Monday January 23rd Regular town council meeting

Well, I went into tonight’s meeting thinking it’s a new year and maybe things would be different. I thought maybe these councillors would show up prepared and ready to discuss the big issues and not get bogged down by the minute details. Well, I was right on one count. It’s a new year.  There were several recorded votes, several “conflicts” declared, many times certain councillors seemed unprepared and of course, always some back and forth bickering. Here we go! Hang on! There were also about 25 people in attendance, which was really, really nice to see!

The meeting started out with the Mayor asking if there were any pecuniary interests. Councillor Fryer declared a conflict for the recreation services budget because his daughter works there indirectly teaching gymnastics. (Was there some huge increase in wages buried in there? I doubt it….seemed like a stretch of a conflict to me, but what do I know?) Councillor Pouget and Councillor Lavigne both declared a conflict about anything that had to do with Belle Vue. (They basically mumbled their reasons when the Mayor asked. I couldn’t understand for sure, but if memory serves me correct, Councillor Lavigne’s parents back property borders on the back corner of the Belle Vue property. Councillor Pouget, I think, had previously said her house’s back yard was less than 1000 meters from Belle Vue backyard.) At this rate, I was starting to wonder if any one was going to vote on anything. They’re all tax payers right? Is that a conflict to vote on the budget? Jeez.

Belle Vue Grant Application- National Cost Sharing Program for Heritage Places

Well, in my pre-meeting blog Friday night, I did not elaborate on this one thinking it was a “no-brainer”. Well, apparently not. There was much debate and some of it was heated. (Don’t forget Councillors Pouget and Lavigne did not participate in the discussion nor the vote. They left the room because of their perceived conflict.)

Administration was proposing to apply for a $1 Million grant to be used towards repairs of the outside of the Belle Vue house. Councillor Meloche was first to express concern about this grant application. He was concerned about the matching 50% funding being secured and in place as well as the work being finished by 2018. CAO Miceli patiently explained how these issues were addressed in the risk analysis of the report. (Off to a great start here……am I the only one who reads the agenda? Why are questions being asked when it’s simply there in black and white in the report? I digress.) The CAO then basically reexplained the report to those who had not read it I guess. He said the town would be responsible ultimately but was confident the Belle Vue Conservancy would have the money in the mean time. There was some back and forth between the CAO and Councillor Meloche, all pertaining to the report. The CAO explained, patiently again, that this is the first chance at a grant and he is unsure when there may be another. Councillor Courtney said she couldn’t fathom why someone wouldn’t want to apply for a grant and referred to it as a “no-brainer”. (I wonder if she’s one of my readers lol) The CAO explained that they’re trying to protect the building structurally and would be using the funds to begin with exterior repairs. Councillor Fryer then asked if the town had the money to advance if required. Councillor Fryer then announced he would not be supporting this grant request since he felt it was too early and that he had only received the report at 2:30 this afternoon. (WTHeck???? I read this report Friday night when I did my pre-meeting blog!!!!!! Really???? It’s really kind of disgusting and tiring thinking that I read the report and am not paid to, yet one of our paid elected town councillors did not. I wonder if any of them would be willing to split their pay with me? We could sit and have coffee every two weeks and I could give them the short version of the agenda and the reports. It would actually save me time not having to blog about the unnecessary questions. What do you think?) There was some debate among council members about having received the report on Friday and how it was on the internet too on the town’s web site.

Ms. Carson-Prue addressed council. She is the chair (I think) of the Belle Vue Conservancy. She explained that this is a fundraising partnership between the town and the Conservancy. She said the town’s role is crucial to apply for grants when they’re available. There is a video in the making that is being donated to promote this initiative. The Conservancy is trying to be pro-active and do all the right things and needs the town’s support.

The motion was to apply for the grant for Belle Vue. They voted:

in favour: Councillor Courtney, Deputy Mayor DiPasquale and Mayor DiCarlo broke the tie

opposed : Councillors Fryer and Meloche

Then, possibly for the first time I’ve ever seen, a recorded vote was called AFTER council had already voted. Obviously, the votes did not change and are noted above. ( Off to a great start–tensions were already high)

2017 Final Approved Budget

Next up, council had to vote on the budget. The increase is set to be 1.87%. Councillor Fryer immediately asked if they would be voting on the whole budget, since he had a “conflict” with the Recreation Services budget. So, Councillor Meloche made a motion to approve the budget, except for the Recreation Services budget and the Capital budget. Deputy Mayor DiPasquale seconded. Then, it was off to the races. Councillor Pouget asked about the benefit issue that had been such a big point of contention during the budget debate. (Council was concerned it wasn’t an exact number, precise number for CPP, WSIB etc based individually in each department–caused a huge uproar the first night of budget debate.) So basically, a huge uproar had been created for nothing. The big savings was $3038 in a budget of $25 Million. Councillor Pouget acknowledged that it was not a big difference.(Yup. Administration basically told them that 2 weeks ago at the budget deliberations, but they pressed on and I’m sure someone spent hours or days figuring it all out…..for $3000…..Let’s just say I don’t think most of our council are “big picture” types of politicians.) Councillor Meloche then disagreed with the Treasurer’s numbers and there were some explanations provided. Then, Councillor Meloche went on a very, very, very lengthy (my opinion!) rant about MPAC assessments and how they’ve gone up. Some time later, when Councillor Meloche was finished, Councillor Fryer jumped in with his rant about MPAC (my opinion, again! It was like being at the budget deliberations all over again!!! I just heard ALL of this two weeks ago!!!!!) Councillor Pouget also jumped in about the school board and questioned the process of how the budget was presented. The Treasurer explained that Amherstburg has a very open and transparent budget process. All of the planning, everything is disclosed and all transformations are outlined. He said the residents are presented all of the information and he felt the town does it’s due diligence. (Side note. I completely agree!!!!! The residents are provided with everything! Some of us read it! Some people that are paid to read, seem not to and  then question it all. I just don’t understand….) Councillor Lavigne said he supported the budget, then he asked a really good question. He asked for each $1 Million increase in the budget if it was worth about a 4% tax increase. The short answer was yes. I thought that was great to know. Councillor Meloche then went on another long-winded speech (my opinion) about the ageing population and tax increases. (I will not be rehashing the multiple long-winded speeches that went on tonight, if you’re interested, call the councillors involved directly. I’m sure they will oblige you.)

Anyway, the budget (minus the capital budget and Recreation Services Budget) finally went to a recorded vote (obviously lol):

In support : Councillor Courtney, Deputy Mayor DiPasquale, Councillors Lavigne, Meloche and Pouget, Mayor DiCarlo

Opposed: Councilor Fryer

(How in the world could Councillor Fryer vote against the budget? He voted against last year’s budget too! Does he have an alternative budget sitting in his briefcase that he’s going to present as an alternative? Is administration just supposed to start 3 months worth of work all over again? Is this some type of odd voting strategy?)

The rest of the 2017 budget

The Recreation Services budget carried (with Councillor Fryer not voting because of a “conflict”).

The Capital Budget carried (with Councillors Pouget and Lavigne not voting because of their conflict.)

Can’t help but wonder….should any of them voted on the budget? They’re all tax payers right? Isn’t it a conflict to control your own tax rate? (I know it’s not. My frustration at what I feel are very flimsy conflicts is getting the better of me.)

Committee Vacancies – Audit and Finance Advisory Committee and Economic Development Advisory Committee

Carolyn Davies was appointed to the Audit and Finance Advisory Committee as the Chamber of Commerce Representative.

However, council decided to have administration advertise the opening on the Economic Development Advisory Committee. (I guess they didn’t like the choices that were on the short list. The short list, from what I understand, are people who applied and can be named if such a vacancy were to occur.) Councillor Fryer said he received many phone calls from interested parties to serve on this Committee. (Hmmmm…..now wouldn’t THAT be a conflict?) Anyway, the position will be advertised soon, so if you’re interested, go for it! (When these committees were initially started this term, there was much speculation that only friends of council members were appointed. I’m debating applying. If they plug their nose and appoint me, I wouldn’t be able to blog anymore…..So, no way, forget that! I love my blogging hobby! Oh, and I really don’t know much about economic development, there’s that too.)

Boblo Island Emergency Planning

Okay, hang on here…..this discussion got a bit crazy. It appears an emergency plan was submitted by the Boblo developers to administration in 2006, however it was never implemented. Current administration is trying to work through this. Basically, as I understood it, the developer has to provide access to the island for it’s resident’s and any town services (fire, police, parks, whatever.) The Clerk explained that there were some recent concerns, the plan was reviewed and it’s not sufficient. Councillor Pouget seemed concerned that the town wants to keep a pumper truck on the island. There were several references about this getting discussed in-camera later. This made it a bit difficult, since I only was able to figure out part of what the heck was going on. Councillor Pouget then said there were only 2 in-camera items and she didn’t think this was one of them. (Maybe she should start reading my pre-meeting blog. I had all 4 in-camera items posted Friday night LOL. ) Anyway, once it was explained that there were more than 2 items and that 2 came from the supplementary agenda, the meeting raged on. There was more debate on who had to provide access to the island and at what cost. Finally, Lee Tome, the deputy chief explained that on December 20th the ferry did not run for 9 hours, for some reason. Basically, they feel that they can get people (firefighters) to the island without a ferry, but they can’t get a truck there. So, they want to leave a 1995 tanker truck that has a low dollar value on the island in case of emergency. Finally, the report was received and I can only imagine what’s going on in camera now.

Joint Police Advisory Committee Consultant Recommendation (This is on the supplementary agenda)

Once again, another contentious debate. Basically, administration wants to hire an expert Consultant to negotiate the various scenarios that are being considered for police costing. (OPP, merging with Lasalle and/or Windsor and developing an RFP for LaSalle and Windsor to respond to.) Councillor Pouget felt she could not support this because the amount required to pay the consultant could not be disclosed. She talked about how Amherstburg has no control over our police force. Councillor Lavigne was not too happy about this. He feels as it stands, we have a lot of say about our police department and that if the OPP or other were to come in, then we would truly have no control. As it stands, he said we have residents and politicians on our local Police Services Board. He said if we were to go to OPP, there would be no community policing and we would have no say then. Councillor Fryer also felt that council has a lack of control with the police department. Councillors Pouget and Fryer seemed to feel we should just get the prices and be done with it. The CAO explained that we are in a very unique position, since we are looking at several scenarios, including possible amalgamation with LaSalle and/or Windsor. Deputy Mayor DiPasquale felt “we have one kick at the can” and have to do this right. He supported the idea of the consultant to manoeuvre the waters and figure this all out. Councillor Courtney agreed with him. Councillor Lavigne spoke again and again explained that to suggest we had no control is ridiculous and that we have total control of the Police Services Board, with representation of residents and elected members of council. Back and forth it went. Control, no control. Ultimate control, lack of control. It was all about control. Finally Councillor Lavigne said this would probably be the biggest decision for this council’s term and felt it had to be done right. Mayor DiCarlo tried to reign in the discussion (it was getting repetitive and a little heated.) Finally, it went to a vote to support to hire the Consultant to navigate the process (recorded vote, of course):

In support : Councillor Courtney, Deputy Mayor DiPasquale, Councillors Lavigne and Meloche, Mayor DiCarlo

Opposed : Councillors Fryer and Pouget

(I guess Councillors Fryer and Pouget feel they’re expert enough to figure this all out. Just compare four bottom lines? I don’t know…...)

There were several items brought up in unfinished business, nothing too exciting.

As for councillor of the week……you may have noticed I haven’t named anyone for quite a while. It seems some of my loyal readers are missing that and want me to bring it back. (Yes, I heard you guys loud and clear and I will oblige.) Since tonight’s meeting was all over the place and I truly feel some councillors arrived unprepared, well I nominate Mayor DiCarlo! He’s a member of council, so he qualifies, I think. Why you ask? Because he seems to read the entire agenda, he does not go on at-length and force me to listen to the same thing over and over again…..He also didn’t declare any weak conflicts. I like that.

And I’m guessing they’re all still in-camera discussing :

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA MEETING

ITEM A –  Proposed Property Acquisition – Section 239(2)(c) –A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.

ITEM B – 499 Dalhousie Street Water Charges – Section 239(2)(b) – Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees.

ITEM C – Employment Contract – Fire Department – Section 239(2)(b) – Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees; and, Section 239(2)(d) – Labour relations or employee negotiations.

ITEM D – Update on Property Acquisition – Section 239(2)(c) – A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.

In preparation for Monday January 23rd Regular Town Council Meeting

Well, this is the first official regular meeting of the year. The two previous meetings were special meetings reserved for budget deliberations. The budget deliberations did not end up dragging on into a third night! Awesome!

So, I scrolled through this week’s 345 page agenda, plus a supplementary agenda all up for discussion Monday night. It may be a lengthy one. Here’s the highlights as I see them.

Belle Vue Grant Application- National Cost Sharing Program for Heritage Places

Administration wants to apply for a grant to be used toward the Belle Vue House. This should be a no-brainer, but, …..

2017 Final Approved Budget

Two weeks ago, council debated the 2017 budget “line by line” and approved it all in principle. As it stands, the tax increase is 1.87%. (Read my 2 previous blogs for details on budget deliberations if you’re interested.) Well, Monday night it’s up for final approvals. Considering it’s approved in principle, will anyone vote against it? Well, last year Councillor Fryer and Councillor Pouget did, so we will wait and see…..I’ve always been intrigued by this quirky move, those two seem to always vote against something that they know will pass just so they can tell people “well, I voted against it”…..It seems odd, one might say sneaky, but then one does not want to get sued……

Canard Valley Estates Subdivision – Acceptance of Underground Infrastructure, Base Asphalt and Curbs and Placement of Surface Asphalt and Sidewalk on 1 year Maintenance

This seems self explanatory in the title. I don’t foresee much discussion here. Hmmm….I take that back. I just scrolled through the report. There’s page after page about asphalt and cement thicknesses. Some of our councillors who think they moonlight as engineers may have something to say about this after all.

2017 Spay and Neuter Voucher Program

Last year, the town offered it’s first spay and neuter program. The program is being continued this year with some modifications. They’re reducing the number of vouchers for low income families (they didn’t get used last year) and are implementing some release dates and expiry dates. Looks good to me! Have to keep the cat population under control.

Committee Vacancies – Audit and Finance Advisory Committee and Economic Development Advisory Committee

Audit and Finance Advisory Committee – It appears that the Chamber of Commerce representative for this committee is no longer working in Amherstburg and therefore had to resign from this committee. Carolyn Davies has been named by the Chamber to be their representative on the Audit and Finance Advisory Committee.

Economic Development Advisory Committee – It looks like Mr. Marc Pillon has resigned from this Committee. However, there is no name listed in the report for a replacement. It seems that administration has provided a short list of names in a private memo to council for their consideration for this position. I wonder if Eddie Francis is still interested? (LOL!) (If you didn’t get my joke…..Eddie Francis originally applied to volunteer on this Committee, but council rejected his application. Why would such a qualified person be passed up? Good question. They’ll never answer it.)

Boblo Island Emergency Planning

Now, this should make for some interesting discussion. Council needs to approve administration to contact the Canadian Coast Guard to look into some possible solutions for the safety of the Boblo Island residents during the winter months. It appears to deal with the inability of the ferry to run when the river ices over and also deals with the town’s responsibility to provide emergency responders (police and fire).  There are a few possible solutions, scenarios and costs in the report. It’s all about safety, right? Will listen and see what council decides.

DWQMS – 2016 Status Update

Drinking Water Quality Management System is providing a report to council. This organisation holds council to very high standards. If anyone with voting power (council) does not provide safe drinking water, they can be personally sued and charged and even go to prison. Remember how Councillor Lavigne made a joke about not wanting to go to jail when Councillor Fryer wanted to delay the repairs of the Pickering Street water main? Well, this is why. It’s serious stuff people. Don’t mess with the drinking water. I did not read this lengthy report, but I can only hope that those that are paid to read it did.

Meloche Road Reconstruction – Project Update

This is simply an information report regarding the Meloche Road project. There have been questions about the part of Meloche Road that sits in between Simcoe Street and Alma Street. This is directly from the report : “There have been many questions regarding this section of Meloche. Based on the findings of the geotechnical investigation, it was determined that the existing road base is sufficient and will remain. The existing top layer of asphalt will be removed and replaced to provide a consistent surface with the new bike lanes and multi-use trail. The multi-use trail will be located on the west side adjacent to the future development. It is also located on the west side to allow easier crossing of Big Creek near Alma.”

I hope no one on council tries to impress us with their geotechnical skills Monday night. The report seems clear.

Accounts Payable 

As I looked over the accounts payable this stood out.

• Councillor Lavigne, Communications allowance $225.82
• Councillor Courtney , Communications allowance $1499.29
• Councillor Pouget, Communications allowance $1408.13
• Councillor Meloche , Communications allowance $287.92

How can two councillors have $200 in communications charges and two others have $1500 in communications charges? Seems like a huge disparity! Something doesn’t seem right. I’m tempted to email council and ask about this, but considering some of them stopped replying to my emails, and others only reply with gruff responses…well, I won’t waste my time. However, if any of my readers are still seen in a favourable light by our council, feel free to email and ask because they will possibly reply to you. (And I’d love to know what type of answer you receive….;)  )

Legal fees: almost $16,000!!! Yikes

Joint Police Advisory Committee Consultant Recommendation (This is on the supplementary agenda)

As I’m sure everyone is aware, the town is seeking some pricing alternatives in regards to our police department. The report outlines a few scenarios that they are looking into :

• Develop an RFP for costing for Windsor and LaSalle to respond to
• Explore and analyze the possibility of amalgamation of police services with LaSalle and/or Windsor
• Work with the OPP on the OPP Costing
• Report back to Council with the Joint Police Advisory Committee findings and recommendations.

Then, after all is said and done, council will move in-camera to discuss the following :

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA MEETING

ITEM A –  Proposed Property Acquisition – Section 239(2)(c) –A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.

ITEM B – 499 Dalhousie Street Water Charges – Section 239(2)(b) – Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees.

ITEM C – Employment Contract – Fire Department – Section 239(2)(b) – Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees; and, Section 239(2)(d) – Labour relations or employee negotiations.

ITEM D – Update on Property Acquisition – Section 239(2)(c) – A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.

I have to guess they’re going to be in-camera for a while. I have to guess that the Property Acquisition portions are about Duffy’s and Bell Vue. Item B, must be about the delegation that came before council a month ago and was asking to have her water bills reversed. I’m not sure why that would be in-camera since her presentation was done in a public meeting.

All in all, Monday night should prove interesting after all.

 

Tuesday January 10th Budget deliberation meeting #2

***Important note, Councillor Courtney and Deputy Mayor DiPasquale were absent tonight.***

Please forgive any typos while you’re reading. My eyes are tired, my hand is tired, my brain is tired, my entire being is tired. Tonight’s meeting offered yelling, an impromptu in-camera meeting, recorded votes, more arguing, less arguing, some laughs among some of the usual boredom.

During almost all of the meeting, there was some type of clanging noise coming from just outside the window. It sounded like someone trying to break into the wall of town hall. Obviously, nobody with any sense would want to break through the wall of town hall, especially during a meeting, so we figured it had to be something else. Could it be the ghost of Mike Phipps? I’ve heard he still haunts the halls. LOL Finally, after looking around, someone explained that it was the flag post outside making the noise because of the wind. We endured the clanging for most of the meeting. It was kind of funny at least. Maybe they thought there was someone chained up behind us outside. Nah, I wouldn’t kick anybody out of town hall……

As they did last night, council went through each department’s budget, line by line.

Financial Services Department

This was approved in principle with only a quick question.

Information Technology Department

The department manager explained that there is currently a part time position that they want to make a full time position. The new web site project is finished (and it’s FANTASTIC!), but there are major projects ahead and this position is needed to grow and take on more responsibilities. Councillor Pouget had a few questions and was looking for justification to take this from a 30 hour/week position to a 40 hour/week position. There was some back and forth, but finally council did approve this section of the budget in principle as well as this new position.

Licensing and Enforcement

Immediately, Councillor Fryer questioned this budget. He asked about the motion that was made to remove $100,000 from this budget and where and when was this done? Mark Galvin, Director, Planning, Development Legislative Services, explained at length how they adjusted this budget. He explained something about service delivery and a hybrid position within the building department positions that they made to absorb this cut. (I’m no expert, did my best here…..regardless, how in the heck do you cut $100,000, just bing bang boom, from the By-Law Department budget? Well, I think council was trying to get rid of the by-law officer. They already got rid of the fire chief and the Economic Development Officer, and it seems the by-law officer was the next target.) Well, Councillor Fryer was angry. He raised his voice and started kind of yelling about information lacking to council, that he wasn’t buying this savings and basically accused the CAO of not doing his job. The CAO defended himself, said the $100,000 was approved by council as elimination of the by-law officer position and the hybrid position was completed and identified to council and the savings came. Councillor Pouget then spoke and said she was “furious” (her word-she said it twice) and quoted the motion from November 2015. She said council never received a report and no one from administration gave a reason for one year and 2 months since then. She expected action and said the motion clearly stated the “By-law Department”. The Mayor then said they needed a five minute recess because he had to ask some questions to administration.

After the recess, the Mayor said that council would have to go in-camera to discuss a personnel issue. Councillor Fryer made the motion and Councillor Pouget seconded it. This was at approximately 5:32. We were a half an hour into the meeting and we were all getting kicked out into the lobby (I guess that’s better than outside, right? 😉 ) So, we all packed up our stuff and headed out to wait into the lobby. We were allowed back in shortly after 6:00 when the in-camera meeting was over.

Mayor DiCarlo explained that council’s criteria has been met and this will be more clear as time goes on. (That’s code for it’s an in-camera meeting and we can’t talk about it.)

Then, the budget for Licensing and Enforcement was approved in principle and we moved on.

Planning Department

Councillor Fryer made the motion to approve the budget in principle including the position for a part-time planner. There was some discussion and this passed.

Building Division

There was no discussion and this budget passed in principle.

Libro Centre Division

Councillor Fryer made a motion to receive the report and to refer the report back to the CAO for restructuring to promote from within instead of creating a position of Director of Parks Facilities Recreation and Culture (as per the Audit and Finance Advisory Committee recommendation.) (Side note, if any one remembers, anything the Committee said or recommended last year was treated like gold, it appeared to be the same this year. A lot of weight is given by council to this volunteer committee’s opinions, yet often little weight is given to administration’s opinions, just sayin’.) There was some back and forth about the solar panels. Councillor Meloche started in on what appeared to be a lengthy dissertation about his thoughts about the arena and Councillor Fryer cut him off. Councillor Fryer made a point of order and said he only wants talk about the position because he has a conflict about the wages. (I did not catch what or why he has a conflict with the wages???) There was some snarky back and forth between Councillor Fryer and Councillor Meloche and the Mayor had to tell them to keep it civil. (Yup. Nothing changed since last night.) Then CAO Miceli spoke (hold on, this was awesome!). The CAO said he does not support the committee’s recommendation nor their opinion. He said the only one who has the qualifications and experience and has done anything like this position (Director of Parks Facilities Recreation and Culture) entails, is himself. He said this position can not be consolidated. He has looked at the facilities and the managers and the number of reports. The CAO said he’ll look at it again, but doesn’t think it’s possible to restructure for this position and he doesn’t see where they got the arbitrary number of $60,000. He said he will probably have to continue the role as Director as well as CAO. Councillor Pouget then asked if he was inferring that there was no one to take over the position. CAO Miceli replied that he was not inferring this, he was telling council this and any further discussion would have to happen in-camera. So, lo and behold, the motion went to a vote : receive the report and to refer the report back to the CAO for restructuring to promote from within instead of creating a position of Director of Parks Facilities Recreation and Culture:

Support : Councillors Fryer, Lavigne, Meloche and Pouget

Not Support : Mayor DiCarlo

Councillor Fryer then said something again about a conflict with the part-time position. (Is he looking to apply for it? I don’t know.) There was tons of back and forth about the arena. Discussion about value, not making money, moving administration to that building, repairs required, the design of the building, programming etc. But Councillor Lavigne said it best. He said we had heard all of this last year. (Ding! Ding! Ding! You’re the lucky winner! We DID hear ALL of this last year. I’m guessing we’re going to hear it all again at the next few meetings and maybe even the rest of the year! ) Finally, the Libro budget was approved in principle.

Then Council took another recess for 20 minutes.

Facilities

The budget was approved in principle with no discussion.

Parks

There was a bit of discussion but the budget was approved in principle.

Recreation Services

Councillor Fryer declared an indirect pecuniary interest. He said the equipment has to do with gymnastics. (What the heck? There really needs to be better criteria for declaring pecuniary interest. With weak reasons like this, everybody could declare conflict. I have used the recreation services before. I’m out. My kid takes lessons in the main room, out again. The list could go on and on….) Anyway, this budget passed in principle with no discussion.

Tourism and Culture

The budget was approved in principle with no discussion.

Public Works

There was some discussion about the electric vehicle grant and when the charging stations would be installed. There was also some discussion about the mosquito program. There was also lots of discussion about trees. (No surprise there.) This budget was passed in principle too.

Environmental Services

The budget was approved in principle with no discussion.

Global Expenses

Councillor Fryer proposed an increase of $100,000 to be given to ERCA Foundation as a one-time payment for the recreational trail. Councillor Pouget seconded this. There was a lot of back and forth about this. Basically, the other councillors weren’t ready to hand over that kind of money to the ERCA foundation without any reports, numbers, stats etc. It appeared we would have been offsetting a deficit for this trail and that the town of Essex had given some money for this project. Anyway, after some pressure, Councillor Fryer withdrew the motion and made a new one for administration to get a report about this.

Then council got into a discussion about the insurance reserve. It seems that in 2012 the town increased their deductible for lawsuits to $50,000 and the Clerk deals with them directly. There is also a risk management reserve to assist the department to mitigate measures to ensure public safety. (I’m not going to say what I want to here, I will show restraint and move on.)

The Global expense budget was approved in principle.

Retiree Benefits

Approved in principle with no discussion.

Long-term Debt Payments

Approved in principle with no discussion.

There was another 10 minute recess called. I’ll admit the meeting was getting boring and I was tempted to leave, but I didn’t.

Capital Budget

All right, here was a big part of the budget that includes infrastructure repairs (roads, sidewalks etc.) The Mayor said the easiest way to handle this one may be to agree or disagree with each project and tackle them one at a time. Councillor Pouget questioned Thomas Road. She expressed concern with the part between Alma and Simcoe Street. It seems that part will just be a mill and resurface, however, the rest would be complete. They will put it to tender and try to get the best amenities they can within the budgeted amount.

Councillor Fryer then brought up Angstrom Street. He said he has pictures of the poor condition of this road and said the town could be looking at possible litigation about this road. He asked if Pickering Street could be postponed and Angstrom repaired instead. Well, it appears they’re doing a water main replacement on Pickering and will do the street and intersection all at once, since they have to tear up the road to do the water main. The Mayor spoke of how every municipality is in the same boat, an almost impossible situation….many roads to repair and not enough money to do it. He said upper levels of government are supposed to be getting involved, but who knows when that may be. The CAO pointed out that the province had mandated asset management reports in order to help address this issue. The report studies the roads and prioritises the projects. Then Councillor Pouget started a game of Monopoly. She asked if we could trade and not repair McLeod Avenue and add and repair Angstrom Street. The Mayor pointed out that council either needed to approve this capital budget with the projects presented or borrow money and increase the tax rate. (cricket, cricket, gulp.) Councillor Meloche made a motion, that followed with confusion. He removed that motion then made another to approve the road repairs only in principle. Councillor Pouget seconded the motion.

Councillor Fryer said he would not approve this. I guess it was his turn to play Monopoly because he wanted to trade Pickering Drive for Angstrom Street. Councillor Pouget seemed to agree. Councillor Lavigne asked about the condition of the water main on Pickering. Administration pointed out it had already been put off for 2 years. Councillor Lavigne said that if the water main needs to be done, then Pickering Street is getting done because he doesn’t want to go to prison. (LOL Anyone who remembers, council had a huge presentation about water last year. Due to the Walkerton issue, council members can be held individually criminally and personally liable if they do not maintain the communities water.) Mayor DiCarlo then questioned the liability issue in regards to the street repairs and water main replacements. Councillor Pouget quit the Monopoly game and decided she wanted the repairs as presented after all. (She didn’t want to go to jail either, I guess.) Councillor Fryer asked for a recorded vote. Motion was to repair the roads budget part in principle.

Support : Councillors Lavigne, Meloche, Pouget and Mayor DiCarlo

Not support : Councillor Fryer

(Can’t help but wonder. Is Councillor Fryer okay with repairing Angstrom Street and not the Pickering Street water main? Or was he looking to borrow and raise taxes to repair Angstrom street? Either way…..risk public drinking water and a lawsuit against him or raise taxes and risk the public uproar…..interesting…..I wonder who lives on Angstrom Street?)

Well, it was a little after 9:00 and I was really tired of listening to all of this, so I packed up and went home. I could see they still had to discuss sidewalks and pathways as well as street lights. I’m not sure what else they had to cover.

I’m not sure if they managed to do it all by 10:00 (doubt it), so I’m guessing there will be yet another, third meeting tomorrow night. Should I stay or should I go?

Monday January 9th Budget deliberations

**Important note, Councillor Courtney and Deputy Mayor DiPasquale were absent tonight.**

Tonight’s meeting was incredibly frustrating. To be in a room with a group of people, who, to me, seemed totally unprepared to discuss a $35 Million dollar budget was very frustrating. I know that council has had this budget for over 2 months. I know that the budget deliberations were deferred for over a month. Yet, most on council seemed to ask tedious questions that could have been addressed ahead of time. Worse yet, there were times that I sat there and watched them read the budget! In silence, we watched them read! If they had read it, would they not have highlighted the areas of concern or made notes to refer to along the way?

Well, it happened. It was me that threw my hands in the air and left early tonight. I just couldn’t take it anymore. There were arguments, odd comments, repetitive comments, people that wanted to hear their own voice comments, raised voices, frustrations, the gavel got pounded and recorded votes. I left around 9:00, so I’ll give you my observations up until then. The meeting is scheduled to go until 10PM. There’s another meeting tomorrow night and a tentative one Wednesday night. At the rate they were going tonight, we won’t have a 2017 budget until June. I spent the evening feeling a range of emotions and reactions: glee, laughter, tears, anger, frustration, boredom, fatigue (I may have gone partially comatose once or twice, I’m not sure) and pretty much any other feeling you can come up with.

Audit and Finance Advisory Committee Report and Presentation- John Purdie, Chair

I arrived shortly after 5:00. Mr. Purdy had already started his presentation from the Audit and Finance Advisory Committee (from here on referred to as the Committee). Basically, it seems I was correct. The Committee feels that Council should add to our debt (borrow low), to then add the money for capital works projects (i.e. roads and infrastructure.). The Treasurer feels that with the town’s current financial position, the time to do this now is not optimal. Councillor Lavigne seemed to agree with the Committee way of thinking. Things got very heated between Councillor Lavigne and the Treasurer. There was much back and forth and arguing. Some serious heated debate, arguing. The CAO chimed in more than once to explain that this was a dangerous road for council to take. The residents have made it clear that they do not want more debt and that he would caution council to move in this direction. (To borrow to fund capital spending.) Councillor Fryer then jumped in and said that because of the MPAC assessments, administration had more money to help with expenses. The Treasurer quickly pointed out that the MPAC assessments for residential dwellings did effectively go up, however, commercial and industrial is decreasing. He said the full picture is very different than simply looking at the residential tax situation. The debate continued on about borrowing to spend. Mr. Purdy continued to defend this view/theory. He cited an example that if council were to borrow, they could do more capital repairs. He cited the Second Concession as an example, that instead of patching it, it could be fixed this year instead of at a later date, not included in 2017 budget. (I’m going to go out on a limb here, I know the Second Concession is in bad shape, but does anybody from this Committee live on the second concession? I’ve been going to enough meetings that I have seen how personal wants manage to surface one way or another……but maybe nobody on the Committee lives on the Second……) The CAO said more than once that administration is not properly staffed to take on a lot of capital projects at once. There are $8.5 million scheduled in capital projects this year and that is plenty. The arguments flared again, mostly between Councillor Lavigne and the Treasurer. I couldn’t keep track of all the fast and furious back and forth. Finally, council moved on to the not-for-profit grant requests.

The following organisations presented and requested money from Council (amounts requested in brackets) :

•  Amherstburg Community Services ($5000)
• Amherstburg Food and Fellowship Mission ($1500)
• House of Shalom Youth Centre ($8000)
•  Amherstburg Freedom Museum ($6500)
• Amherstburg Historic Sites Association ($8500)
• Cat Assistance Team ($7500)
• Christ Church  Anglican ($750)

During the presentations, there was a strange whistle type noise (sounded like a boat, but have to guess it was a cell phone.) I thought it seemed too early in the meeting for me to be hearing things, but maybe I was still traumatised by the arguing? I then noticed Councillor Fryer fidelling with his phone and the noise stopped. Could be a coincidence.

After each group presented, some councillors asked questions. (Mostly Councillor Fryer with a close second from Councillor Meloche, in my opinion.)

Council then took a 15 minute break. I took a chance and went to the washroom. Last time I did that during a recess, I got threatened with a lawsuit. But, this time, it was all good. No strange conversations, no veiled threats, just a simply washroom break with no human contact. The 15 minute recess ended up lasting a little over 30 minutes……why I don’t know. (Prolonging the agony maybe?)

When Council reconvened, it was time to vote on how much to give each organisation that had presented. Councillor Meloche wanted to cap the total at $32,500 like last year. Here are the organisations and the amount they were finally awarded.

•  Amherstburg Community Services ($5000)
• Amherstburg Food and Fellowship Mission ($1500)
• House of Shalom Youth Centre ($7000)
•  Amherstburg Freedom Museum ($6500)
• Amherstburg Historic Sites Association ($8500)
• Cat Assistance Team ($5000)
• Christ Church  Anglican ($750)

Total $34,250. (Not sure if this is a good sign, already over budget LOL!)

Most of the debate centred around the Cat Assistance Team. (Don’t get me wrong. I’m a cat lover. I have two that are treated like royalty.) I just have to say I find it ironic, they gave the House of Shalom (an organisation for youth) $1000 less than they were asking for yet based on what they gave them last year. They also treated the Cat Assistance Team the same, gave them less, but based on last year. Teenagers vs cats. lol.  Seriously though, I think they are all very worthy organisations and I’m glad they all got something.

Libro Centre Financial Update

Well, the report is in. It gave all the information from the time of conception up to now, but it just was not enough. Councillor Fryer made a motion and, of course, Councillor Pouget seconded, to defer this until a report comes back with each specific repair needed and about changing ice time for the summer. There was a little bit of suppressed anger I think, but once there’s a motion for deferral, council can no longer discuss the issue. So, deferred.

Supplementary Agenda – Sidewalk Winter Control Program

I’ll be honest, I went a little comatose during this part. There seemed to be a lot of debate and confusion about the motion all about cleaning sidewalks. Councillor Fryer complained he didn’t get the report in his drop box and admitted he hadn’t read it. None of the other Councillors seemed to have the same problem. Councillor Fryer then spoke (at length, in my opinion) about plows, roads, manpower, wind etc etc. I’m not sure what the relevance was, this was simply about shovelling sidewalks. Then, it happened. Councillor Fryer asked if town-owned pathways would be shovelled. The CAO assured him that yes, the pathways on Texas Road would be shovelled. (See what I mean? Too many meetings, there’s always seems to be some odd/personal angle at the root.) But it’s okay. We all had a good laugh.

Budget deliberations

Council Budget

So, Council’s budget was up first for deliberation. Everyone sat there and looked at each other. (cricket, cricket) No one said anything. No one seemed to know what to do or say. Nobody made a motion. Finally, the Mayor gave a small refresher of how council has done the budget line by line each year and now it was time. So, again, everyone stared and said nothing. So, again, Mayor DiCarlo spoke and offered to start. He requested an increase in his allowable amount for public receptions. It was set at $500 in the budget. He said he goes to a lot of functions and has spent quite a bit out of pocket. Then more confusion ensued. (Things were not off to a good start….) Councillor Lavigne wanted to have an open-ended amount. Councillor Pouget wondered why these expenses weren’t covered. Councillor Meloche felt that there should be a limit of some type. Councillor Pouget again expressed her incertitude about this issue. Finally, Councillor Lavigne made the motion for an open-ended limit for the Mayor to attend events. (The CAO pointed out there are quarterly variance reports, so there is no need to worry.) Councillor Fryer then made a motion for Councillors to get a 30% raise. It was a joke. He wanted to see if we were awake. (Barely, believe me, barely. The joke was not funny enough to stir me from my partial coma.)

Then, all heck broke loose. Councillor Meloche was very agitated that the CPP amounts varied from department to department. The CAO seemed to not be too thrilled about this. He pointed out that council has had the budget for 2 months…..it’s a $35 Million budget and the amount that was being questioned so closely was $2000. The Treasurer tried to explain that each department is unique. Councillor Meloche continued on. The Mayor had to pound the gavel to reign in the tempers. Councillor Lavigne then jumped in and was questioning the CPP amounts in the budget. The Treasurer explained it’s a big undertaking to get it to the penny (some never hit max CPP, some don’t pay in due to age, etc.). The debate raged on. Councillor Pouget suggested it just get dealt with at variance report. (Thank you!!!! So true, people were yelling about $2000 in a $35 Million budget…..deal with it at variance makes a lot of sense….)

Finally, after all the yelling and anger, Council’s budget was passed in principle.

CAO Budget

Now it was time to debate the CAO budget. So, what happened. Well, for the first minute or two, they all sat there and read it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I thought I was going to scream or laugh! Two months that budget was in hand, don’t you think you would have already read it and highlighted any areas you wanted to question???????? Don’t ya think?????) Finally, Councillor Pouget had a small question about the professional fees, then the CAO’s budget carried.

Clerk Budget

Once again, we sat in silence watching council read the Clerk’s Budget. (I wanted to yell! I wanted to scream! I wanted to laugh! How can this be?????? Two months!!! Two months!!! And they’re now reading it????? No notes, no highlights, no preparation????)

Finally, Councillor Fryer makes a motion to NOT consider the position of Part-Time Committee Coordinator. The Clerk pointed out that if this position is not approved, that it will cost $15,000 in over time costs instead. Then the dance began. Back and forth we swayed, a couple of jumps, finger snaps, hand claps. Councillor Fryer  talked about being on council before and that there was no issue with someone taking minutes.(Yes, because nothing ever changes in Amherstburg…..labour laws, Ombudsman inquiries…..it all just stays the same……insert sarcastic eye roll here.) The Clerk pointed out that there are 14 liaisons that deal with committees and many are union members. The committees need structure with their agendas and minutes. The CAO felt this position is part and parcel with transparency. The committee members want the minutes in a timely manner, yet it is an added responsibility for staff and is not a priority in regards to their many other duties. Council decided in April 2016 that the Clerk or Deputy Clerk should attend all committee meetings. (I think council forgot that THEY have created 3 new committees during their term so far……Economic Development Committee, Audit and Finance Advisory Committee and the Drainage Board. I’m sure this has resulted in yet more meetings for staff to attend.) The CAO pointed out that he is trying to protect council since the Ombudsman has jurisdiction to investigate committee meetings. These committees are comprised of volunteers who may not always be aware of how to handle agendas and minutes. He, once again, said the position would show accountability and transparency for council. If Council did not approve the position, nobody from the clerk’s office would be attending the meetings, which will leave the committees at risk of Ombudsman investigations and reports. It went to a recorded vote to NOT support the hiring of a Part time Committee Coordinator.

In support: Councillors Fryer, Lavigne and Pouget

No support: Councillor Meloche and Mayor DiCarlo

They then approved the rest of the Clerk’s budget in principle.

Crossing Guard Budget

Approved in principle

Human Ressources Budget

Once again, council sat there and read the budget. Councillor Lavigne questioned the amount (too high) for employee recognition. The CAO said something about relationship building between administration and the union. (There seemed to be some type of unspoken communication there, because it got dropped real quick.) Councillor Fryer questioned the amount to extend the Health and Safety Officers contract. The CAO explained that last year it was a partial year, this year it would be the full year. Councillor Fryer then started talking about the zamboni driver and wearing a PPE . Councillor Pouget then suggested a 6 month contract and was questioning footwear for employees when they have to walk on the ice. The CAO explained the rules and how it all works. Councillor Fryer then started talking about employees not wearing helmets when they assist with the zamboni…..(I was really starting to get to my wit’s end……why, oh why, does council get involved with this minutia????????????????? please get on with it and approve the darn budget!!!!) Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, council approved the Human Ressources budget, in principle.

Police Budget

There was quickly a motion to approve the police budget. (I had fleeting hope that things would turn around. Heck, no!) Councillor Meloche then questioned why the police department went to the expense of buying the bean bag guns (he had read an article in the paper about it.) He wondered if any officer had even shot a bullet this year. (OK. I was starting to loose my mind. Does everyone have to ask council when they want to blow their nose? How about a pee break? Need permission for that too?)  The police chief very patiently addressed the question. He said it was a progressive opportunity to spend a bit of money and use less lethal force. He said a taser only has a reach of 21 feet, but the bean bag gun has a reach of 60 feet. (Wow! Same information that was in the article….hmmmm…..)

Anyway, it was at this point that I threw my hands in the air and left. I just could not take it anymore. Even this “council watcher” had read her limit of watching the same old show……nothing had changed since last year’s budget deliberations. I’ll go back tomorrow night, just out of sheer will and determination. If they drag it on into Wednesday, well,…..I’m not making any promises……my patience has it’s limits……So, tonight ended up being a pretty good show, but the repetition got very frustrating. Maybe after a good night’s sleep tonight, it help rejuvenate my patience….?

Don’t forget. Council was moving in-camera after all of this to discuss :

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA MEETING

ITEM A – Employment Contract – Fire Department – Section  239(2)(b) – Personal matters about an identifiable individual,  including municipal or local board employees; and, Section 239(2) (d) – Labour relations or employee negotiations.

ITEM B – Property Acquisition Update – Section 239(2)(c) – A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.

They’re probably still there. That’s my guess anyway. LOL

 

In preparation for Budget deliberation meetings scheduled for Monday January 9th, Tuesday January 10th and tentatively Wednesday January 11th

Happy New year Amherstburg! I enjoyed the break but it’s time to get back to business and follow along with our town hall happenings.

Much like 2016, the year 2017 will begin with budget deliberations for this year’s budget. There are meetings scheduled for Monday night (5PM-10PM), Tuesday night (5PM-10PM) and another meeting tentatively scheduled for Wednesday night (5PM-10PM). Yikes! Considering this budget was prepared and presented well over 2 months ago, I am hoping that only one night of deliberations will be necessary, considering town council has had 2 months to review the proposed budget. I have a feeling I will be disappointed LOL. Will I be spending 10 to 15 hours at town hall this week? Probably not. I plan on arriving late and leaving early. Even with a nice new seat cushion, I don’t think that I can make it through 5 hours a night for 2 or 3 nights in a row. Could anybody? Perhaps I will throw my hands up in the air in frustration and leave? Nah, probably not, but you never know. Here’s the highlights from the agenda :

Audit and Finance Advisory Committee Report and Presentation- John Purdie, Chair

First up, is the presentation about the budget from the Audit and Finance Advisory Committee (here on out will be referred to as the Committee). Last year, the Committee basically denounced the budget, they wanted a 0% tax increase and were opposed to any hiring. This year’s report seems quite the opposite (can’t help but wonder why the complete 180 degree about face?) Anyway, I read the report more than once to try to ensure I understood it properly. (If I have misunderstood, no need to call the lawyers and please also call off the barking dogs, I will edit or stand corrected.) As you may be aware, administration has prepared a budget with a 1.99% tax increase. The Committee supports this increase. There are a few graphs comparing Amherstburg tax information to Windsor and surrounding communities. Amherstburg seems to be in the middle area on each graph. Administration has proposed hiring for several new positions. (Last year, the Committee opposed all hiring.) Well, this year, the Committee supports all hiring, except one position :

• Committee Coordinator
•  Health and Safety Officer
• Support Firefighter /Training officer
• Fire Administrator
•  IT Technologist
• Planner
• Director of Parks Facilities Recreation and Culture  Conditional**
• Contractual & Salary and Admin Policy Increases 97,081 Support

All of the above positions are supported except for the position of Director of Parks Facilities Recreation and Culture. The report says that the Committee would support this position on condition of realignment of managerial staff, yet I was unable to find any suggestions or solutions from the Committee for this proposed realignment. 

Overall, to me, it seems the Committee is supporting the tax increase, however, they seem to be “disputing” how the money would be dispersed. From what I can understand, it looks like they are advocating that council take on some long term debt instead of putting the money in the operational end of things. This stood out to me : “The committee also supports the ideology of increased capital borrowing due to the nature of interest rates at this time”. This leads me to believe the Committee wants the town to take the increase, not use it in day to day operations, put the money into capital spending (roads etc.) and increase our long term debt. Um,…..I hope I misunderstood. Didn’t each councillor run on the platform of reducing long-term debt? I can only hope that our councillors will not vote to increase our long-term debt!!!!

Following the budget presentation from the Audit and Finance Advisory Commitee, several local organisations will present and request various amounts of grants from the town, for their organisations. Council will hear from the following organisations, amounts requested in brackets:

•  Amherstburg Community Services ($5000)
• Amherstburg Food and Fellowship Mission ($1500)
• House of Shalom Youth Centre ($8000)
•  Amherstburg Freedom Museum ($6500)
• Amherstburg Historic Sites Association ($8500)
• Cat Assistance Team ($7500)
• Christ Church  Anglican ($750)

Will each of the organisations receive all, some or none of the amount requested? I’ll listen and let you know.

Libro Centre Financial Update

We have a beautiful state-of-the-art Arena in Amherstburg. This facility has never made money  and quite frankly, never will. In my opinion, (since it’s my blog I can put in my 2 cents) communities need to provide services to their residents and these services don’t make money either. For example, parks, sidewalks, roads, curbs, sewers, arenas…….are all necessary community features that just don’t make money. I’ll even go a step further….the Police Department, nor the Fire Department make money either, yet are necessary community features.  Can a community be a viable community without these services? Our local arena, the Libro Centre, has often been criticised for not making money. If arenas were money makers, they would be privately owned. If parks were money makers, they would be privately owned. If sidewalks were money makers, they would be privately owned. I think you get the picture. Anyway, it appears that administration is offering a few proposals to council to try to mitigate the budget pressures about the arena.

The facility was built using a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. It seems some repairs have been delayed or stalled for financial reasons during the past few years and the arena is at risk of loosing it’s LEED designation.

Here are the 3 solutions being offered to council in regards to the arena:

1. Do nothing and continue operation as is resulting in status quo budget request.

2. Increase revenues through increased user fees and/or alternative programming, resulting in either reduced operating costs or the development of a reserve to address future facility requirements.

3. Reduce service levels and hours of operation thus reducing operating costs resulting in reduced budget request.

If you use or have ever used our arena, you should be concerned with numbers 2 and 3. I’ll be listening really closely to this discussion.

This part of the report sums it all up really well : “Over the past several years, decisions have been made independent of the system design and performance requirements that were driven primarily from a financial perspective which have now impacted the systems performance. As a result, a re-commissioning and re-balancing of the building system is necessary to return the facility to the LEED certified and commissioned design. Failure to do will result in loss of the LEED certification and accordingly will impact the performance of the building’s mechanical system and result in increased operating and capital costs.”

Basically, it appears that one way or another we’re going to be paying for the arena’s upkeep. Whether it’s a tax increase overall, or an up-front cost to the users, or a combination of the two, something is necessary to continue to maintain our beautiful facility. Don’t forget, this facility is not just about hockey and figure skating. There is an indoor walking track, room rental facilities, indoor soccer, outdoor soccer and football fields and the list goes on. I would have to venture a guess that it would be a very small percentage of our population who does not use the arena at all, on any level, during the year.

Will have to see what council decides to do.

And then to top it all off, council is scheduled to move in-camera at the end of Monday night’s meeting to discuss :

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA MEETING

ITEM A – Employment Contract – Fire Department – Section  239(2)(b) – Personal matters about an identifiable individual,  including municipal or local board employees; and, Section 239(2) (d) – Labour relations or employee negotiations.

ITEM B – Property Acquisition Update – Section 239(2)(c) – A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.

So, there it all is, folks. How long will it take council to go through the presentations, then the budget “line by line”? Could it all happen and be over and done with on Monday night? Dreamers can dream, right? Will it drag on into Tuesday night? Will council have to head into the 10+ hours of deliberations into Wednesday night? (Can’t help but wonder if they get paid extra for these “extra” meetings?…..I really don’t know.) What I do know, is that last year’s budget deliberations turned into some pure entertainment (breaks called to look into computer hackers, tempers flaring, arms thrown in the air, attempts to leave early, arguments, debate, the list goes on.)  Can I expect the same this year?