Tag Archives: amherstburg

Procedural By-law Status Unknown

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Commentary by Linda Saxon

This was written in response to Anthony Leardi’s comments in his RTT Guest Column November 5, 2014.

I do not believe the issue is the Mayor’s postponement of meetings since the council approved procedural by-law clause provides him with the authority to do so; that is not a loophole.

And yes, ‘everyone still gets a pay cheque’ because of his or her salaried positions, elected or otherwise, regardless of how many meetings were held or cancelled.

As for the lawyer being called, council was free to accept or reject his advice.

Since the clerk did not adhere to the mandatory clause to call a meeting according to both the Municipal Act and the procedural by-law, the issue is why council allowed the non-compliance and what, if any, action it took as a result.

A new procedural by-law was to have been approved back in August but due to a lengthy meeting, there was a motion to defer the report and by-law to September 8, although it was not included on that agenda.

There was no notice to the public regarding the draft Procedural By-law because apparently there is no requirement for notice.

Regardless, I submitted my comprehensive review to members of council on September 7.

On October 7, I requested the status on my procedural by-law submission that no one had responded to.

On October 20, I submitted my review to the clerk, who acknowledged that it would be added to the next scheduled meeting, which I assumed was November 3 as a result of the petition.

The 2008 Procedural By-law has not changed in six years, so why the current council would approve a new one defies logic.

Hopefully, the new council will examine job descriptions, areas of responsibility, codes of conduct and actually be transparent and accountable.

The True Cost of Police Body Worn Cameras

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Finally, the true technology related cost of the cameras is revealed, as reported in Hamilton News:

“Ferguson’s comments followed a presentation on the cameras made to the board on Monday by police staff that indicated the cost to introduce them could be about $3.8 million in the first year and total approximately $14.8 million over five years. The costing includes hardware, storage infrastructure, software and staffing. Based on a five-year lifespan for the hardware, the initial investment would reoccur at the end of the fifth year.

The presentation also highlighted various legislation and privacy issues that would need to be addressed if officers were to wear the cameras that can record video and audio.”

Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau wants no part of officers wearing body-worn cameras and questioned the cost.

Amherstburg Police is scheduled to conclude its study by the end of 2014 and select a body worn camera for patrol officers or shelve the project if not feasible for APS needs.

Hard to imagine this technology is feasible and affordable in Amherstburg when large services dismiss it due to high costs, including the cost of transcription to submit evidence in court.

the burg watch is 3 years old

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Three years ago, the burg watch began chronicling how well the Mayor, Councillors, and staff performed; it was intended to be a reference for voters heading to the polls who would be inundated with campaign material.

In November 2011, the burg watch blogged about:

Amherstburg’s Mayor Wayne Hurst’s mention in a MACLEANS Magazine article, “Canada’s Lousy Mayors;”

Council’s contravention of the Municipal Act following the Ombudsman Review Of Closed Meeting;

Difficulty with navigating the town’s web site, after having pointed out issues since 2002;

Council’s flip flops on:

  • its decision to allow a man convicted of sex crimes to purchase naming rights at the town’s new arena
  • the decision to install railings at the United Communities Credit Union Complex, which was expected to lose $895,000 by the end of December 2011
  • the recommendation to hire an engineer to investigate what caused more than 500 homes to flood during a severe storm in August.

Today, some issues remain unaddressed but there is a new council and hopefully, a new era in municipal politics. Not only has administration been uncivil and unwilling to provide access to information, but there has been an unprecedented amount of criticism directed toward those community residents who have exercised their democratic rights.

the burg watch has also received criticism for informing the public of certain issues and was threatened with legal action, but it will continue in the spirit of freedom of expression.

Amherstburg Has No Accessible Taxis

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Commentary by Linda Saxon

Any commentaries on this blog pertaining to a lack of accessibility in Amherstburg or anywhere else contain my personal opinion and not that as Chair of the Essex County Accessibility Advisory Committee.

I telephoned South Shore Taxi yesterday to inquire if they had any accessible taxis; the answer was “no.” The response to my question, “why not?” was “we just don’t” which was followed by a hearty laugh and the suggestion that I would have to speak to the owner.

Not having accessible taxis is not funny; I would also mention that the website has accessibility issues.

Part of Question 29 to the candidates relative to accessibility issues that I raised was, “Will you commit to specific plans to ensure fully accessible public transit and taxi services in your community?”

For the most part, the position was that taxis are private enterprise and should therefore not be interfered with.

However, ONTARIO REGULATION 191/11 made under the ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, 2005, sets out Duties of Municipalities in sections 78, 79, 80.

Duties of municipalities, accessible taxicabs
79.  (1)  Every municipality shall consult with its municipal accessibility advisory committee, where one has been established in accordance with subsection 29 (1) or (2) of the Act, the public and persons with disabilities to determine the proportion of on-demand accessible taxicabs required in the community.

(2)  Every municipality shall identify progress made toward meeting the need for on-demand accessible taxicabs, including any steps that will be taken to meet the need, in its accessibility plan required under Part I.

(3)  Municipalities shall meet the requirements of this section by January 1, 2013.

(4)  In this section,

“accessible taxicab” means an accessible taxicab as defined in section 1 of Regulation 629 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 (Vehicles for the Transportation of Physically Disabled Persons) made under the Highway Traffic Act.

I do not recall a public meeting ever having been held nor can I find any reference in the town’s accessibility plan.

New Deputy Chief To Start In April

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Commentary by Linda Saxon

Just like the hiring of the new CAO by the outgoing council, the outgoing police services board introduced a new deputy chief, who will assume the role April 1, 2015.

Berthiaume is quoted in the RTT article, “I think the community will learn to love and respect him like I already do.”  

Let’s hope we’re not seeing another two salaries for one position situation. According to The Windsor Star, Berthiaume originally stated, “We want to start the process and identify the successful candidate before the year’s end because we want to have an overlap between the two deputies for a short period of time.”

I’m somewhat surprised, given the historic emphasis on the ‘locals’ that an ‘outsider’ has been hired and an OPP member at that.

According to an Amherstburg Echo article about Berthiaume’s and Palumbo’s respective promotions, Hurst commented, “We have two home-grown individuals that will holding the two highest offices for the police department in Amherstburg.” Sutton also noted that Berthiaume and Palumbo are Amherstburg natives and said it was a “great day” to promote local men to lead the force.

For the fact checkers: Amherstburg is not the safest community – Barrie is the safest city in Canada, says crime rate stats

the burg watch poll most accurate prediction

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the burg watch poll most accurately predicted what the voters wanted with 4 of the 5 Councillors elected in the top 5 spots.

theburgwatch poll results:

DiCarlo, Aldo 46.69%  (113 votes) 

DiPasquale, Bart 66.36%  (142 votes)

Pouget, Diane 16.81%  (138 votes)
Lavigne, Jason 13.15%  (108 votes)
Meloche, Leo 8.04%  (66 votes)
Fryer, Rick 7.55%  (62 votes)
Renaud, Marc 6.46%  (53 votes)
Courtney, Joan 5.6%  (46 votes)

Aldo DiCarlo Elected Mayor

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Congratulations to our new Mayor, Aldo DiCarlo, elected according to CTV news.

AMHERSTBURG MAYOR

CANDIDATE VOTES VOTE % STATUS
DiCarlo, Aldo 3,396 52.9 Elected
Sutherland, Ron 1,673 26.1 –
Sutton, John 907 14.1 –
Adler, Marty 445 6.9 –
VOTES: 6,421 / 16,276 = 39.5%     POLLS: 84.6%