HawthorneVillager.com

It’s not just really low. It’s impossibly low. You’re more likely to win the lottery or get struck by lightning then you are too loose a child to a creep.

I understand the argument. It would be a catastrophe IF it happened, so why not just take the safer approach?... But that assumes there are no sacrifices to such a decision. There are. You sacrifice your child’s freedom and independence. You sacrifice your child’s life experiences.

Think back to your own childhood. How many fond memories do you have that occurred walking to school? I have many. How many fond memories do you have exploring the neighborhood alone or with friends? I have many. I’m sure everyone does. I remember wandering construction sites, climbing trees, and wading through local streams all before I was 10. I remember the pure awesomeness of finding an abandoned treehouse in a forest somewhere. I remember getting totally lost out on my big wheel when I was like 7.

Our kids will have no memories like that at all. We’ve taken those opportunities away because we’re scared of something that will never happen. It’s stupid and selfish.

I don't totally disagree, but even if I was willing to risk it (which I'm not), you'd become the street pariah (not that I'd really give 2 s's).

All that said, my kids both bus, so its a moot issue. I suppose they could walk to the bus stop, but honestly neither of them would want to lol.. and I'd have to drive them to school much more often then the 0 times I miss the bus being with them now. (My kids are also both under 7)

I think looking at combining libraries with High Schools is a great idea and co-managing collections. Elementary schools would be more problematic because of the access issues but also the collection diversity isn't as well suited. It's not so much the lone men that is the issue - it's more the mom/dad/caregiver and preschool kids that would be more likely to frequent during concurrent hours the same collection of books that kindie/1/2 kids would be accessing, the distraction and control issues.

On the arts side, I hope they maintain funding for the fledgling endowment fund for the Centre for the Arts. It's a long term investment in self-funding the local arts community and keeping operating costs low in the long term.

With councillors being part-time in Milton, what else do you expect? Normally, politicians are father figures anyways ... it is the staff that does the work. That being said, politicians do accept or reject their recommendations, however, again being part-time councillors, I am not sure how much of the review actually goes into budgets, etc. Do they really care about what is being proposed, or do they just go with the flow, and accept almost every recommendation .... not sure??

Depends on the counsellor. The guys with a brain and some financial sense like Rick Malboeuf certainly take this stuff seriously.

It's the guys like Colin Best who just do whatever the reports tell them to. (I know he's regional - just gotta get my digs in)

To be honest, I think most of our counselors are full time. We just pay them part time wages.

You don't watch Council meetings do you? Colin asks a lot of solid questions and definitely isn't a "follower" when it comes to staff recommendations.

How do you come to the conclusion that you think most of our councillors are full-time?

Cindy Lunau owns a furniture restoration business, Rob Duvall runs a computer network consulting business, Colin is a propery assessor, Rick D works for Globe and Mail, Zeeshan is a software development manager, Pollard runs a web design business, Mike Boughton owns and operates a barber shop, and Rick Malbouef operates a local business too (in sound equipment as I recall but don't hold me to it). About the only councillors you could consider full time are Mike Cluett (who is getting essentially a full-time wage with the Regional and Local Councillor compensation), the Mayor (who also gets a full-time salary), and Arnold Huffman (retired). Most have more flexible careers from an hours perspective but hardly what I'd consider full time by any stretch - they have to eat and support their families.

Yup. I like to know our elected official's business credentials.

I knew most of those off the top of my head.. lol
All the new people I recall from their profiles when they were voted in. The only one I didn't know was Lunau.

I think what he meant by full time is they put a full-time hours into the job. Even though they have other full time work, this work consumes more than the 20 or so hours one would consider they are 'supposed' to spend doing councilor work -- and yes, I do consider attending openings, and other town events as work because they eat into family time or time sitting at home doing SFA.

Of course I don’t watch council meetings. I have a life.

I imagine that these guys are all working on their own time like dogs. They go do their 9-5 jobs during the day, then run around all night and weekend doing their civic duty. Maybe they don’t. I just have a hard time seeing these guys doing what they do without spending a lot of time on it.

Colin is clearly a follower, otherwise he wouldn’t have voted for these brain dead red light cameras, and a bag tag program that defies any logic or common sense. Anyone can ask “solid” questions, it’s spotting the bullshit and connecting the dots that’s difficult. His voting record shows he can’t do that. I also know a fly on the wall who’s opinion I trust that’s shared some stories to backup my opinion. Some people work really hard at making poor decisions.

Do you even know Colin? You clearly haven't watched a Town Council meeting as freemantrail posted above, Just because his opinion differs from yours doesn't necessarily make him a follower man. Come on!

Your opinion on the bag tag program. Makes complete sense to me, and a lot of others. But we've had that argument before and we agree to disagree. I don't get the Red light camera at Trafalgar and Derry personally but understand the sense in the program in general. Do I think it makes dollar value sense personally - no. Do I hold it against Colin for voting for it? No. I don't agree with every decision people I vote for make either (and I don't have a vote for Colin). But I do definitely think he's one of our good Councillors. From first hand personal experience dealing with him and having actual conversations with him. You are holding two votes out of a whole lot of other items against him. Hardly his full voting record. Watch a budget meeting. It's worth the time. If you can find time to post here, you can find time for that.

Red light cameras I can get. It’s wrong, but I can understand the flawed logic of people who support those things. I can let him off the hook for that.

But bag tags for garbage, particularly the way Halton region has implemented it, is beyond any argument the stupidest thing imaginable. It only makes sense IF you are an employee of Halton Waste Management, and your sole purpose is to find ways, any ways, to divert garbage, at any cost to anyone but HWM. It’s a plan made by bureaucrats who are looking to meet a mandate at any cost, in this case to divert as much garbage as possible. That’s fine. It’s our elected officials job to review those proposals, and decide if it makes sense beside the bigger picture. Colin failed to see that they do not, and it was so amazingly obvious that bag tags do not make sense that I can only conclude he is a yes man. His refusal to offer any arguments backing his decision on this forum, which he actively posts on, also forces me to conclude he has no arguments to make for it, other than staff recommended it.

I don’t need to watch anything. I see incompetent people who appear competent every day of my life. They’re managers, politicians, business owners, whatever. They all look smart, talk smart, and act smart. You think they are smart. And then they drive whatever they touch into the ground and ruin it.

George Smitherman is my favorite example. Anything that guy says, sounds believable. I’ve seen him on TV, and heard him on the radio. He’s intelligent. He’s confident. He asks tough questions. He has a plan. And everything he has ever been in charge of, has been left in ruins. eHealth, Ornge, Ontario Hydro. He was there for every scandal and waste of money under the Liberals and his legacy haunts them to this day. He’s incompetent, and everyone who came across this guy got hoodwinked into thinking he was a great leader.

I don’t judge people based on how competent they appear, I judge them on the decisions they make and the results they deliver.

On that your right. I give him an unbelievably hard time here, and while I don’t like the guy, he’s not a disaster. We could easily replace him with someone far worse.

I am quoting you out of context, however, just trying to understand the reason here. Do they have better councillors or programs that are supported by the City/Region? Then the question is ... are their councillors full-time or part-time? I believe full-time.

I could never really understand what part-time means in Milton? Posters above have posted that most of all our councillors have a full-time jobs (i.e. 9-5, etc). What time do they devote to the Town? Is it only to attend the council meetings and/or special Town events? If so, how can we expect them to review budgets, and other proposals within their job working hours - they will have to do that during evenings or weekends - however, review is normally done with the staff, however, staff is only available during working hours. I am not saying that if they become full-time they would perform better, however, atleast then we'll have a ground to stand on while judging their performance.

What are the real expectations of our local councillors? If we send our problems to them - being part-time - all they can do is to forward our queries/concerns to the staff rather than acting on it personally (well it depends on the issue as well). Competency aside, do we really expect them to be on their feet for us? (these are not sarcastic questions, but real questions that came to my mind ... and I am trying to find answers for them)

I know Regional Councillors are full-time, however, Milton only has two votes in the Region compared to bigger vote bank of other participants within the Regional Council. Even if they oppose to items such as garbage bag tag program, if others in the Regional Council support the initiative, then our Reg. Councillors will be out-numbered.

What is the real expectation? What do we think our councillors should do vs what they currently do? Any examples? (if you do post something along these lines, thanks in advance)