Editor,
Councillor Uhrig’s letter to the Editor in the September 17 of the Meaford Independent was very helpful to me in understanding his logic and numbers oriented point of view – which is likely to be shared by other Councillors. I have attended dozens of council meetings and agree with the numbers he has presented. There is a high workload for all councillors to perform their day-to-day duties directing staff assignments and making spend decisions. I respect their dedication to do this work for what private industry would probably call low pay.
My reason for writing in response to that letter is to introduce an alternate point of view that I believe is just as rational, and very relevant to a large percentage of Meaford residents.
I would like to name Councillor Uhrig’s list of topics (Infrastructure, Financial Governance, Growth, Community) which = about 95% of their workload, “ensuring that the town is running well”. It is worth pointing out that the heavy lifting of this work is done by staff who are trained, experienced and reliable at doing this work. If council all took a 6-month trip to a foreign country, staff would continue to do those same jobs and the town would continue to run well.
My alternate point of view is that the REAL benefit that council can and should provide to the town is Leadership and Vision since staff can easily maintain the status quo.
Thus, the recurring position I hear from most of Council that “there is nothing we can do about this project as it is out of our hands” strikes me as an abdication of their core responsibility to our residents.
In 2010 the TCE gas plant fiasco in Oakville/Mississauga was a project that had already begun construction to the tune of ~$1 billion, but due to resident concerns, pushback by local government, and the pressures of a looming election this project was cancelled. The community identified itself as NOT a willing host and pushed back. They did not accept cash to be quiet and “suck it up”.
Meaford can do this too. True – there is a multi-departmental analysis ongoing now with DND, IAAC and others. But the final decision in matters of this type always ends up as political. And politicians change their minds…and some even leave their office. This project is nowhere close to a done deal…unless the Council and residents just give up.
Over the last century many leaders have taken difficult positions to protest things such as foreign wars, apartheid, segregation, the lies of big tobacco, political corruption, industrial pollution of our food chain…there is a long list. We are all better off for their courage and sacrifices. Meaford does not “need” a multi-million dollar Community Benefits Agreement to accept the damages that the PSP will deliver…while at the same time delivering zero positive benefits. If anyone thinks that their electricity bill will go down due to this project, I have some swampland in Florida that I would like to show them.
Council and Staff have managed to keep the town “running well” just fine for the last 20 years without selling the future of our town and Georgian Bay.
Regards,
Paul Young, Meaford
