Both the Ottawa Citizen and CBC ran stories today regarding the recusal of Mathieu Fleury from the debate of a proposed new Claridge property in  Bruyère community.
Ouch.  They don’t call it a “conflict” of interest for nothing.
From what they reported in the media, this was a difficult decision for Mathieu.
Neighbours in the community were terribly upset to hear the news that Councillor Fleury would have to recuse himself from any discussion and vote on this property as his father works for the developer.  Many of them voted for the councillor …

One of the first reasons why I reached out to Mathieu Fleury in the 2010 municipal elections was he had an awesome website, www.MathieuFleury.ca.  It was clean, friendly and it had a kewl logo.  He also worked hard in the election, was positive and the people around him really supported him.
He continues to impress me.  He’s a hard working councillor and diligently tries to understand all sides of the issues and is not afraid to say what he feels.  Case in point where unlike many councillors quickly who quickly side …

On Monday, Councillor Mathieu Fleury launched his new councillor website:
www.MathieuFleury.ca
It’s a pretty awesome site that not only gives ward news to residents but it also shows his voting record.  It also boasts an open item log where residents can upload issues for his office to review.  It will show the open issues that the councillor is either working on or has worked on and closed.  That’s great transparency.
Unlike most other councillor sites, this two-way shared information portal is a breath of fresh air.
Great job Councillor!
The only request I have is …

Winterlude is definitely a highlight during our long winter months in Ottawa. There is enough snow on the ground for great cross country skiing and the ice is ready for skating on the canal. I make it my goal to skate the entire 8km skate way every year and Winterlude presents me with an excellent opportunity to get out on the canal with the brave other skaters. I am also looking forward to seeing the ice sculptures in Confederation Park, and checking out the eco art on display on Dow’s …

After posting my blog on December 20, 2010, It now falls to Mathieu Fleury, the resident received the following response to her enquiry:
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 2:06 PM
Subject: RE: two dead end lanes east and west of Marlborough off of Mann
Ms.  Archer asked why the lanes east and west of Marlborough and north of Mann appear to be similar but that one is City Maintained and the other is not.
Both lanes are in the Wards 12 (former Ward 5) and both short dead ended …

On November 4, 2010, I wrote how Pat Archer, a Rideau Vanier resident, was having trouble dealing with the city regarding her laneway (you can read the post here).  Someoneat City Hall  was reading because Ms. Archer got a phone call that day from the city and made an appointment to come out to her house and inspect the problem.
Since that appointment on November 10, 2010, Ms. Archer is still waiting for a response from city staff on how the problem will be resolved.  Here are the emails she has …

There have been two interesting articles published this week so far that shed light on how City Hall works and the challenge that lay ahead for the new councillors and Mayor Jim Watson.  Change will not be easy.
First, on Monday, the Ottawa Business Journal published an article by former mayor, Larry O’Brien, O’Brien: the difference between business and politics.  In this article, O’Brien discusses the politics of preservation superseding the interests of the voters.  One example cited is the 2009 budget deliberations where the mayor’s desire to review the budget …

Ora Morison is a Carleton University student in the School of Journalism and Communication.  She recently wrote a profile on councillor elect Mathieu Fleury (Rideau-Vanier, Ward 12).  You can read it here: Mathieu Fleury Profile
The advice seasoned councillor, Rick Chiarelli had to give caught my eye:
“When you’re in your first year, any solution you can think of is probably one that someone else has thought of before and for some reason it wasn’t adopted,” Chiarelli says.
Chiarelli says his advice to all of the “newbies” on council is to channel their …

As I wrote in my blog on July 14, 2010 (Councillor Georges Bédard admits he had no new ideas), the out-going councillor failed on numerous occasions to fight on behalf of the residents of his ward, and here is another example.
A resident of Rideau Vanier, Pat Archer, has been trying to resolve a snow plowing issue with the city since November 5, 2009.  It has to do with the inequity of her neighbour’s laneway being plowed and her laneway not.
From Ms. Archer’s initial request to Councillor Bédard’s office last November, …

Ottawa Citizen Columnist, Randall Denley will be profiling “better new candidates” during the course of the municipal election.  As Rob Snow of CFRA is trying to give challengers some more profile by having them on his Afternoon Edition show to help even the odds against incumbents, seems like Denley is trying to do his bit too.  Good on you!
I will be listing the links to those reviews here for you to be able to view them at a glance when it comes to making your decision on who to vote …