Cobourg Blog

With all this talk of Municipalities now “uploading” to the Province - one would think it was a a win for the long suffering taxpayer. But it just transfers the responsibility from one tax authority to another. There is only one taxpayer in the end - or do we think that if the Province pays, “we” don’t? It just comes out of a different tax! Or do we think Cobourg will offload (sorry, upload) its costs to the broad based Province but Toronto won’t? Dream on!

So we should be discussing tax methods - not up or downloading. Is it better for some things to be paid by taxing property or by Income and Sales tax? I have always been of the opinion that school costs are better handled by the Province and not a tax on Properties. So let’s hope the transfer started by Mike Harris gets finished and 100% of school costs are paid by the Province. Some of the downloads Mike did were clearly an error but the uploading of some school costs was on the right track. This of course brings up the issue of managing schools and school boards. Already, curricula and standards are set by the Province so I have a hard time understanding what value is provided by local school boards. Parent-Teacher groups yes - boards that control budgets - why?

Anyway, these are the sorts of discussions we should be having - what tax base should pay for what? If the activity relates to property and therefore property taxes, then it should be Municipalities - if not, it’s a Provincial or Federal matter. For example, local roads, sewers, drains, town planning, parks, fire departments etc are related to Property. There are some grey areas like Police, Social Services etc but let’s for now focus on the issues that are clear.

John Draper

I started this blog some months ago with the idea of stimulating discussion and airing my views to the people of Cobourg. It started well with a fair bit of interest but has faded recently. From what I hear, there are quite a lot more people who read the blogs than people who contribute. And those who do contribute have other outlets for their opinions - and they are generally the same people on each issue.

The technology of this particular blog works well and the many spam attempts never get past the moderator (me). But the 30 or so per day are a pain to delete regularly. Spammers want to be shown so their links to sexual and other products will be “aired”. Frankly, the work to keep the software updated plus deleting spam comments seems to be not worth the result of the few original blogs, comments and viewers.

Any Comments on this?

John Draper

Martin Partridge has called a public meeting on the Fountain/rink at the Library on August 9th. He got the word out by e-mail - he did not rely on the newspapers although they have picked up the story. He says he has “information on fundamental design errors”.

Who cares? The main problem is not design flaws but the process used. In Cobourg it’s not hard to find out the real story although it is harder to prove. In case you have not heard, the story is that Mayor Peter Delanty is one of the Liberals who knows who to call (or rather, knows his call will be heard). He asked for and received part of the $32M that McGuinty handed out - this is the hand-out that the Provincial auditor general called “one of the worst we’ve seen” for documentation and accountability. So it would seem that the rush to spend it is to avoid losing it if the Liberals lose the October 10th election!

Although my initial reaction was to take the money and run, the unanswered questions are:

1. What application process was used and how did Cobourg get selected?
2. Why did we get the money for this project and not other worthy causes in town?
3. Is this the best design?
4. Should there even be an open air skating rink/fountain in Cobourg anywhere?
5. If there should be, is the chosen location best? What about in Victoria Park opposite the “Park Theatre” currently being renovated? It would be downtown and use a space that is underutilized.
6. What is the on-going cost? Is it truly trivial?

So I think Martin’s meeting is just stirring the pot - the issue he wants to talk about would appear to be of low importance - BUT - there are still many unanswered questions.

Oh, and one more comment - some people and councillors seem to think that councillors should look after only their own “areas of responsibility” - but if only one councillor talks about an issue publicly, then there is no council debate. Everything then happens out of public sight - this seems to me to be the whole problem with this council and the last. Only Miriam Mutton and Stan Frost seem to understand this point - especially Miriam. The system of appointed co-ordinators has to go - it does not provide transparency - or has not to date.

John Draper