Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
To the Town Hall to meet the man who is going to run the Glenway “Lessons Learned” meeting on 23 June, Glenn Pothier.
I asked to see him.
I have half and hour and feel quite animated. Time is at a premium. I have too much to say and not enough time to say it.
I open by setting out the ground rules, as I see them. There should be no surprises and no ambushes on 23 June. People should know the format beforehand. How is the meeting going to be shaped? Will there be a presentation of some sort first? (He hasn’t decided yet.) If so, who is going to do it? Will the meeting be widely advertised? Will questions be solicited from the public in advance? Will the answers be available before the meeting? Will they be posted on the Town’s website? Will the meeting be live streamed and taped? Who will be putting the agenda together? (He will.)
I say it would be totally absurd not to have questions answered in advance (insofar as they can be). He agrees. I tell him I am going to submit my own list of questions to the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer, Bob Shelton, and I give him a copy. No-one wants to get bogged down in minute details but we need answers to the big questions.
For example, when the Town hired the outside consultant, Ruth Victor, to work on the Glenway file (to free up other senior staff for work on the Secondary Plan) was it made clear to councillors they were, in practice, ceding the final decision on policy to her?
Did the Town consider, at any stage, buying the Glenway lands to retain open space that would, in future years, be needed?
Why were no Newmarket planners at the OMB Hearing to support the Town’s position?
There are other questions but I leave it there.
Clearly, the whole point of the exercise is to learn lessons for the future and not to point an accusing finger or pick over the carcass as a way of embarrassing people.
I ask him who he is meeting in these half-hour slots.
We talk about the purpose of the meeting and what would represent a good outcome. I quote Bob Shelton who said in February that lessons learned from Glenway could in future be applied to other developments in Newmarket.
Quite so. That's what it is all about.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
The Province is now inviting comments on its far-reaching proposal to allow municipalities to change from first-past-the-post to the ranked ballot in time for the next round of elections in 2018.
I am very much in favour and I hope Newmarket Council will find time to stir itself and take a view on this hugely significant change by 27 July 2015 when the consultation period closes.
A change in the voting system could alter the make up of our Council, making it more difficult for polarizing figures to get elected. The Toronto Star is an enthusiastic champion for change, claiming it would also encourage greater diversity.
Changing the voting system is such a big thing it should be sanctioned by the voters themselves in a local referendum. It may well be argued that having a threshold higher than 50% plus 1 would give the decision permanence and greater legitimacy. Certainly, a 51%-49% vote would be unstable, fuelling demands for a re-run.
You can read the Consultation Booklet here. And the material on the ranked ballot from the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, here.
The Province wants to know:
1. What are your thoughts on using ranked ballots for Ontario municipal elections?
2. Should municipalities be able to use ranked ballots for certain offices and not others? For example, only for mayor?
3. Should public consultation by a municipality be required before implementing ranked ballots or before changing from ranked ballots back to the current system?
4. What form should that consultation take?
- Details
- Written by: Gordon Prentice
The Glenway “Lessons Learned” meeting is just over three weeks away (23 June 2015) and I still don’t know where it will be held, who will be invited or what the format will be. Is it going to be publicized? Will questions be solicited in advance? Will the meeting be live streamed? Will it be recorded?
At a meeting of the Committee of the Whole on 2 February 2015, the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer, Bob Shelton, suggested that it would be best if the meeting were held in a “controlled environment”. It seems to me the arrangements, so far, would not disgrace Kim Jung Un.
The great danger is that the meeting on 23 June will be used to establish the “facts” rather than as an opportunity for consideration, reflection, assessment and, ultimately, judgement.
The Town – on the recommendation of senior staff – has appointed a facilitator, Glenn Pothier, to guide discussion. I offered to meet him beforehand if he felt that would be helpful and I have half an hour face-to-face on 3 June 2015. His job is to keep things on track and to stop people skillfully avoiding questions and wasting time by ski-ing off-piste.
It has already taken far too long to get to this position to tolerate further obfuscation. With the passage of time, memories fade. And, as key staff members leave the Town’s employment and move on, its institutional memory dulls.
Over three months ago, I listed some of the questions that are, in my mind, still crying out to be answered.
Again, months ago, the Glenway Preservation Association formally submitted to the Town its own list of questions. Many were addressed head on. But others were not. For example:
Why were no Town staff called as witnesses to support the Town’s position at the OMB Hearing?
Answer: To be addressed at the Lessons Learned meeting.
(You can see the GPA’s questions and the Town’s answers by opening “Documents” in the panel top left and navigating to “Glenway”.)
It would be truly scandalous if we had to wait until 23 June to get answers to the raft of questions that remain outstanding. I hope Bob Shelton will act on his first instinct, and invite members of the public to put their questions to the Town beforehand.
The Glenway saga is, of course, full of bitter ironies.
The Town is now about to consult on a new parkland policy. A report to the Committee of the Whole on 25 May 2015 indicates that taxes may have to go up to pay for land acquisition.
We learn that Newmarket will be short of 45 hectares of open space to provide the green lungs its growing population will need over coming years.
Despite this, in the bizarre world of urban planning, the Glenway developer, Marianneville, successfully persuaded the OMB to re-zone 36.3 hectares of open space to residential in-fill - a stone’s throw from Yonge and Davis which is now slated for the highest density development in the whole of Newmarket.
Go figure.
Update on 1 June 2015: The Council on-line calendar shows the Glenway Lessons Learned meeting is scheduled for 7pm on Tuesday 23 June 2015 in the Council Chamber, 395 Mulock Drive, Newmarket.