I believe your correct. Toe the line kind of politician. Guess its part of the territory, but it was pretty disapponting when he voted not to have the regional chair position as an elected official.
Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 7 April 2016 at 21:35
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I would have voted as the Mayor did. I don't know his rational but for me the question is one of strict practicality.
Neither a Prime Minister nor a Premier has to contest an election in an area as large as York Region.
They compete for votes in a home riding.
We have numerous Federal and Provincial ridings in York Region. As they get too big to manage, they are divided again.
Think about that.
York Region is vast.
As would be the cost of a campaign...the organisation each candidate would require ...the fund-raising for a campaign . All are factors that need to be considered.
Where would funds be solicited? Right....developers, contractors,suppliers.....all those who do business with the Region.
Political Contributions would increase the price of contracts ....as part of the overhead of doing business....taxes would rise.
A tax rebate would be expected as it is Federally and Provincially.
Party politics would likely become a factor in municipal politics.
What if a Mayor and Chair had opposite platforms...how would voters work ithat out in the choice?
A successful candidate could be in debt for years; how might he/she realistically be expected to mitigate that debt? Or would it be dismissed as inconsequential. That would be unrealistic.
Half the population currently dismiss municipal government. They have done for decades. If Regional government means nothing to them now .why would direct election of the chair make a difference?
I don't argue the current system is satisfactory. It is not.
Regional government itself is the problem.
But it's here to stay.
Regional government is a problem, a big one. The debt is $2.5+ Billion and expected to be $3.5+ Billion in 2017. They are depending on the DC charges to take care of most of it, but that isn't happening. When the Mayor made his plea to have the DC charges reduced for businesses like hotels to develop here, it wasn't surprising that the Region said No. The Chair position is decided by back door conversations. I believe when the Stouffville Mayor decided not to run for his Mayors position, it was because he new that the position was going to be his. The exercise of all those who put their name in the hat for the position was just a performance. A bad one. Mayor Dawe is in a position to probably understand Regional politics more than your average electorate. But why is it that the rest of council does not? I'm curious to know why our council members voted the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI think the mayor has maybe erred by not allowing other councillors to sub for him occasionally just so they can see the Region in operation for themselves. And I do know we have had problems with that in previous councils.
ReplyDeleteThey are not allowed to "sub for him," occasionally or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteMorris used to send her buddy to those meetings. She did not allow the Deputy Mayor to attend or even to have decent committee
ReplyDeletework.
@15:36
ReplyDeleteYou mean the one-term mayor who was turfed out on her ass by a raw political rookie?