Vote…

If you are a regular bottled water drinker then everyday is probably bad for you but I am a tap water drinker and most days it is fine and I drink it.

My favourite tap water days are in the winter when it is really really cold out and water is just as cold as coming out of the fridge.Today and the day before or so I was outside and came in for a drink– could not even drink a few mouthfuls.If this happens every time it is warm out then I better keep a few bottles of Dasani on hand– that is the only bottled water I drink.

For years , not sure how many but I have driven past the Mayor’s law office and would cringe at the exterior and the peeling gray paint. When exterior’s of buildings are not maintained it just makes the whole area look a little run down.

I drove by the other day and could not believe my eyes! It is painted and looks so much better!

Nice Curb appeal , it’s about time. No this is not an important Ajax issue but I live in this neighbourhood and the office is one of the commercial buildings in this little stretch.

The following is what I received in my Email today.

Like Ajax Home Week Festivities on the waterfront, the Town of Ajax Canada Day celebrations cost many $25 to attend. Why you ask? Two reasons really. Firstly, not enough available parking at Rotary Park, and secondly, the failure of the Town to realize that maybe they should have turned off the parking bylaw enforcement, at least until the celebrations were done. So many of those that parked on the streets surrounding the Canada Day party received a $25 parking ticket. The Town’s web site stated that parking on the street would be permitted, but some restrictions would apply. Why have any restrictions for such a festivity? Accept for blocking driveways, emergency lanes, intersections, and such, why would the Town allow ticketing to be done for those just parked along the road to enjoy the Canada Day celebration. Even those that volunteered to help the Town out were getting ticketed.

If I was council, I would be embarrassed. Promoting and getting people to come down to join in the celebration and then to ticket them while they are there is ridiculous. I can just imagine if it happened to those that were visiting Ajax! Won’t they have a nice memory of us.

For most of the day the Rotary Park parking lot was either full or people were not allowed to park there. So where else are they supposed to park?

The Town’s web site was misleading and not detailed enough, and the Town should have had notices up in the areas people were not supposed to park on this special day.

Again though, they should have not been any ticketing while the celebration was going on. I hope all that received tickets fight them.

As Ward One Councillor I will do my best to ensure that this kind of mistake does not happen again.

Robert MacArthur
Candidate for Ward One Councillor
2010 Town of Ajax Municipal Election, Durham Region
www.votemacarthur.ca
Robert@votemacarthur.ca
905.424.0155

This link was posted in my facebook feed.
http://tweetphoto.com/15447752

The car in this picture is parking in a space at Ajax Town hall that is reserved for Hybrid cars. I have noticed non hybrid cars in the space before but never a car that is said to be the Mayor’s !

It is being claimed the Mayor of Ajax, who is also the owner of a smart car , parked his non hybrid car in the space.

Why does he think this is ok ? I did send him an email asking him if it was his car and for his comment on it.

I await a response.

Remember all the sinking manholes I was complaining about last year ? Of all the sinking manholes I was referring to, the only one that was fixed was on the street the Mayor’s law office is on.

“It’s good to be the king”

[Edit] I took a drive on the way home from a meeting and looked at the parking space sign myself– it is not specifically a “hybrid” parking space. It is a staff reserved space to encourage carpooling so they don’t have to walk a long distance. Carpooling cars can park there and hybrids or I guess a smart car also.
The Committee meeting is in the evening, there are staff in attendance for these meetings so technically if that was the Mayor’s car , did he carpool ? So he is not completely off the hook but it was evening and not the busy time of the day when majority of cars in the lot.

Learned this on own, no email explaining anything from the Mayor of course.

This post was not on a serious issue so the fact that I did not do due dilligence on the pic I posted a link to, no big deal, was just some municipal fun.

Unlike a municipality that has an actual downtown where you park the car along the road and walk up and down on a sidewalk , we have large spread out plazas that have parking lots and spaces for our cars.

I am so fed up with people sitting idling their cars in fire routes , “just for a minute” . (more…)

I was checking into the Clinic locations and see that Bowmanville, Oshawa, Whitby and Pickering all have H1N1 Flu clinics.

Why doesn’t Ajax have an H1N1 Clinic of it’s own ? I just spoke to my Mother in Fonthill and she does not have to go to Welland to get her shot, she will go to the local firehall and get one. She is just as close to Welland as we are to Pickering.

I would like to know why Whitby does not have to share with Oshawa ?

We have enough of a population that our council keeps harping about another politician to pay at the Region level but no one makes enough noise about an H1N1 clinic in town ?

Will we get one on Monday for the people not deemed high risk ?

I guess I should have written a post to say I was taking a break. Things going on, school starting. Waiting to hear my job status from a big merger. If I am confirmed in my position I will be working for the biggest energy company in Canada , sounds pretty impressive when stated in that way!

The garden is plodding along, I have to learn patience. There will be a community garden in Ajax at St. Andrews Park that I will help with but the timing is a glacial pace. These things take time I know but I do wish it could go faster. Parks grow flowers, parks can grow a carrot but the carrot takes a lot more fertilizer to get.

Election buzz everywhere , by-election in Toronto - Provincial, a perspective Mayor candidate from the Province level wanting to go down a notch, I wonder why Smitherman would be willing to leave the Province for the top job in the city a year before the next Provincial election in 2011 ? A possible Federal election in the Fall of 2009.

Be back soon, who wants to go to the first council meeting ?

I wonder if Obama would like to be Mayor of Toronto, even part time would be better then Miller! Here is a novel way 905′ers can vote in the Toronto election, purchase a condo with a whole lot of other people and each registered owner on title get’s to vote, no matter if you live there or not. This is what it appears to be according to a convoluted response from a City of Toronto clerk.

I will canvas for anyone that runs against Mr. Miller, well almost anyone unless of course we have an interesting election here . Who is going to run against Mr. Parish ?

What? I don’t live in Toronto you say? so what, Mr. Ferguson lives in Aurora and he can dictate what happens in the City! Where was his garbage stockpiling ? that is all I am saying on that subject.

UPDATE: September 10th. (more…)

I am not the press so I can post parts of press releases if I want.

Here is one more release in regards to the quest of Kurtis to have a Youth Council established. (more…)

This is a letter to the editor on durhamregion.com .

I agree with the letter writer except for the comment about Pat Brown picking her tree and plaque- uncalled for.

The writer has a point, if the Council does not want to see the park area resemble a cemetery then no more raised plaques should go with the trees. Treat them all the same or remove the program.

We all pay for the parks and their infrastructure so we should all be at the same level when it comes to this sort of thing.

I did not know about this policy at all.

Send me pics of sinking manholes in your area!

Tell my why a bit of patch stuff can’t be used until major roadwork is done at a later date with casino infrastructure money ?

In the coming weeks I will take pics of the ones my car is continually having to dodge around on way to and from work.