What’s Wrong With Rota’s Open Air Weekends 2021 Post Report?

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Commentary by Linda Saxon

edited: this was sent to members of council on November 21, prior to the November 22 meeting

Aside from the spelling and grammatical errors, and the ‘boots on the ground’ reference, I have some concerns regarding Anne Rota’s recommendation that council approve the 2022 Open Air weekend in principle.

Will the Town of Amherstburg discriminate against persons with disabilities?

The report notes 50 downtown employee parking permits were not used to full capacity at times, but the same amenity would be offered in 2022.

Yet, administration noted the accessible parking lot at the Kings Navy Yard Park (KNYP) was under-utilized and Administration recommends those spaces be reduced to two.

I fail to see the rationale for the differentiation.

Public Consultation Is Mandatory

Mayor DiCarlo previously advised only 1 person with a disability was consulted.

Pursuant to provincial legislation, the Town of Amherstburg is obliged to consult the public and persons with disabilities, as well as its Accessibility Advisory Committee on the need, location and design of accessible on-street parking spaces.

According to the report, Administration would recommend the addition of 3 accessible parking spaces at the other 3 entrances and mentions future consultation with only the Accessibility Advisory Committee.

The arbitrary placement of accessible parking spaces, especially in a distant perimeter, is unacceptable, as are accessible spaces that cannot be accessed due to road closures.

While the report includes the total number of parking spaces, there are no locations listed, no percentages of accessible spaces stated, and no types of accessible spaces mentioned.

Economic Development was the primary objective of Open Air weekends.

Rota states, “By using the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries; Regional Visitor Profiles figures indicated that; A one day spend of a tourist is $79 p.p. and overnight spend of a tourist (40km+) is $244 p.p. We can then conclude the following of Open Air Weekends 2021:

Total # of visitors 64,310
Day visitors 52,091 (81%) spends $ 79 p.p. per day for a total of $4,115,189

Overnight visitor (19%) 12,219 spends $244 p.p. per day for a total of 2,981,436

Total visitor spending $7,096,625.”

However, the Ministry’s regional figures are based on Region 1: southwestern Ontario, which includes the municipalities in the Windsor, Essex, Lambton, Elgin, Middlesex and Haldimand Norfolk areas. (see map here: http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/images/regions_maps/Region01.pdf and below)

Additionally, the statistics are based on pre-COVID 2018 data – prior to restrictions.

Therefore, the conclusion regarding tourist spending for Open Air 2021 is flawed.

map of region 1 southwestern Ontario tourist area

Financial Matters

The proposed budget is generalized with no line-by-line details. As a taxpayer, and in the spirit of accountability and transparency, a detailed request for approval is warranted.

Risk Analysis

In my opinion, Council should not approve this report in principle; it is flawed and contains proposals that are contrary to provincial legislation and fiscal responsibility.

Key Municipal Election Dates 2022

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The AMCTO has developed the Municipal Elections Calendar.

Key dates include:

May 2 Nomination and registration periods begin. 

September 24 First possible day to hold an advance vote.

October 23 Last day to make the Accessibility Plan (regarding the identification, removal and prevention of barriers that affect electors and candidates with disabilities) available to the public. 

Note: It is beneficial to post the plan prior to this date, especially ahead of advance voting dates.

October 24 Voting Day

The Burg Watch is 10 Years Old

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Ten years ago, the burg watch was the first site to create a permanent record of council’s performance as a reminder to voters heading to polls.

In 2011, and again in 2018, posts were about council’s and JPAC’s contraventions of the Municipal Act and the Ombudsman Reports regarding in camera meetings, flip flops and a lack of commitment to accessibility.

In 2014, the burg watch provided an historic opportunity for residents to question the candidates directly.

Not being a ‘local,’ the burg watch provides a unique perspective – one that has no affiliations and is not visceral like some of the sites that have since popped up.

Thank you to those who follow and stay connected.

Amherstburg Fire Department Website Issues

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Privacy and Accessibility are two concerns when using the Amherstburg Fire Department website.

Privacy

The site lacks a Notice of Collection and use of personal information.

Section 29(2) of the provincial MFIPPA Act state that when collecting personal information, unless an exception applies, an institution must provide the individual to whom the personal information relates with notice which includes specific details on the following three requirements:

    • the legal authority for the collection;
    • the principle purpose(s) for which the personal information is intended to be used;
    • the title, business address and telephone number of a person employed by the institution who can answer questions about the collection.

In response to a concern that personal information was shared with unaffected parties, Fire Chief Montone stated, “When you make an inquiry to my office, I have always, and will always include members of my staff and the corporation I represent who are very aware of the confidentiality and sensitivity required and expected…”

Accessibility

As for accessibility issues, Aaron Peterson, Web & Print Boutique responded, “The website passed WCAG Level AA when we built it.”

Paula Parker and John Miceli mentioned third party vendors at a September 14, 2020 council meeting, In response to a request for a list of vendors Ms. Parker stated, while this review is underway and not yet complete, I cannot at this time provide a thorough list.  A report is expected to be available in 2021 with suggestions from Administration for efficiencies in service delivery and a streamlined approach to web content delivery.”

An FOI request on the matter is outstanding.

Thrive Amherstburg Wants Open Air To Continue And More Money Spent On It

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Thrive! Amherstburg will present its white paper on Open Air to council at its Tuesday, October 12 meeting.

The group recommends:

  1.  Continue with Open Air in 2022
  2.  Invest at least an additional $20,500 in new programming in 2022

Some municipalities closed their downtown to support retail operations and specifically did not include entertainment or additional costs to the taxpayers.

Amherstburg Fire Chief Montone Discloses Open Air Assessment

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Following an online request, Amherstburg Fire Chief Bruce Montone did not think 5 business days was an unreasonable amount of time and disclosed:

open air assessment;

Events – afd a document that is provided on occasion to event organizers should they require additional guidance.

There are no specific dates for the original 2020 or the 2021 review.

Paula Parker Spent Her Career Focused On Increasing Accountability and Transparency

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On Friday, October 1, 2021, The Town of Kingsville was happy to announce that Paula Parker will join the Town’s administrative team as its new Clerk.

Along with acknowledging her experience and education, the news included, “Paula has spent her career focused on increasing accountability and transparency and ensuring corporate compliance with many pieces of legislation.”