Council needs overhaul

Letter to Bradford Topic October 7 2010
I sent a letter to the current council regarding our recent ridiculous tax assessment and that has now become a mission.
I, having lived in Mississauga for some 25 years prior to moving to Bradford, enjoyed living in a large metropolitan city with one of Canada’s longest-serving mayors, Hazel McCallion.
Mississauga has been flush on the balance sheet for many years as a result of good, strong business acumen, either in council or city staff.
Currently in Mississauga, if you want to speak with the mayor directly, you can, as she will answer all of the calls directed to her and she will either respond directly to e-mails or someone in her office will initially respond, followed by an e-mail from the mayor should their answer prove incomplete or vague.
It is almost laughable that in a town dwarfed by the City of Mississauga, our councillors and mayor have difficulty responding to one very simple e-mail, especially as it touches on the many issues they are using as a platform should they be elected or re-elected into office.
Not one week after sending the e-mail, Jim Corneau is using these concerns as a reason why he should be elected mayor.
Does he honestly believe Mayor Doug White and previous mayors have not had the same visions for a revitalized downtown core, a tax base supported by large business, less traffic congestion and so on?
These issues are nothing new for anyone who has lived in Bradford for any length of time, as my significant other has lived here for more than 20 years.
I don’t plan on voting for any of the candidates.
I feel Bradford’s future has been in the hands of a council for years that is ridiculously outdated and self-centered regarding the proper vision, the effects the new direction has on their existing land holdings and the perception of what is needed.
I, for one, am sick of listening to political rhetoric, as is, I am sure, every Bradford resident.
It’s time to clean out a council that sits on its hands and replace it with a solid group of business-savvy movers and shakers, not schmoozers and fakers.
Doug Sexsmith
Bradford