Being Deputy Mayor of the city doesn’t protect you from the childish antics of the city’s inside workers. This is something Stephen Chase found out this week.

Since voting against a contract for the the city’s inside workers, his garbage and compost have not been picked up.  Coincidence?  Hardly.

Let’s first go over what was included in this terrible contract that did manage to pass (with only Chase and Titus voting against it).

John Chilibeck explains it best:

Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 486 will receive a 3.5 per cent raise retroactive to Jan. 1, a 3.25 per cent raise in 2009, a 3.25 per cent raise in 2010 and a three per cent raise in 2011.

Unlike the city contract, which provided a hike of 13.6 per cent over four years when compounding increases are factored in, the provincial pact was 10.5 per cent over the same length of time. It was a far better deal for taxpayers.

The city has driven wages up so much that it pays the assistant common clerk the same salary as a highly educated optometrist. It also pays a garbage collector wages approaching a beginning teacher’s salary. Does this make any sense?

There’s another sleeping gorilla in the new contract that few councillors seem to care about or fully understand. For every wage increase, the city’s pension shortfall worsens. That’s because the higher wages are, the bigger pension payouts will be in the future. City taxpayers have already bailed out the plan plenty, kicking in $19 million extra over the last council term alone.

Now back to the inside workers.

Chase said Wednesday that he’d done some investigating that shows he was placed on a ‘do not pick up’ list on June 24, before he voted against the contract.

However, he’s still suspicious because when he voted against an outside workers’ contract in 2002, his front lawn was strewn with garbage the next day.

Chase has always been the councillor most likely to clash with unions - a fiscal conservative, he has often pushed for contracting out services, overhauling the employee pension plan and removing the clause in the outside workers’ contract that demands a minimum of 293 workers.

He has been heckled by union members in the council chamber and was the target of attack ads during the municipal election campaign that said he wanted to sell Saint John’s water.

“Here is the issue,” Chase said. “My route has just been taken over by a contractor. But before it was released to him, 30 Anglin Drive was placed on a no-pickup list by somebody. I’m really curious to know who and why.”

Luckily for Stephen, many people offered their support on the Telegraph-Journal’s online article:

“I think we owe Mr.Chase a hand cleaning up - after all he is trying to clean up one dirty bunch of louts at city hall. It appears that the unions / staff are thumbing their noses at the rest of SJ.”

“Hey Stephan….you can put your trash in with mine…don’t get discourged and keep up the good work…..or we should all stop by sir Ivan the terible’s and drop off our trash….with a local go to hell sign attached!”

Over the last few weeks there have been a lot of news in the media around the proposed project.

However, not all of the news has been positive.  The vocal minority, who would rather have a parking lot, have been front and center bashing the proposed project. They have even been meeting with the Mayor and several other councillors, trying to convince them to vote against the project.

With all of this bad media, why is it there is such overwhelming and growing support for the project?

Simply because it is a no-brainer.  The city stands to gain nearly $2 million dollars per year in taxes, a great looking LEED building right on the waterfront, and a redesigned Fort LaTour.  Opportunities like this are few and far between, and that is why we should be acting on it right away.

The Mayor, who is against the project and against anything else that Irving supports, is trying to push out this process as much as possible.

Countering this strategy are campaigns by many local citizens to encourage everyone to let Council know what they want.  An interesting project was started by Wayne Smith, owner of W. Smith & Co., who is encouraging people to have their say by giving away a $10,000 diamond ring!  He is asking people to participate in a plebiscite by filling out a ballot that will appear in the newspaper.

The ballot will ask the same question that common council is posing at a special meeting on Aug. 11: “Should the municipality agree to sell the former Lantic Sugar site at fair market value in order to facilitate a possible transaction between the Saint John Port Authority and Irving Oil Ltd.?”

The ballots, regardless of the answer, will all be thrown into a drum, with the draw for the diamond to be held on Saturday, Aug. 9, in Smith’s Brunswick Square jewelry store at a time to be announced. No purchase is necessary to fill one out but only one ballot per person will be entered.

Smith wants to hear from everyone, from the suburbs to folks in the city centre, and hopes to hear from about 60,000 people. He will bring the ballots to the Aug. 11 meeting in the council chambers.

“This is a great project for uptown Saint John,” Smith says of the Irving Oil proposal.

“I want to show that we are in growth mode and we want to move ahead. We need to make it happen.”

All I can say is wow.  It’s great to see someone going out of their way to get people involved, let’s just hope that people take this chance to show council that the vast majority of people are in favour of this!

My latest letter to the editor was printed in today’s newspaper:

I would like to respond to Pat Riley’s public attack on Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase. Mr. Riley has been trying to imply that the deputy mayor’s meeting with port management was “improper.”

I strongly disagree with that statement.

What people need to understand is that Mr. Riley has been meeting with the mayor and several other councillors himself, which is why I find his comments so hypocritical.

There are no reasons for his arguments except for politics.

What he needs to realize is that there will be consultation, the councillors will listen to the community, and they will make a decision.

Meeting with port officials to fully understand the issue is common sense, and it’s the right thing for the councillors to do.

Shawn Peterson
Saint John

Pat Riley (Ivan Court’s co-campaign manager during the 2008 election) has attacked the Deputy Mayor for meeting with the port manager to discuss port matters.

In today’s newspaper, Stephen Chase responded to these ridiculous allegations.

“There’s an assumption that I’m involved in strong-arming people into forming their position, which is absolutely not true at all,” Chase says.  “They’ve met with other councillors. What’s the difference?”

The difference is that Pat Riley doesn’t understand the following phrase:  “pot, kettle, black“.

While trying to attack the Deputy Mayor, he admits to meeting with other councillors himself, including his buddy Ivan Court.  He also admits to meeting with councillors Bill Farren, Carl Killen and Donnie Snook.

Stephen Chase also explained what the meeting was about:  “Bill gave an overview of issues at the port, including federal funding going into Quebec ports, cruise ship terminals. The conversation also included the proposal for Long Wharf.

“There was no ask for commitment. Part of my role there as deputy mayor was not only to facilitate that meeting but to make sure everything stayed above board.”

Chase says that part of his job is to meet with stakeholders in the community.

“As deputy mayor in a leadership role, if I can facilitate dialogue, then I’ll take that opportunity.”

“It’s important for members of council to be engaged in the community; sometimes that’s over toast and coffee, sometimes it’s fish and chips and sometimes it’s just a telephone call.”

There you have it.  Our Deputy Mayor is being attacked for doing his job!

Just take a look at the various comments posted on the Telegraph-Journals website, seems I’m not the only one that strongly disagrees with Pat’s statements:

“With all due respect, does Mr. Riley not have anything better to do than point fingers and whine about this deal? The only activity at Long Wharf in memory is the cruise ship berth which leaves a substantial part of the land untouched.”

“Riley is implying heavily that the mayor is on his side. Which smells of backroom dealings.”

“Bottom Line People …. Saint Johner’s have two directions to go:

1. New development and new excitement for the city.

2. Union controlled city affairs - everything from how we spend our ever increasing property tax dollars to what beautiful buildings we can put up.

If we continue to be strong armed by unions and capitulate to them - we might as well move away.

What sickens me is so many union people like longshoreman’s and fire live outside of the city - yet have a hand in our politics. My dad was a hard working carpenter for 35 years and lost alot of money and had food taken from his children’s mouths by firemen “working” on the side building decks, etc…

Pat Riley is the face of old Saint John - we need to move on.”

“This is rediculous to say that the deputy mayor shouldn’t be meeting with people. He was elected to get things done. If the deputy mayor decides that it is within the interests of Saint John to have the development, he should be meeting with anyone who will listen to try to get this done.”

“Thank you Mr. Chase for acting for the taxpayers in researching what is best for us, not what is best for Pat Riley and his union buddies.

Does anyone not understand that Pat Riley, Able Leblanc and the municipal union leaders who supported Ivan Court have the ear of the Mayor? They should, the unions bought and paid for a stacked council.

This Mayor hears only what he wants to hear, and that is not anything to do with cutting costs or saving money or allowing the Irvings to go ahead and pay a whole lot more taxes. He doesn’t like the Irvings and has made his feeling known so often no one in their right mind would believe he is impartial.

The Deputy Mayor on the other hand has no axe to grind and is to be congratulated for listening to all points of view.”

“I, for one, would rather see the ILA rot than see Saint John’s growth not happen. The ILA represents the past for this city, and their position on port matters should just simply be retired and abandoned, as well as that whole union.

Whether anyone likes it or not, Saint John must grow to be successful. We just simply cannot continue to live like it’s 1978 anymore, and start growing a pair when it comes to improving this place. And if there are those who don’t want to see improvement in this city, you can move out of Saint John, and not return.

Cause you’d just simply be useless surplus population at that point, harming this city by your apathy and your ignorance instead of looking for ways to be active in your community all the time.

I’ll admit, I voted for McFarlane a 2nd time back in May, and even with the controversy surrounding him with the LNG thing, I figured Saint John might have been forgiving and not have been so harsh to him. Sadly, that never happened.”

It’s about growth, progress, and doing what is right.  Our Deputy Mayor is doing just that, and he should be congratulated.  Keep up the great work Stephen!

Last night the votes were in and Patty Higgins was declared the winner.

Ward 2 will finally have two councilors sitting at Council’s table.

The final results were:

• Patty Higgins - 1,586 votes
• Carl White - 1,296 votes
• Debbie McCormack - 821 votes

I was at Carl Whites house when the polls closed.  After the results were finalized, there was a flurry of phone calls; but, Carl was quick to thank everyone who supported him, and he committed to keep working hard for the community.

I am disappointed with the results; however, Carl ran a great campaign and received a good share of support from people in the community.

There are a huge number of development opportunities that are going to land on council’s table in the comming years, and this city needs someone that will work for the citizens - not special interest groups, to make sure that this city keeps moving forward.  I hope that Patty keeps that in mind after being sworn in!

After a long campaign in May, the candidates in Ward 2 were dealt a heavy blow.  There were numerous issues around the marking and counting of ballots.  These issue lead to the call for a byelection in Ward 2.  Once again, the candidates were faced with the task of running another full campaign.  The final decision will be made tomorrow; however, the question is - who will come out on top?

I believe the strongest candidate is Carl White.  Carl has the proven experience to get things done on council, as well as the common sense to do what is right. He has also been open to looking at various ideas before making decisions.

I believe he is a strong contrast to Patty Higgins who has shown herself to be close minded to issues (including the Irving Oil Headquaters plan), as well as easy confused when being asked questions.  Just take a look at what she was saying during the last debates:

“Patty Higgins, a vocal opponent of the pipeline through Rockwood Park, also plugged for consultations. But she got her facts wrong and was confusing at times. She suggested the province and the city should swap land for the old YM/YWCA site so the police would have better surveillance and could land a helicopter on the roof, even though the police don’t have one. She also said something incomprehensible about the unemployment rate, making it sound like it was running at 180 per cent.”

This city needs a strong voice in the Council’s table, and I belive the best person to do that is Carl White.

Tomorrow, get out and vote, and encourage your friends and family to vote as well.  Every vote counts!

Tonight, I attended my first City of Saint John Common Council meeting. This is part of my new goal to become more involved in municipal politics. I think that it is best to see what is happening first hand - at the council meetings.

I know that I am not the only one who is interested in what is going on in Saint John. That is why I am going to start attending and blogging about what took place at the public council meetings. Instead of trying to document every little detail, I want to try and capture the important things that took place (along with any interesting observations).

I’m calling this “A Common Minute” and tonight is my first post!

City of Saint John Common Council Meeting - June 09, 2008

The meeting began twenty minutes late; however, it was quickly called to order once everyone arrived. Before business began, the 2008 Environmental Awards were handed out. I would highly recommend reading about these great local companies and groups.

Several Councillors spoke, during Members Comments, about successful events that went on in the city. An interesting mention, by Snook, was a group called PULSE that organized a graffiti cleaning event in the Lower South End.

Next, public hearings began. There were several proposed zoning amendments that were all motioned by Titus and seconded by McGuire. Each was quickly passed until 9.3(a)(b) came up. This one involved rezoning of 47-55 Golden Grove Road. Many residents spoke against the rezoning. Issues raised were around: increased flooding, increased car traffic, safety, and appearance. There were concerns that promises would be made, but not followed up on. One resident explained that a privacy fence was supposed to be created around a previous development, but it never happened. The developer did speak in favour of the rezoning. He cited that the area has always flooded and would continue to flood. He did not believe that it would increase flooding. The developer seemed open to working with residents and any conditions council made. No final decision was made tonight.

As part of the previous discussion, McGuire made a good point about “missing a step”. He explained that we seem to be skipping a step where we ask both sides if comprises would be acceptable before the issues make it to the council meetings.

Finally, the submissions by Council Members started. This is where the meeting became interesting. Titus made his many promised motions to Council.

This Monday, Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase will present two motions to council - one asking for a definitive date to hear from experts about a public-private partnership and another calling on the province to investigate what caused the latest boil-water order.

This comes after the third boil water order since February of this year. In the latest incident, approximately 40,000 residents living east of the Reversing Falls Bridge were asked to boil water on June 2, after Saint John Water staff detected a break in a chlorine injection line.

“What I’d like to see is the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Health undertake a joint investigation of the incident and also a review of Saint John Water’s protocols for maintenance and operation of that water facility,” said Chase.

Chase also wants to see presentations on public-private partnerships from experts by Sept. 15.

“I’m asking council, let’s get on with that. Let’s get that piece underway so council and the public is understanding of the opportunities there.”

Council already passed a motion by Chase affirming that the city would always retain control and ownership of the system.

“No. 1, the federal government established a rule that if you are requesting infrastructure money, you have to show that you’ve examined the possibilities of public-private partnership,” said Chase.

“We have to do it, maybe people should start to understand that,” he added, frustration slipping into his voice.

I am very glad that Stephen is standing up for the citizens on this important issue. All options need to be looked at, and the best option needs to be implemented. We cannot wait for someone to become sick before moving on this issue!

The chief electoral officer has decided to hold a byelection to fill the final Ward 2 seat.

It has been a very troubling situation for the candidates in this ward after missing ballots changed the results several times. To add to the issues, there have also been reports of ballot tampering by elections staff!

The issue I see with this is that they are now saying anyone in the Ward 2 is free to run. It doesn’t make any sense to allow anyone other then White, Higgins, and McCormack to run.

Let’s face it, they have already put their names forward, run a full campaign, and then had to deal with these issues. Letting anyone run put them at an advantage because of the costs associated with running a campaign. These candidates now have to pay for two campaigns!

If someone else had wanted to run, they should have put their name down from the beginning.

Letting others get involved now is just plain wrong. This byelection should be between the candidates who were on the ballot.

The issues were not with the candidates, it was with the ballots and election officials.

Today, my latest Letter to the Editor was published. It was a response to a letter published the previous day.

Way deputy mayor is picked is fine
Telegraph-Journal

I want to reply to the letter about revisiting the way the deputy mayor is chosen (May 27). The motion that was passed by the previous council: “11.6 - Position of Deputy Mayor On motion of Deputy Mayor Hooton, Seconded by Councillor Chase, resolved that the current system of electing the deputy mayor, which is the election of the councillor who receives the most votes in the municipal election, be maintained. Question being taken, the motion was carried.”

The motion does not say that ward candidates are not included. At-large candidates are the most likely to become Deputy Mayor because of the vast number of votes that they receive; however, the fact that Councillor Stephen Chase received more votes then the current mayor shows that this system does make sense.

The Deputy Mayor should be someone with large support throughout the city. Changing the system, as suggested by the letter writer, will only make things less democratic.

I support the current system, and I look forward to Coun. Stephen Chase as our deputy mayor.

Shawn Peterson
Saint John

Here is the letter I was responding to:

Revisit way deputy mayor is chosen
Telegraph-Journal

While the previous Saint John council passed a motion that would make the candidate with the most votes “deputy mayor” this decision seems to me to remain problematic to the point where I believe the newly elected council should revisit the issue with fresh eyes. What the previous council embraced as a solution neither seems fair or reasonable.

The idea that the position of deputy mayor should be chosen - due the sheer numbers - only from the pool of successful at-large candidates creates the impression that city council is comprised of two tiers. However, the ward system surely was never meant to introduce a hierarchy of councillors, with some having more claims to democratic legitimacy than others.

Why should it be the case that those running within a ward be excluded from being considered for the position of deputy mayor? A two-tiered council where basically only the at-large candidates contend for deputy mayor makes little democratic sense.

If the deputy mayor’s position were not going to be elected directly by the people according to the percentage of votes, then perhaps the councillors themselves should choose who gains this position. This would make the most sense in terms of promoting the idea that the council should make every effort to work together.

I strongly urge the newly elected council to revisit this question immediately and rescind the decision of the previous council in favour of a more democratic process by which the deputy mayor is chosen.

Charles Murphy
Saint John