MEET THE CANDIDATE FOR ELMA

I have been a resident of Atwood for over 5 years. I was born and raised in Listowel but moved away in my teens. After my divorce I moved my children back to Listowel so they could live in a small town and not the city. My five children are now all grown and I have 3 grandchildren.
After our children all moved out we decided to buy a property in Atwood and open an Antique Store and this is where my education started about municipal politics. I have learned alot in 5 years and feel it is time to put it to use for the betterment of my community, as I have been doing all along. It was a hard decision to make. My personal issues with the municipality are personal and running for council is business. But my personal issues have given me a great education.
I stand for fair, honest, transparent and accountable government. I am not running against any other candidate but running with them for better representation for the Elma Ward in North Perth. I will not be polluting the country side with plastic signs trying to get people to vote for me. I will not be accepting donations and will not be using large amounts of money for my campaign during these hard economic times.
I will stand up for and represent the taxpayers of Elma for a better North Perth

DEPUTY MAYOR ACCLAIMED

Vince Judge has been acclaimed as Deputy Mayor for North Perth. I called him and had a great discussion with him on his outlook for North Perth. I think he is one of the right people to help North Perth get back on track.

IT IS OFFICAL

Yesterday at 1:56 I signed the paper work to register to run for Council and represent Elma Ward. As has already been questioned here about the reason for running and it being self serving I would like to make clear that I am very adamant that my issues are personal and running for Council is business. I am doing this because North Perth needs a huge change and better representation from all of North Perth and not just Yes men and the old boys club. Better decision need to be made and putting everyone in North Perth into major debt is not the way.
It is time for change

LOOK OUT NORTH PERTH

Okay, for the last 4 years, due to the situation I have been put into, I have had a wonderful education about municipal politics and how it should run. I have learned this by finding out that North Perth does not run that way. I have scarificed alot, taking a stand in what I believe in and have suffered financial losses along the way, among other things. But it would be a waste for me not to make use of what I have learned and I want to put it to some use.
So after much thought about what I have learned and what I believe in and my belief that it truly is time for a change in North Perth, I have decided that I will be filing with the Municipality of North Perth, tommorrow, that I intend to seek the nomination and run for council member for Atwood/Elma Township.
Not sure how many people actually read this but I am sure that you get that I am doing this for the right reason. I look forward to representing the PEOPLE and bringing change to not only North Perth as a whole but helping the town of Atwood develope into the thriving community it should be

IT REALLY IS TIME FOR A CHANGE IN NORTH PERTH

The issue with Emily saving the trees was stuck in my head so I did some research. Back in December the Municipality brought forward a by-law to amend a by -law "WHICH MAY BE CITED AS THE ZONING BY-LAW OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF NORTH PERTH." They passed this off as just being a "housekeeping by-law" and of no real importance, I should know better by now. But if anyone like my self has read it, they would have realized it is a 14 page document that makes many changes in North Perth without consultation, hearings or the knowledge of most taxpayers and some people that it affects. It is not a housekeeping by-law.
To my point about Emily, deep inside the document on page 13 is a paragragh that states in part "That all woodlots that are between 1 hectare(2.47 acres) and 3.99 hectares (9.86 acres in size in the Wallace ward and the Elma ward of the Municipality of North Perth shall be removed from the Agricultural zone and placed in the Natural enviroment Resources Zone 2. By being placed in this zone the permit uses are conservation,forestry and existing uses.
Ironic that they passed this by law but forgot to include Listowel and the woodlots there, or the 6 acre woodlot that Terrier Inc wants to turn into a subdivision Kinda makes you wonder how up and up our Council is. Only time and an election will tell

UPDATE ON PLEE TO SAVE TREES

12 year old Emily Qureshi from Listowel is taking her concerns about a proposed subdivision to the Ontario Municipal Board. She has made an appeal to give Terrier Inc Draft Plan Approval . She is concerned about the impact on the wooded portion of the 6 acre property where the subdivision is planned. Allowing the subdivision to advance goes against North Perth and Perth County by-laws with regards to woodlots. But as alot of us know in North Perth......some can and some can not. Good going Emily, you are a wonderful example for all.

SOMETHINGS TO REMEMBER BEFORE VOTING

In case some people have forgotten some of the things that the sitting council has done during their term here is a list of some of the things I can remember.

-the debt in North Perth has gone frome $3million in debt to $26 million in debt
-illegally constructed an ashpalt recycling plant, spending thousand of dollars only to have to put it back to the farm land that it was
-$80,000.00 crosswalks that are not working and need repair after only a couple years
-an empty industrial park that cost a fortune to service and an investment that did not pay off
-Urbanski fiasco
-several lawsuits
-higher taxes in tough economic times with no regards to tax payers
-inflicting a financial burden to the residents of Atwood for a government mandated sewer project that they did not budget any money for
-the loss of the Campbell Soup plant and 650 jobs
- an expanded dump that is paved
-the loss of many good municipal employees
-questionable conflicts of interest and questionable use of policy and procedure
-the treatment of some taxpayers ie search warrants, stop work orders and the forcing of businesses to close,bullying
-a woodlot that will now be a subdivision against the wishes of tax payers
-poor planning
-lies, corruption,misuse of taxpayers dollars
- eloborate spending on unnecessary municipal buildings, vehicles, cellphones and blackberries
-not voting in the much needed code of conduct

Just to name a few things that I can remember. So if my readers have more, lets get the word out so people do not forget come election time. And this year get out and vote your opinion counts and it is the way to make your opinion known.

HERE ARE A COUPLE MORE DECISIONS MADE BY THIS COUNCIL THAT ARE QUESTIONABLE
-the price paid for a Fire Training Trailer that was to be used in North Perth as well as Perth County, that never leaves Stratford and can not be used in North Perth
- thinking that they needed to buy the Listowel Golf Course, that was not making money but close to bankrupcy
-no money for training the volunteer fireman, but money to build a Fire Department that is way to extravagant
-not allowing the Atwood Firemen, with their own money, to build a necessary shed for storage and when it was partially finished telling them to take it down

GOOD NEWS BAD NEWS

On Monday August 23,2010 another Atwood resident threw his hat into the ring for council. Kenneth Buchanan will also being running for council. I wish all the Atwood candidates Good Luck, we hope you all win. Also on Monday the now Mayor of North Perth, Ed Hollinger, made his intentions known that he intends to and is seeking another term as Mayor.............hence the bad news.

UPDATE ON OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENTS

In a previous post on the Amendment issues and the map that did not show the proposed changes to the zoning in Atwood, I have now viewed the Map that was amended for the August 12,2010 Public Meeting held in Stratford. All corrections to the commercial district have been made, except for the building I call the Bee. Atwood can now retain its commercial district and hopefully in the future will be able to expand and become the thriving community we all want it to be. The only thing that will stop the community of Atwood from developing will be the powers that be in Listowel who will still have the final say. At least until the Election this fall when hopefully we get some new people and new ideas with morals and ethics

EXPENSIVE CROSSWALKS

It appears that the $80,000.00 crosswalks that North Perth installed in Listowel have done nothing to make crossing the street in Listowel any easier. Mayor Hollinger is receiving many complaints and feels that nothing else can be done to make crossing the road any safer. He feels that it is up to the pedestrians and drivers to be more responsible for solving the problem, because the police and by-law officer are just to busy. Last I checked, the crosswalks with the long lasting paint job and the expensive emblem are in need of some repair and are starting to look pretty shabby. The paint is starting to peel and are dirty looking. You would think that for the amount of money that was spent it should have lasted longer or worked.... or was the crosswalk really necessary in the first past and just a waste of money