By Stephen Vance, Editor
Another Thanksgiving weekend is upon us, and in spite of our problems – or sometimes more accurately, our perceived problems – in Meaford, we have much to be thankful for.
Thanksgiving is my favourite of all celebratory holidays, and while summer fun is slowly inching away from us, the Farmers’ Market is wrapping up their season, and cold air and snow is most certainly on the way, I’ve long seen Thanksgiving as a last gasp of warmish weather fun, before the at times unforgiving winter season makes hermits out of many of us.
As a community, Meaford has had an interesting year. Meaford’s councillors and senior staff members have endured an onslaught of criticisms, most notably from our rural residents who have become angered about the level of taxation on their rural properties when viewed through the lens of the actual services they receive.
Some of our rural residents have become so angry that they have expressed a desire to explore the possibility of de-amalgamating from the municipality, and while it would be a sad day if the plan ever came to fruition, those residents feel certain that they would be better off.
There may be a sliver of hope that all parties can come together to finds solutions. The dispute over rural community halls, that seemed to have been a final straw for rural residents, while perhaps handled poorly initially by the municipal administration, was ultimately an impressive example of multiple parties coming together in a meeting where all sides were heard in an atmosphere of respect and understanding, and the result has been a compromise that all sides can live with.
I’m thankful for that.
I’m also thankful that our new members of our municipal staff seem to have settled in, and it would appear that the revolving door of senior staff members has stopped spinning for the time being, and from an administration perspective things seem to be running like a finely tuned motor. Sure there’s debate about whether we’ve got a Cadillac motor when a Honda motor would do, but from my front-seat view, the motor is now being well maintained, and we are certainly not anticipating a breakdown in the foreseeable future.
I’m thankful for that also.
Our council has most certainly had its ups and downs this year, and they have endured much criticism – some warranted, and some unfair and unnecessary – but that is the nature of politics and before you put your name on the ballot, you must know what you’re in for.
This time next year we’ll be on the verge of electing a new council.
I’m also thankful for that.
From everyone at The Meaford Independent, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and it is my hope that upon reflection, we all have things to be thankful for. After all, constant arguing and complaining is exhausting, and in the big picture unnecessary – our problems pale in comparison to the problems experienced by hundreds of millions of people across the globe.
For that I am especially thankful.
