Municipal Politics

[jammer139]

There doesn't appear to be any progress on the new Middlesex County Administration Office build at 1035 Adelaide St S beside the Paramedic Headquarters Centre. Last year they announced it would be ready by Dec 2025 but there doesn't appear to be a building permit filed yet with the City of London.

I'm sure York Developments would like to see them moved out of the Middlesex County Courthouse downtown prior to them starting construction of their new towers.

https://www.strathroytoday.ca/2024/04/02/middlesex-county-council-making-the-move-to-a-new-site/

[CanadianTalk]

Originally Posted by jammer139

There doesn't appear to be any progress on the new Middlesex County Administration Office build at 1035 Adelaide St S beside the Paramedic Headquarters Centre. Last year they announced it would be ready by Dec 2025 but there doesn't appear to be a building permit filed yet with the City of London.

I'm sure York Developments would like to see them moved out of the Middlesex County Courthouse downtown prior to them starting construction of their new towers.

https://www.strathroytoday.ca/2024/04/02/middlesex-county-council-making-the-move-to-a-new-site/

A building permit was filed in December 2024... hopefully we see construction start soon.

[jammer139]

The council resourcing task force will discuss the survey results at their next meeting Friday.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/some...rs-dont-really-do-much-colleagues-survey

[jammer139]

Tax relief due to another surplus at City Hall.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/city...ending-16-9m-in-extra-cash-on-tax-relief

[jammer139]

Political theatre? Could there be a municipal election coming in Oct 2026?

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/lond...ious-fix-or-a-piece-of-political-theatre

[jammer139]

DC exemptions saves city $10M

https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/ma...dget-from-development-charge-exemptions/

[jammer139]

Full Time councillors recommended by task force. Did they also recommend reducing the number of councillors from 14 to either 12 or 10?



https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/lo...illor-role-higher-pay-to-match-workload/

[MolsonExport]

gotta spend those double digit tax increases.

[jammer139]

Excavator and dump trucks have started work on site prep for the new Middlesex County Administration Building west of the London-Middlesex EMS headquarters building.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Full Time councillors recommended by task force. Did they also recommend reducing the number of councillors from 14 to either 12 or 10?



https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/lo...illor-role-higher-pay-to-match-workload/

The article does say former councilor Jared Zaifman, who sits on that task force, suggests that the number of wards be reduced if the positions are made full time.

One change I think should be made is an actual elected Deputy Mayor, rather than one appointed by the Mayor. I have even heard it suggested that there should be 2 elected DM's (Operations and Finance). The Mayor appointed Shawn Lewis and Elizabeth Peloza to be DM and Budget Chief, and they answer to their wards, not city wide. These should be city wide positions that are voted on by the entire electorate. I'm sure many here remember when we each got to cast 7 votes for the 19 members of council, now you get 2 votes for 15 members. I never had a problem with the old council set-up. I was neither here nor there on the 2 councilors per larger ward or one councilor per smaller ward but it was just short sighted "need to reduce the size of government" thinking that got rid of Board Of Control.

Or here's a wacky idea. 14 full time councilors, voted on city wide, you don't represent a ward. Everyone gets to cast 1 mayor and 5 councilor votes. Top councilor is Deptuy Mayor, second highest is budget chief. Pay them 100k, and they pick committees and boards in order of votes received, and you can't pass on picking any.

[jammer139]

Full Time councillors salary figure being kicked around is $90K. Likely too little to attract candidates when you consider that City of Toronto councillors apparently make ~$170K and have anywhere from 5-7 full time staff each.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/anal...ing-to-pay-for-90k-year-city-councillors

[jammer139]

New Fire and Police training centre being looked at south of the dump.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/london-eyes-site-near-landfill-new-police-fire-campus

[jammer139]

Now forming the footings and foundation walls for the new Middlesex County Administration Building west of the London-Middlesex EMS headquarters building.

[jammer139]

Like the Hyde Park BIA the OEV BIA wants to expand its size due to declining enrollment and business push back. Businesses are less interested in joining these BIA groups and the ever increasing membership fees.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/heres-why-the-old-east-village-bia-wants-to-get-big/

[Snark]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Like the Hyde Park BIA the OEV BIA wants to expand its size due to declining enrollment and business push back. Businesses are less interested in joining these BIA groups and the ever increasing membership fees.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/heres-why-the-old-east-village-bia-wants-to-get-big/

Another big potential issue is internal politics. It happens in service clubs, local chapters of professional organizations, hobby clubs, etc. The difference is that one can decide to join voluntarily and/or walk away from many of these, but if you are in a BIA you are in. I have a relative who is co-owner of a small coffee/pastry place in a community of approx. 10,000 and is fighting inclusion into such an organization, as it is dominated by a handful owners who have the largest businesses. His voice in such a group will be virtually unheard yet he will have to pay.

[jammer139]

Wow the sense of entitlement some have is breathtaking.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/no...as-city-looks-to-naturalize-it-1.7605436

[bolognium]

Love that the guy going door to door is also the guy losing most of the backyard he doesn't own.

Local residents maintaining a little path or strip of mowed grass so they can access a park from their backyard is one thing, but building fences, structures, and gardens on land that isn't theirs is another.

At least the lady with the garden could be seen as enhancing the park (assuming the garden is accessible by the public via the park). Still encroachment, though.

[MrSlippery519]

People claiming they did not know the property lines and paid a premium, unfortunately that means you had a bad real estate agent. An open backyard like many of these have I would have double checked before making an offer knowing something like this could happen.

It is the same with buying a newer home with a massive empty lot beside you...just because it's zoned one way today does not mean it will remain.

[MolsonExport]

^same thing happened with my first house, and those of my neighbors, when I used to live on Brunswick (new build). The alleged property boundaries were marked with metal stakes. Every person on my block, except me, built fences on that demarcated line...I was waiting until the lot behind us was developed, to split the fence cost for that portion. Turns out everyone had the line wrong, by about 8 feet. I have little doubt that the developers mislead people on purpose, as the street abutted vacant land to the south, which was not demarcated for building for nearly 5 years. Everyone had to tear down/move their fence lines 8 feet closer towards their house. I had to move a Costco Playstructure that I had built. Suddenly my backyard was tiny.

In any event, I don't have a lot of pity for people that knowingly falsely extended their backyards. A lot of people try to this encroachment maneuver.

I moved two years later to a house with a much larger lot.

[jammer139]

Topics for London at this weeks AMO mtg in Ottawa.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/ha...ipal-leaders-meeting-this-week-1.7611262