Do municipalities have a responsibility to set and enforce bylaws? I’m currently taking a few courses in municipal law to better understand our bylaws and how we enforce them. I’m quickly discovering that, despite the fact that laws are written in the most exhaustively boring way possible in order to avoid any confusion, interpretation isContinue reading “Responsibility to Enforce”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Housing and Homelessness in Northumberland
Two weeks ago I was a speaker at the Northumberland Community Legal Centre’s annual Justice Forum, where the topic this year was homeless encampments. I brought a perspective from inside municipal government, talking about government as multiple overlapping systems each with their own jurisdictional distinctions and resource flows — a system of systems that, despiteContinue reading “Housing and Homelessness in Northumberland”
A Week in the Life of a Councillor
With the current budget including a potential raise for members of council, folks in Brighton are talking about what the position seems worth to them. As I wrote last week, I’m generally in favour of paying councillors well; I recognize that I’m biased in this regard, as a raise from $18k to $23k base salaryContinue reading “A Week in the Life of a Councillor”
Council Pay Increases
Last year I wrote about a proposal in Cobourg to increase their council’s pay, and why such proposals are always controversial. No politician wants to appear greedy, so we typically go many years with no adjustment to politician paycheques, until it can’t be ignored anymore; at that point, the increase to get pay back upContinue reading “Council Pay Increases”
Tax Increases, and What’s Driving Them
On Monday night we’ll be looking at the 2024 budget, and you can see the draft budget here. As it currently sits, we’re looking at an overall budget increase of almost 9%, and a tax increase of just over 7%. I know that number will set off alarm bells for some, even though it’s aboutContinue reading “Tax Increases, and What’s Driving Them”
Management vs Leadership
Council has spent quite a bit of time over the past few months reading resumes and interviewing a slate of absolutely fantastic applicants for the position of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). Naturally I can’t talk about any of them individually, but one thing that stood out from the candidates that were interviewed is that theyContinue reading “Management vs Leadership”
Multiple Representation in Politics
In my day job as a REALTOR®, “multiple representation” refers to when the same agent or brokerage represents both sides of a transaction. It’s an important issue, because when the same agent represents two parties at the same time they have opportunities for a conflict of interest, or simply favouring one side over the other.Continue reading “Multiple Representation in Politics”
The Year Ahead: 2024
At this time of year we see a lot of “a year in review” reflections, but I’m even more of a fan of thinking about the year ahead. First of all, because we humans tend to be terrible at thinking about the future, and it takes practice; and secondly, because it’s an opportunity to reflectContinue reading “The Year Ahead: 2024”
How We Budget
It’s budgeting season again, and counting the 2023 budget (which was completed early in the year) and the Lower Trent Conservation Authority budget (which was completed this week), my third time through the process this year. I’ve noticed a few approaches to budgeting that, while common, concern me. Hold the Line The first is theContinue reading “How We Budget”
What’s a Wetland?
2023 in Brighton municipal politics has been dominated by one development proposal. We held public meetings in January to get a look at the proposal, and the matter will finally be defined this week, on December 11th. I don’t normally talk about matters that are currently being considered, and I’m not here to talk aboutContinue reading “What’s a Wetland?”