Discussion 139 of 365; Wait, What? Not on the Meeting Agenda but it was an important comment. During Thursdays Council meeting, Mayor Smith was making a comment about the ball hockey rink that was donated by Marc Crowe. Thanks Mr. Crowe! I think he was attempting to explain why the Roller Skating event was going to be the key [...]

Discussion 138 of 365; High School Truth #3- The Future Many people ask why I take the time to prepare these extra long discussion posts. Most people simply do not have the time to research, watch Council meetings, analyze what is said, compare it to other memories and put it all together. I do have the time. More [...]

Discussion 137 of 365; High School Truth #2- The Politics. The want and the need for a high school in Wasaga Beach has been an ongoing issue for all of the years I have lived here. I think my first Facebook discussion about the issue was probably back in 2012 or so. Then in the 2014 election my wife [...]

Discussion 136 of 365; To start off- I won’t be at Thursdays Town Hall. Other commitments are more pressing. But if you plan to attend, here are some thoughts about the recent High School announcement. High School Truth #1- the students. There were two High School Proposals. Why did the Town of Wasaga Beach choose to promote and [...]

Discussion 135 of 365;Town Hall This Thursday is the Towns attempt to run their first “Town Hall” during this term of Brian Smiths attempt at being a Mayor. To use one of his favourite phrases… “let me be perfectly clear”. The Town Hall starts at 7:00. I may be there, I may not. Often, due to my limited [...]

Discussion 134 of 365; Eco Tourism- Lost Opportunities- Piping Plovers. The Piping Plover is many different things to many different people. The revival of these incredible (threatened species) birds has been taking place along shores of Georgian Bay, particularly in Wasaga Beach. The Province of Ontario and many local volunteers have been instrumental in protecting the delicate breeding [...]

Discussion 133 of 365; Shaping the future of our Community Who do you want shaping the future of our Community? Over the next 7 months, we will certainly talk about who we don’t want and why. However, the reality is… someone has to do the job. Politics is not high up on the Guidance Councilors list, but maybe [...]

Discussion 132 of 365; BIA! That would be my preferred plan of action. Why has the Town of Wasaga Beach never set up a Business Improvement Area (BIA)? When you look at the success these organizations have celebrated in other municipalities, it appears to be a viable solution to the decline of “downtown” in Wasaga Beach. Personally, I suspect [...]

Discussion 131 of 365; H2Oi… will it return? I look forward to seeing what measures the Mayor and Joe will roll out this year if the H2Oi car enthusiasts say they are returning? Will Wasaga Beach Residents be subjected to illegal road blocks again? Will all tourism be completely shut down again? What are your thought? What are your [...]

Discussion 130 of 365; Tourism? Who is paying for all of the “free stuff”? I’m not talking about all the swag you see Council members wearing (the logo shirts, jackets, hats, etc.). I’m sure those are taxable benefits. I’m talking about the “free” entertainment and the wages of the many party planners who are bringing it all together. [...]

Discussion 129 of 365. Open Mic? How wonderful. The Town is going to hold an open mic session at the RecPlex. You can get all of the answers you want there. Of course they won’t answer your emails, but that’s different.   Personally I think it’s interesting that they are suggesting people may want answers on a road [...]

Discussion 128 of 365; Oh, to be a fly on the wall! Yesterday’s discussion appears to have been noticed!!!!! So the “Special” Council meeting scheduled for today which I wrote about yesterday has been re-scheduled. Why? According to policy, the agenda cannot change (special rule for “Special” meetings), so that leaves a few possibilities. Could it be that [...]

Discussion 127 of 365; Rules? What rules? This one is short and sweet. Our Council is supposed to abide by a few dozen sets of rules. One substantial one is their own Procedural Bylaw. It is filled with rules that are actually mandated by superior legislation. The Municipal Act is one of those pieces of legislation. They don’t [...]

Discussion 126 of 365; Want a job? As long as you have the qualifications you should apply. My guess is that despite their criticism of the last Councils HR statistics, this Council will hire more new employees than any other two previous Councils combined. The tax implications of this frenzied hiring are yet to be seen. Hey… if it [...]

Discussion 124 of 365; Want to know something? When my wife was first elected into Municipal Office on 2014, there was a pretty fast learning curve. With her corporate experience, it was a daily straightforward task and she embraced her quest for information. The Town of Wasaga Beach had organized all kinds of in house training. Every Department [...]

Discussion 123 of 365; So let’s start talking about taxes. With this Councils Municipal Portion of our taxes being in excess of 17% since taking office, what do you think will be the results of the next two tax increases? First off, when discussing taxes, the Town has chosen to report the “blended” rate with the County portion. [...]

Discussion 121 of 365; Real Estate - Follow the Money We live in a world of easy access to a wide variety of information. I like that some information that used to be distributed by professionals is now at our fingertips. Real Estate listings fall into that realm. One of my most used apps is Realtor.ca. I have included [...]

Discussion 120 of 365; Optics A very smart couple once told me politics is all about optics. They went on to explain that it didn’t really matter what our politicians actually do, to them it what is more important is what they appear to do. Our Council is preparing the optics for a big announcement this week. No [...]

Discussion 119 of 365; Notice of Motion Today was meant to be another discussion about the apparently abandoned “Notice of Motion” introduced by Councilor Belanger. Is this beating a dead issue? Perhaps, but our Council is fast becoming famous for doing as they please regardless of public opinion. Public opinion is something I am recently getting a good [...]

Discussion 118 of 365; What no doctor? Well, last weeks Council meeting saw the announcement of a new Doctor for Wasaga Beach. Unfortunately for the Town Council, this new Doctor did not take the offer of free accommodation at the Towns Medical Clinic experiment. The physician did take advantage of an enhanced financial incentive package offered by the Town. [...]

Discussion 117 of 365; News Flash! The Wasaga Beach Secondary School land purchase is approved! We are one step closer to having a high school to serve our children’s needs!!!!! The attached screenshot is from a media release shared by the SCDSB on Thursday! On Thursday, I started getting some great news sent to me from a wide variety [...]

Discussion 116 of 365; Tough Questions If you ask the really tough question of our municipality it seems three things might happen. You may learn more about the topic at hand. What you learn may not always be encouraging information, but you can learn. I have and I’m thankful when that happens. You may be ignored. Sometimes THAT provides [...]

Discussion 115 of 365; https://pub-wasagabeach.escribemeetings.com/FileStream... Please take some time today to review the Agenda for today’s meeting or go to YouTube and tune in live to hear the various discussions. Pay attention this month to declarations of . Usually they are short and not discussed, but in my opinion should shine an extra light on issues declared a [...]

Discussion 114 of 365; It’s time to find your next Council. It’s one thing to point out concerns regarding process, poor spending decisions, favours for friends, etc… Unless people prepare to enter politics, the wasteful ways and unnecessary tax increases will just continue. So, I encourage people who have an interest in helping our community grow, but with [...]