Author: John Draper

AGN Leads Project to Decorate Garbage Cans

John Draper

In September 2018 Wally Keeler teamed with Lydia Smith to ask Council to fix the eyesores of ugly garbage cans around town (see link below).  The Parks and Recreation committee agreed with them  and in June 2019 Council passed a resolution to implement a “Trash to Treasures Pilot Program” and add it to the 2020 budget.  This did not happen and also did not happen in the 2021 budget – it’s currently listed in the 2021 operating budget as a special project in 2022/2023 with an estimated amount of $2000.  But all is not lost.  The Art Gallery of Northumberland has taken it on as an Education project for the Youth Council.  They plan to beautify 25 metal garbage cans… Read complete articleAGN Leads Project to Decorate Garbage Cans

Cobourg Police Hire Deputy Chief

John Draper

In November 2014, Cobourg Police hired Paul VandeGraaf as Deputy Chief from Belleville to replace Terry Demill, who retired after 33 years with Cobourg Police. Then in July 2019, Police Chief Kai Liu retired from Cobourg Police and joined Treaty Three Police Service based in Kenora.  At that time Paul was named Chief and a search was started to find a Deputy.  On Wednesday, September 22, Dean Pepper, chair of the Cobourg Police Services Board, announced that Jeffrey Haskins, currently an Inspector with Durham Police, will take on the role of Deputy Chief of Cobourg Police.  He has an impressive resume (see full announcement below) and is sure to make major contributions to Cobourg.  He starts work in his new… Read complete articleCobourg Police Hire Deputy Chief

Capitol Theatre re-opening

John Draper

By some measures, we are “getting back to normal” – the beach is open, Rainbow Cinema and the Loft are operating with a “normal” program albeit with limited capacity, and the CCC is gradually opening up. Last year, all entertainment events at Victoria Hall and the Capitol were cancelled but now the Capitol is opening up – will Victoria Hall be next?  The Capitol started with a live show “The Importance of being Earnest” and is hosting the long running Vintage Film Festival this coming weekend. There are safety plans in place which follow Provincial guidelines and these include a requirement that all patrons are fully vaccinated.  The program this year consists of films that are “based on a true story” such… Read complete articleCapitol Theatre re-opening

Liberals win minority – Local MP returned

John Draper

The Liberals won the election with another minority.  Of course special ballots (almost a million votes – mail in or well in advance) won’t be counted until Tuesday so the results for some seats won’t be known for a while.  But, as predicted by polls, local Conservative incumbent MP Philip Lawrence did win – see the numbers below. Notable results are in the PPC and Green Party.  Maxime Bernier’s party (PPC) did better although he personally came nowhere close to winning his seat – it was won by a Conservative.  And the Green vote was down with their leader losing badly although they still won 2 seats (down 1). BQ (+2) and NDP (+1) did about the same as in… Read complete articleLiberals win minority – Local MP returned

Early look at Organization Review

John Draper

One of the things that any CAO wants to know, is whether their organization is optimum.  So CAO Tracey Vaughan has hired KPMG to find out. On Monday, an initial report was presented to Council by Oscar Poloni with a final report due in another week.  It’s not clear if all of it will be public so let’s look at what we have.  Oscar pointed to the earlier Service Delivery Review for complementary information (it focused on what you do and why you do it) whereas the Organization Review focused on “how you are structured to deliver services” and emphasized that the Organization should be aligned with Strategic priorities.  Given that, he was concerned that changing priorities meant that some… Read complete articleEarly look at Organization Review

Town of Cobourg Employee Arrested

John Draper

In the early morning of Saturday, September 11, 2021 Cobourg Police started an investigation into a Town of Cobourg Employee because of a complaint by a resident. Initially, the name of the man charged “was not released to protect the integrity of the investigation and ensure the victim’s privacy”. But today, Police announced that 27-year-old, Michael Dale Orleck of Hamilton Township has been arrested and charged with sexual assault, mischief to property under $5000 and criminal harassment.  This is because the investigation suggested there may be other victims so “the name and photo of the suspect are being released”. Police say that Orleck worked at the Cobourg Community Centre but is “currently prohibited from attending there until the conclusion of the… Read complete articleTown of Cobourg Employee Arrested

Next Council meeting to be Hybrid

John Draper

In this case, hybrid refers to a mix of in-person and Zoom meetings.  Council will meet in Council chambers but will allow individual councillors to attend via Zoom if they cannot attend in person.  This decision was made at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting but not before there was considerable debate.  Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin first proposed that this format start on November 30 but other Councillors did not see the need to wait.  Further, Councillor Nicole Beatty wanted hybrid meetings to also be available for advisory Committee meetings.  Although Town Clerk Brent Larmer said that this was possible, it would cause a lot of work to accommodate so this idea was voted down. Separately, CAO Tracey Vaughan said… Read complete articleNext Council meeting to be Hybrid

Cobourg’s 2021 Highland Games has Big Crowd

John Draper

In Cobourg at least, there are signs that we are “back to normal” – almost.  There were no Highland Games in 2020 and this year’s was moved from the usual June date to Saturday, September 11.  Billed as the “only Highland Games, in all of Canada, with Pipe Band, Individual Piping & Drumming, and Heavy competitions” it felt just like it has been for the last 57 years.  Although there were no highland dance competitions, many dancers were there anyway – doing “demonstrations”.  I heard an announcement that there were 170 pipers and drummers and organizers expected 12 bands.  Although there were obviously fewer bands (maybe about half the usual), the number was still impressive – see the video below. … Read complete articleCobourg’s 2021 Highland Games has Big Crowd