hawthorne villager

Door Knocking Notes & School Board Trustees

Mike Cluett

I had a great time knocking on doors last night near 4th Line & Louis St Laurent and meeting up with regular readers of my blog, like Andre (Thanks for reading!)

If you were going through that intersection last night, you know they are doing some repair work finally because going through the stop sign almost felt like an off road course.  The kids love it by the way, but its not good on the suspension of the car.

Many of the people I spoke with were looking for updates on when the high school would begin construction and I’ll be sending Donna Danielli an email today to find out.  Donna is our Public School Board Trustee who has worked very hard over the last 4 years. 

With this election comes a change in the number of trustees for Milton.  There are now 2 positions open for the October election, one for the “southern” wards 1,6,7 & 8 and the other for the” northern” wards of 2,3,4 & 5.  This will provide them with more of an opportunity to concentrate their focus on a smaller area instead of the town as a whole.

School board trustees are often overlooked as a “minor” position and are not given the due they deserve.  Hours upon hours of work are put into this job with almost very little recognition.  I know from experience dealing with a number of trustees that this position is anything but “minor”  It takes dedication and a lot of hard work to do what they do and to help ensure that as the town grows, so do the opportunities for our education system.

This election as you choose who you want to support for Regional Chair, Mayor, Regional Council, and Local Council (thats me!), take some time and research who you want to be your public and catholic school board trustee.

If you live in wards 2,3,4 &5 drop Donna a note as shes running for re-election at the public school board level.  Tell her I sent you.

The evenings are becoming more comfortable for strolls (and door knocking) and Im looking to do some more tonight and later on this week.  I hope to see you at the doors.

*edit*  Thanks to Gary for letting me know I had the wards Donna was running in listed incorrectly.

Not Much Budget Talk

Mike Cluett

Last nights council meeting had a number of items on the agenda.  In fact some of the people in the gallery were placing bets on when it would end.  I had predicted 11:50PM but I was about 20 minutes off.

One of the highly anticipated items on the agenda was the 2011 Budget Call Report which outlined staffs recommendations or reasons why the town needs to increase the mill rate by 6.91% in 2011.  There are a number of factors why the increase is “needed’ including the costs for the new Arts & Entertainment centre, Milton Sports Centre among other items.  I blogged on this the other day and you can see that post here.

You will find the Budget Call Report on the Town’s website here.  Its 33 pages long and not the most interesting reading, but its important to understand where the town is coming from when it tries to justify such a large increase in property taxes.

There were a few delegations to the meeting but most of the discussion was on traffic calming zones near schools and a number of questions from Councillor Paul Scherer.  Some delegates proposed that the town propose a zero per cent increase for 2011, given the fact that Milton residents will not be able to afford it.

As the town grows, so will the demands on services they provide and as new facilities come online, there are additional pressures to staff them, electricity, heating and maintenance that will increase costs.  I have stated before that the tax increase shouldn’t be more than the rate of inflation if at all possible.  A zero per cent increase should be the goal, but anything higher than the inflation rate would be deemed unacceptable.  When the budget meetings begin in December, the starting point should be zero, instead of working from a higher number and then work from there.

Outside of that, there wasn’t much discussion on the numbers included in the report.  The dynamics of this council are now much different as they will now be referred to as “lame duck council”  This happens when they are nearing the end of their term on council before an election and they are quite limited in the decisions they can make coming up to the new council being sworn in.

There could have been a little more discussion and questions of staff as to this report but it seems that most were content to deal with it after the election.  Most of the incumbents are running again for either the same or different positions (local vs regional council) and outside of a few new members (hopefully including yours truly) most will be there in December.

Over the next few weeks, I hope that I could get some input from you on what your thoughts are about the proposed increases.  Shortly after the new council is sworn in, there will be a series of meetings to approve the 2011 budget and I want to make sure I am armed with questions and comments from the voters in my ward AND in the Town of Milton.

Post a comment here on the thread or send me an email mike@mikecluett.cawith your questions and if I am elected on October 25th, I will bring them to council during the budget approval meetings.  Over the course of the next several weeks, I will also endeavour to have meet & greets around the ward to sit down with you as well.  If you would like to host one of these events, please let me know.

Only by getting direct input from voters will council have the right priorities in mind when it comes to approving what will be a very important budget setting a course for the town of Milton in the coming years.

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

Lawn Signs Will Be Ready Soon

Mike Cluett

I have been getting a number of emails recently from people who are looking for lawn signs.  As a candidate I find this very encouraging because it means people are engaged and interested in what is going on. 

As I talked about yesterday, town council tonight will be considering a report from staff that recommends a potential, stress potential, increase in the mil rate by 6.91% for the 2011 budget year.

Nothing is written in stone as that decision is made (by the new council) in the December budget meetings.  This is a time where council makes comments and asks for further information and to give staff direction on where they would like it go.

Needless to say tonight’s council meeting should go long with the majority of council members now registered to run in the election.  I hope to hear so positive comments tonight and maybe we can hear from council that 6.91% increase is unacceptable.  There are some questions on how they arrived at this number and staff will also be making a presentation tonight.

Stay tuned to my Twitter for updates.  If you haven’t been following yet, click on my Twitter feed on my home page and send me messages on how the night progresses.

I know staff is looking at the costs involved in streaming the meetings online through www.milton.ca and this is one of those meetings I know would get a lot of interest from taxpayers.  If you can make it, bring a lunch and head down to Town Hall.  The meeting starts at 7:30pm.

If you would like to be put on the list for a lawn sign, email me mike@mikecluett.ca or leave a comment in this post and when they are ready, I’ll have one put on your front lawn.

Thank you very much for your support!  Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

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.