[All] Rapid Transit Referendum and Public Hearing Update

[Ginny Quinn]

Kevin....thank you for your passion for the future of LRT even though it
will cost far more than they are willing to admit...$$$$$  8 point 8 was 2
yrs ago with one of the governments (can't remember   which one  Feds  ?? or
Province ????) reneging on the amount initially promised. They   took it
back to 2/3rds of initial offering ....if I remember correctly. I am fed up
with this outdated quote.  

We ought to be able to guesstimate and voice  that it will be one billion
plus  plus  and plus again for the initial rendition of the project. 

I am not as adamantly opposed as initially  however I am still not onside
with the CURRENT  intentions of  from Fairview Park Mall    to    Conestoga
Mall .  I don't have time to go shopping  at either of these malls more than
twice or three times a year ...so what has GREN offered as an intelligent
workable potential alternative ??    

The Region did a  terrible selling job of this drastically expensive,
futuristic project to us common folks ...it was shoved down our throats
without proper introduction and LOTS of info and LOTS of open houses and
LOTS of PR and LOTS of attempts at comfort levels to make life and travel
easier for our grandchildren in the future. They've tried to do some selling
after the fact     We grandparents love our grandchildren  and want to give
them a good future.  Doesn't anybody on the Regional Council have enough
grandchildren to understand that they have to use that as part of the
equation in factoring the sales pitch   well in advance of making the
decision?    

Forgive me if I seem uninformed...as I truly am appearing to be  after
listening to a lot of folks my age ...I have been too busy  to be totally
updated     will try to catch up sooner than later. 

My belief is it will take a next  generation to truly become users :
meanwhile, the some of the seniors who will carry this added tax burden, who
do not have good pensions coming in, will have to possibly sell their homes
,and may have little choice about it ,if they choose to be independent and
not be a burden on their children ....and yet continue to eat fairly well
...hopefully there will not be too many in this category.

 Can those of you younger folks, who will eventually benefit from this  'eye
to the future' vision (and I'm not arguing with you at this time), negotiate
a break in taxes for those who can document and prove a need for assistance
to remain in their homes or maintaining a moderate lifestyle of nutritional
eating.?  No, I don't claim to be in that category but there will be many
borderline elders who will never or rarely use the LRT while still
contributing to it.....as we age we have less and less need for 'shopping
for new clothing and things'  so the resentment of going from 'mall to mall'
is angering them  as a useless target of ridership.     If you (who are so
positive in seeing this through) can get this message across to the staff
(and please not the YOUNG staff ) that they MUST present it in a different
manner than they have in the past, to get even a small measure of acceptance
and be willing to work it a little bit at a time for some form of a comfort
level.   Ginny 

 

From: all-bounces at gren.ca [mailto:all-bounces at gren.ca] On Behalf Of Kevin
Thomason
Sent: June-02-11 2:33 AM
To: all at gren.ca
Subject: [All] Rapid Transit Referendum and Public Hearing Update

 

Good morning!

 

Just to follow-up Lulu's excellent updates on the Rapid Transit meetings, I
wanted to specifically thank the many GREN members who made amazing
presentations.

 

So many good points were raised by all the GREN members speaking!  The
timing of our presentations on Tuesday evening, at the afternoon referendum
meeting yesterday, and then throughout the hearings last night really helped
to offset opposing presentations, provide an extremely positive message, and
keep things moving well.

 

Specifically, thanks to Deb Swidrovich, Greg Michalenko (two great
presentations!), Susan Koswan, Susan Bryant, and Robert Milligan who all
spoke and to Robert Fleming who attended the 14 hours of Council
presentations!  Incredible!  I think that we can truly say that we have
helped to change the future of our community.

 

We now have only two weeks remaining prior to the June 15th vote.  I think
that we have strong momentum for LRT, however, there are still several
undecided and opposing Councillors.  E-mails to the Councillors, letters to
the editors, and all the positive talk about the LRT in the community is
going to be as important than ever.  

 

Please do whatever you can to help to ensure this initiative succeeds - it
is likely the most important environmental decision that will be made here
for many years and we need it to be positive and not condemning us to a lost
generation of gridlock, sprawl, and pollution.

 

Let us know any ideas and once again well done! 

 

Thank you and cheers,

Kevin.

 

-------------------------------------

 

Kevin Thomason

 

Phone: (519) 888-0519

Mobile Phone: (519) 240-1648

Twitter: @kthomason

E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com

 

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