Don&Carmen wrote:
Who, what, why and how....
To all candidates (ward 8 specifically, where my bum resides), answer me those questions please.
I have reviewed your websites, but there isn’t much substance. I would like to know what your platform is, why you think those are the best items to focus on, and HOW you plan on resolving them. Kindly focus on the 'HOW'...
Thank you.
Don & Carmen
I am a little disappointed that you found the websites generally lacked substance I certainly tried not just to talk about the issues but also how I would tackle those issues.
The issues I see affecting Milton primarily arise from the growth that we have experienced and are likely to continue experiencing over the next 3, 4 or 5 Council terms.
!) We have a hospital that has not been expanded since Milton was a Town of 30, 000 residents.
2)We have a Road infrastructure that our Regional and Town Administrations are desperately trying to catch up with today's realities never mind get ahead of the curve and the growth that is still going to happen.
3)Although we have the lowest property taxes, other than Toronto, we are facing increases in 2011 that are more than 3 times inflation and we are not funding growth expenditure out of growth related revenues.
4)We have not recognised the change in demographics that has and is occurring in our new residential areas which is causing us to be behind the 8 ball in education (not enough schools delivered on time leading to those that are delivered being overcrowded).
5)We are developing a good local transit system but it is not linked with our neighbouring municipalities and as far as I can see is not using modern technologies to provide better customer service.
The above are not listed in priority order as certainly I rate the first four as being of equally high priority.
The what is easy that is to say if I am elected to represent Ward 1 I will work with my fellow Councillors and Town staff to deal with these issues. Yeah I know that is a motherhood statement and as you say it is the HOW that is crucial.
THE HOSPITAL
I have already presented to Council and posted on my website what I would do to resolve this situation. See
http://www.cappercares.ca/?p=210 .
It has been pointed out that by more than one of the current Councillors that we really have no say in Hospital affairs and therefore my ideas are not practical. Bull**** - I achieved success in my career because I was not afraid to take responsibility even in areas for which I was not responsible. If elected I would ensure that all the partners to MDH realised that "he who pays the piper calls the tune." This does not need to be confrontational more is generally achieved through cooperation.
However funding is only one part of the Hospital issue the other part is getting it high on all Provincial political parties agenda. That requires continuously waging a publicity war with
all the parties not just the governing liberals. Yes this does involve the use of lobbyists but it also requires the management of those lobbyists - it requires a detailed strategy and constant follow through. In politics the squeaky wheel does get the oil particularly coming up to election time.
ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE
This is also in two parts. First the macro plan and then when it comes to individual projects the execution plan.
Dealing with the macro plan first because that is getting ahead of the curve I have posted a blog on Derry Green Business Park
http://www.cappercares.ca/?page_id=146 that talks about this and I mention it because it affects to some extent all five of the issues I listed above. The other major growth area is the Boyne area. The financial picture regarding development charge etc may be different for residential developments but the strategies for success are identical.
In terms of the micro or execution plan what we have seen in recent days in the Derry/Bronte area is probably a great example of how to do it wrong. I would attack this issue right at the procurement stage. I would seek proposals not just quotes, I would look for penalties and liquidated damages for delays. For those that don't know proposals are generally judged on more than just price. Plans to deal effectively with existing traffic and to mitigate congestion would be a part of my requirements. So get comprehensive proposals and put teeth into the contracts to ensure that the Town gets what it needs!
FINANCIAL
Whether you read the two blogs I have referred to above or whether you read my comments to staff on the 2011 Budget or my comments on the 2011 Budget Call report, all on
www.cappercares.ca there is a recurring theme. I believe I was the first candidate to talk about introducing such private sector techniques as zero based budgeting and now most if not all have climbed onto the bandwagon. I won't insult you with a simplistic explanation of what zero based budgeting is but it involves a systematic review of every service provided by the Town to find the most cost effective way of delivering that service the same review is also carried out on Town "overhead" costs and on Capital Budgets. If elected I would insist on being part of the Budget Committee and would not rest until the exercise was completed. I can't predict the outcome of such an exercise but I would be very surprised, based on personal experience over 40 years in business, if cost savings of at least 10% could not be achieved.
CHANGE IN DEMOGRAPHICS
I have to confess that I don't altogether buy that this change caused the issues that we have seen around crowded schools and school shortages. When I first came to Canada and lived in Mississauga I recall reading about those same issues affecting that city's growth. It may be new to Milton but it wasn't new to Ontario and Canada.
As a Town I believe we rely too heavily on the planning imposed by the Provincial Planning Act. Yes we need to comply with that Act but it doesn't go far enough. When it talks about density it uses residential units per acre or hectare, or jobs per acre or hectare. When planning for schools in fact for any service we need more such as children per residential unit, cars per residential unit etc etc.
I wouldn't stop there though - having obtained the data I would then say what if we are wrong what if we are over/under by 10% for example. I would insist upon sensitivity analyses and contingency plans.
TRANSIT
We are getting close to the point where we need an expanded GO system and I won't dwell on that because I know planning for that has already started. We can improve our existing transit by utilising technology that monitors and tracks the buses and ensures they a) deliver on time service and b) when such technology is linked to the farebox and/or passenger counters then cost effective route planning can be optimized. Further down the road, pardon the pun, we can then build out the technology and introduce services like traffic signal priority for transit thus improving customer service.
We also need to work with neighbouring transit systems to develop a ubiquitous transit network
Space prevents me from going deeper but I hope that the above at least indicates there is substance behind my platform and I look forward to meeting you at the all candidates meetings.
Regards
Martin
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