Author: John Draper

Council said to be Acting Outside its Jurisdiction

John Draper

At the Committee of the Whole (CoW) Council meeting on June 21, the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee (EDIAC) recommended to Council that they send a letter of support of Bill C-6 to the Federal Government.  This bill would make conversion therapy a crime. (Conversion therapy tries to negate someone’s desire to change sex identification). Councillor Beatty had moved the motion at the Advisory Committee and promoted the idea at the CoW meeting.  Councillor Chorley had reservations about supporting the motion since it is outside Council’s jurisdiction but supported other activities of the committee that are within the municipality’s jurisdiction.  The CoW vote was in favour 5-1 (see wording of motion below) – Councillor Emily Chorley abstained and Deputy… Read complete articleCouncil said to be Acting Outside its Jurisdiction

There’s Progress in Highway of Heroes Tree Planting

John Draper

In October 2018, Cobourg Volunteers participated in planting some of the 117,000 trees that will remember the 117,000 Canadians who have “died for freedom” since confederation (see link below).  The 117,000 trees will be planted on the Highway of Heroes right of way and another 1.8 million trees will be planted nearby but not on the right of way.  You might have thought that this initiative would be dropped but no, it has continued.  This Spring, more than 98,000 new trees have been planted across Northumberland County in honour of Canadian veterans, thanks to the combined efforts of the Highway of Heroes (HOH) Tree Campaign and Forests Ontario. These newly planted seedlings are adding to an existing green monument along… Read complete articleThere’s Progress in Highway of Heroes Tree Planting

Cobourg Police Launch Survey

John Draper

As part of their Strategic Planning Process, Cobourg Police are asking Cobourg Citizens to complete a comprehensive survey – see link below.  It’s being done by an outside company (Lansdowne Consulting Group) and you could win a $150 gift card for one of our local Cobourg restaurants.  I have already completed the survey myself and it’s quite long. The questions basically ask what you think of their capabilities, attitudes and performance. As their email launching the survey puts it: “The purpose of this consultation is to gather feedback on the delivery of services provided by the Cobourg Police Service and to help us set priorities for the next three years.”  You can find the link on their web site and… Read complete articleCobourg Police Launch Survey

Health Coalitions Survey LTC workers

John Draper

Three groups have teamed up to survey Long Term Care workers to uncover deficiencies.  Using the results, they are now lobbying the Provincial Government to make improvements.  Their Press Conference on Tuesday, June 22 was on Zoom and recorded on Facebook with the video plus full survey results available via Links below.  This report will focus on their key findings and recommendations.  Their survey shows that the big problem is staffing which was a problem pre-Covid but is now worse.  The group believe that Government promises to increase the number of beds are both insufficient and unrealistic.  They also want a focus on public facilities and not “for-profit” homes.  To be clear, they are not talking about Retirement Homes but… Read complete articleHealth Coalitions Survey LTC workers

Goals of Organization Review

John Draper

One of the early actions of Cobourg’s new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Tracey Vaughan, was to hire a consultant to provide an Organization Review.  She has said she hopes that this will help with efforts to improve efficiency.  At Monday’s Committee of the Whole Meeting, Oscar Poloni from KPMG presented Council with a description of what exactly he hoped to achieve.  It would address the earlier KPMG report on a Service Delivery review and would align with Council’s direction to staff (via the Strategic Plan including its update – see links below).  One question Oscar asked (but got no immediate answer) was whether the Town wanted to organize around priorities instead of the more usual and current organization based on… Read complete articleGoals of Organization Review

Move on Council to Open Beach on Weekends

John Draper

At tonight’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting, Councillor Nicole Beatty  moved that the beach be opened on weekends as well as weekdays effective June 26.  She was supported by Councillor Burchat but Mayor Henderson wanted any opening delayed past July 1.  However, before there was any debate, Town Clerk Brent Larmer pointed to a procedural problem:  a previous approved motion closed the beach on weekends until September so a new motion cannot proceed without a motion to re-consider.  He suggested ways to overcome this but they required a two-thirds majority vote.  A more moderate approach would be to go through a process which would delay a final vote for a couple of meetings, but it would allow input from… Read complete articleMove on Council to Open Beach on Weekends

Pop-ups Brighten the Day in Cobourg

John Draper

In 2016, Cobourg Library created pop-up Libraries around Cobourg. These are small boxes installed in Public places that provide reading material for the public on a trust basis and they are still operating. Based on a sample of two that I looked at, they have a varying success rate. A week or so ago, the Art Gallery of Northumberland created mini pop-up Art Galleries and today, two Port Hope non-profit groups (Cultivate and Greenwood Coalition) have created 10 pop-up herb gardens – 5 in Cobourg and 5 in Port Hope. It will be interesting to see how long they survive but it’s great to see these initiatives. Based on the Library experience, Cobourg people can be trusted to a certain… Read complete articlePop-ups Brighten the Day in Cobourg

Progress on Efficiency Actions

John Draper

It’s refreshing to see follow up by the CAO on last year’s KPMG Service Delivery Report recommending improvements in operating efficiencies in Staff operations.  At the next Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, CAO Tracey Vaughan will present a progress report on 14 different actions covering all departments.  A template is used to keep all reports in the same format.   Reports are scheduled quarterly and the first report is in June as originally scheduled.  KPMG reported that major cost reductions could only be achieved by reducing services and although some reductions are being considered, the prime focus is on improving efficiency plus some increases in non-taxation fees (see Links below). Tracey is also looking for help from the Organizational… Read complete articleProgress on Efficiency Actions