Editorial

Stephen Vance, Editor Meaford's newly elected council features two rookies who in the early going appear to be settling in quite nicely to their new positions. After any municipal election I'm always curious as to how those elected to council for the first time wade into the sometimes crazy world of municipal governance. For me, new faces on council always offer...

Stephen Vance, Editor Meaford's council held its first meeting of 2019 on Monday, and it was everything one might expect, and also some of what people might hope for. As for what one might expect, the meeting was lengthy, and at times frustrating, but if you're looking for some hope, this council appears to be laser-focused on infrastructure and continuing the...

Stephen Vance, Editor As one busy year draws to a close, we look toward a busy year to come. Before looking toward the coming year however, I think we all deserve a bit of a break, and thankfully some days off are on the way.The end of December is always a good time to take advantage of some statutory holidays, and...

Stephen Vance, Editor Meaford's newly elected council held its first meeting (the pomp and circumstance of the inaugural meeting held last week aside) on December 10, and they sent a message to staff, though if staff is confused by the message they might be forgiven.On the one hand, council was clear in their message to staff that a 5.6 percent...

Stephen Vance, Editor There was plenty of optimism and many beaming smiles in the opera house at Meaford Hall on Monday as the new council was formally sworn into office. Which is how it should be, but now the party is over, and the real work begins.The inaugural meeting of council isn't your typical council meeting, of course, as no...

Stephen Vance, Editor It's that time of year again. Downtown storefront windows will have been covered with red plastic during the week while shop owners and their staff create their displays for the annual BIA Downtown Christmas Window Unveiling event, which will once again be partnered with the Kinsmen Club of Meaford's annual Santa Claus Parade to create a night...

Stephen Vance, Editor While the November 19 meeting of council was in many ways a typical council meeting, it was also special in that it was the final meeting of the current council term. The next meeting of council on December 3 at Meaford Hall will see the inauguration of the newly elected council.When the new council takes over, it...

Stephen Vance, Editor This week The Meaford Independent celebrates its ninth birthday, and we enter our 10th year – how time flies! When this paper was born in November of 2009, Stephen Harper was our prime minister, Dalton McGuinty was premier of Ontario, and Francis Richardson was mayor of Meaford. It's just nine years, but at times it almost seems an...

Stephen Vance, Editor It's never easy (or common) for politicians to admit when they have messed up, but when they do, you have to respect it. A little more than a month after having approved a new parks use bylaw, Meaford's council decided to revisit the language used which caused concern and anger among many residents.Public backlash was almost instantaneous after...

Stephen Vance, Editor Back in April I wrote an editorial suggesting that we might want to reconsider our use of electronic voting for our municipal elections. The system failure with less than two hours before the close of the voting period on Monday resulted in an extension of the voting period by 24 hours, and will no doubt reignite discussion...