ward 6

Getting Oriented

Mike Cluett

Last night was the first of many orientation meetings for the members of Milton Town Council.  With the sheer number of “new” councillors around the table the orientations have been split up so that our heads don’t spin off of our bodies.  Good luck with that.

I have to thank Milton Town staff for putting on these meetings and as someone who is somewhat familiar with the breakdown of the departments and what they do, it was still a good refresher filled with many “ah-ha’s” throughout the night.  I’m really looking forward to more of these sessions so that when the council is inaugurated on December 6th, we can hit the ground running.

There are some members of council who were re-elected and what we referred to as “recycled” at the meeting and they will be a great source of information to help us “newbies” get on track.  There is a lot to do in the coming weeks and many more pieces of paper to digest but its a challenge we are all looking forward to.

There are a lot of decisions to make before we get started and council members have to decide which sub committees they would like to sit on, from transit to trails to accessibility to economic development there are many to choose from.  These committees will be populated not only by councillors but members of the public as well.  Citizens are encouraged to apply for the open positions that are available on these committees and you can find a list of them on the Town of Milton’s website Please take a look at the list of boards and committes, see what you would like to apply for, and send your infomration in.  Again…we want your input!

Here are just a few of those boards/committees to consider:

There are also a few training courses put on by AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) that new councillors and “older” ones are encouraged to attend.  Then…the forms.  Lots of forms.  But that’s just par for the course.

I was also reminded last night that the first meeting of a new residents group took place (of which I will get an update on what happened) and that encourages me that we can have more involvement of the community in town affairs.  I, along with many of my counterparts during the election campaign, made commitments that we would do what we could to keep you engaged in the process and look for feedback and ideas as well.  This residents group will be a good start.  Thanks to Steve and Annie and many others who got the ball rolling on this and I know that it will be successful.  I will also do my part in helping out, so that way we can all do our best to make Milton a better place.

So my head goes back into the books, so to speak, but I hope that we can continue our dialogue started many years ago now and people will get involved in that conversation.  Only with your help can we do this.

As always, you can email me mike@mikecluett.ca or call me by going to my Contact page (yes that is my home phone number 🙂 ) and I will do my best to answer any questions or concerns you might have.

I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running and I hope you join me on this journey.

Remembrance Day Parade

Mike Cluett

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a parade.  Hundreds of Miltonians thought so as well as Pat, Anthony and Miranda joined the crowd around the cenotaph by Milton Town Hall to celebrate and remember our fallen soldiers, the ones still serving and also those who have come back from combat.

It was great to see so many people come out to salute our veterans in this annual event.  Anthony made his way closer to the cenotaph so he could catch everything that was going on.  He’s quite proud of the fact he is taking part in his schools Remembrance Day ceremonies on Thursday and has been working hard getting his lines just right.  I couldn’t miss his face as he watched the parade make its way to the cenotaph when the members of the Royal Canadian Legion Milton Branch, Rotary Club, The Knights of Columbus and other organizations lined up on Charles Street to make their way up Main Street towards Victoria Park.

People lined Main Street and broke out into applause as our veterans lead the parade to the sounds of pipes and drums while kids stopped and saluted them.  The Army and Air Cadets were also in the parade followed by a troop of Beavers, Girl Guides and Scouts.

One of the most moving parts of the ceremony is when they read off the names of Miltonians who have fought and died for our country.  Someone remarked near me that they were blown away by the shear number of people that came from Milton who served our country and didn’t come back.

Martin Capper was there as well and put up some video on YouTube of the event and thanks to Jennifer who took the quick snapshot of yours truly as well.

This coming Thursday you can also join the veterans at Milton Evergreen Cemetery on Ontario Street (near EC Drury School) from 1045AM to about 1130AM for the official ceremonies on Remembrance Day.

Lest we forget.

 

Momentum is building

Mike Cluett

With only a few days left in the campaign, I have a good feeling that the momentum is building.

When either myself or one of my campaign team knocks on a door, many know who I am, what I stand for, what I have done over the last few years and what I will do for them if elected.  If comments received at the door are any indication we should have a good turnout on the 25th.

Every moment counts now up until the polls open on Monday and I am spending as much time as possible knocking on doors speaking with as many ward 6 residents as I can.  Chilly nights (and they have been chilly) don’t stop me because its important to reach as many people as I can to hear what your thoughts are in the direction of Milton, the plan I’ve put forth and what we can do together to improve the quality of life in Milton.

If you haven’t made your decision yet, please take some time to review my “WHY MIKE” section, watch the videos of the Thanksgiving Debate, my Milton Today TV interview and my TV Cogeco statement.  Call or email me if you have any questions at all because I’m interested in what you have to say.

With so many changes happening in Milton over the next few years and beyond, its important that you have a say on the representative sent to council to speak for you.  I have been in this campaign from the beginning and over the spring and summer, I have knocked on doors to find out what you have to say.  My decision to run for this position wasn’t made at the last second…its been constant.  My service to Milton didn’t begin the day my name went on a ballot…its been constant.  And it will continue to be constant after October 25th.  Its important that you vote.

Three more days remain until the polls open at 10am Monday so until then, I hope to see you at the doors.

On The Right Track

Mike Cluett

An election  campaign can be a very busy time in a candidates life and times a very quiet time in a candidates life.

For hours on end, a candidate can knock on doors to speak with the voters in their ward, passing out information on who they are, what they stand for and what they feel the issues are in the area.  Many of you tell me what you think as well and that dialogue is important.  For some though who haven’t yet made a decision on who they will be supporting on October 25th, some reply with I’ll have a look and see.

What I find the most satisfying are the emails I receive from Ward 6 voters letting me know I am on the right track.  In the last 48 hours, I have received dozens of emails from you in the ward saying they watched the Milton Today TV debates from Sunday, either live or on demand (see my home page for the links) and they support what I’m talking about for the future of Milton.

Here are just some excerpts:

From Gilles:

“I’ve had the opportunity to speak with you at my home and listen to you speak during the Thanksgiving debate and you have my vote on October 25, 2010”

From Morgan:

“Just saw the debate online.  You did very well, and your rationale regarding the health care situation was excellent!  On all questions, I’m glad to see that you focused on your values and what you would bring to the table.  Good job, keep it up!”

The health care situation he speaks of is obviously the hospital expansion and what the Town of Milton can do to speed up the process.  My opponent asked me directly why Im “against the provincial government” on this.  The answer is quite clear.  We cant move forward as a town on the expansion of Milton Hospital until we know if the province of Ontario approves it.  THEN we can work towards plans, diagrams, money needed for local portion and everything else that comes with it.

NOTHING can happen until the provincial government gets “off its duff” (my words from the debate) and approves Milton, the fastest growing community in Canada, so we can get started.  No matter what the expansion looks like, we need to know.  We needed to know years ago, but they dragged their heels and they havent made Milton the priority it should be when it comes to the delivery of health care services in our area.

Thanks to everyone who has emailed me during this campaign and your words of support and encouragment are uplifting to say the least.  Nothing motivates me more to continue to knock on doors and speak with as many of you as I can before October 25th.  You can email me as always, mike@mikecluett.caor click on the Contact Mike section of the site.  I look forward to speaking with as many of you as I can before the 25th.

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

All Candidates Meetings

Mike Cluett

Yesterday was quite the busy day for many of the candidates for Milton Town Council.

In the first meeting, 32 candidates lined up along several tables to speak about seniors issues in the Town of Milton and what can be done by council to help improve the quality of life for what I called the ‘builders” of our community.

As many candidates have stated over the course of the campaign, my wife and I  were first drawn to Milton by its sense of community spirit, openness and warmth from the people in town.  That doesn’t happen by accident or overnight.

That sense of community is built by the people who have lived here long before we were Miltonians and many of those people are the seniors in town.  They may not have built the town in a bricks and roads sense, but they are the ones who have and continue to bring that sense of  community spirit.

A lot of ideas were shared and there was almost unanimous agreement from everyone around the table that our seniors need to be heard and action taken on a lot of their concerns.  From the Bruce Street Library to what we can do about long term care and hospital services topped the agenda.

Then after a quick dinner break with the family, I headed back to the seniors activity centre for another all candidates meeting, this time specifically for wards 1, 6, 7 & 8.  The turnout was lower than expected but from some of the comments I heard, they liked our “informal” style of speeches.  Each candidate was given 10 minutes to talk about themselves, their platform and other issues raised by posters on the Hawthorne Villager forum.

It was great to meet some new people and get an idea of other issues they face outside of the “top” ones most candidates talk about.

I spoke about my platform of responsible financial management, neighbourhood safety and accountability.  Other topics discussed ranged from hospital expansion, infrastructure development, Milton Education Village as well as the Derry Green Corporate Business Park. 

One of the funniest stories came from Brian Penman, candidate for Regional Council Wards 1, 6, 7 & 8 back when he was first elected as councillor.  He got a call from a constituent who reported a horse running around the intersection of Derry Road and 9th Line (you have to imagine what that area looked like 30 years ago…nothing like it is now.)  He jumped in his truck and headed down to “solve the problem”. 

When he got there he spoke with a police officer who asked “Who are you?”  With pride and chest puffed out, Brian mentioned that he was the councillor for the area.  The officer then smacked the horse and moved it over to the Milton town limits and said, “Well, now its your problem!” and drove off.  LOTS of laughter in the crowd with that story.

All in all, it was a good meeting with some interesting discussion afterwards with voters from all wards and we did get a chance to clarify our stance on certain issues.  Many thanks to Steve and Kelly who organized the event, brought snacks for everyone and accepted Food Bank donations as well.  My donations went to the Food Bank the day before through Miranda’s daycare so it all went to the same place.

I have some new brochures made and I will be sending them out to as many homes as possible over the next 3 weeks as the election day approaches.  Remember that there are also a number of opportunities to vote, if you cant make it on election day so keep that in mind and get out to vote.

I look forward to speaking with more of you and I invite you to ask me any questions at all through this site, or my email mike@mikecluett.ca

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

Proud Day for Tiger Jeet Singh & Milton

Mike Cluett

 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the open house of the brand new Tiger Jeet Singh Public School on Yates Drive.  I was there on behalf of the Milton Community Policing Committee to hand out information to parents, teachers and students about community safety in the area.  Click on the link if you would like more information on the committee and what we do in the community.

In front of a packed auditorium, Principal Rick Nodwell (formerly of Chris Hadfield Public School) announced the “team” as he called it of teachers that will shape the minds of young students at the new facility.  Tiger Jeet Singh, his wife, Tiger Ali Singh (in crutches…get well soon!) and other members of the family were front and centre, beaming with pride as Rick made the introductions.

Similar to a rockstar, Tiger Jeet Singh made his entrance into the room followed by kids eager to say hello, shake his hand and ask him questions.  He made sure he stayed around for every autograph, picture and high five.  A reporter from Japan was actually flown in to cover this occasion, which goes to show the impact they have made internationally.

Its a great acomplishment for the family and they are very much a part of the school.  Just recently they presented the Milton District Hospital a cheque for $35,000 raised at Tigerfest 2010 this past summer.

The official opening of the school will be on October 22nd and look to the sky that day for a special event (I dont want to give it away)

Congratulations once again to Tiger for this great honour and thank you for being a part of the Milton community.