Well, no blog posts for a while! Why you ask? Because this happened today: Today I launch my campaign to become the councillor for the new District 7 Peninsula South Downtown. In just over eight months, on October 20th 2012, the citizens of Halifax Regional Municipality will have a chance to vote for change. As the councillor for District 7, I will provide the leadership, commitment, and vision that our community needs. Thank you for – read more –
Tuesday, HRM Council voted in a 13 to 9 vote to once again confirm the sale of the St Patrick’s Alexandra school property to the Jono developments. Staff had prepared a report, as requested, outlining options regarding, both in this case and the last decade of surplus school disposals, HRM’s failure to follow the policy it had enacted in 2000. Tim Bousquet at the Coast called foul on the staff report, stating that the either – read more –
“For years, no one wanted to live in this community. buy 25mg viagra Now they all want to live here.” That’s what one older black woman had to say at the end of a community meeting held in Cornwallis Street Baptist Church on Saturday. Cisco 642-432 E20-001 The unstated corollary: And so she’s supposed to go. buy levitra online
Right now, the best example of HRM “getting it right” is probably the construction of the new Dartmouth Bridge terminal. The current “terminal” deserves quotes around its description. HRM is replete with clusters of bus shelters, some heated, most not, with the grandiose designation of “terminal.” Anyone coming from a larger city, or accustomed to taking the Dartmouth Ferry, finds the label “terminal” misleading at best.
Reality TV is still a big deal, right? Sure, sitcoms are ascendant (my favorite is Community, of course) butSurvivor is still on, The Amazing Race is a huge hit, and of course almost every show on the Food Network. As of last night, my favorite reality show is HRM Council. Watching them debate reconsideration of the sale of St. Pat’s-Alexandra School was an intense roller-coaster ride, like some CBC version of an old West Wing episode. The short version is: after making the – read more –
“It is Africville all over again,” Reverend Rhonda Britton said at City Hall after council voted to approve the sale of St. Patrick’s-Alexandra school, in the heart of Central Halifax, to a developer. That’s a hard thing for residents of Halifax Regional Municipality to hear, judging from letters to the editor and comments on-line at cbc.ca. – read more –
If you’re not familiar with Gottingen Street, the uproar around the St. Pat’s-Alexandra School site redevelopment simply might not make sense to you. For the tens of thousands who drive past the neighborhood every day going to and from work, the community is a mystery. In just a few decades, the street has declined from being a shopping Mecca bigger than today’s Spring Garden Road to a dead zone many choose to avoid.
It seems inarguable that mayor Kelly was 2011’s Halifax newsmaker of the year, and not in a good way. Try as I might to find another angle, or another way to spin it, the most recurring theme this year in Halifax politics was the mayor’s role in the various scandals and leadership crises that plagued HRM for much of 2011. I didn’t blog much for the first three months of the year, but things changed – read more –
On Tuesday the great and powerful Utility and Review Board delivered its verdict on the shape of the municipal districts in the next election in HRM. The UARB—as its’ friends know it—had already decided on the size of council back in the summer. Downsizing council from 23 to 16 required re-districting, and the UARB had ordered HRM to report back with a proposal. The UARB is an appointed provincial board, where more and more power has rested since its predecessor – read more –
I’ve always been interested in the way the public makes itself heard by the people we elect. When I moved back to Halifax to go to university, I dove right in to the discourse—from the Common Plan, to municipal reform, then going to the Dalhousie campus plan meetings—all before the Christmas of my first year. I remember saying to my father how exciting it was to live somewhere big enough to be able to do – read more –
Some reading for those that wish to know more: Start with Bethany Horne’s excellent summary of issues around the camp. Read Parker Donham’s summary of a Senseless and Unnecessary Use of Power. Surf his site for more feedback. Read and listen to Tim Bousquet’s of the Coast’s interview with Mayor Peter Kelly, and then read Dan Arsenault from the Herald’s interview. Both show the power and frustration of politico’s slavishly sticking to the talking points. Finally, we go back – read more –
This dialog, take from Mayor Peter Kelly’s public Facebook page, was captured around 9:55pm the night of November 11, 2011. Update – it has not been deleted, the nice folks at the Mayor’s office have only deleted the stuff on the top page, not the commenting on the Remembrance Day photo album. That is now 280 comments long. I have taken care not to edit this, at all. Not one bit. I think it speaks – read more –
I grew up a navy brat, fed a steady diet of Napoleonic War era novels like Hornblower, Aubrey Maturin, and Sharpe. But I also grew up reading Canadian novels from another era, the Battle of the Atlantic. Hal Lawrence’s Bloody War and James Lamb Corvette Navy are two books that capture the experience of a colony becoming a nation, a token force becoming a world renowned navy. Reading these, I learned something later reinforced by Stephen Kimber’s – read more –
If HRM Council must act quickly to restore public confidence in our elected government. The path forward difficult (I wrote about it here), but Council must work to resolve this in a way that shows that politicians are responsible for their actions, and elected politicians will be held accountable. A LOT OF COUNCILLORS ARE ON THE FENCE. You can play a role in helping raise the pressure on councillors to act in our best interests – read more –
The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves. – Ray Kroc – founder of McDonalds Today has been another day full of media and discussion. Many memorable moments, talking about the issues raised and the meaning of the concert scandal report delivered by HRMs Auditor General. Listening to Peter Kelly today, I was struck over and over again by the incoherent almost rambling defence he is mounting. Others have – read more –
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