Jocelyn Phillips
6022 
Nominations now open for 2026 municipal election
GuelphToday
9Dan Gibson (Ward 1) met and exceeded mine. He was prompt in getting back to me when I needed help. He was also kind and helpful. AND he didn't vote for the ridiculous 33% salary hike or the nearly 12% salary hike that Leanne Caron pushed for and succeeded in getting. I'd be very glad to have him as mayor.
5- Jocelyn Phillips
Coun. Leanne Caron confirms she's running for mayor
GuelphToday 12Answer - At very well paying job at the University of Guelph. Her title in the Student Housing department is Manager, Occupancy and Marketing. She is the one responsible for city councillors getting a nearly 12% salary increase. She also voted in favour of the initial proposed salary increase of 33%.
1- Jocelyn Phillips
OPINION: Be honest, you don't think city council is worth paying for
GuelphToday 7You took the words out of my mouth, Adam. Where is the accountability? Where are the job performance metrics? Erin Caton said councillors who do the bare minimum get paid the same as someone who is doing more. We're heard a lot about how the job demands have changed. Do the "bare minimum" councillors know the performance expectations have changed? If there are no job performance metrics, they may not know or be able to respond to those increased demands. What's she's saying is that individual councillors can choose to increase their hours or they can choose not to. I know of no other job where employees individually make that decision. I've called and left messages for Erin Caton over 2 years about an ongoing issue in my neighbourhood. Never heard back. Her fellow Ward 1 councillor, Dan Gibson, returned my voicemail within 2 days and apologized for not getting back to me earlier! Difficulties with time management and priority setting don't justify a 33% salary increase.
5- Jocelyn Phillips
These five things still go in your grey bin
GuelphToday 5The population in Guelph is around 162,184. A mass mailing sounds expensive. I understand your point about the difficulty reaching everyone. I have no idea what the City's plans are on that score. Perhaps they want to see how far the word will spread via social media and good o'fashioned word of mouth. We can all do our bit by sharing this information with our neighbours and friends. The message is simple - More items can do in the recycle bin. Check the wizard for details.
2- Jocelyn Phillips
Guelph General among defendants in $4M cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit
GuelphToday 5This man feel ill the summer of 2011. He died June 2022. That's 11 years of progressive pain. Eleven years of missed opportunities to correctly diagnose him. Eleven years of missed opportunities to treat him. Eleven years during which he wasn't able to live a healthy life, or participate fully in family life. He was only 59 years old when he died of a diagnosable illness. The average life span of men in Canada is 81 years. His family might have enjoyed his presence in their lives for another 22 years. And your response is "doctors aren't perfect."??? He died a little more than a week after finally receiving a diagnosis. Do you have any concept of the amount of pain he must have been in all that time?
1- Jocelyn Phillips
Controversial Guelph skincare store evicted from Stone Road Mall
GuelphToday 5That's exactly what I did! I made sure I was well away from the store. On a recent occasion I forgot to do that. Sure enough the salesperson tried to intercept me. I veered away sharply, and didn't look in his direction. I heard a sarcastic comment as I speed walked away, "Thanks for the smile!" When they first moved into the mall I wasn't wise to their high pressure tactics. I was handed a sample and then pressured to enter the store to try more products. I must have said "No, thank you" at least 10 times and started walking away. He followed. When it became clear he wasn't going to make a sale he got a bit nasty. I gave him back his sample.
- Jocelyn Phillips
When does criticism become a threat at city council?
GuelphToday 4I'm sorry you had that experience. You'd think a Mayor would understand that the microphones which were paid for by taxpayers were provided to councillors for a reason. It's only a sign of respect that the Mayor and councillors make this one simple effort to ensure that gallery attendees can hear the proceedings. You took the time and trouble to be in attendance and that's how you were treated?! I'm appalled at the Major's conceit.
- Jocelyn Phillips
Winds of change on city council could increase voter turnout, says expert
GuelphToday 1Whoa there. The proposed 38% salary increase would have brought the current part-time salary up to $76,000 from $50,000, a $26,000 increase. My understanding of the justification for the increase was that it wasn't a part-time position. If the position was classified as full-time, the salary would be $76,000. Why are you proposing $24,000 on top of that?
3- Jocelyn Phillips
Two councillors won't be running again; one considering run for mayor
GuelphToday 3Such hostility! I disagreed with Erin Caton's rationale regarding the proposed 38% salary increase - I felt the cart was being put in front horse - but they don't deserve your characterization.
1- Jocelyn Phillips
Two councillors won't be running again; one considering run for mayor
GuelphToday 2I agree. Even if you disagree with a councillor's position on an issue, there's no reason to get aggressive and insulting. None.
1- Jocelyn Phillips
City seeks public input as staff draft vacant home tax rules
GuelphToday 2Well said!
1- Jocelyn Phillips
Two councillors won't be running again; one considering run for mayor
GuelphToday 1Michael from Guelph - This isn't an easy position. There is a learning curve. Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. There's a lot of experience on city council which is valuable to the citizens of Guelph.
1- Jocelyn Phillips
These five things still go in your grey bin
GuelphToday 2I wondered about that too. According to the Waste Wizard hardcover books still go in the recycle bin - but without the spine which goes in the grey bin. Spiral bound notebooks, etc are also recyclable minus the front and back cover as well as the binding which all go in the grey bin.
- Jocelyn Phillips
OPINION: Council sucked the value out of the remuneration debate
GuelphToday 1Adam Cloet has the right idea. He asks what and where are the measurable benchmarks tied to salary increases. Are they transparent? Why according to Caton are some councillors able to do less than others and still collect the same salary? 33% leap in salary across the board increase? No.
- Jocelyn Phillips
East end power outage impacting 2,300 customers
GuelphToday 1This is the 2nd time in less than 2 weeks that the East end has experienced a significant power outage. Anyone know what caused the outage one week ago that started at 1:09 am and ended around 3:57 am? That outage was all along Grange from Victoria to Watson and expanded several blocks North and South of Grange. According to Alectra's Outage map the cause was listed as "Unknown".
- Jocelyn Phillips
When does criticism become a threat at city council?
GuelphTodayThere's a huge chunk of information missing. The reporter does not acknowledge that politicians receive emails, letters, social media and in person "feedback" as well as having gravel, and rotten fruits and vegetables thrown at them. All of which creates a defensive wall making it hard for legitimate criticism to be heard. In this atmosphere its extremely difficult for "our local leaders to embrace more openness and transparency .... ". Rather than delve a little deeper into why the 2 suggested problems occur, he takes a superficial pass at the problem and puts the onus for providing a solution only on our leaders . The solution is much more complex and involves changes to our laws and enforcement of them to prevent harassment and harm not just to our local, provincial and federal leaders but to every citizen.
1- Jocelyn Phillips
OPINION: Council sucked the value out of the remuneration debate
GuelphTodayAlec Purves - Retirees, people living on ODSP, EI, federal disability, etc do not get salary increases.
- Jocelyn Phillips
City seeks applicants for transportation focus group
GuelphTodayI'm happy for you and I've very envious. If the purpose of the focus group was help Guelph Transit improve I'd be begging to join. But as one of the intentions is to solicit more victims ... no way.
- Jocelyn Phillips
City seeks applicants for transportation focus group
GuelphTodaySome of the drivers seem to think they're driving a race car loaded with sacks of potatoes especially when turning. I frequently have to brace my legs against the floor to stop from sliding off those hard blue plastic seats. Not easy when the floor is covered in fine grit. Fixing the accuracy of the bus routes would be a huge step in the right direction as would the reporting out of when a bus is late or on time. Sometimes a bus is reported to be late only to fly by a bus stop several minutes earlier than its regularly scheduled time. Other times it's reported - according to both Google Maps and the Guelph Transit app - to be on-time only to be more than 10 minutes late.And yes, a grid system would be terrific. All buses used to stop at St. George's Square. All the City has done is move the buses at great expense to taxpayers down to Carden Street while maintaining the "hub and spoke" system.
- Jocelyn Phillips
EDITORIAL: What is Doug Ford hiding from you? Way more than ever before
Is any other province doing this? No. So Ford's "explanation" that the legislation needed to be "updated" retroactively to 1988 (!) holds no water. This is exactly what it looks like - an attempt to withhold information that would shine a light on his corruption. So what's the next step? How do people of Ontario reverse this?
- Jocelyn Phillips
