100 Days in Office Review – the 100th day is MARCH 1st, 2023
During the election I made a commitment to my first 100 days in office if successful. Here is the report on that list, although not every single issue has been addressed we are well on our way for a successful term. During this time I have also had to deal with Emergency situations such as the ice storm and the retirement of the ELK CEO with short notice. Stay tuned more is coming!
1. Conduct 1 on 1 meetings with Deputy Mayor and Councillors in regards to their important issues in their wards – COMPLETED / ONGOING.
2. Meet with CAO and Directors / goals for next 4 years -COMPLETED/ONGOING
3. Arrange tours of town facilities into council calendar – IS COMING 2 Days Youth Members to be invited too – Doug arranging for bus and booking council for 2 full days.
4. Make a plan for public consultation for 2023 budget and ensure resident input is gathered – COMPLETED- Webpage and email set up, budget walk through 3 weeks before deliberations.
5. Start to roll out Strategic Plan with council & administration for the term.-1-1 interviews done, 2 full days booked in March and April.
6. Host “Meet the Mayor” events in all wards. COMPLETED/ONGOING (in the spring/summer – set up biking events in each ward, cookies and coffee with the Mayor ) Colouring with Mayor hosted, Harrow and McGregor library events booked in calendar April and May
7. Resume Ward/ Mayor Open Houses in all wards – LONG TERM GOAL (council is not ready atm look at fall)
8. Invitations to businesses re: Open Door Policy – COMPLETED/ONGOING, representative went to Essex BIA, Sherry attended Harrow/Colchester Chamber AGM, assisting Harrow Chamber transition of Welcome packages in Harrow.
9. Connect with existing developers to see how council & administration can further support them- Mayor and Deputy Mayor doing this- Colchester developments and Harrow Developments
10. Bring forward a motion on getting a Roads Plan in 2023 to assist with budgets going forward – BRING UP AT STRATEGIC PLANNING and budget forecast
11. Call Hydro One & ELK back to the table to further work on flickers/capacity for development – Hydro 1 coming back to council in April. – Member of ELK Board – working on ELK deficiencies- update soon
12. Make a motion to garner council support in an accessibility audit of town facilities – Ask Accessibility committee to champion this to go through proper channels and raise at strat plan and budget.
13. Be an Ambassador of small businesses and continue to lobby and work for them – COMPLETED/ONGOING
- Keep shopping local and making posts and reviews on social media
- Continue with fb lives to help with advertising for local businesses – set up a schedule
- Bingo and scavenger hunts
14. Attend Drainage Board meeting to further understand drainage & represent residents – find out next meeting date Incomplete due to conflicts in schedule
15. Attend Committee of Adjustment meetings – find out next meeting date incomplete due to conflict in schedule
16. Develop a report tracking system to ensure council requests do not fall off table – DOUG kind of has one so update and enhance his so you both can use- coming in 2/4 2023
17. Meeting with CAO to discuss customer service benchmarks & establish report turnaround times for administration – ONGOING – front line staff answering telephones need more training to better represent the Town and to be able to answer incoming questions better- policy coming in summer 2023
18. Create a culture where front line staff are appreciated and their opinion matters – COMPLETED/ONGOING – cookies and a note for Employee Appreciation Day on March 3rd, 2023
19. Work with developers to get public open houses on new developments early on in the project. Sunset Gardens Harrow completed, more on the way.
20. Encourage use of Report a Problem with community so issues get tracked and completed. COMPLETED/ONGOING – all ward councillors are promoting this
21. Revitalize youth perspective on Essex Council – have new youth members COMPLETED/ONGOING
- Hold meetings/presentations at high schools as well as at youth church groups
- When youth centre is reopened have Time with the Mayor nights
22. Transportation Services returned to long term care homes – Gave grant during finance meeting, monitor return of Cara-a van to all areas in Essex.
23. Connecting seniors to our community – ONGOING set up a meeting with Essex Retirees Social Club and have some lunch there on a regular basis (conversations with the seniors to see what they want/need) (are there any gaps)
- Set up library reading program with kids reading books to seniors and vice versa
- Host “Help a Senior” day
- Christmas carolling
- Stuff a Stocking for xmas or a set up a giving tree where residents can sponsor a senior and by\uy them their xmas gifts
- Hold a toy drive for seniors who are grandparents that are low income who require help to obtain xmas gifts for their grandbabies
- Meet with Lola’s, Adobe and Life to see if they have any ideas for programs for seniors with their members, attended 2 fundraising events for Lola’s.
- Meet with program coordinators at Iler Lodge and Harrowood to see what the public can do as events with seniors with the covid guidelines still in place
- ONGOING – colouring sheets and crafts and gifts for seniors for holidays Valentine’s Day, Easter, Xmas)
- Monday AUGUST 21st, 2023 in World Senior Citizens Day
24. Update public on major projects – Highway 3 Expansion, Broadband Internet, Essex Recreation Lands, Harrow High School, Streetscape – ONGOING. Sharing information with council so they can update residents. Harrow High part of council tour and then make plan.
25. Get working on website and be more active – ONGOING / PRIORITY make a list of items that you would like to be posted (Resource list, Housing Registry Information, Landlord Tenant Board Information)
- Set up routine times in your schedule to work on website– Needs Improvement
26. Question how bids, tenders & requests for work are completed – covered in training, continue to question.
27. Networking and building positive relationships with regional councillors – work together to share ideas and help each other – COMPLETED/ONGOING. Talk with other Mayors often, met with Warden.
28. Host a coat collection event – COMPLETED
29. Code Blacks, hospital wait times, EMS morale – Had a meeting / PRESENTLY WORKING ON, raised in the county budget about how many Paramedics we are short.
30. How County council boards are created- striking committee, fair process.
31. Meet with OPP/discuss ways to improve service & police presence – COMPLETED/ONGOING Had a meeting / SITTING ON POLICE SERVICES BOARD
(questions to ask at next meeting – are some of the accidental 911 calls, cell phone pocket dials?
Where do the police put in their foot patrol hours? Would creating neighborhood watches help with vandalism? What is the process of a mental health call? How many officers attend the call besides the one officer who works with the mental health worker? What does a welfare check consist of? Police not wanting to attend Maplewood Apartments? Drinking and Driving on County Roads, Speeding in the downtown cores and close calls with residents almost being hit especially at the crosswalks, distracted driving, stunt driving, Do our police have tasers, if so what is the protocol of using one vs. their gun?) Let Nicole read the report – interested in the educational programs that the police do. Brought in other councillors to help- Brad covered drinking and driving in Harrow News.
32. Be an advocate and user of local library system – COMPLETED/ONGOING by being on the Board and holding events with the Mayor as well as attending the book club and bringing your children to utilize the library on a regular basis, attending Reopening events, having Nicole add library events on Mayor’s calendar
33. Be a leader who is open minded and encouraging to councillors – COMPLETED/ONGOING
34. MPAC – discuss broken assessment model – set up an invite to come back to another meeting
35. Connect with farming community to hear concerns – ONGOING (attended one meeting)
Set up a coffee and chat with the farming community in the next few months.
36. Meet with Harrow/Colchester Chamber – COMPLETED/ONGOING (attend meetings)
37. Meet with BIA – attend a meeting (Nicole attended one meeting and reported back with an email) BIA is looking for better communication with town staff as well as a contact person when the streetscape project starts
38. Meet with MP Chris Lewis – Completed
39. Meet with MPP Anthony Leardi – COMPLETED (attended a meeting as well as coffee conversation night)
40. Raise idea of affordable housing task force – Set up meeting with Gale and see if she would like to head this – print out her housing report
41. Diversity training for council – COMPLETED (had online training)
42. Move files from my home offices into town hall – COMPLETED
- Organize files in town hall office
- Set up office hours
43. Open discussions with council & administration concerning polling stations on Election Day – COMPLETED ( a resident’s survey was done and a new place in Colchester will be looked into and adding extra polls to handle the large crowd of residents to reduce waiting in line time)
44. Review current parking standards for site plan approval including accessible spaces. Still needs review
45. Discussion about capacity concerns regarding storm water, hydro, and water – STRATEGIC PLANNING
46. Investigate the speed limit on the 3rd & 4th conc. / find a solution – ONGOING – met with Brad Allard – speed trap is not showing there is a speeding issue
47. Council find some easy wins for affordable housing ( how many geared to income units are vacant and how can we get them occupied) – ONGOING – Met with Julie from CHC – on Housing Board, Schedule meeting with Cynthia – tours of housing units. Meeting set up March 7th with Cynthia
48. Review Short Term Rental bylaw and uptake of licensing -COMPLETED/ONGOING – this licensing program has just begun for 2023. Public update coming in late April.
49. Update the public on what happens at County Council – COMPLETED/ONGOING – Deputy Mayor doing reports, Essex Free Press has County Council report, Mayor to make a post on social media if there is something really interesting and important. Success with Gesto Community Zone, something on previous Mayor’s plate for years, completed in 100 days.
50. Review the current structure of the Dog Pound / can the model be updated? Not done
51. Attend Heirs meeting – find out next meeting date as ice storm cancelled the last one.
51. WORK HARD EACH AND EVERY DAY IN OFFICE FOR THE PEOPLE OF ESSEX AND FOR THE BETTERMENT OF COUNCIL. *COMPLETED AND ONGOING EVERY DAY*
