The continued struggle in the Village, where are we going wrong? (in my opinion)
The following is my opinion and my thoughts on what has happened in Colchester and what continues to happen to the residents of Colchester Village. We need to do better.
Colchester is near and dear to my heart. I lived on Sullivan and then on Jackson for much of my life. I played in the gullies, I swam at the beach and rode my bicycle all over growing up. During my time on Jackson Street I watched the basket ball nets get removed with council of the day then promising to put them back the following year; that took over 5 years for that to happen! An entire cohort of children were waiting for action and a promise was broken.
Fast Forward to 2010-2014, my first term on council. Council hired a firm for a Landscape Master Plan and did their majority of the public consultation during the Winter when many Colchester residents were gone. When the plan came back it was very lofty and out of touch, a product of a community not properly consulted. Luckily, that plan was never fully adopted. We could have done better here.
During council term 2014-2018, the residents of Colchester had a resignation of one of their term councillors that left residents without proper representation for quite some time. I realize that using social media does come with downfalls but there is no doubt it does bring accessible representation. That was lacking for much of the 2014-2018 term as well, engagement could have been higher (in my opinion). Colchester is a gem in our town and it deserves to be treated as such.
Now, during the current term of council, we start off with an election investigation and later an OPP charge with a subsequent conviction. We then head into the CREW winery sign debacle. From the outside looking in, it appears that there are different sets of rules for residents and business owners. Crew Winery monopolized much of council’s time and energy in 2020, making several appearances to council and utilizing the time of town staff. This time could have been spent on other files. A public survey was held and council finally listened to the residents. Although this file is not closed yet, the sign is up and we are in court. This file divided council and divided the Ward 3 reps which caused many residents in Colchester to pick sides. Not pretty and not fun at all. If we as council let this one slide, might as well throw out all of the bylaws.
Council then moves forward with the potential development of the Old School House property and the majority of us realize this is not a “best fit” but one Ward 3 councillor states in the January 18, 2021 Council meeting that we “have to save Colchester from itself”. You can watch the clip around the 3 hour mark on our Essex Ontario YouTube Channel, January 18th meeting. During this meeting I had to ask, “Is this what council wants for the community or what the community wants for itself?” Later I decided to hold a Colchester Chat and Connect and heard that generally speaking, development would be OK in the village if it was done right.
The Grove Bike Rental – The Town issued a request for tender. The Grove was the only one who applied. A report came to council and council supported the plan because it’s amazing and much needed in the Village. The blunder? Not consulting the community about the location and using a high profile place in the park. A little bit of consultation would have gone a long way to get everyone on the same page. We now have a petition sent to council asking for the sea can to be relocated with business owners stuck in the middle while doing everything correct on their end.
We have done a poor job of engaging the opinions of our residents. It almost feels like we do not want to know the opinions of those we represent. You can never go wrong with public engagement. We will never have 100 percent approval on anything we do BUT we can do better. Community buy-in is the key to happy communities. After all, council is supposed to be working for YOU, not against you.
We need to communicate more with our Colchester residents. Colchester deserves better. You need a council who is going to work for you all the time, not just during the election period. Being the representative close by, I am often contacted by Colchester Ward 3 residents asking me who their ward rep is. My first thought is DID YOU NOT VOTE? Everyone needs to do their part in paying attention- Harrow News, Town website, Town of Essex Social Media. You have a responsibility to pay attention!
Residents need to pay attention to what their ward reps, mayor, and deputy mayor are doing during the 4 year term of council to decide on WHO to vote for in the next election. Pay attention, call your ward rep, mayor, etc. Vote in the next election or RUN in the next election. Find a candidate you support and HELP them run.
The community you want to live in is not going to create itself. You have to be vocal, organize, and contact your fellow citizens and reach out to council. Get on committees, make committees, watch meetings, read agendas.
You, my friend, have the power to make the community what you want but you can not do it by just sitting back.
Call us, email us… get involved.
https://www.essex.ca/en/town-hall/mayorandcouncil.aspx
