Quite fittingly, this was just posted on the CottageCountryNow (Almaguin News) website:
To the Editor:
Comments by newly elected Mayor of Kearney, Paul Tomlinson have always been critical of the previous council, both pre and post election. Some take great offence to Tomlinson’s negative and nasty style, and in the Almaguin News Editorial of Oct. 28, “To those who chose to run, we thank you,” the Editor was so disgusted with Tomlinson, he rose to the defence of former council members and wrote some very supportive and deserving words.
Before I go on I would like to echo some of the Editorial’s sentiments and say that members of the former council, excluding those on the current council, are some of the most dedicated, fair-minded, and caring individuals I have ever had the pleasure to know. Their efforts, coupled with wonderful staff and our many, many volunteers, have resulted in a significant betterment of our community.
What was accomplished over the past four years is history so, you may ask, why bother at this point to respond to Mayor Tomlinson’s consistently destructive diatribes? Well, there are several reasons:
§ As stated above, the dedicated councillors of the 2006-2010 Council, staff, and volunteers do not deserve the treatment they have and are receiving form Mayor Tomlinson. He has claimed he was misquoted, or misunderstood, in the Oct. 28, Almaguin News article (Seasonals clinch mayor’s race). Well Mayor Tomlinson, you have had every opportunity to correct the record and have not done so. Your silence speaks volumes.
§ The new council has begun with a fair amount of misinformation regarding property taxes, financial management, and the town’s organizational structure. Tomlinson has been in office one month (but his council experience is four years) and his total focus has been at the micromanagement level; dictating to staff what should be in their budgets, time and motion studies to determine office efficiencies, and internal procedures. There is no vision. The macro view is nonexistent, and critical areas of importance such as economic development and betterment of the community are, at best, on the backburner. Tomlinson has not learned from his 2009 experience when he was chair of the budget committee and racked up a significant and unnecessary cost to the taxpayers. In 2010, we kept Tomlinson out of the process and budget meetings went from 14 to three and property taxes in 2010 were reduced by 3%.
§ There were a number of initiatives underway by the previous council, which, by gauging Tomlinson’s attitude, these initiatives will be allowed an early death. Such initiatives include;
a) Financial assistance from the Province for Kearney road maintenance. Kearney is the only municipality in the area whose arterial roads are not funded or partially funded by the Province. This means all costs are borne by the property taxpayer and to mitigate this, it is critical that the Mayor establish and maintain a working relationship with various provincial ministries and to encourage continuing discussions on partnering and cost sharing.
b) Pursuit of a wind turbine farm in Butt Township. The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, and Forestry have expressed interest and have assigned staff to work on the project. Tomlinson will now be front and centre to move this project forward. Key benefits are economic, environmental, growth.
c) Property Tax Review. The Property Tax Ad Hoc Committee (2007) needs to be resurrected to pursue issues of provincial downloading and to explore revenue generating ideas, eg fees and fines, sale of shore road allowances, community festivals, economic development. Trying to address property tax issues through the budget process is a fool’s errand and more of an exercise in slash and burn.
d) Town Beautification. Main Street has been revitalized and the town dock is being replaced. Landscaping opportunities including the Kearney Community Centre and town dock area, expansion out to other parts of Town, replace Sand Lake boat ramp and dock, general community vibrancy need to be maintained. Funding opportunities need to be pursued.
e) Expansion of fire protection and emergency service facilities to Proudfoot.
f) Economic Development and Community Prosperity – new businesses are opening, existing businesses are expanding, new and upgrade construction is active, and it is time for Kearney to actively promote to the world.
Unfortunately Tomlinson’s Campaign material and any of his remarks, and frankly his behaviour over the past four years, do not bode well for the above. With the exception of wanting to “promote… retail and manufacturing…” Tomlinson’s focus has been entirely on administrative issues/micromanagement, restoring the mail-in vote, budgets, time and motion studies. No vision. No grasp of the big picture.
I hope Mayor Tomlinson proves me wrong, and he can do so by starting with a public apology to former councillors. I, of course, will be more than willing to help him if he is willing, and to guide him along the way.
Jeff Johnston
Former Mayor of Kearney
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