Congratulations Tim Outhit!!!!

 

From Under My Desk…….. May 7/08

On Saturday (May 3/0 Tim Outhit was successful in his campaign to become the newest member of the Halifax Regional Municipality Council. I’ve known Tim since he and my little brother Jim were in elementary school together in Rockingham. After an absence from Halifax Tim returned as C.E.O. of novaknowledge, a local think tank who’s motto is ‘behind forward thinking’.

Tim will bring a breath of fresh air to city council and a new vision of how council SHOULD engage the citizens of Halifax.  Below is the premise of his platform:

Lately, there has been a lot of bickering over regionalism and governance. But I believe what the residents of Bedford really want is action, fueled by a strong voice at City Hall.

The issues our community faces and the opportunities available are well understood. They have been studied by committee after committee and documented in report after report. This has been going on for many years. Progress has been obstructed by a lack of consensus on priorities and the lack of focused passion, drive and energy necessary to follow through.

Focusing on Bedford alone will not bring the action we need. I have the experience and the passion to work with Councilors and leaders from other districts for the “betterment of HRM”. Together we are stronger.

We must act now, with forward thinking, to support the organizations that are striving to attract and retain new businesses and new residents.

I envision Bedford as a strong and vibrant community; within a larger strong and vibrant community.

We can achieve this vision through tax reform, assessment reform, creativity, and collaborative leadership between the private and public sectors.

Tim has already proven to be a man who puts his money where his mouth is … if you review the novaknowledge New Years message

SPARK A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION FOR NOVA SCOTIA

I commit to novaknowledge’s Top 8 for ‘08 - New Year’s Resolutions for Nova Scotia.

I will …

1. Get Active
Change image, attitudes and policies. Take actions that ensure health and wellness promotion  and injury prevention become paramount in my organization, promote my province as a progressive and innovative place to learn, work and raise a family.

2. Think Big
Reduce the impact of regionalism on Nova Scotia’s economic and social development. We will become strong and prosperous by collaborating with all communities and regions for the betterment of the entire province.

3. Do Away with “CFA”
Become more welcoming to new Canadians and new Nova Scotians by encouraging my organization, friends, and colleagues to employ new Nova Scotians and support the campaign to eliminate the term “come from away” and “CFA”.

4. Learn Something New
Challenge my organization to increase investment in workforce training to 2% of revenue and encourage others to do the same!

5. Spend Wisely
Call on government and business leaders to find additional ways to increase wages and to help reduce student debt. This will reduce the out-migration of young workers. I will encourage my organization to hire recent graduates and international students.

6. Help Others
Improve literacy and numeracy in my province by calling on all levels of government to increase funding and implement additional incentives.

7. “Come to Life”
Strive to highlight successes and recognize progress in Nova Scotia.

8. Lead by Example
Support the creation of a Nova Scotia Leaders’ Council to help lead the charge on productivity, innovation, the adoption of technology, foster forward-thinking attitudes, and recommend leading-edge public policy.

Tim is a professional facilitator, creative problem solver, at ease with developing concepts and taking those ideas through to implementation and he is experienced at effective meeting co ordination. 

Now comes the challenge for Tim and to council. Can that room full of self centered egos actually get behind some positive forward thinking and start the change that will take Halifax to its next step in becoming the myHalifax of the future?

Will things change? Your guess is as good as mine but the next six months should be interesting…. including the upcoming Municipal Election this October.

Technorati Tags: Bedford Election,Tim Outhit,Les Muise,Halifax,novaknowlege,behind forward thinking

Residents say skyscrapers are OK

Finally, Finally, Finally…..  Stephen Dempsey, chief executive officer of the Greater Halifax Partnership has released the details of the survey that Bristol Omnifacts prepared for the partnership. For those of you that don’t know me , I spend most of my workweek in the downtown core of Halifax, my clients are there, I socialize there and I am fully aware of the strengths & weaknesses of the CBD … it’s been my contention for a long time that the majority of people who actually work & live in the area are strongly in favour of development. It comes down to an issue of attitude & top down decision making by city hall. Its time that Halifax invests in Halifax…. but more on that later… here is the content of Mr Dempsey’s press conference.

Poll: Most people agree development is needed
By STEVE PROCTOR Business Editor
Tue. Apr 22 - 5:19 PM

Halifax needs an extra 1.6 million square feet of space to accommodate growth downtown over the next 10 years, the Greater Halifax Partnership says. (DARREN PITTMAN / Staff)

Halifax residents aren’t anti-growth, they are not opposed to tall buildings and they would not oppose more spending to improve the vitality of the downtown core.

Stephen Dempsey, chief executive officer of the Greater Halifax Partnership, said those are some of “the surprising findings” in a 1,400-person survey on growth in the city that Bristol Omnifacts prepared for the partnership.

“Given the tone of the public discussion in recent months and the fact that there hasn’t been a new office tower built in the city for a generation, some people are assuming residents must be anti-development and opposed to tall buildings,” Mr. Dempsey said. “In fact, that’s not the case at all.”

Only four per cent of the people surveyed believe growth is bad, he told a business luncheon Monday. The majority not only support the idea of growth but believe further investment in the core would have spinoff benefits that would be good for them personally, their community and their neighbourhood.

Mr. Dempsey said most people are not opposed to tall buildings, but to bad design. He said the survey indicated that the younger the respondents were and the closer they lived to downtown, the more likely they were to support tall buildings. Older people living farther away from downtown were the most opposed to tall buildings.

According to the partnership’s figures, Mr. Dempsey said the city needs an extra 1.6 million square feet of space to accommodate growth downtown over the next 10 years, and he believes the only way to get it is to build taller, more architecturally interesting buildings.

Capping building heights has been a point of contention for months as the city moves toward approving a development strategy for the downtown. Some developers have complained that restricting building heights to 10 or 12 storeys would destroy the economics of projects and lead to a boring skyline, but heritage groups, principally the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia, have argued that the new limits would put 120 heritage properties at risk. The trust believes the downtown core has plenty of room for mid-scale development, and tall buildings should be relegated to an area that could be developed if the Cogswell interchange is demolished.

Mr. Dempsey said older, well-organized interest groups have received a disproportionate amount of attention in the downtown debate and he suggested city officials should listen to young people, who will be vital in filling vacancies as baby boomers retire.

He said young people want to work and live downtown but “if they can’t find the economic benefits here, they will find them in a downtown somewhere else.”

Danny Chedrawe, president of Westwood Developments, called the Greater Halifax Partnership study “shameful propaganda.” He said the agency uses the numbers to link tall buildings to keeping the downtown vibrant and livable, but the two are unrelated.

Mr. Chedrawe, a supporter of mid-sized development, said one big office tower project would suck up demand for years, potentially leaving more storefronts and offices empty. And if the economics for such a project were in place, he contends, several buildings approved under the old rules would be buzzing with construction activity.

“They’re not, because the economics aren’t there,” he said.

If the city was serious about bringing more people downtown, it would improve infrastructure, develop new transportation strategies, ponder low-income housing initiatives and press the Waterfront Development Corp. to make the harbourfront more accessible, he said.

Mr. Chedrawe said he supports the HRM by Design plan as presented, not because it’s a good plan but because it’s at least a plan.

“At least there is some guidance,” he said. “It doesn’t leave us wandering around in limbo like we have been for the past number of years.”

Residents’ comments on the plan mailed to HRM by Design, P.O. Box 1749, Halifax, B3J 3A5, or e-mailed to capdistrict@halifax.ca must be received by Wednesday.

( sproctor@herald.ca)

Voice of the people

Sat. Mar 22 - 4:46 AM
No half-measuresIt may not be well known, but currently, Swim Nova Scotia programs in HRM have waiting lists of 200-plus people due to the lack of access to swimming pools, and the provincial swim team cannot even get training times in HRM. This is unacceptable. Now is the time to invest in the citizens of HRM and Nova Scotia. Our province cannot even host any major national aquatic event!

Financial models exist across Canada that demonstrate the sustainability of a facility with a 50-metre pool. HRM needs to invest now to positively impact our citizens’ health and wellness in the future and to fight chronic disease.

HRM needs to provide equal access to recreational and sport opportunities for our community and region. Would we ever accept building half a rink to address the need for rinks in the metro region? Then why would we replace a 30-year-old facility (Northcliffe Pool) with virtually the same sized facility and why would we build half a pool, which offers only a fraction of the opportunities to all HRM’s citizens?

It is time that the HRM stepped up and supported a project that will have a lasting impact, not just a Band-Aid effect.

Bette El-Hawary, executive director, Swim Nova Scotia

Secret survey?

I was recently alerted to a previously unknown HRM recreation facility public opinion survey on their website. Aware of the urgent need for a multi-use, multi-district recreation facility on the Mainland Common to serve the entire HRM western region, I was confused. Who was to know?

A secret survey? How odd. Why weren’t we informed, if in-put was truly wanted? Other examples of HRM’s lack of transparency on the Mainland Common Recreation Centre (MCRC), came to mind:

The ill-conceived (daytime hours), poorly advertised public focus groups (fall/06) ensured minimal attendance (two to four people on average), yet claimed a wide public consultation to justify HRM’s present MCRC plan. The promised November 2006 telephone survey results were withheld.

Quietly disregarding three costly studies, recommending a multi-use flagship MCRC facility as early as 1996, HRM has opted for the questionable July 2007 Asbell report, recommending an undersized facility unable to meet even our present needs.

Withholding Asbell report information, HRM moves forward, pleading, “Councillors must see it first,” although the councillors have copies. Shouldn’t a public discussion of the plans precede a council vote?

Trees fall, land is cleared on the Common, yet again, no plan is forthcoming.

Isn’t HRM guilty of the very love of secrecy that the Commonwealth Games bid team was accused of? Why the secrecy?

P.A. Kidd, Halifax

Deserve more…..

As a business owner in HRM, I am frustrated and angered over the response, or lack thereof, from our elected officials regarding the Mainland Common Recreational Centre. One would think that our regional councillors would take the time to meet and discuss plans with the many volunteers who have dedicated more than three years to the effort of having the community’s voices heard.

Build it Right has consistently been stonewalled and denied an opportunity to discuss our well-researched concerns with regard to such a large project in our community. Good business acumen should be applied equally to municipal infrastructure projects, as they significantly impact the tax burden in the areas in which they are built.

Over the years, we have met with citizens, major business interests, councillors, medical groups, political parties and environmental interests to share our vision. That vision would see the development of a facility which would meet the infrastructure needs of the fastest growing area east of Montreal, both now and in the future.

We are volunteers and concerned citizens of HRM. We are not enemies of the state; we deserve more from our elected representatives. It is time to draw back the veil of secrecy. Your electors deserve better.

Francis MacDonald, broker/owner, Guaranty GMAC Real Estate

Show me the money…….

Where is all the property tax money?

The 2007-2008 capital budget states that HRM will allocate six per cent or $12.07 million to be spent on community facilities. In the past, it was 5.2 per cent to be used for recreation and libraries.

The 2006 census data show the western region as being the fastest growing area in HRM. Our population has ballooned from 120,000 to more than 180,000. We are paying some of the highest property taxes in HRM.

Why, then, has there not been a new recreation facility, pool or rink in this area in over 30 years? The city owes this community the best to service the health and fitness needs of our children, seniors and adults. We have more than shared our tax dollars with other areas of the municipality.

Due to population growth, a 25-metre pool will not accommodate the western region of HRM. A 50-metre pool has more potential and our tax dollars will be better spent.

Let’s stop this insult! Think for a moment about how much tax revenue generated in our communities is being used outside of where you live. There have been millions and millions of tax dollars collected by HRM over these past 30 years earmarked for a new recreation facility that will meet the needs of the population in our region. So the question is: Where is the money? Most of all, show me the money!

Rhonda Beers, Halifax

‘People project’The Mainland Common Recreation Centre has been a hot topic of conversation for the residents of Halifax for many years. We are getting closer to a resolution, but more work needs to be done.

In order to get the level of financial support we need, HRM needs to allow the community to work with it in the lobbying effort – as full partners. HRM needs to empower the community to take full ownership of this project and bring the other two levels of government to the table as full funding partners.

When you have legitimate community ownership and citizen involvement, financial commitment will always follow.

Port Hawkesbury opened an $18-million civic centre in 2004 with a catchment area of 20,000 people. Summerside, P.E.I., with a population of 14,500, just opened a $30-million wellness centre. Both projects show what can happen when municipal governments turn a plan into a “people project.”

With a community of over 200,000 people in close proximity to the Mainland Common, and with easy access by the rest of Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada, we should be just as aggressive as Summerside and Port Hawkesbury in refusing to compromise our vision – a vision based on our needs.

Doug Boudreau, Halifax

Are NIMBYs really taking over?

 

 

 

 

By JIM MEEK
Sat. Mar 8 - 6:44 AM

I COULD WRITE a column about our “genius for getting to no” in my sleep. (Not a good sign, I admit.)

My somnambulistic – or sleepwalking – view is that we’re beating ourselves to death when it comes to economic activity.

A quarry on Digby Neck?

Oppose it, sure, but don’t take five years to run the sponsoring company out of town.

Clean, green, necessary windmills near Anne Murray’s cottage on the Northumberland Strait?

C’mon Anne – spread your tiny wings and fly away.

And do we really have to mount and man the barricades because some hapless promoter wants to bring Celine Dion to the Halifax Commons?

The Chronicle Herald takes a look at these issues (starting today) in a three-day series called Citizens Against Virtually Everything?

I first heard the acronym CAVE while interviewing a trio of people from the mining industry.

They were clearly upset with the decision rejecting the Digby Neck quarry, and worried about the “chill” they say this sends through the investment community.

I know, I know. To some people, this sounds like sabre-rattling or fear-mongering.

But in my past life as a consultant, I watched companies leave town in a rush after taking a close, hard look at the political and public opinion environment here.

In one case, this meant taking a billion-dollar investment out of Nova Scotia and parking it in a safer place.

This is the kind of economic loss that’s invisible to the public eye.

Still, a part of me says good riddance and Godspeed to these dearly departed companies.

If they don’t want to work in a way that respects our values, why let ‘em stay here and work against us?

That seemed to be one fundamental idea underlying the decision rejecting the Digby Neck quarry proposal.

Bob Fournier, the Dalhousie professor who chaired the review panel, says “core community values” are at the heart of government policy in Nova Scotia.

This idea, that you promote “sustainable” development based on core values, sounds good.

But who gets to wave the flag and mount the podium on behalf of those values?

In the case of the Digby Neck quarry, the local residents who wanted the project to go ahead – and to create some jobs – say their voices went unheard.

That is, they were drowned out by people with more money, more education, more time and second homes in some other part of the globe.

Well, you can see how quickly this CAVE? debate can get ugly.

In each of the three main stories we did for this series, the Come From Away (CFA) question reared its head.

An opponent of a real estate development had moved to Mahone Bay from Ontario.

Cottage people or year-round newcomers often lead the fight against wind power developments.

And more than one mining guy told me CFA landowners are more reluctant to let prospectors on their properties.

Sorry, guys, this is just too xenophobic for me.

Yes, non-native Nova Scotians do change the province and often import fresh ideas. (Thank God.)

In many cases, they’ve bought into the dream this province promotes – of a peaceable kingdom by the sea, where life is supposed to be slower, neighbours are said to be friendlier, and beauty is not a postcard but the view from the front porch.

That brings us to the tough underlying questions.

What kind of Nova Scotia do we want to build, anyway?

And how does rural Nova Scotia survive – pay its taxes, pave its roads, educate its young – in the face of outmigration and economic decline?

Frankly, this series poses these questions more than it answers them.

The trouble is, the more you know about the issues, the more elusive solutions seem to be.

From the tone and tenor of the public debate, for instance, it would seem that the NIMBYs are winning.

But government statistics – or estimates, more accurately – show most projects in rural Nova Scotia still gain regulatory seals of approval, especially if they work hard upfront to meet community and environmental standards.

So there you have it. These are complex issues, and I can’t round out this column with some ringing declaration of incontestable truth.

But at least I’m wide awake while writing this.

( jmeek@herald.ca)

Technorati Tags: Come From Aways,Meek,Development Aproval Process

Banker helps drive home N.S. message

By Roger Taylor
Sat. Mar 1 - 4:47 AM

NOVA SCOTIA unleashed its secret weapon while meeting with corporate leaders in New York earlier this week to help drive home the province’s positive business message.

Bob Kelly, CEO of the Bank of New York Mellon Corp., hosted a reception in New York for Premier Rodney MacDonald and his entourage from the provincial government. They were in the Big Apple to promote Nova Scotia as a good location for financial services companies looking to extend their operations outside New York.

While the New York financial elite listened to the sales pitch from the premier and other provincial officials, I’ve been told by some who were in attendance at the reception that it was Kelly, a Halifax native and Saint Mary’s University graduate, who seemed to make the biggest impression.

Already a widely respected banker, Kelly wasn’t shy about talking on the subject of Nova Scotia, its educated workforce, its proximity to New York and its welcoming attitude when it comes to attracting new business. Kelly’s new address is 1 Wall St. in New York, which is right next door to the New York Stock Exchange. The reception was held on the 49th floor of the BNY Mellon building, and the room has been described to me as providing the perfect backdrop for Nova Scotia to try to persuade even more financial services companies to come to this province.

MacDonald also rang the closing bell for the exchange on Tuesday to celebrate the news that hedge fund company Citco Group would create as many as 325 jobs over the next six years at a new IT support centre in Halifax.

Nova Scotia Business Inc. is offering a payroll rebate of up to $7 million to be paid over six years as the company achieves hiring targets. The Economic Development Department has also committed $1.47 million to support start-up costs and training.

Citco, which has a financial services operation on George Street in Halifax, announced in a separate deal in 2006 that it plans to create 350 financial services jobs in the city over the next seven years. This project too will have the help of $7 million in payroll rebates from by Nova Scotia Business Inc.

The company expects to be able to work out of its current office space downtown for the time being but will need to look for a new location to house its newly expanded operations within a couple of years.

I’ve been told one of the big selling points for Halifax is that the Atlantic time zone is one hour ahead of New York, which allows the operation in Nova Scotia to handle much of the pre-market prep work before the New York offices open.

Security is another factor in Nova Scotia’s favour. New York investment firms learned from the 9-11 disaster that they must have backup operations outside New York so that the U.S. financial sector is diversified enough geographically not to fall victim to terrorist attack.

Add a deep pool of educated workers who are two hours from New York by plane; a stable political environment; and the simple fact that it is cheaper to operate in Halifax than in New York, and you’ve got a winning combination of assets.

Sometimes it doesn’t take an acclaimed actor or a hockey star to sell Nova Scotia to the rest of the world; a well-placed banker with an appreciation for his home province can sometimes achieve much more with an elite business group. Chances are, playing the Kelly card will pay off for Nova Scotia in the long run. ( rtaylor@herald.ca)

Note from Les Muise:

Bob Kelly, CEO of the Bank of New York Mellon Corp., is well known to Saint Mary’s University … way back in 1972 he started his undergraduate career in the Bachelor of Commerce program & has always maintained his connections with Halifax, Saint Mary’s and his classmates from those years. 

The Class of ‘72 was a time for growing up, finding a future and living life to the fullest. Any one who met Bob … back in the day [like myself] knew instantly that he was destined for success in whatever he chose to do.. Bob has always had an amazing understanding of finance, banking and economics. He is a talented artist [I hope he kept that skill growing] I can remember sitting between Bob & Steve Abases [Cook Sales ltd.]  in  Accounting and being mesmerized by their ease at sketching incredibly detailed objects & individuals.

Our Gang was made up of …. Bob Kelly, Bill Linton, Dave MacKinnon, Brian Smith, Charley Walker, Jeff Power, Allen  McGilvary, and myself. Some of us found our wives, our lives and our futures in those years …. we’ve all had our successes and some disappointments over the years & although we may not see each other often … the friendship is still strong. 

Technorati Tags: Bob Kelly,Rodney Mac Donald,New York,New York Mellon Corp.,Saint Mary’s University

Immigrants have right to be angry

By ROGER TAYLOR Business Columnist Fri. Feb 15 -6:54 AM

THE BUSINESS of trying to attract immigrants is a tough one for a small province like Nova Scotia.

It is widely recognized that Nova Scotia needs to attract plenty of talented immigrants to fill the gaps in the workforce as the population ages and retires.

Major cosmopolitan centres like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver don’t have a problem attracting immigrants, mainly because those centres already have sizable immigrant populations.

Aside from the major cities, the general impression of Canada seems to be one of wilderness and open space. For Nova Scotia to attract talented individuals to come live here they must first be convinced that we have something more to offer beyond a quiet lifestyle.

And so Nova Scotia developed a mentorship program, which, for a fee, was supposed to help immigrants become integrated into Nova Scotia society.

All the qualified immigrants had to do was pay $130,500, which helped to speed them through the immigration process. The fee was supposed to finance a six-month placement with a Nova Scotia mentor, preferably in the immigrants’ area of expertise. While working with their mentors, the immigrants were to be paid a small salary.

The mentorship scheme, which was operated under the economic category of the province’s immigration program, was also supposed to acclimatize the newcomers to life in Nova Scotia.

Of the $130,500 the immigrant paid up front, $10,000 went to the program administrator, Cornwallis Financial Corp., $20,000 went to the immigration consultant or lawyer who helped the immigrant and $500 went to the province. The business mentor received $100,000 but was supposed to pay the immigrant a salary of at least $20,000 from that amount.

But the mentorship program had many flaws, and last October the provincial government pulled the plug. At that time the government offered to refund $100,000 to immigrants who were still living in Nova Scotia but hadn’t yet signed a contract with a would-be mentor.

Today, many of the immigrant investors who took part in the failed program feel they’ve been ripped off. Many could not find a business mentor that matched their field of expertise and therefore they felt they were required to sign on with someone less than suitable in order to comply with the rules.

Who could blame them for having hard feelings?

Instead of encouraging immigrants to come to Nova Scotia, the program left many with a bad taste in their mouths about the way they were treated and possibly rethinking their decision to start a new life here.

The program’s failure become public knowledge after the government pulled the plug and offered refunds to some of the people who signed up but never found a mentor.

Earlier this week, however, a group of upset immigrants, who had completed the program, told their individual stories of disappointment to the legislature’s public accounts committee. Most felt they should be given at least a partial refund.

But the government is sticking by its decision to offer $100,000 refunds to people who hadn’t yet signed a mentorship contract. That means about 200 of 800 immigrants under the economic category are not eligible for any kind of refund.

This has long-term implications for Nova Scotia. The government needs to treat those who played by the rules of the mentorship program at least as well as those who didn’t find a mentor.

( rtaylor@herald.ca)

Roger Taylor’s column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Technorati Tags: Cornwallis Financial,Steve Lockier,Immigrant Investors,Mess

Election is council’s convenient excuse

 

By MARILLA STEPHENSON
Sat. Feb 9 - 6:35 AM

WHY NOTHING EVER Gets Done, 191st edition.

I admit it, repetition makes me cranky.

I’ve been writing about tax reform for as long as Halifax regional council has been toying with the idea — on our dime.

I listened while they delayed it for the first year after the 1996 amalgamation, leaving taxes as they had been before the merger.

It took them even longer to get around to a three-tier tax rate. Still, it wasn’t long, in a hot real-estate market and a property tax system based on assessments, before unruly ratepayers demanded that tax reform be put back on the agenda.

By 2002, council had scheduled a series of public meetings. Two more years passed before council declared tax reform a top priority. By 2006, councillors were ready to take the bold move of appointing a committee to study the issue.

The committee had another series of public meetings last spring and then got down to some serious work. Consensus was difficult at times, but they managed to put together a bunch of draft recommendations.

Some came to council in January; a motion to take the recommendations to another round of public hearings will come to council in March.

The plan is to hold public meetings in May, then place a report with recommendations to council on the agenda for the June 17 meeting.

This time around, with a committee that appears determined to get something done, council just might have outsmarted itself.

Ah, but there’s a chance yet to scuttle the politically loaded tax-reform freighter before the next election.

After all, why should this council burden the next council (with the realities of incumbency strength in municipal elections, this is usually themselves) with such a weighty decision?

Voters have long decried the unfairness of property taxes based on assessment, given the poor link it provides to the costs of services provided.

Meanwhile, as we heard again this week with the uproar out in Bedford, communities remain convinced that they are paying plenty in taxes, but the benefits are being enjoyed elsewhere in the region.

Well, the tax reform committee has a cure for what ails you.

It might hurt more than the ailment, but it’s still being touted as a cure.

For starters, the committee has examined where the revenue comes from and dispelled a few myths, says Coun. Andrew Younger, a committee member says.

“A lot of the inequities we hear about don’t exist,” he said.

“Some do exist, but they are not where the complaints are coming from. Burnside, Dartmouth Crossing and Halifax Peninsula are where the biggest tax revenues are coming from.”

Younger says residential taxpayers have long called for tax bills that better reflect the cost of services but may not be ready to acknowledge that business owners have long been subsidizing that cost with tax rates that are 2.5 times higher than the residential rate.

The plan that is being put forward would dramatically alter how tax bills are determined, with a new emphasis on user-pay for specific services; for instance, garbage collection and disposal.

It is also likely to include a measure aimed at addressing affordability, perhaps based on federal tax programs that rebate GST costs to lower-income families.

Decisions on addressing the ability-to-pay question, plus recommendations for the commercial sector, will be made at the committee’s next meeting.

Then council will be asked to approve the committee’s plans for the spring public meetings.

Younger says it’s time to move. “We’ve wasted 10 years. Nobody likes change, and it’s easier to have the status quo. We’re at the point that it’s like a perpetual minority government — council is afraid to make decisions.”

The idea is for council to deal with the report that comes before it in June.

Younger says that while he is “cautiously optimistic” that council will take action, there will also be an element arguing to avoid the hot-button issue.

“We can’t stop making decisions because the election is coming.”

Oh, yeah?

( mstephenson@herald.ca)

’Well, the tax reform committee has a cure for what ails you. It might hurt more than the ailment, but it’s still being touted as a cure.’

Marilla Stephenson’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

COMMENTS

POST YOUR COMMENT

Dartmouth’sbetter wrote:
It seems like whenever a house sells in my neighbourhood, it’s purchased by someone from Ontario. Council has to do something to protect lifelong residents of Dartmouth from these equity rich Come-From-Aways. They are driving up property values which in turn drives up property taxes.

 

Technorati Tags: HRM,Election,On Hold,No Decision

Backlash brewing in Bedford

By MARILLA STEPHENSON
Thu. Feb 7 - 6:22 AM

MARILLA STEPHENSON

A DOZEN YEARS into the grand vision of a Halifax supercity, the reality is turning out to be anything but.

A group of Bedford residents — led by Peter Christie, the former mayor and cabinet minister — is pushing for new powers to provide the former town with additional clout to help decide how its tax dollars are spent. The group is the latest to demand changes to the municipal government struc­ture imposed upon the four units that preceded Halifax Regional Municipality.

Christie says they want changes that would also be available to other communi­ties, indicating that the dissat­isfaction with the current model is not unique to Bedford. “I don’t think it is different at all,” he told me this week.

“We don’t argue that Bedford should have something that others don’t; we’re just arguing that we need a new model.

“We’re not saying that we’re different or better than anyone else. We’re simply saying that we find ourselves with finan­cial capacity and no ability to do anything.” Information sent out by the group indicates Bedford’s tax­able assessment has increased by 95 per cent in the past 25 years while the population has grown to 20,000 residents from 6,000. Like many other commu­nities with significant growth, there is a feeling in Bedford, Christie says, that correspond­ing increases in services, espe­cially for recreation facilities, have not kept pace.

“We have one councillor out of 23 and, God bless them, they all have their own needs and desires. I don’t think I need to tell you that HRM council is a tad dysfunctional. We simply can’t get anything done.”

The group is holding a public meeting at 7 p.m. tonight at the Bedford legion. The plan is to find out how much support there is to push forward with a request to the municipality to allow Bedford to have its own community council, with an increase in powers that would enable the council to decide on items such as recreation spend­ing and other infrastructure.

This is a messy kettle of fish for Mayor Peter Kelly, who, like Christie, was a former Bedford mayor before moving on to bigger things. Trouble on Kel­ly’s home turf will not sit well in an election year. Coun. Shei­la Fougere, who announced last year that she will chal­lenge Kelly for the mayoral crown, was quick to respond to the political opportunity the Bedford uproar has offered.

“After nearly 12 years and various configurations for HRM’s community councils, it’s time to refine this concept to bring local government back to where it is supposed to be — closest to the people it affects,” Fougere said in a statement.

“A common theme that comes from every part of the municipality is that broad­brush decisions are being made that are irrelevant to many residents in divergent parts of HRM.”

While the Bedford group’s letter commends local council­lor Gary Martin and prede­cessor Len Goucher for work­ing “long and hard” to get Bedford’s concerns heard, any reference to Kelly is notably absent.

That may be in part because of a controversy over a private proposal to build a multi-arena complex in Bedford to address ice shortages.

Christie says it is three years since the developer and a group of businessmen (in­cluding him) asked city hall for a report on whether such a complex would receive a tax exemption for its ice surfaces, as is the case for other rinks in the province.

“We are now three years later and there has been no report; no response. Do I just wait until my grandchildren are grown up and gone? When is the drop-dead date? We’ve concluded it’s now.”

The situation was exacerbat­ed by the city’s decision to request a call for proposals for a public-private partnership to build rinks, says Christie, undermining the developer and his investors.

“On Thursday night, people will hear a lot of hockey moms say that it’s the last straw. For some people, it’s the need for a community centre.

“A number of our group sat on town council and they know how you get it done. They know those levers aren’t available to us anymore. So we want some of those levers back.”

Christie points out that another group has come forward demanding the municipality be split into two regions, one urban and one rural. It seemed like a good time to join the debate.

“We’re saying here’s our two cents’ worth. For us it’s not a boundary issue. It’s an issue of having some autonomy and some local control.”

It all sounds quite reasonable, until one considers the potential impact of what could quickly evolve into a two­tier government structure that might prove expensive. But since pretty well every community in the region feels it is paying higher taxes to provide better services for somebody further down the road, some control over local spending might help address those concerns. Hey, that almost sounds like de-amalgamation, on a smaller scale.

Regardless of where this discussion leads, it is clear that our regional council has fallen short in terms of meeting the expectations of communi­ties in the region — or even of provid­ing answers in a timely fashion.

I asked Christie whether council’s inability to move on issues is part of the problem. “It is the problem,” he was quick to reply.

(mstephenson@herald.ca)

 

Technorati Tags: Peter Christie,Peter Kelly,Bedford Unrest,Representation

Special interest groups cropping up to get a voice at city hall

 

Special interest committees crop up to represent Bedford, labour interests, creation of separate rural municipality

By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter
Thu. Feb 7 - 5:34 AM

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS:

Three groups currently mobilizing in advance of October’s municipal election in Halifax:

•Bedford Community Council Association: Currently has about 50 members, with seven committee members. The inaugural meeting will be held at 7 p.m. tonight at the Bedford legion. Its website is www.futureofbedford.com

•Citizens for Halifax: Currently selling memberships and its Facebook group has 493 members. An introductory breakfast meeting in November brought 150 to the World Trade and Convention Centre. The inaugural members meeting will be held 6-8:30 p.m., Feb. 12, at the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame. Its website is www.citizensforhalifax.ca.

•Municipalities Matter: A group dedicated to community and labour priorities for the Halifax Regional Municipality. Led by the Halifax-Dartmouth and district labour council of the Canadian Labour Congress, it organized an all-day forum last month and drew about 50 people to a local high school.

( apugsley@herald.ca)

New special interest groups are mobilizing forces well in advance of municipal election day on Oct. 18, when they hope to force change at Halifax City Hall. (ERIC WYNNE / Staff)

With eight months to go until October’s municipal election, Halifax city hall and its politicians are facing attack from a few different angles.

Groups like Citizens for Halifax, Municipalities Matter and the newest, Bedford Community Council Association, are mobilizing forces, and well in advance of election day on Oct. 18.

Uniting together under the banners of special interest groups is a new tack in municipal politics.

And it’s not resonating well with most councillors.

“Obviously, there are people who are really frustrated and they’ve banded together with common interests,” Coun. Steve Streatch (Eastern Shore-Musquodoboit Valley) said Wednesday.

“But when you start going off in individual corners, what’s that going to accomplish?”

He guesses there may be some political posturing at work, with a leader in each group waiting to announce that they want to run themselves.

They’re using “rhetoric to get people to jump onto their cause.”

Another councillor, who took out a membership in Citizens for Halifax so she could attend the inaugural meeting late last year, says she’s not surprised that the special interest groups are rallying so hard this time around.

“It’s the silent majority who is now coming forth to say, ‘We sat here quietly and now we want something done,’ ” Coun. Sue Uteck (Northwest Arm-South End) said Wednesday.

“And, traditionally, governments react to those who scream the loudest.”

Deputy Mayor Stephen Adams (Spryfield-Herring Cove) said he prefers the grassroots approach to municipal governing, where no one particular agenda is pushed to the forefront through sheer volume, influence or affluence.

“I prefer to look at citizens for citizens,” he said Wednesday.

“I’m not going to get involved with any group, and then be beholden to anybody except the people I represent.”

Mayor Peter Kelly, who served five years as Bedford mayor before representing the district on Halifax’s first regional municipal council, says he’s not personally offended by the creation of the newest group supporting Bedford.

“I don’t see this as being a change of support or non-support,” he said Wednesday.

In fact, he plans to attend their meeting tonight in the Bedford legion.

He sees it as “an opportunity to explore challenges faced by the community,” like the on-again, off-again privately-driven triplex rink.

“There’s frustration that this (arena) has been discussed and discussed and discussed and promised and promised and promised and people are getting peeved,” he says.

“And I’m one of those people getting peeved as well. I see no reason why we can’t say, ‘Either do it or move out of the way so someone else can do it.’ ”

If communities like Bedford want to have more power through taxation or levying area rates through their community councils, then city hall will thoroughly look into that, he says.

“Who are we to stand in the way of change that can make our representation that much better?”

However, the group behind Citizens for Halifax feels that certain municipal representatives are doing exactly that.

According to their recently-drafted memorandum of association, they would like to field a roster of candidates in the fall election “that promote the governance of the Halifax Regional Municipality by promoting the creation of two municipal units, one for urban residents and one for rural residents.”

The citizens for Bedford group differs in their outlook, says committee member Donna Lugar, because they’re not interested in lopping off pieces of the municipality.

They want to work with what they’ve got and make it better.

“Bedford went into amalgamation kicking and screaming . . . and lately people are getting a little concerned that things weren’t undertaken,” Ms. Lugar said Wednesday.

She said it is not a reflection of the area’s representation through councillors Len Goucher (now an MLA) and Gary Martin, who was excused from his council duties just one month ago due to his long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Despite that assurance, Coun. Debbie Hum (Rockingham-Wentworth) says she’s “disturbed” that the group is holding their very first public meeting this week.

“To go public like that, at this point, is somewhat disrespectful of the position that the current councillor finds himself in,” she said of Mr. Martin’s stay in hospital.

“They’re not recognizing and appreciating the fact that Coun. Martin is really quite sick and not able to conduct his normal responsibilities.”

A few other councillors say that Mr. Christie is positioning his son for a run at the Bedford seat in the October election.

“That’s always the rumour,” Coun. Sue Uteck (Northwest Arm-South End) said Wednesday.

However, Mr. Christie says the group doesn’t currently support any candidates. He also says that about 200 are expected to turn out to today’s meeting because “there are a lot of issues out here now.”

“There are people who want rinks, who want community centres, who want schools and what they’re saying is that they want a vehicle to be able to voice all these things and I think that is what has hit the hot button out here.”

Mayor Peter Kelly’s only declared challenger says the emergence of all three groups signals a general discontent in the municipality.

Coun. Sheila Fougere (Connaught-Quinpool) thinks all of the groups have a lot in common but notes “they may not want to hear that.”

“I think that they are feeling that municipal government is not addressing what they think are their pressing needs.”

She hopes the groups will generate enough interest to get people out to the polls on election day.

“We have a very low voter turnout and it does make a difference whether they participate or not.”

( apugsley@herald.ca)

COMMENTS

POST YOUR COMMENT

bigmonkey wrote:
I’ve read this article twice now and wonder why these councillors are so concerned about political posturing. I hope this group in Bedford is not about that at all, and if it comes out that there are members of the group posturing, they should be asked to leave. This is about our community, not their agenda.

The population of the Bedford Community has doulbed over the last decade I think, correct me if I’m wrong yet, have the services kept up? No. It is time that this community started to be heard. I look forward to seeing our leaders join our meeting. Debbie Hum, leave your judgements at home and grow up. Just because a councillor is sick, and we know it’s a difficult time for Mr. Martin and his family, that being said, we can still hold meetings, “publicly”, I”m sure this meeting is not designed to attack Mr. Martin and the work he has done to date.

Time to speak up people of Bedford, and I put this out to the younger generation of Bedford, get involved. I’ve been to a couple meetings about the long term planning of Bedford and the majority of the attendees to those meetings were, let’s say, not of the baby boomer age. Ken

Billp wrote:
As far as “Citizens for Halifax ” they only care for only Halifax not the rest of HRM

Technorati Tags: Bedford,Halifax,Peter Kelly,Citizens for Halifax,Representation,unrest

Declaw bylaw, councillors

 

Editorial Staff

Thu. Jan 31 - 4:48 AM

WHEN A SMALL majority of HRM councillors finally passed an ill- conceived cat bylaw last fall, we heard a lot of pious talk about how licensing cats and rounding up strays and trespassing animals would force pet owners to be responsible.

OK, councillors, if responsibility is so important, how about showing some yourselves? How about acknowledging it’s grossly irresponsible to implement this bylaw on April 1, for the following obvious reasons?

You haven’t provided a new shelter to house all the cats that will be rounded up under the statute or any system of adopting them out. You haven’t set a budget to fund such a shelter. You have no idea what a facility will cost or what response, if any, you will get to a tender call for shelter services.

How about listening, too, to the warnings of people who know something about animal shelters and programs?

Pamela Keddy, provincial SPCA president, told this newspaper Sunday that she expects the bylaw will lead to the capture of a “staggering” number of cats – beyond the capacity of metro’s two shelters to house or adopt out. The projections, she says, are “worrisome” and the SPCA shelter could be “inundated very quickly.”

She also says building a new shelter could be prohibitively expensive for taxpayers – Calgary has spent several million dollars on two shelters – and that it’s difficult for the SPCA to price a bid to provide the city with shelter services that no one can quantify.

“We have to make sure we can do it,” she told The Chronicle Herald. “We’re not going to jump in blindly and say we can.”

Not jumping in blindly should be your policy, too, councillors. For Ms. Keddy is essentially warning that you are now courting an animal-welfare disaster.

The new bylaw virtually incites a witch hunt for “at-large” cats, feral and pets alike. It encourages people to treat their very existence as a nuisance and gives anyone licence to trap these poor creatures, whether or not they are doing any demonstrable harm and even when they are doing obvious good, like keeping down the rat population in the port.

The result is sure to be a round-up of thousands of cats who will be put to death because there are no facilities to house them and no way to find them homes.

For council to proceed down this ugly, and avoidable, path would be an unethical act of inhumanity to animals – a black mark on Halifax.

At the very least, implementing the bylaw should be deferred until council has taken credible steps to prevent its resulting in a cat massacre. Better still, the cat provisions of the bylaw should be scrapped – as advocated by Deputy Mayor Steve Adams and by a majority of respondents in a poll of Haligonians last month.

It’s morally indefensible to spend millions on public cat prisons when the city’s shelters for homeless human beings are struggling to stay open around the clock in cold weather.

And this hysterical focus on destroying cats is misguided as well as cruel. Council should take the good advice of animal welfare advocates and veterinarians that it would cost less, and be more effective and humane, to subsidize pet neutering where needed and to expand existing catch, neuter and release programs for feral cats. That’s an approach many cat owners and lovers would be willing to support financially.

So show us some real responsibility, councillors. Rewrite the law and pull back from a course that is heading toward a shameful travesty.

Technorati Tags: Halifax Public Libraries,Halifax Chronical Herald,Editorial,Cat By Law,HRM Councillors