I should have written about this last month but didn’t get around to it so I’m doing it now.  I want to say congratulations to Councillor Maria McRae, city staff, the staff at Ottawa Community Housing and in particular, Jo-Anne Poirier.  Remember the blow up over the new pavilion in Ledbury Banff community?  A new building was provided by the city but they opened it up to the surrounding area which meant that the local summer programs were squeezed out of its use.  It wasn’t until a very public scene …

If you look at this video posted by the Ottawa Citizen on the Ledbury Banff Pavilion uprising, it’s very clear to me that this whole project had more to do about city staff than the community residents.

First off, River Ward councillor, Maria McRae, berates the community members for not asking for a meeting to discuss their concerns about the programming.  She says this right after telling the upset crowd that the opening was moved up to accommodate the personal situations of city staff Joanne Poirier, Ottawa Housing CEO and Nichole …

If there was any thought that City Hall is out of touch with the people they are suppose to serve, here is an example that should clear up any doubt:
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE CITY OF OTTAWA
Date: Wednesday 15 June 2011
Contact: Public Affairs (613-580-2450), medias@ottawa.ca
NR: Positive change continues in the Banff-Ledbury Community

Ottawa – River Ward City Councillor Maria McRae and Ottawa Community Housing CEO Jo-Anne Poirier joined the Banff-Ledbury community and community partners to open an exciting new community hub, the Ledbury Park Pavilion.

“This new meeting place is a …

Remember all those councillors running in the last election on being good fiscal stewards of the taxpayers purse.  Well, ten councillors and the Mayor threw a little doubt on that fact for me.
Yesterday, the Finance and Economic Committee (FEDCO) voted in favour of the Rink of Our Dreams.  This rink will cost about City Hall $250,000 in capital dollars then another $250,000 in operating costs annually.  That’s already at least $1M during the term of this council. To use Environment Committee chair, Maria McRae’s favourite time measure, that’s $5M over …

Ottawa City Council once again lost at the Ontario Municipal Board; this time on changes it wanted to bring in that would have restricted urban expansion to 230 hectares instead of the 850 hectares approved in 2007.
Why is this a worthwhile story?  It is because the city was warned by its own staffers that the proposed OMB challenge would lose (except for city lawyer Tim Marc who can always make a case).  And it’s here I have an issue.
First there are two councillors who try to use the OMB I …

Here come the smart metres for water usage.  We all know how well smart metres worked for hydro so now our city wants to use the same idea to “more accurately” track water usage.  When asked if the real plan is to move to time of use charges which charge customers higher rates depending on when they use water, enviro chair, Maria McRae said that that is not in the immediate plans but it could be something they do later (Ottawa Citizen: Ottawa’s new high-tech water meters could bring time-of-use …

Yesterday, Councillor Maria McRae and the environment committee passed a water rate increase of 3.9%.  That’s 1.5% more than the property tax rate increase but a lot less than the ridiculous rate rises of prior years that saw increases as high as 10%.  Could they have done better?  Maybe but at least the movement is in the right direction.
The one caveat is that in making the rate announcement, taxpayers were warned that some planned infrastructure improvements maybe delayed because of the 2.5% property tax rate cap imposed by Mayor Jim …

First let me state that I have to be careful how I word this blog.  As a member of the Seniors’ Advisory Committee (SAC), I am bound by certain code of conduct rules that limit the extent of what I say and write.  Sure hope I stay inside the lines…
With that disclaimer out of the way, let me tell you that there is a clash coming at transit commission.  That’s because, according to OC Transpo themselves, they are bilking Ottawa seniors up to $4M per year in higher bus fares …

Note to Newbies: There is a lesson to be learned somewhere in this debacle…read on…
Both Sue Sherring of the Ottawa Sun and Randall Denley of the Ottawa Citizen write about the green bin program:
City Hall math misleads by Randall Denley
Something stinks and it’s not the green bin waste by Sue Sherring
Denley takes on the truthiness of the numbers being discussed in regards to the costs to haul away regular garbage versus green garbage. He points out the numbers presented are not apples to apples comparison. Councillor …

Here is an example of how politicians spin a bad story so they look good when they should really be the ones taking the blame.
On an article in the Ottawa Sun by Sue Sherring from January 12, 2011, Green bin contract makes no sense.  In the article, Environment Committee Chair, Maria McRae, admits that the green bin deal is a bad deal but tries to make it sound like it was city staffers that are to blame.  But I don’t believe that that is the case.  Councillor Eli El-Chantiry told Rob …