Romance and Transit Cuts

Union Prez Also Confused By Transit Cuts

Of course, the transit riders of Guelph were not a happy bunch a few weeks ago when news came down that again this summer there will be service cuts and a fare increase, but they weren't the only ones. Indeed, the people driving those buses aren't happy either, and neither are their union reps.

I got the chance to talk to Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1189 President Gary Daters on the phone last week and it wasn’t hard to tell that he was slightly disappointed when reading in the newspaper on February 1 that his workers were going to have to take a budget hit for the second year in the row. “We negotiated a contract under the understanding that there would be no service cuts this year," explained Daters. "We ratified the vote on January 30th and the next day we were informed that there would be service cuts. We questioned that, and we were told even last year that it would only be a one time deal.”

Adding to the union's cynicism of the City's intentions is the fact that Daters and other members of union leadership didn't find out about the proposed cuts and fare hike until the day after the new three-year union contract was ratified, the same day that City Council got its first look at the proposed 2011 budget. Daters was called for a meeting with transit's general manager January 31st, but was unable to attend, hence the newspaper revelation the next day.

“Our goal is to keep 20-minute service in the summer time so that the public won’t be inconvenienced and also there won’t be any layoffs on our part," Daters added. "Last year, it was a tough summer. People were missing their transfers and there was a strain on the drivers that were here.”

Last summer, 20-22 workers were laid off from June to August as Guelph Transit’s 20-minute service, and Sunday service for the month of August, were both suspended in an effort to save money in the City’s operating budget. Of those some 22 workers, five did not return in September. Daters says that if the same number of layoffs occur this summer, chances are that the number of workers that won’t return will increase. “I’ve talked to many who were laid off last year already and they’ve said that this time, if there’s another layoff, [then they won't come back] because they can’t afford to work nine months of the year,” he said.

In the hope to build support for transit and to hopefully overturn the decision to cut service and increase fares, the ATU Local is asking for public support. Additionally, the ATU is putting together a presentation for the February 22nd council meeting and Daters says that he's been in communication with other local groups making presentations to City Council during their deliberations. Daters is asking transit users to make their displeasure heard with their City Councillors.

How Romantic…?

A couple of years ago, I was on the crew for a film shooting in and around Guelph called Four Aces. It was a romantic comedy, set in Guelph, about people that lived in Guelph, made by a crew mostly from Guelph, living in Guelph, or spent some time in Guelph. Clearly, we were on to something because just in time for Valentine’s Day, Guelph was named the second most romantic city in Canada for the second year in a year. It’s a vindication only Two-Face could appreciate, but still, it’s nice to think that little Ole Guelph – The Royal City – is also The Romance City (at least in Ontario).

So by what standard are we the second most romantic, or the most romantic in Ontario to put it another way? Was it the cozy atmosphere of our eateries? The charming vistas along the paths of our local parks? Activities that foster romantic connections like Guelph Jazz Festival or Hillside? Nope. Let’s quote the story from the 570 News website: “Amazon.ca bestowed that honour on the Royal City based on the per capita sales of romance novels, relationship books, romantic comedy DVD's and Michael Buble CD's since January 1, 2011.”

That’s great. We’re romantic because of the number of books with beefcake emblazoned covers and CDs with Rat Pack cover songs sold? Does anyone else feel cheated? You should because as the 570 News story pointed out, one could see these stats another way as they indicate that there may be a great number of lonely people in Guelph; hence their investment in items of fictional romance. And did you notice that mention of “relationship books?” Are you likely to have a lot of romance if you’re hitting the books trying to figure out why your relationship isn’t firing on all cylinders?

Anyway, Happy Belated Valentine’s Day, I guess.

No Quiet on the Western Front

Smell that? That repugnant aroma is the relations between city and citizen going sour in the summer heat. Not that the relationship between Joe Q. Public and the government he hates so very much has ever been a cozy one, but it certainly seems that tempers are flaring with more alarming frequency during these first few days of Summer 2010.

First there seemed to be an incident a couple of Saturdays ago on transit where afternoon shoppers at Stone Road Mall had to face the fact that maybe they weren’t going to get downtown in a timely manner as a supervisor arrived to pull the driver before departure. The supervisor told those gathered on the bus that they’ll have to wait for the next trip as that bus was going out of service, but the riders revolted and the bus took them downtown as planned. However, anyone wanting a transfer to the Number 23 or 24 was left, well, wanting, because both buses were delayed. Another transit supervisor came over to those waiting in front of the Bank of Montreal on Quebec St. and said that while the 24 will be arriving late, the 23 wouldn't be arriving at all.

So what was going on with the bus system on this particular sunny June Saturday? Certainly there’s been a cold war between management and drivers since the “summer schedule” got underway, which leaves transit users caught in the middle as usual. Between management’s clinical detachment and the drivers’ work-to-rule literalism, an average, everyday normal bus rider is left no quarter. Complain to a driver, go tell it to city hall; complain to city hall and they’ll “look into it.”

Things seemed to exacerbate with the arrival of the first of five so-called “Karen Days” last Monday. City facilities were closed, library books sat unborrowed, and garbage was not picked up and hauled to the dump. All this, apparently, was a genuine surprise to several people. Now I don’t typically expect the average citizen to be as informed as someone that writes about local politics for a living, but the outrage from the ill-informed surprised me. I offer this bit from a Guelph Mercury article last Tuesday about one man’s reaction to the lack of garbage pick-up:

“Well, that’s just great,” said Jim Stevenson, owner of a three-unit apartment building on Alma Street which had about a dozen blue and green bags sitting at the curb. “Whoever’s in council now, I’m not voting for them again, put it that way.”

Stevenson went on to say that he had “no idea” that this effort to stymie the need to increase taxes further was coming, and that the city “owed him” $20 for a trip to the dump. The article went on to tell other stories of people blocked from their city facility-related activities including a student looking to study at the library and a mother looking to take her child for a swim in a pool before an educational jaunt to the civic museum. Quote the mom: “I had no idea it was closed.”

The revelation on the Mayor’s blog that the five days of city closures were factored into the property tax hike for 2010 (hence no refund) drew Samuel L. Jackson-like furious anger from those reading about in on the Mercury’s City Hall blog. “I wonder how many spin doctors it took to come up with that!” exclaimed Cathy. “Oh come on, Karen. You either run a city or you don't. You don't partially run a city,” said D.C. What’s interesting is that in a political sphere run by partisan rancour at the other two levels of government, it’s nice that we can all agree to hate the government together on a local level.

The anger isn’t what strikes me, although the way things are going on a transit I doubt anyone’s going to want to ride anymore come the return of the 20-minute schedule in the fall. What strikes me is the anger combined with ignorance. Now the informed angry I give a pass, but the people I referenced from the Mercury article don’t have a leg to stand on in my opinion. Truly, it seems that that the only way some people can get informed is if a city employee comes to their house and explains things to them face-to-face. Forget newspapers, advertising, word-of-mouth, press releases and posted notices on city facilities. Of course, then they’d be complaining about the waste of taxpayer’s money. Again.

http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

Washroom Case, Union Cash, and Election Update

Answers Soon in Washroom Death

Last week, the city released an unofficial update on the investigation into an accident on city property in 2009. Last spring, Isabel Warren, a Rockwood high school student, died when a wall collapsed in a washroom at Southend Community Park. The Mercury had an update last Monday, and long story short, the province is currently wrapping up their investigation and it should be ready to release its findings in a month. The city has completed its own, independent investigation but they can't release details until after the province releases their findings.

“The field work is completely over. Now we’re reviewing the information and determining whether to take any action,” Ministry spokesperson Bruce Skeaff said.

“The investigation is still underway with the province, and until that has been finalized we can’t pre-empt the province. They still have the responsibility for the investigation,” said City of Guelph Chief Administrative Officer Hans Loewig. “We can’t release anything until the province has fulfilled their responsibilities and they direct us on it.”

More news as it happens.

Union Says They Could Have Saved Cash

The president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 says that he and his union showed the city several ways to save more than $1.3 million, and thus would have avoided so-called “Karen Days” this summer. After passing a budget that had to allow for five unpaid days off for city staff, and being unable to reach an agreement to spread those days out, the city mandated five days this summer where city services would be closed including no bus service every Sunday in August.

But according to Local 1189 president Gary Daters, his union had the key to keeping buses running on Sunday. Among the transit union’s cost-saving proposals was the elimination of a proposed base-to-bus radio system, the elimination of a proposed call centre, downgrading the Smart Card Study, the elimination of the purchase of a supervisor’s mobility van, a restructured schedule and training of staff, and the delay of purchasing of Nova Buses. The total savings would have come out to $1,352,000. “The city said it couldn’t do anything because those were fixed costs in the capital budget, but my feeling was they pretty much had their minds made up (on unpaid days off),” said Daters in an article in the Mercury.

But according to Mark Aromosi, the city’s director of human resources, the suggestions weren’t helpful because they pertained to the capital budget, which is separate from the operating budget, which is where the savings would have had to come from. “You simply can’t transfer those savings. There’s no ability to transfer them,” Amorosi said.

Election 2010 Update

Several new names were added to fall ballot last week, including a number of familiar names. Ward 6 Councillor Karl Wettstein will be pursuing re-election this fall, and if he wins, the 2010-2014 term will be Wettstein's third on city council. He was elected in 2000, and then lost in 2003 before being elected again in 2006.

The second new name on the ballot is Allan Boynton who is running for Ward 1 councillor. This is Boynton's first election in Guelph it seems, so I don't have too much about him. And try googling "Allan Boynton" and you get a myriad of different Allan Boyntons in the area, so I'm not sure what to say about him.

Then, in the mayor’s race, there’s David Birtwistle, and if he sounds familiar it's with good cause. Birtwistle was a councillor for Ward 4 serving two terms in 2000 and 2003 winning 26 and 28 per cent of the vote, respectively. He was defeated in the 2006 election after losing his seat to Mike Salisbury and garnering a mere 16 per cent at the polls. But it appears his ambitions have broadened since 2006, and what could now make the race for mayor even more interesting is if Cam Guthrie enters, as he also ran against Birtwistle in Ward 4 in 2006.

If you're a potential candidate for city council, we (and by 'we' I mean 'I') would love to hear from you. E-mail adamadonaldson@gmail.com to break news of your candidacy.

Negotiations and Special Guests

Union to City: No dice.

The city’s unionized workers have said forget-about-it to taking five unpaid days off in 2010 and instead temporary lay-offs may be implemented in order to save $1.2 million from this year’s budget. Both the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 241, which represent the city’s transit and outsider workers respectively, voted against the budget proposal by a “very clear majority,” according to CUPE 241 President Brad Kelloway. The result, according to director of human resources Mark Amorosi, is that some city services could be outright closed for five days, and that might include Guelph Transit. Exact details weren’t given, but chances are good that the disruption to city services isn’t going to be nearly as invisible to citizens as city hall had hoped. CUPE Local 973, which represents the city’s inside workers, have yet to vote on the proposal. For updates, see my blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com

Cool Deal for Family Thrift Store

Milan Lesic is undoubtedly a happy man. The businessman landed a cool $1.25 million in selling the Wyndham Street storefront that he owns that was most recently the home of Ray Mitchell’s Family Thrift Store. The final figure Lesic’s receiving for the sale was revealed last week after the deal to buy the property was officially closed. Next items up for bids are the buildings on either side of the old Family Thrift Store including the former Wyndham Arts location, which has a closure date set a few months hence. But if you were ever a patron of the Family Thrift Store and that amount seems exorbitant to you, Mitchell himself agrees. “It's funny, because the standard formula to estimate the value of a building is to multiply by ten the yearly gross rent,” said Mitchell in an online post. “In this case, the three businesses fully rented paid about $85,000 a year, so we should have paid at most less than a million. And, in this case, since two of the three stores had no working furnaces and therefore no tenants the amount should have been even less.”

City Wants you to name stuff

For your information, today’s the last day for you to be able to submit your suggestions to name new city properties. As part of a new Commemorative Naming Policy, the city wants your suggestions for what the name of six new city assets should be. These sites include the Northern Heights, Morningcrest, Conservation Estates and Westminster Woods subdivisions; a park on the former Eastview Landfill site; and the Civic Square in front of City Hall and the new Provincial Offences Court.

“Names will be reviewed by the City’s naming committee,” said a City of Guelph press release. “First consideration will be given to those names that have geographic, civic or historic significance of the neighbourhood where the asset is located. Second consideration will be given to names of individuals who have achieved at least one of the following: excellence, courage or exceptional service to the citizens of Guelph, Ontario or Canada; worked to foster equality and reduce discrimination; or risked or given his or her life to save or protect others.”

For more information, visit the city’s website at guelph.ca/parks.

Valeriote bring in Trudeau

With Parliament prorogued and nowhere to go it seems, our local MP Frank Valeriote is welcoming Member of Parliament for Papineau, PQ (and son of a former Prime Minister that needs no introduction) Justin Trudeau to the Royal City. Trudeau’s coming into town Friday to be part of Our Lady of Lourdes high school’s annual Flag Day festivities where the school will give the Liberal MP their National Leadership Award. The award’s ceremony will take place in the morning, and will be followed by an open house at the Italian Canadian Club where members of the public can meet and greet with Valeriote and Trudeau from 1:30 to 3 pm.  For more information contact Valeriote’s office at 519-837-8276 or valerf1@parl.gc.ca