.  Most however are very busy and just have a moment to exchange pleasantries and get back to what they were doing.

The most common question after I pass them some information on me is “Are you online?’  The reason why they ask this is so at a time more convenient they can go to their computer, Google you, and read up on what you stand for, and how connected you really are to the community.

In a recent article by Christina Commisso of the Milton Canadian Champion, she outlines a number of municipal candidates who have a strong online presence (yours truly included) and who are using it as an effective communication tool.

Back in 2003, there were hardly any candidates with an online presence.  If they did have a website, it was what I like to call an “info-page”  Basic information on who they are, maybe some issues and how to contact them.  While its a step in the right direction, they were only utilizing maybe 0.05% of the effectiveness of the Internet.

Fast forward now to 2010 and there are dozens of other online tools that can be used to get the message out, inform residents of whats going on, how it will affect them and provide voters with direct contact to the candidates and elected officials.

While being interviewed by Christina I joked with her that my blackberry (the bane of my existence according to my wife) was sitting close by and buzzing intermittently with messages from people, responses to Twitter & Facebook postings and phone calls.  I like to call it my “Virtual Campaign Headquarters”.

If you go to the Towns Election website and look at a list of candidates who are running, you will also find their contact information including websites, email, phone numbers etc.  Of the 30 candidates that are registered for various positions on Oct 25th, only 13 have websites.  That’s less than half of the people running who have an online presence in the community.

Now, of the 13 website, only 8 (mine included) are updated regularly and have a forum for voters to provide comments on issues that are posted.  Others are what I referred to earlier as “info sites”  This is not saying that of those candidates, they don’t utilize other ways online to communicate with voters.  Some use the very popular “HAWTHORNE VILLAGER” site and post online comments to issues that are brought up.  There are some overlap of those people, but if you take away The Villager, there are still a number of candidates who don’t have the all important online presence.

Back when I ran for local council in 2006, I was faced with a similar situation.  All of my opponents for ward 1 local council position didnt have any online presence outside of email.  It was that election I came short of winning by 92 votes.  The problem was voter turnout ended up being the lowest in Milton at 23.5%.

During that campaign I had promised to keep my website/blog updated on a regular basis and inform residents in Milton of what was going on at Town Council meetings, decisions that were being made, and my opinions of them.  While unsuccessful that year, for the past 4 years now I have continued to update and provide my opinions on issues that the town has faced over the last few years.  You can check out the Archives section of my site and see every post and every comment since that campaign.

Over the last few years I have noticed others in town, mainly in the Hawthorne Village area starting up similar sites to accomplish what I had tried to start…a dialogue with Milton residents.  Many of those people are also seeking positions on town council.  Is it a movement?  Well, maybe not yet but its a start.  More and more Miltonians are going to the Internet to get their information and seek answers to questions they have.

Not all questions can be answered face to face during election campaigns and voters look to other sources to find out whats going on and how it will affect them.  This is why an online presence is so important.

Will it replace the door to door / face to face contact?  Absolutely not.  In fact just being online won’t make a difference.  An online presence only coupled with direct voter contact is the way of the future.  The way things have been done in the past is once you’re elected, you attend community events as a way of being “seen” in the public eye.  You do your job to the best of your ability and when it comes time for the next election, you go back out and knock on a few doors.

Welcome to 2010!  I am the only candidate who has made it part of my platform and promise to voters that I will continue to knock on doors in between election campaigns and not just during them.  Many comments I have received from voters so far is “why are you starting so early?”

I told them that this is what they should expect from me as their elected official.  Not just waiting until an election is near to be seen talking to people, but on a regular basis.  As Ive mentioned before there are a number of issues coming down the pike that WILL change how Milton looks and feels in the next 4 years.  From the intensification of Main Street (that will change the look of Downtown Milton forever), to the approval of the Boyne Survey (that will add another 55,000 + residents to Milton), to the hopeful expansion of Milton District Hospital and how we will fund it, and to major road construction on Main Street…these are important issues that need to be addressed.

Over the next few years there will be a number of public meetings that you can attend to tell council how you feel.  But how will you find out about them?  The local paper is one way and if youre close enough to the changes you might get a notice from the Town of Milton.  Other than that, you might miss your opportunity.

As your councillor I will “take to the streets” so to speak and solicit input directly from you. You can come to my website www.mikecluett.caand I will have a list of public meetings that are coming up so you can put them into your schedule and attend.  If you cant attend, you will have an opportunity to email/call/Tweet me and let me know what you want to say and I can be your voice.

When I ask people if they voted in the last election, many people shrug their shoulders and say they don’t know, or they didn’t have time, or they just didn’t know what was going on.  I want to change that…a little at a time.  Do I expect a flood of voters this year?  I hope so, but realistically change like this will take time.

Part of my job as your councillor will be to help change your opinion of your local representatives from “I dont know who they are” to “I know who my councillor is and he’s working for me.”

Here is a link to the article in the Champion and let me know what you think.  Send me an email, follow me on my Twitter page, become a “Fan” on Facebook or post a comment here.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

Update On New Lights & Kudos

Mike Cluett

I haven’t been able to get official confirmation from the Town of Milton on the exact start date, but as per my previous post on NEW LIGHTS COMING it looks like work has started.

They were trying to get these lights installed and running by the end of July, but as projects go I guess there have been delays.  By adding lights at Clark & Thompson Road it should help regulate the flow of traffic and hopefully help slow down drivers heading north or south on Thompson.

The area of main concern on this street for me is still the intersection of Thompson Road and Louis St Laurent.  I know that work on LSL heading towards 25 is nearing completion but something needs to be done fast in that area.

Residents are taking their lives in their hands as they try to cross from either side of Thompson when traffic is going.  People in ward 7 wanting to walk to the Metro mall run the risk of crossing several lanes of traffic in an area that doesn’t have a lot of lighting.  There are also a number of residents in ward 6 that I have heard from while knocking on doors who are also concerned about that area.

Many of the ward 6 residents say they have to take their cars to drive across Thompson Road to use the park, instead of their preferred choice of walking or taking the kids strollers.  The Town of Milton spends money promoting physical activity and the benefits of an active lifestyle but yet in this area, that option isn’t available and there’s nothing helping them do this safely.

Drivers coming north on Thompson Road (80km/hr zone) dont slow down as much as they should when entering the 60km/hr zone north of LSL and there is the risk.

Once I get official confirmation and an approximate finish date for the new lights at Thompson Road and Clark Blvd, I’ll update the blog right away.

I also wanted to recognize some good work by town staff as well.  Myprevious entry informing residents of the potential road closure of 4Th Line from LSL to Britannia garnered a lot of email response and responses on the Hawthorne Villager as well.

The Town of Milton issued a notice on their website informing Miltonians that from September 2010 to December 2010, 4Th line will be closed to traffic  to allow the Region of Halton to install a much needed water main.

At this point James Snow Parkway from LSL to Britannia is almost complete and it wouldn’t make any sense whatsoever if 4Th line is closed before that stretch of road is opened.

In response to my blog, Heide from the Town of Milton sent me an email last night around 10PM informing me of this.

From: “Heide Schlegl” <heide.schlegl@milton.ca>

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:03:21 -0400

To: <mike@mikecluett.ca>

Subject: Fourth Line Closure

Mike:

Just to let you know Fourth Line won’t be closed until the lights at James Snow Parkway and Britannia Road are functioning. Therefore the closure of Fourth Line may not commence exactly on September 1, it may be delayed by a week or so.

Heide

I just wanted to publicly acknowledge Heide in getting back to me so quickly.  She could have very well waited until Monday morning to send me that but she took it upon herself to let me know right away.  To me it shows dedication to her job and the quality of people we have working at Town Hall.  Sometimes they get bashed when they shouldn’t.  Thanks Heide.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.