Again the question of Council size has been brought up. Why?
As we are all aware, this idea has been discussed ad nauseam over the last 15-plus years, with consultants, Citizens’ Assemblies, petitions and endless hours of Council time and tax dollars.
Every time it has been defeated in a Council vote.
The reasons have not changed.
1. Councillor salaries are a very small part of the budget.
2. With fewer councillors, each will have to spend more time on committees, at meetings, and interacting with residents. Pay will have to go up, negating any savings by reduction in size. Since these are not full-time positions, it will be even harder to find people willing to take on the responsibility and stand for election.
3. We have a diverse population and the needs in our current wards are very different. With fewer Councillors, fewer voices are heard.
4. The majority of our residents live in a few areas, Picton, Wellington and parts of the north end of Ameliasburgh. Regardless of redistricting, these areas will always carry more weight .
5. If it is a desire, on the part of the Mayor, to work with a smaller, and perhaps easier to control Council, it is up to the Mayor (or his or her designate) to create a consensus-building environment. (Take lessons from Nunavut!)
6. Putting this out as a Ballot Question will certainly provide an answer, but will it be an informed answer, or just a response based on the belief that smaller is obviously better?
The Citizens’ Assembly had a number of members who were very well informed about the County. There were others, however, who knew very little, as in the case of a very well-meaning young lady in her early 20s who had just moved here and had no understanding of how municipal government worked. Her vote was just as valid as that of long-term and involved residents.
Please do not put Council and our voters through this expensive and time-consuming process again. We have many more important concerns.
Kathleen Vowinckel, Ameliasburgh, and three-time Councillor of Sophiasburg
Re: MarinaGate and CounterClaim (News, 24 August and 29 October). I have read a couple of Gazette articles now on CJ Thompson of Tenacity and his claims of unfair treatment at the hands of the municipality.
As a personal investor into CJ Thompson of Tenacity, I feel that I have been unfairly treated. In 2016, I made a fairly substantial investment in Thompson Private Ventures Inc. Only after numerous requests did I receive one — yes, one — financial statement from him, in 2019. Since then I haven’t received any kind of communication from CJ: no phone calls, no e-mails, no updates whatsoever. It was like my investment had vanished into thin air.
As a fiduciary to me as an investor, CJ has failed me completely. I have made a lot of investments in other companies, including my own. My investment in Tenacity has been by far the very worst investment I have ever made, and I know other investors that feel the same way.
Karma is a funny thing!
Doug Carter, Sophiasburg
I was wondering what happened with the issue of improving safety for pedestrians at the Picton town hill intersection?
Especially during the busy summer months, you can see countless examples of pedestrians crossing this intersection, in various directions, in a totally unsafe way.
One example: as I was coming up the town hill and swinging left onto Main Street, standing directly in front of me, in the middle of the road, oblivious to the traffic coming towards him from behind, was an 8- or 9-year-old boy, facing me with outstretched arms, school crossing-guard style, while the rest of his family crossed the road behind him!
Although I was able to come to a stop, if it had been a tractor trailer or cement truck coming up the hill, it may have been a different story.
As a suggestion, installing a designated cross walk, like the other two on Main Street, say in front of the bookstore, would go a long way to helping pedestrians cross Main Street safely. Another new crosswalk, in front of Shire Hall, would help those crossing Main Street as it leads to Highway 49.
Here’s hoping that it will not take a pedestrian injury, or worse, to re-focus our town Council on this important safety issue.
John Saunders, Picton
See it in the newspaper
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