Tag Archives: news

The Burg Watch Is 14 years old

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In 2011, right after the 2010 election, I became Amherstburg’s first local blogger. Having a record to review to make more informed decisions about future candidates was my goal.

I was also the first one to facilitate questions to the candidates, for which I endured threat of legal action and harassment.

Some candidates ignored me while others were happy to answer. Even though I allowed for generous deadlines, one claimed she couldn’t meet it. Funny how she posted about 45 tweets in the same time frame; I discovered just how nasty some people are.

Another candidate was nasty when I shared my observations of what appeared to be a slate. (I’m sure there will be more commonalities among candidates in 2026. The facts are not my opinion).

As a person with disabilities, and an advocate, I let candidates know about their inaccessible campaigns. Anyone excluding a marginalized community, while hypocritically campaigning to represent everyone, wouldn’t get my vote. Attitudinal barriers are obvious.

In 2014, the three candidates who created websites had accessibility issues. In 2022 more candidates used social media yet didn’t provide accessible information, even after I pointed it out to them and after they received information about conducting accessible campaigns. Lori Wightman’s website had accessibility issues in 2018 and 2022. 

Noteworthy about the 2022-2026 council:

  • the more restrictive procedural by-law limiting citizen participation; delegates can only speak to an issue that’s listed on the agenda and if it’s accompanied by an admin report or a by-law.
  • Councillor Crain and Deputy Mayor Gibb voted a couple of times against audience members speaking to council.
  • the amount of time some council members spend on self promotion while ignoring emails from residents.
  • failing to meet the January 1, 2025 AODA deadline.
  • no decision on an inaccessible town hall.
  • claims of inaccessibility at the library without accountability for statements (Councillors McArthur and Allaire).
  • pickleball – almost $500,000.00 June 2023: ‘The motion has passed now the thorny issue of how do we pay for it?’ said Mayor Prue. (yes, money is found for some things).
  • a future fire hall being slowly built

Unchanged Common Themes:

  • lack of decorum (I blame a lack of leadership for allowing the incivility)
  • council 4-3 divisions
  • excessive kudos to staff
  • staff participation in council meetings
  • demands for FOI requests
  • a high number of in-camera meetings
  • lack of public consultation
  • preferential treatment (some items get moved quickly)
  • over expenditures
  • police costs
  • ableism
  • lack of commitment to accessibility – a decades old issue.

Thank you to those who continue to follow, stay connected and share my vision of a more inclusive community.

The Burg Watch Is 13 years old

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In 2011, right after the 2010 election, I became Amherstburg’s first blogger, sharing my observations about municipal governance in the ‘burg. I wanted to create a record of elected officials’ decisions and actions so I could make informed decisions about who to vote for. I facilitated questions to the candidates for three municipal elections and I endured threat of legal action and trolls. Some candidates chose not to respond at all while others were happy to share their platforms.

As a person with disabilities, and an advocate, I let candidates know if their campaign advertising was inaccessible. I wouldn’t vote for someone who excluded a marginalized community if they were campaigning to represent everyone. 

In 2014, only three candidates created websites and all three had accessibility issues. In 2022, an increased number of candidates used social media but didn’t provide accessible information, even after I pointed it out to them and after they received accessibility information from the town. Candidate Lori Wightman’s website had accessibility issues in 2018 and 2022. 

The most noteworthy item about the 2022-2026 council is the more restrictive procedural by-law that limits citizen participation; residents can no longer raise issues with council for their information and decision. Delegates can only speak to an issue that’s listed on the agenda if it’s accompanied by an admin report or a by-law. Residents can also no longer speak from the gallery unless a unanimous vote is carried. So far, Councillor Crain and Deputy Mayor Gibb have voted a couple of times in opposition. Their reasoning seems based on inequities of people not in attendance not having the same opportunity. As I pointed out, residents should have a variety of methods to provide input as delegates. To me, that would be a more logical and inclusive way to increase civil participation instead of blocking it.

Some council members constantly promote themselves on social media while they ignore communications from residents or even block them; another noteworthy inconsistency.

My past lists of common themes remain unchanged:

  • Ombudsman Reports regarding in camera meetings in 2011, 2018, 2022
  • lack of decorum
  • incivility
  • inconsistencies
  • flip-flops
  • lack of accountability and transparency
  • preferential treatment
  • over expenditures
  • police costs
  • privacy breaches
  • council divisions, usually 4-3
  • conflicts of interest
  • ableism
  • lack of commitment to accessibility
  • inaccessible town hall and Gordon House

Thank you to those who continue to follow and stay connected.

Ribfest Controversy in Downtown Amherstburg | Residents Demand Answers

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Concerned residents reached out to share the following email to council.

Dear Members of Council,

As residents of the downtown area, we are angered and appalled that council is allowing Ribfest to take place in such a confined location in the downtown core on the Father’s Day weekend.

According to Dan Gemus Real Estate Team, who is hosting the event, they expect to have four ribbers set up along the Ramsay Street closure.

Why would anyone think a downtown street for such an event is a suitable location?

This event has the potential to attract thousands and thousands of people to the downtown area. Just scroll through the photos on the Amherstburg Rotary Ribfest Facebook Page and look at all the cars and people that attended in 2019.

Where are the thousands expected to park for this event and what is going to be done about the bumper-to-bumper traffic on our streets all weekend long?

We all know that Ribfests are messy and should be held in a larger and more open setting such as the Libro property. Why would you want that mess around newly renovated buildings?

Are us downtown residents expected to put up with having to breath carcinogenic smoke fumes all weekend long? And depending on which way the wind is blowing, the sticky greasy smoke can cause damage to resident’s property and vehicles. Who will pay to have that cleaned up?

What about the residents at the Navy Yard Condominiums? Will their building and vehicles end up covered in grease from the barbeques? What about all the grease on the sidewalks and streets? Who is going to clean that up? What about the vermin it will attract afterwards?

It’s bad enough we have to put up with Open Air each weekend during the summer and the speeding traffic on our street, noise, and litter and now we get Ribfest rammed down our throats?

Shame on you for allowing this to take place downtown. We know without question that you would not want this type of event taking place in your neighbourhood. We would have thought council would have been more considerate than this.

It’s obvious that council has little regard for us downtown area residents and we will be taking this into consideration at our next municipal election.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to your written reply and explanation on why this was approved and who is going to pay for the damages and clean up.

Sincerely angered and appalled,

Concerned Downtown Residents

Who Are ‘You People’?

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Someone started a rant to me with ‘you people just want to complain’ and included ‘wheelers’ in response to a Facebook conversation about inclusivity of an event.

‘You people,’ like ‘those people’ implies, to me, that people with disabilities are a separate segment of society. And, historically, people with disabilities have been disadvantaged, not by disabilities, but by a society where ableism prevailed and the identification, prevention and removal of barriers hasn’t been a priority.

As a person with disabilities, the barrier that I encounter the most is the attitudinal barrier; it’s usually based on stereotypical beliefs that people using wheelchairs make up the majority of the disability community or that people are demanding extra.

Do you know anyone that has or has had cancer? diabetes? arthritis? MS? lung disease? heart disease? dyslexia? low vision? hearing loss? ADHD? depression? anxiety? Then you know someone that has a disability.

While there are legislative definitions of ‘disability,’ there are also various models of disability that describe attitudes toward people with disabilities and I can usually quickly spot and categorize where people fit in.

There is a longer list, but briefly, the medical model where members of the medical community need to ‘fix’ an individual. The charity model; I see photo ops of politicians at charity events where people with disabilities are depicted as victims of tragedy and are pitied. What I sometimes hear are political comments related to costs and how things take time. The social model, and more recently the human rights model, emphasizes that it’s the environmental and attitudinal barriers that prevent people with disabilities from equally participating in communities, even though everyone has the right to equality.

There is also preferable and inclusive language but people still use the outdated ‘handicap’ and other euphemisms.

Ignorance is no excuse in 2024. It’s also unacceptable to personally attack people with disabilities on social media for ‘complaining’ about a lack of access or pointing out attitudinal barriers.