Working on your day off

Do we expect our politicians to be working or playing on their time off?

Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster got quite a bit of negative publicity when he cc:'d the police on a request for information on a resident who obtained information on a trip he'd taken to explore a business opportunity for the town - on his own time.

We expect our mayor to be on the job pretty much all the time. I expect that and I'm sure Foster knew that going in - unless he's clearly on personal time.

But business done as mayor is a public matter and public concern. If I'm being represented I have a right to know what's going on.

There are two reasons why this story is resonates so much - history and expectations. The two mayors before Foster were - rightly or wrongly - perceived as having "bullied" some residents. Our new mayor ran on a platform of accountability and nobody who has met Adrian Foster would call him a bully.

So expectations were high that he would avoid the pitfalls of a curious public and even work with residents who are concerned about a single issue much more than may be healthy.

We need to give Foster some room - deals are often made behind closed doors for a reason - and realpolitic dictates that not everything has to be in the open all the time. I can wait until a deal is done or near done before knowing any details particularly if too much publicity might endanger the deal or lessen its impact.

So is Foster getting a free pass? Hardly. Clearly this should have been handled better and he really needs to communicate his intentions better. Many residents want to know what is going on and he should be more understanding.

He may be a new mayor but he's not new to politics like others on council and he needs to understand that residents expect him in particular to be open and accountable.

Happy New Year! Next blog I'll look at some New Year's resolutions Clarington council can make.

Bring on the Tetley!

The Tea Party movement that began in the United States in 2009 boils down to one thing.

Trust.

For example - after working hard and bringing home a paycheck that has ultimately been taxed perhaps as much as a half - who do you trust to spend that money?

You or the government?

Let's put it another way: Do you think that if you gave your money to someone else - say some backroom bureaucrat whom you could never identify and who never saw a dollar they couldn't find a program for - do you honestly think they would spend it better than you? 

That's the essence of the Tea Party movement - letting the wage-earners keep and spend what they earned.

Responsible people are not saying there is an absence of need for government.

Does government really have to tax upwards of half of everyone's income? Because between the payroll deductions, federal taxes, provincial taxes, HST, hidden taxes, property taxes and education taxes that is pretty much what's happening.

Well, you may ask, without government spending wouldn't so many programs disappear that residents would literally be thrown in the street and wouldn't our roads crumble before our eyes?

Really?

So... if I don't give a dollar to my government - it disappears? I can't simply give it to an existing company, group or organization or right to the person or service that I want? Let's be serious - precisely same money still exists and it would simply bypass the government middle-man, who naturally takes a cut.

We might even have more actual services and less bureaucrats - imagine that!

So why am I making this argument now?

Because we are shortly into new budget deliberations here in Clarington and we are likely to see many, many services clamouring for a bigger piece of the pie and probably countered by some unimaginative ways to simply provide the same services for a few pennies less while largely missing the boat for substantive changes.

It's unlikely you'll see Claringtonians protesting for or against changes in large numbers - we just don't seem to do that - but most of us know that a loonie's best home is in the pocket of the one that earned it.

Next blog I'll take a look at public accountibility - do we expect our politicians to be working or playing on their time off?

Where did everybody go?

The big protest against the Durham-York incinerator, according to a media report had between about 50-100 people.

So why did it ultimately fail to really put a dent in the construction schedule and why does it seem like only a few dozen maximum ever show up at anti-incineration events? There are 80,000 people in Clarington and about 150,000 next door in Oshawa.

Clearly there is no groundswell of opposition to the incinerator and opposition certainly is not growing.

The leaders of the anti-incineration movement need to be held accountable. They talk loudly about democracy and accountability but are any of the major anti-incineration activist groups democratic themselves - who elected them? - and could this be the reason local residents are not supportive?

Arguably, anti-incinerators blew the issue with the tactics they chose. Yes, every voice helps but at some point there needs to be effective tactics beyond the same two dozen protesters.

Clearly the current leadership is unable to "make it happen."

The legal challenge they have launched should be their last kick at the can - if it fails they should resign.

If the case goes forward they will have something to talk about - but I hope they have deep pockets because it's not going to be cheap and they may end up on the hook for damages should they lose.

Here's a letter to the editor I had published in the local paper recently on the incinerator and other important Clarington issues.
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The picture up top is of the new Shopper's Drug Mart going up in Courtice - that's the view northwest at Varcoe and Highway 2. I'll keep you posted on this and other "downtown" activities.
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Next blog I'll look at whether Clarington needs a "Tea Party" to keep an eye on our finances.

Big spenders on Clarington council and incinerator battle heats up

As promised way back in April here is my quick look at the election spending results.

As you can see at Clarington's 2010 election financial statements in the end the  big spenders were Ward 1 councillor Joe Neal, Ward 2 councillor Ron Hooper, Ward 4 councillor Wendy Partner and Wards 1 & 2 Regional councillor Mary Novak.

They all spent more than their opponents - in some cases more than double - to win their respective seats. Probably the biggest surprise is that Mayor Adrian Foster and Wards 3 & 4 Regional councillor Willie Woo - both of whom market themselves as prudent watchers of the purse strings and not tightwads - spent significantly less than their major opponent yet won the election.

It's been a busy few months - council has continued bickering and one councillor was even thrown out of the chambers. With the second fall of the global economy, the ongoing wrangling over new build at Darlington and the GO expansion there's going to be no shortage of topics to deal with once council comes back from its - sort of deserved - summer break. 

One of the final incinerator showdowns is Aug. 17 at the official groundbreaking ceremony and local groups are already mobilizing. There is also a lawsuit pending and the Region has asked for more time. Why? My guess is to prepare a counter lawsuit. In the past the Region has not hesitated one moment to play hardball and it looks like they are preparing their batting order.

Next blog I'll take a look at the fallout from the event.

Bring on the nuclear jobs

Clarington has officially been searching for an expansion of the Darlington facility for
years now - whether it was the ITER energy project or now with nuclear new build.

We've already got refurbishment of the existing reactors in the works and this should kick-start the new Courtice Energy Park.

Several local representatives made a strong delegation in favour of new build at the recent Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project Joint Review Panel held in Courtice March 21 to April 8.

Promotion of new build in Clarington is the smart thing to do - Clarington needs the local jobs and with potential new nuclear build in Ontario this municipality has the right mix to make it happen - an existing nuclear plant, political support and community support.

In a perfect world we would use almost no energy and get power from renewable resources. But given the reality of power needs in Ontario and right here in Durham that's not a serious prospect.

The recent disaster in Japan doesn't change this - we don't face a tsunami although the possiblity of a terrorist attack remains troubling - because OPG, which operates the Darlington facility, has been very clear about elevating security in the area. 

Kincardine Mayor Larry Kraemer, whose community hosts the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, pointed out at the hearings that no matter what energy creation source is selected there are pitfalls and advantages. The advantage of nuclear is a stable source of power and jobs - both of which we need.

At the end of the day Mayor Adrian Foster, Regional Councillors Willie Woo and Mary Novak, and Local Councillor Ron Hooper did what they needed to do - sell Clarington as the best place for new build in Ontario during the official Clarington delegation.

NOTE: Don't forget to do your part on Earth Day 2011 - there are a number of events going on including a tree-planting by the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority.

In my next blog I'll look at the 2010 Clarington local election financial statements posted on the Clarington website.

Host Community Agreement no longer matters in incineration battle

Clarington council heard from environmental consultant Steven Rowe on Monday, March 7 - who was hired on to look at the impact of the Host Community Agreement on provincial approval of the proposed Clarington facility - and you can be forgiven if you haven't really heard anything since.

That's because it seems to be the final nail in the anti-incinerator coffin.

Even though the majority of residents and the majority of councillors are opposed to the incineration option - the number of at-bats is dwindling.

The whole point of looking at the Host Community Agreement was never to put pressure on the province. As Rowe made perfectly clear it probably matters not one fig to the Ministry of Environment whether there is a HCA or not. The minister typically decides environmental assessments based on the merits of the area being considered.

And with a nuclear plant to the east and St. Mary's Cement east of that nobody can seriously argue that the area is a pristine natural oasis.

The problem is that council's earlier move - which included a perceived threat to sue over the HCA - was met with overwhelming fire from Durham Region that wilted Clarington council's will. The Region called out Clarington and it turns out we had a poor hand.

If that was the best our councillors could come up with - it wasn't much.

The Region - and more importantly the current Regional Councillors on whom so many hopes were pinned - may now feel that the HCA is a done deal and Regional Councillors may now have lost their appetite to reopen the business case.

So the ill-fated legal manoever may have cost Clarington the fight.

Now some will say 'we had to do something!' But as the saying goes - when you're in a hole you have to stop digging and look for a ladder.

Unfortunately we kept digging rather than proposing a plan with some legs. And if anyone thinks for a moment the Region's lawyers were bluffing they should maybe put down the dice and remember they are playing with taxpayer dollars here - tens of millions of them.

So is the incinerator now a done deal?

It's a step closer to shovels in the ground - but can still be fought primarily on economic grounds as costs rise. The majority of Clarington's local and regional councillors remain opposed to the incinerator but the battle now rests with the Regional Councillors, outside of Clarington, who can re-open the business case.
Failing that it now looks like all that remains for Clarington Councillors is form a watchdog committee and observe matters from the sidelines.

But what we really need to see is people becoming the face of the movement - like at the March 5 protest in Courtice. Failing that then opposition will likely crumble.

Federal note: Clarington is now in the middle of a federal election - mark May 2 on your calendar and do your duty as a Canadian and vote.

In my next blog post I'm going to look at the Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project Joint Review Panel held in Courtice March 21 to April 8.

Proof is in the pudding - Clarington budget 2011

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 Clarington's 2011 budget weighed in with a whopping 3.8 per cent increase and we heard barely a peep out of residents - ok maybe a few peeps on Facebook but that was about it.

So we can conclude one of two things happened - people either support the increase or they don't care enough to voice their opinion. There certainly isn't a vocal groundswell of opposition to it. Durham Region's budget clocked in at a 2.42 per cent increase and Oshawa, our big neighbour to the west, squeeked in a meagre 0.7 per cent increase to their budget.

Three points about the budget:

•  This is clearly an Adrian Foster budget. He never marketed himself as a voracious tax-cutting mayor but as a prudent manager of town finances. It's clear he's aiming for four per cent annual increases - more or less - without zeros or eight per cent increases.
• It's so expected. Other than budget hawks, who among us really expected a zero per cent increase budget? Ward 3 Local Councillor Corinna Traill could only muster council support for three of her 20 cost-cutting suggestions - and even had they all succeeded we would still have had about a two per cent increase - and she's one of the budget slashers. With inflation and the majority of council amenable to staffing increases, a four per cent or so increase always looked likely.
• This foreshadows a repeat next year with maybe a dash of good news. Oshawa is getting a great deal of attention for its relatively low increase. This means that next year or the year after, if inflation increases a point or three, Clarington will probably match or even come in slightly under Oshawa's increase because the other governments will be playing catch-up - I'm thinking the police may ask for more feet on the street in the Region's case, which they didn't this year.

In the end I feel dissatisfied with everything about this budget.

There is no vision - no imagination - and that includes the duo of Traill and Ward 1 Local Councillor Joe Neal.

We even had the spectacle of Traill - who herself accused council of flip-flopping earlier in the year while actually brandishing a flip-flop - voting against the budget and thereby against her promised additional firefighters.

Credit therefore goes to Foster for passing a budget that ups the number of firefighters - which is exactly what he promised.

Cost-cutting duo Traill and Neal's big idea seems to be to look for nickels and dimes from various programs - which is fine - but that approach won't get to zero or - gasp - lower. Plus, there's nothing bold about an upcoming plan to re-examine benefits packages - just about every company is doing it and I suspect the savings won't be all that much in the long run - insurance companies know how to adapt.

I definitely don't get the sense of a great plan brewing, something innovative, a systemic change that replaces the structural increases we are building into the  system.

Until someone steps back and looks at the whole concept of what local government should be in the business of providing - and how - this situation will continue. Self-styled opponents - elected and non-elected - will be left looking for a couple bucks in savings by skimming from here and there - trimming parsley from the prime rib dinner if you will - and claiming they tried their best.

But real savings will miraculously remain elusive.

Let me put it this way - it's like paying for a trip to Disney World and haggling over whether to pay for an iced cream cone on the flight down and boasting about how much money we can save. What I'm suggesting is we need to forget the vacation altogether and focus on maybe setting up our own flight service to make a few bucks and cash in on all this vacationing going on.

Something like that I can get behind but this budget - more of the same.

In my next blog post I'm going to look at why the Host Community Agreement no longer matters to the prospects of Clarington hosting an incinerator.

It's local council report card time!

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Our elected local council is now four months into their first year so I thought I would issue first trimester report cards.

I decided to go with four criteria - leadership (do they have a plan and do classmates value their opinion), teamwork (do they play nice with their collegues), effectiveness (did they get the job done) and communication (do they talk to the residents that elected them as well as staff department heads).

I think this is a good balance with which to grade our studious class.

The point of this exercise, of course, is to stimulate debate and discussion about what makes a good local representative and to try and set some objective criteria with which to gauge their performance. It's not to throw stones at someone because we don't particularly like their political stance nor should it be taken as a 'rah-rah' cheerleader.

Feel free to come up with your own criteria and ratings and post them below - I'd love to see them.

I want to begin by pointing out what I see as four factions developing on council:

Veteran Guard - Mayor Adrian Foster, Ward 1 & 2 Regional Councillor Mary Novak, Ward 3 & 4 Councillor Willie Woo and Ward 2 Local Councillor Ron Hooper are experienced at politics and three of the four are our regional representatives.

The Firm - Ward 1 Local Councillor Joe Neal and Ward 3 Local Councillor Corinna Traill - two representatives with a legal background. If there is an opposition party on council this is it. They tend to vote together but on contested motions are usually strongly outgunned by the Veteran Guard.

New Faces - We have Ward 4 Local Councillor Wendy Partner joined by Ward 1 Local Councillor Joe Neal and Ward 3 Local Councillor Corinna Traill. They are the fresh faces on council and many residents are looking to them to shake things up.

The Woman's Caucus - In the 2010 election the number of women on council tripled from one to three. Still not a majority but there is perhaps an opportunity to see a different approach to local issues.

And now the marks:

Mayor - Mayor Adrian Foster gets bonus marks for conducting the first survey of residents to actually see what their priorities are for the strategic review. There was even a time extension to allow more people to participate. He loses some marks, however, for his embroiled conflicts with The Firm - even if it does take two to tango he needs to find a way to lead the dance. We would have expected to see a better performance from Foster given his stellar performance as a local councillor and his failure - thus far - to halt the incinerator is troubling to many. GRADE: B-

Regional Councillor Wards 1 & 2 - Mary Novak is the most experienced politician on council and has a comprehensive understanding of the issues that matter to residents and the businesses of the muncipality. She could do a better job reaching out to opponents but overall Novak demonstrates that experience matters. A team player and effective representative she needs to work on her communication skills to really hit her full potential. GRADE: A-

Regional Councillor Ward 3 & 4 - Willie Woo has such an affable demeanor that it's almost impossible not to like him. He seems to be taking a bit of time settling in to his new role as regional representative and doesn't often take the leadership role he is capable of. But he's a strong team player and gets all his ducks in a row ahead of any vote. GRADE: B

Local councillor Ward 1 - Joe Neal has political experience but hasn't been able to convert that into building a winning team yet. As half of The Firm he has been thwarted in his legal attempts to stop the incinerator. Not everything has to boil down to a legal showdown or be sent out for expensive consultants - he should perhaps branch away from his signature move 'call in the lawyers' and look at alternative tactics. But his success in having delegation time increased and vigorous support of funds for his ward shows passion and promise. GRADE: A-

Local councillor Ward 2 - Ron Hooper is a respected business owner in his Ward, knows his constituents and fights for their best interests. He's not at all afraid to change course if that's the smart thing to do. But we need to see more vision from Hooper because he has the goodwill and alliances to get things done. GRADE: B-

Local Councillor Ward 3 - Corinna Traill is exactly what people want from their politicians - she's strong, forceful, creative and has a great online presence through her social media connections. But it has become increasingly obvious that she has not built any alliances outside The Firm. The only thing preventing her from scoring higher is her lack of success in actually producing winning results that are not later rescinded. GRADE: B-

Local Councillor Ward 4 - If you go to council and watch Wendy Partner she doesn't talk much. That's a good thing because she is busy listening. Partner has demonstrated glimpses of a quick wit and a clear grasp of the issues and as the months go on her confidence is visibly increasing. She has the opportunity to bridge the many gaps between various factions on council and could end up being a dealmaker. GRADE: B

Council as a whole - Council is clearly not 'working together' and part of the problem is that everyone has to want to work together. The former 4-3 flip-flopping council has been replaced by the 5-2 flip-floppers. This council is somehow much less than the sum of it's parts. However, it has the right mix to come to good decisions for the people of Clarington if it starts focusing on the right issues and get them dealt with. GRADE: C

In my next blog I'm going to take a look at the fallout from the Clarington budget.

Happy Valentine's Day Clarington!

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One of the hottest topics of debate these days concerning Clarington is pay rates for municipal staff.

Who knew staff made so much/little?

Where you sit on that question really depends on your ideology concerning taxes and who should pay for what but one thing is for sure - this council is acting exactly as many residents figure politicians usually do - get the controversial topics dealt with early.

Think forward to 2014 for a moment.

Who really is going to remember what the pay increases were in 2011 except die-hard political observers or those prompted by a bar chart?

Common wisdom on the street is that if a council is going to do something unpopular - or costly - get it done early in the term because memories are short. And this is exactly what seems to be happening.

If staff pay increases end up being zero in 2014 that's the only thing we'll see on campaign brochures and election charts - not whatever happened in 2011.

So voters - pledge to remember what's happening now - this matters as much or more as what happens in 2014.

Winter WonderLearn

For years now, like many of my fellow residents in Courtice and surround area, I've taken my family in the middle of February to Winter WonderLearn at the Courtice Community Complex.

But not this year.

The municipality has decided to move the event out of Courtice to Newcastle after eight fun years. Newcastle will definitely enjoy the activities and they will definitely be good hosts. But Courtice has lost something here - one of the few 'Clarington' events that it hosts.

The town claims the event in Courtice is a victim of its own success.

It's grown to over 1,400 participants and there simply isn't room, apparently. If you  attended the Courtice Kids of Steel Triathalon this past summer you know that the complex can clearly handle events of this size and larger.

There's more room at the South Courtice Arena - how about moving it there?

I'm not sure my family will be able to make the trek out to Newcastle this year and it's ironic that now the province has officially recognized Family Day in Ontario we suddenly don't have a local event.

In my next blog I'll take a look at events leading up to the last council meeting before our representatives take a rest for March Break. It's been four months since the election so I'll have my first trimester report cards ready.

Blog #3 - Revisiting the host community agreement

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Let's step back ourselves for a moment and consider Clarington council's decision to step back from a motion aimed at re-opening the host community agreement on the regional incinerator to be built in Clarington.

Make no mistake about it - a solid majority of this council still opposes incineration.

So why the lack of council support for this attempt to stop the incinerator?

Well for starters it smacked too much of sabre-rattling and nobody takes kindly to threats or perceived threats - nor should they.

Lawyers do what lawyers do - work within the legal system - but the region quite clearly laid out the potential massive costs - to Clarington - if developments continued down that path.

From the beginning the best way to fight the incinerator was to do three things:

First, immediately after the election this council should have made their voices heard loud and clear from the steps of the town hall. But we didn't hear a peep and in the interim events moved along, the deal got signed, life went on.

That was a missed opportunity.

The second step was to re-examine the host community agreement. The problem is the 2006-2010 Clarington council did a fine job handcuffing this council to the deal. Even if residents wanted out of it the region is well within its rights to simply say that at the time the deal was made Clarington was on board with it so they are bound to it.

A deal's a deal and I think most people understand that. But not all negotiations have to be held in the context of a lawsuit hanging over everyone's head. It got the region's defences up and wasted an opportunity for sensible discussion.

But all is not lost.

The third way still remains and it is the strongest - re-examining the business case.

Clarington needs to direct its three regional representatives - Mayor Adrian Foster, Ward 1 & 2 Regional Councillor Mary Novak and Ward 3 & 4 Regional Councillor Willie Woo - to ask regional council to re-open the business case one final time.

Many of the other Regional Councillors claimed they were opposed to the incinerator and many residents voted for them based on that platform.

Given the escalating costs of the agreement, given the seriousness of the opposition to the project and given the recomposition of regional council this just makes good sense.

Clarington still has an at-bat to go but this council really needs to come to grips with a strategy, make it clear to all and present a unified force.

Threats of a lawsuit won't make the incinerator go away and could complicate real efforts that could produce real results. At worst Clarington could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars - think for a moment about the possibility of 10 per cent tax increases each year for the next ten years over this.

I bet the Mayor did.

That's the path this motion demanding the region look at the host community agreement - or else - seemed to be leading Clarington down.

One thing, however, is clear - members of this council need to start really listening to each other and quit the political grandstanding.

Let's see some real teamwork, some real consensus-building and some action that produces real results. Not sound bites over who is doing the most for the taxpayer.

In my next blog post I'll look at the Valentine's Day Clarington Council meeting on Feb. 14 and see what happened with Winter Wonderlearn in Courtice.

Protons & Electrons #002

Welcome to Protons & Electrons!                    PODCAST

I hope you will enjoy this second post to Protons & Electrons!

In the sidebar you'll find a way to follow the blog and you can bookmark this page to make it fast and easy to navigate back. I want to hear from you so feel free to click the comment button below and participate.

You'll also notice that I've added a button at the top of each blog post that links to a podcast of each episode. You can now download and listen to each post if you wish. It give you more options for accessing Protons & Electrons.

"Incineration and more time"

There were a couple of major events at the Clarington council meeting held Jan. 17 in the council chambers.

For those of us that stuck it out until about 11:30pm it was quite a show.

Our elected representatives earlier went in camera for a long discussion about a motion concerning the incinerator - which of course means the public doesn't have access to exactly what the bone of contention was.

Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster and Ward 1 & 2 Regional Respresentative Mary Novak eventually voted against the motion proposed by Ward 1 Councillor Joe Neal. Both seem to feel the motion could result in some significant risk to Clarington concerning the incinerator and the host community agreement.

The motion passed - residents will have to wait a few more weeks to see what the result will be but among other things the motion gives Durham Region until Feb. 14 to weigh in on the matter.

Plus residents once again have 10 minutes to make their case in a delegation.

Clarington resident Jim Richards made a strong case during a delegation speech where he pointed out that the five minute rule only served to have more people sign up to speak because they felt not enough information was making it through to their elected representatives.

Council voted in favour of doubling the amount of time delegations have to speak - which brings time limits back to pre-former Clarington mayor Jim Abernethy levels. Ward 1 councillor Joe Neal brought forward the motion and I think he even used the same argument I did during the 2010 election - namely, if people make the effort to come down to the town hall they should be given a fair amount of time to talk.

We'll see in the coming months how much later council meetings go with the revival of the old time limit.

In my next blog post I will discuss issues arising out of the Jan. 31 Clarington council meeting.