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<DIV>Is <FONT size=4>Waterloo prepared to move to Kitchener City Hall
?? or are the taxpayers expected to still foot the bill
for *two* city hall locations...which in effect would be certainly *not*
economical for the $$$$. It would appear that many of the previous
amalgamations and/or 'mergers' per se have not saved any
money. Indeed I have an article from the Toronto Star from
2008 bewailing the terrible debt load that Toronto is carrying either because
of or in spite of amalgamation. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>There seems to be other stories of great difficulties and
unhappiness with Toronto , Hamilton..Thunder Bay and a lot of
other forced unions (or unforced ones) . The thing that really strikes me
is that <STRONG>there is no financial gain</STRONG> according to what
limited info I have....and yes it is limited because I too have a life to lead
outside of my volunteerism . </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Is this 'just a discussion? " or
once the door is opened will there be a "foot inplace" " to prevent
closing it " in order to force the will of the current proponents
forward?? If I sound skeptical...trust it to my age and the old
expression <STRONG>"Experience</STRONG> <STRONG>teaches you to
recognise the same mistake when you make it again."</STRONG> The "trust
factor" can be good or blind.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I go back to the "union" of the Kitchener and
the Waterloo Chambers of Commerce.
Both managers lost their jobs and </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>a new person entirely was brought in and this I have
been told is the best way to go so there are no "favourites" to be
played.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Not my idea but the advice of the so called
"experts".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Kitchener has 250,000 population and we are slated to
'get' 100,000 more immigrants due to us being the larger size .
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Waterloo (I think) has 120.000 population and
they seem to be targeted for 30---40---50,000????additional
immigrants.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial> this means we'll have about 500,000 in
a 'merged?' Kitchener Waterloo. That's a half a
million!!! </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I guess a few of us might get lost in the </FONT><FONT
face=Arial>shuffle </FONT> <FONT face=Arial>from cozy and close to too
big for cozy and close.....but hey , they say that's progress. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>There has to be one heck of a 'Cracker Jack" team on duty
with the pros and cons equally represented so that there can be </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>"Devil's Advocates" at all times to prevent the super
duper sales team from running amok with all the wonderful positives, or all the
terrible negatives. And there has to be a watchguard to ensure that some
vital problems and/or issues now and soon to be on the table are not neglected
and/or lost in the stress of this decision. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I'm still sitting on the fence but acting as a "Devil's
Advocate" at this point in time. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Certainly the question is more fairly and /or
correctly worded this time without the force of a 'probable' anticipated
outcome.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=butterflybluelu@rogers.com
href="mailto:butterflybluelu@rogers.com">Louisette Lanteigne</A> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=all@gren.ca
href="mailto:all@gren.ca">all@gren.ca</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, February 08, 2010 10:27
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [All] Halloran pushing for a
vote on Merger</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal>Good Evening:
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>At City Council tonight Mayor Halloran tabled the
following "Notice of Motion" for consideration by Waterloo City Council
on February 22, 2010:
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I>1. That the City of
Waterloo request the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
include a question on the October 2010 municipal election ballot for the
City of Waterloo with the following suggested wording:</I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I></I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I>"Do you support the
members of Kitchener and Waterloo Councils engaging in discussions about
the advantages and disadvantages of merging the Cities of Kitchener and
Waterloo. Yes or No."</I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I></I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I>2. That this Council
recommend the following process to the 2010-2014 Council:</I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I></I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I>a) In the event of a NO
vote, Waterloo City Council will not enter into discussion on merging
the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo.</I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I></I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I>b) In the event of a
YES vote, Waterloo City Council will direct staff to use the public
involvement guidelines when complete to develop an appropriate strategy
for how the City of Waterloo will report on the discussions to citizens
and how citizens will be able to provide ongoing comment on the
discussions.</I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I></I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I>c) In the event of a
YES vote, the City of Waterloo will provide opportunities to citizens
and other municipal stakeholders, through public meetings, mailed and
online submissions, and other forums, to identify areas of concern
requiring discussion.</I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I></I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I>d) In the event of a
YES vote, topics of discussion will need to include but not be limited
to: short and long term financial impacts, negotiations of shared
utilities, municipal debt, service delivery, democratic representation,
arts and cultural impact, economic development, and relationships with
other levels of government and neighbouring municipalities.</I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I></I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><I>e) If the decision is
made by Waterloo City Council to move forward with a formal proposal on
merging Kitchener and Waterloo; the final merger proposal will be
brought back to the citizens of Waterloo through a referendum.</I>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>I have blind carbon copied this email to all the
citizens who have taken the time over the past years to email me
comments with regard to this issue and other issues within the City and
the Ward. I have done this because I value your feedback. In
particular I would appreciate knowing if you do or do not support the
above motion. I would also welcome any comments that you may have
on this new motion or on the broader issue.
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>With regard to the above I offer the following
observations for your consideration:
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>1. Many individuals indicated their concern over the
previously requested wording of the question citing that the former
words "merits of amalgamation" predetermined an outcome and led voters
to believe that there were only merits. The above referenced
wording clarifies that both advantages and disadvantages surrounding
amalgamation would need to be equally considered.
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>2. The question placed to Council in the past
did not outline a "process" or clarify what a majority Yes or majority
No vote would result in. Many people who emailed and telephoned me
felt that No was only a No for this election and that the question would
continue to be asked. As well, many individuals felt that a Yes
vote was a clear mandate to amalgamate, not just to have a
discussion. Does the above motion provide clarity for you around
these issues?
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>3. Many citizens thought that asking a question to
have a discussion was unnecessary and that citizens should be asked yes
or no to what was seen as the real question, do you want to amalgamate
Yes or No. Item e) of the above motion also includes a piece
associated with that fundamental question once information has been
prepared for the citizens to review.
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>It is my goal to summarize all of the feedback I
receive (without names of course) and prepare a summary report which I
will be pleased to circulate back under blind carbon copy to all who
respond. Please note that this will be returning to Council on
Monday February 22, therefore I would value your response by the 21st.
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>Thank you and Best Regards,
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy">Diane
Freeman, FEC, P.Eng. <BR>Councillor - Ward 4 <BR>Cell:
519-569-9955</SPAN>
<DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>All mailing
list<BR>All@gren.ca<BR>http://gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>