Vote…

This election in Ajax is still a mountain of boring! Are we going to have an acclamation for Mayor??

Voter turnout is very low and we have people that live in this Town and hand over their taxes for services but can not vote. At the Municipal level there are far more services used on a daily basis and these Citizens(technically Residents) have no voice.

Is this fair ? Why couldn’t a new resident be allowed to vote - in the Municipal level after residing in Canada for a set criteria of time ? I was talking with someone about this issue and I agree.

There are other people that think this way also. What do you think? Ajax is a very diverse community and perhaps the face of our council would be different with more participants in the democratic system, at the Municipal Level.

Perhaps all new residents should withhold their taxes and user fees they pay , then the Municipal sector can feel the impact.

What do you think?

Oshawa used the excuse of the Privacy protection laws to hide behind. She has set the record clear.

Here is the story she is referring to.

I am happy that Oshawa went the route of the Ombudsman in the first place but they need to follow the rules when an investigation is warranted.

Remember to sign the petition to extend the term of Andre Marin , lower down on the left side in the links section.

Alan Shanoff of the Toronto Sun and Mike Bradley the Mayor of Sarnia have signed it already.

You should also!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/A_Morin_Extend/index.html , I have a link on the left panel of the blog. Disregard typo.

Andre Marin’s term is up in April 2010, It is only April 2009 but I believe the process to either find the next person or decide to extend the term for the current Ombudsman, Andre Marin would not be left to the last minute.

Andre Marin has done so much for the Citizens of Ontario, Children’s Aid, MPAC, OLG investigations, some Hospital jurisdictions and LHINs.

Ontario needs Mr. Marin to continue in his mandate, please sign the petition and encourage friends to sign. Who knows it could help and the Government of Ontario offers to extend the term and Mr. Marin accepts.

Spread the word.

The office of the Ontario Ombudsman sent this to me moments ago. I will paste in the full text of the media release. (more…)

I was emailed from the Town on Tuesday before I contacted them to inquire about the status of this contract which was up for renewal. Here is the link to the Town Report- I have not read it all yet, it is very through. It comes down to the facts of– Ajax has not had any closed meetings complaints so why pay for an external service when the Ontario Ombudsman offers the same service, paid for by our taxes already, has educational materials available and conducts investigations in a similar manner.

I was proactively emailed by a councillor, Shaun Collier to inform me of the decision. Shaun Collier and Scott Crawford voted No to LAS the first time around and subsequent review after the first Staff report was not in my opinion complete.

This was the right decision. They should have done this 2 years ago but better late then never.

This now leaves Whitby and Clarington using the services of Local Authority Services, a sub. of the AMO. Pickering and Oshawa did not appoint closed meeting investigators and by default the Ontario Ombudsman had jurisdiction. Ajax voted at the General Governmental Committee on Thursday and will ratify the decision at council on Monday.

I will go to witness this as I spoke on the issue 2 years ago.

Andre Marin’s term is up in one year , the Ombudsman act states that the term can be extended. I hope it is, if you value the service Mr. Marin has given this province , email their office and show your support and tell them you think the Province should extend his term. The office of the Ombudsman is truly there for “Us” - “We” the citizens.

http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/en/contact-us.aspx that is the contact site.

Contact your MPP and tell them you want to see the Term of Andre Marin extended.

I have no idea if Mr. Marin wants to go beyond his 5 years but I hope he does. If you play the Lottery you owe a lot to him and his office!

I received an email today to my question regarding the difference between his 3.25% raise everyone got and what I calculated in a spreadsheet from the Ontario Salary Disclosure List.

I don’t apologize for anything, I was after information and I received it. Remember I did not call anyone crooks or say it was Highway robbery Here are his words. (more…)

I emailed the Mayor of Sarnia yesterday and had a response today! , on a holiday even I will add. Sarnia is a City of about 71,149 (2006 Census) people but the Mayor has been in place for 20 years and before that he was involved in Provincial Government, here is his Bio. Here is the final excerpt from lower down on the page. I want to be sure people understand that this Mayor has an extensive background and I don’t even live in his City but he found the time to provide me a response to my question that I was seeking the perspective from someone leading a Council. When I want to know something from a Mayor’s perspective, He seems to be the one I go to! (more…)

I had to read and re-read a report until it hit me , in my thinking, the council has approved bonuses in the range of
3% - 9% however just maybe if you are a citizen reading this report or maybe even a councillor you could have been under the impression that this bonus was only for the Fire Fighters Association. In the report that I link to in the previous post. http://www.townofajax.com/AssetFactory.aspx?did=4770 are the following paragraphs. (more…)

May 2008 this outlines upcoming “Exempt” group. Means the Managers. http://www.townofajax.com/AssetFactory.aspx?did=4770

wage rates for the Town’s Exempt Group be increased by
3.25%, effective January 1, 2009
3.75%, effective January 1, 2010
2.75%, effective January 1, 2011;

For the raises that were effective January 2008 is this

http://www.townofajax.com/AssetFactory.aspx?did=4245

I am still waiting for my questions to be answered in a direct way.

I have been told that Management and Directors do not get overtime. I was told that the increases for all staff and Management were 3.25% great people work hard and deserve a raise.

I just want to know why on the list the Ministry has for those making more then $100 K a year, appear to have increases from the last list that are higher then that % I was told. Is this to make up for the evening meetings and they don’t technically get overtime ? What is the policy ?

We are all entitled to understand the make up of it. We are stakeholders , shareholders , taxpayers in this Corporation of the Town of Ajax.