Mark Tewksbury's Incredible journey and lessons

During the FCM Conference on the weekend I had the pleasure of listening to the great Mark Tewksbury deliver an inspirational presentation based on the life lessons he has learned from his experience as an olympic athlete.

I especially wanted to hear Mark speak because after his gold medal win in backstroke in the Barcelona Olympic Games, I was part of a committee that brought Mark to speak to our high school students at GDHS. He was a terrific speaker then and he is a terrific speaker now.

I believe that the lessons he was offering are transferable to anyone who wants to achieve anything in life.

His stories about training and mental attitude were particularly applicable. In one case it was the inspiration of the late great Victor Davis who drew together the men's relay team and finally showed Mark how collectively we can achieve much more than we can if we go it alone. None of the members of that men's team had won in their individual events. They were not mentally prepared to do any better in the relay. But Victor Davis gave them the inspiration they needed. When they swam the relay they used each other's strength and individually they did better than they had ever done before. From the disappointment of their previous individual results came the spectacular performances that lead to silver medals for all of them.

The message was to look for help when we want to achieve great goals. Don't be afraid to ask for it or to let others share in the journey. And never give up.

And finally, whatever you are doing, you have to keep doing better. If you think you have done a terrific job and that you should just keep doing it, that may not be the best strategy. While you aren't looking the world is likely moving on.

Councillor Somerville raising scholarship funds at FCM May 30 2010

Councillor Clark Somerville of Halton Hills is commended for helping to promote the cause of increasing women's participation in municipal politics. Somerville has been growing his hair for a year in anticipation of the Great Shave Off at this year's FCM Conference. Through his efforts over $3000 was raised for scholarships.

The photo above is of me helping to shave Clark's head. It was a great relief to see Clark minus the permed, dyed, long hair. Joining me are Councillor Dave Kentner of Halton Hills and Mayor Jean Perrault, past president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and former mayor of Sherbrooke Quebec.

Government 2.0 What the heck is that?

For the past 4 days I have been at the Canadian Federation of Canadian Municipalities' annual conference, this year held in Toronto.
On Friday May 28th I attended a workshop called Government 2.0 The Intersection of technology, Public Policy and Political Aspirations! What a title! A person could be intimidated by such a title. However, I found this to be one of the most exciting workshops of the conference.
It would seem that the cities of Vancouver and Nanaimo BC are a way ahead of us as far as using the internet to communicate with our residents and businesses is concerned.

I have been complaining to my colleagues on Halton Hills Council that the way we communicate with the public is completely out of date and ineffective. And I am tired of hearing that it is the public's fault, not ours.

The workshop showed how we can use existing tools to make everything we do much more accessible and we can reach many more people than we are today. It isn't that hard to do. But it does take a certain amount of trust.

Municipalities have made great strides forward by putting reports and agendas on our websites but there is much more we can and should do. Primarily this isn't done because we worry about privacy issues. However, we are also governed by the Access to Information Act. Citizen's can get much more information by going to the trouble of formally making a request. It stands to reason that if they can get it now, then there shouldn't be a problem making the information more easily available via the internet.

In Nanaimo for example people can enter an address into Google and find out if there is a planning application on the property and if so, what exactly is being proposed. You can go directly to Google Streets and see the property. If it is a business, you can see the licences they have with the City. Residents can "Google" the local arenas and locate available icetime instantly.

Both Vancouver and Nanaimo use Facebook and Twitter to communicate more directly with people who want to be better informed.

I plan to bring these possibilities for better communications to our town council in the near future. It was emphasized in the workshop that doing this is not expensive primarily because it all uses open software that is available to all of us to use for free. We just need to get going.

Royal Botanical Gardens - Water on the Rocks Gala

For the past 6 years I have been a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Botanical Gardens of Burlington/Hamilton. I was appointed as a representative of Halton Regional Council in 2005 at a time when the RBG was in deep financial difficulty. I am happy to let you know that those dark days are over and the RBG is better than it has ever been. The lastest editions include the Camilla and Peter Dalgleish Atrium, The Aldershot Escarpment Garden, the Helen Kippex Garden and the renewed Hendry Park Gardens.

The RBG is an institution of provincial and regional significance. As such it is funded by the Province of Ontario, Halton Region and the City of Hamilton. Apart from being the largest tourist attraction in Halton, it also carries out significant botanical research and is an educational facility for throngs of students all year round. In addition it has 2000 acres of natural lands and is a wonderful place to go for hike around Cootes Paradise or through the Grind Stone Creek valley.

Last year Belinda Gallagher, a resident of Georgetown, was named the Head of Horticulture at the RBG. I was delighted at this development as I had been working with Belinda for about 8 years on the development of the Old Seed House Garden in Georgetown. Belinda has done a tremendous job of leading the Horticultural staff and you will find the Gardens have never looked better.

On May 27th, I attended the RBG's fundraising gala. The photo is of Belinda Gallagher and myself enjoying the festivities in support of the Gardens.

Recession effects still being felt by Halton Residents

The Halton Region's Health and Social Service agenda for Tuesday May 25th has a report concerning the impact of the economic recession on many Halton residents. It is interesting that although there are many positive signs of recovery, when it comes to requests for social assistance the numbers are continuing to climb. The requests for low income supports and children's services bounced back in March after a slight drop in February.
The average caseload for Ontario Works was 1,937 in 2009, having increased from 1,475 in 2008, a 31% increase year over year. Preliminary caseload data for 2010 shows steady growth with an average of 2,160 for the first quarter. The Employment Insurance caseload has also increased significantly from 2008.
When Halton Regional Council considered its 2009 budget in November 2008, it was obvious that we were into a recession. Staff begin work on the next year's budget early in the summer and in the summer of 2008 they produced a typical budget with over 40 new positions included. Regional Council took the position that we were into an uncertain period where we would need much more budget resources to support those who were losing their jobs and their savings. What we decided to do was to freeze the staff compliment but to collect the taxes that would have been used to pay the proposed new hires. This proved to be a very prudent measure as we certainly needed the money.
As has been noted, we are still in the same situation where we need to focus our resources on those who are facing tough economic challenges in their lives.
Halton Regional Council also gave direction to staff in 2009 to bring in a budget that had a zero tax increase in recognition of these on-going challenges. As well, councillors personally chose to leave our own salaries at the 2009 level. You may recall that I attempted to have this happen the previous year but my motion failed in a vote of 11 to 10. I put the motion forward as I feel that Councillors need to lead by example.
The full report on Halton's intervention servicces during 2009 can be found at http://www.halton.ca report on the May 25th Health and Social Services agenda, report SS-14-10 Coordinated Intervention Services Client Profile During the 2009 Recession Period.

Welcome Cyclists Network

This morning I attended a workshop for businesses and organizations that want to promote cycle tourism. It was put on by Transportation Options which is a not for profit organization dedicated to stimulating sustainable systems of transportation. The objective is to bring together accommodation providers, food service providers , tourist attractions and other rcycling related businesses. The Welcome Cyclists Network priject was developed in response to BIke Train passenger feedback from the 2007 Bike Train pilot year survey.
The first Welcome Cyclists Network was pilotted in Niagara in partnership with the Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce.
The workshop was very interesting and inspiring. I believe that Halton has some of the best roads for cycle tourists. However we are missing the accommodation that goes with it. Also our signage is absent.
However, Halton Region is producing a new Cycling Map that will be aimed more at tourists than the original 2006 version was. The first version was a project of the Halton Regional Cycling Committee that I Chaired between 2004-2007.
Information on the Bike Trains can be found at www.biketrain.ca

Registered Candidate for the 2010 Municipal Election

On Friday May 14th, I submitted my papers and deposit as a candidate in the 2010 Municipal election. I am running for re-election to the position of Regional and Local Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 in the Town of Halton Hills, Ontario.

I have chosen to run for re-election because I care passionately about the future of our community. I want to help shape its future as a wonderful place to live and work. I am very interested in setting policies that will shape the future, not just for the coming 4 years but for the next 50 years.

We have entered a new era where we need to be much more careful about how we use our resources. Gone are the days when we could view resources not only as abundant but as endless.

I think that this new reality is an opportunity to do things in much better and more sustainable ways. We need to do things better. I am optimistic that we will meet the challenge.