Stephen Vance, Editor
Meaford's Council certainly has a challenge ahead of it. With a bare-bones draft budget featuring no frills or enhancements calling for an 8.7 percent increase in 2021, well above what most members of Council would prefer, there is much work to be done to find savings in the budget in order to reduce the required rate increase...
Stephen Vance, Editor
As I sat at the back of the opera house at Meaford Hall prior to Monday's council meeting, the theatre was all but silent with just a few municipal staffers quietly preparing for the start of the meeting. During this quiet moment I found myself reflecting on the year we have all been experiencing.My thoughts began with...
Stephen Vance, Editor
A decade ago I was fully supportive of what I saw as a natural progression to online voting. At the time I wrote that I thought online voting would be fast, easy, and might even increase voter participation. In fact, I penned an editorial in June of 2013 entitled 'Electronic Voting is Right Direction For Meaford', but...
Stephen Vance, Editor
Municipal budget season is now in full swing with the tabling of the draft budgets for 2021 at Council's October 19 meeting. After several years of relatively low annual rate increases, the proposed 8.7 percent increase for 2021 will no doubt be a shock for many, including members of Council, although Council does have some (limited) options.Given...
Stephen Vance, Editor
For the past seven months our daily lives have all but been consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has impacted our economy, it has restricted our movements, it has resulted in the cancellation of most everything we deem to be fun, and it has limited our contact with others. With all of the frustration and uncertainty we...
Stephen Vance, Editor
2020 has been a year like no other we have experienced. The COVID-19 pandemic that has consumed our daily lives has been unsettling and uncertain, and the events of this year have seen a global heath issue paralyze nations and destroy economies. Happy Thanksgiving.Given the realities that this year has brought us it might be easy to...
Stephen Vance, Editor
With COVID-19 cases spiking across the province, it would appear that the long predicted second wave is now upon us. Here in Meaford, where we have seen very few cases since the start of the pandemic, we saw the number of confirmed cases jump from seven to eleven in less than a week.While it took six months...
Stephen Vance, Editor
This year's municipal budget season is likely to be like most everything else in 2020 – it will be ugly, a little on the scary side, and it will be costly.Budget time is always a challenging time for any municipal council, but the past year of a state of emergency brought about by a global pandemic has...
Stephen Vance, Editor
Though four options were presented to Council regarding the operation of the Meaford & St. Vincent Community Centre and arena, none of the options was exactly appealing, none of them met the needs and desires of all, but in spite of the significantly increased cost, I think Council was right to ensure that the facility could be...
Stephen Vance, Editor
The return to school in 2020 is like nothing students, parents, or teachers have seen before, and understandably anxiety levels are running high for many.After half a year away, our kids are returning to school amid significant public debate about whether they should be returning at all. That fact alone is enough to heighten tensions for students...
