S Carpenter
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City council up in arms over 'undemocratic' strong mayor powers
OrilliaMatters
33It is not 'these four'. All council members except Smith voted against this. And the big precipitating factor was he fired the CAO WITHOUT council's knowledge, which has nothing to do with housing.
1- S Carpenter
GUEST COLUMN: West Orillia is not right place for the new hospital
OrilliaMatters 26A lot of the staff do and how do you think the homeless get there? Doctors walk from their offices to visit patients regularly. I always walk to appointments at the hospital as does my 87 yr old mother.
8- S Carpenter
COLUMN: McIsaac's dismissal of new CAO is a 'shameful power grab'
OrilliaMatters 33I'm not happy to wait til the next election. He needs to go now and we the citizens of Orillia need to figure out a way to make that happen.
- S Carpenter
'Blatant abuse of power' by mayor sparks outrage from residents
OrilliaMatters 22So do you know something the rest of us don't?
3- S Carpenter
Downtown merchants call for free holiday parking to be reinstated
OrilliaMatters 11And why should parking tickets go to toys for kids? Another income revenue that has been diverted. Like in the states should not politics and religion be separated. We are again being forced to give our tax dollars to charities that our elected officials decide upon. I know I know, ba humbug.
9- S Carpenter
'Vindictive' ban by 'woke' local library follows book club remark
OrilliaMatters 19Isn't that what book clubs are for? to voice different opinions and your take on the book??
- S Carpenter
'It doesn't fit': Stacked townhome proposal draws ire of neighbour
OrilliaMatters 16To address the lots disarray and weeds, bylaw will help with that. Whether owner occupied or not the owner has a responsibility to keep the lot to a certain standard. Since townhouses are usually 3 bedroom, family size, and most every family I know has 2 working parents and often a teen with a vehicle and working at least p/t, parking is no where near the number needed. They don't let 'occupants' use visitor space.
1- S Carpenter
Doug Ford triggers provincial election
16The election laws need a significant change, firstly let's get to vote for the person directly. I have no doubt that the results would be very different if the Premier's and Prime Minister's roles were voted for directly and by actual numbers of votes. Currently Ford sits with a majority government with just 17% of the votes. That is outrageous. Make sure you vote and make sure you look at what is best for the province overall since that has more influence than individual ridings. And voice for change in our electoral system so that all people are represented.
- S Carpenter
'People need homes, not handcuffs': New bill panned by local advocate
OrilliaMatters 11Gosh we have really lost the ability to empathize. Walk a mile in their shoes. Some yes maybe have a choice, many no, they don't. I think the best of us if we had lost everything, had no supports and were living on the street with no options might just turn to 'something' to take away the pain, the cold, the utter hopelessness. There are not enough mental health or social supports. Take a few minutes to talk to one of them; ask how they got there, what their hopes are; you might be surprised. Think about how you might go about getting employment when you don't have a place to sleep, to shower, to wash your clothes, haven't had a decent meal in weeks. How do you go about making a better life for yourself in these circumstances? I would look in the mirror for shame.
5- S Carpenter
Public urged to weigh in as Orillia faces $254M capital shortfall
OrilliaMatters 14It's not just the major roads that are in poor shape; residential streets are horrible.
2- S Carpenter
Cost of taking trash to Orillia landfill set to rise
OrilliaMatters 10The costs are not applied to residential garbage collection, for which we pay taxes but moreso for unique aspects of garbage coming to the waste disposal site. It seems more fair for those who need this type of disposal to pay rather than all residents having to chip in on their taxes, doesn't it?
5- S Carpenter
'Loss of accountability': Lauer wants city to scrap ward system
OrilliaMatters 12We're in a whole new generation; let's give it a try. I'm tired of having a selection of candidates that I don't feel are qualified but seeing candidates in other wards that are. I want to vote for whom I feel will do the best. The current system does not preclude all councillors being from the North ward either since they can run in any ward they want. There's no connection to a ward; cripes they don't even have to live in Orillia.
3- S Carpenter
A 31-one-bedroom condominium may be built on Colborne Street
OrilliaMatters 12It's not clear if these are for rent or to purchase, just says they will be priced at market value. We need rent geared to income. Even so called affordable housing is not affordable for most. There are lots of vacancies in town right now; they would be filled if people could afford them. And if they do go ahead, yes again, no parking. In order for these to be affordable you would likely see 2 people sharing a one bedroom which means 2 CARS.
3- S Carpenter
'People need homes, not handcuffs': New bill panned by local advocate
OrilliaMatters 15Isn't this kind of putting the cart before the horse? They have "plans" for supportive housing, they are 'pledging' 75 million. In the mean time while all of these plans and pledges get to actually housing, where do they expect these people to go? This bill goes beyond public drug consumption. What happened to not being able to break up encampments if there were no shelter beds available? What of those who are not doing drugs but just don't have any where to live? Stop with the 'affordable' housing push because we are all aware that 'affordable' housing is not affordable for those living on the streets. We have so many great models in Europe for supportive housing; they seem to manage this so much better than we do. I agree that doing drugs in public places should not be allowed. I also think that drugs at the Lighthouse should not be allowed; it makes it too difficult for those trying to stay off drugs to use the facility. They don't allow alcohol, why weed?
- S Carpenter
Amid heat wave, thousands without power in area due to downed tree
OrilliaMatters 9I don't know about that. My power used to go out more before and for unknown reasons. At least recently there are reasons, like trees :)
5- S Carpenter
Councillor floats fake alligator heads to scare away geese
OrilliaMatters 9Is it not feasible to just shoot these geese? Seems this is what we used to do and it worked and we ate the goose. The seagulls are over populated because someone decided a number of years ago that they were endangered. I thing that is old news. I wonder if they are edible.....
5- S Carpenter
COLUMN: McIsaac's dismissal of new CAO is a 'shameful power grab'
OrilliaMatters 11It's the disrespect he shows Orilliapaul. We are not some corporation that he is in charge of running. We are a community that time and again has shown how well we all pull together particularly in a crisis. The lack of respect he has shown to all, particularly council, just can't be tolerated anymore.
3- S Carpenter
Height of proposed 8-storey Barrie Rd. apartment building criticized
OrilliaMatters 11The last building at 5 stories is still not full and they are supposedly in the affordable housing range. These are stated to be going at market value so will be more expensive. We need rent geared to income housing, not more apartments that are overpriced. And again with not enough parking spaces.
3- S Carpenter
Nearly a year later, first-time homebuyer pays squatters to leave
OrilliaMatters 13This is criminal. I feel for this guy. The LTB is a totally dysfunctional organization who leans towards tenants rights vs landlords. The system needs to change. I realize there are bad landlords just as there are bad tenants but having the government tell you who can live in your unit, that you can't get rid of them without LTB permission and a years worth of fight, that they don't have to leave if they disagree with anything you serve them with, how much you can increase rent, on and on. It has gone way too far. And this situation where it was so obviously squatters and what he has gone through. Wow.
- S Carpenter
Orillia woman quits WMAC in protest of mayor's endorsement of Ford
OrilliaMatters 8Well I thought I was getting involved by taking a stand.
5- S Carpenter
