Where's the leadership?

The sign of a good leader in politics is a person who can bring about effective change, create jobs, keep taxes low, offer services that their community needs, and be able to work with friends and foes alike.
In my community of Wasaga Beach, we lack that leadership from certain members of council, and our Mayor, Cal Patterson. This is not a rant about sour grapes from the Municipal election, but it's about doing whatever it takes to make our community better for all our residents and not just the ones who voted for you in an election.
We have several issues that were outstanding prior to the election and are still outstanding after the election. Speaking with residents who what to see the change happen, and the change that they were promised, they are still upset with the lack of interest by certain members of council, and most of all the Mayor of our town. A good example is the on-going issue surrounding Beach Area One and Two. The town is still owed money from the Bankruptcy of Blue Beach Developments, and has failed to use all means possible to recover the money that's owed to us as taxpayers. Last summer the receiver operated the two biggest money making businesses along our beach front, and they made a ton of money, yet they only paid a fraction to the town in back taxes, and other funds that we are owed. Yes, Patterson goes on and on about how the town is first in line to receive all the money that's owed when the properties are sold, but when will that be? The town needs to use all legal means possible to get our money back.Still on the topic of the beach area, we have the eyesore of a dome that's just sitting their empty, and the reason is not because the owner does not want to do anything, the issue is that the town's building department wants the owner to build washrooms so he can get his liquor license. Why would you as the land owner go to all the expense of building washrooms just to be used for a few months, when you can get portable washrooms installed for a fraction of the cost. This does not make any business sense to me, and with most of our current council being strong Conservatives, who are "Pro Business" they should be helping the owner, and not putting up road blocks.The town recently set-up a committee to review what they will do with the Property that the town owns in the beach area. I've blogged about this before... http://simcoegrey.blogspot.com/2011/05/wasaga-beach-council-taking-too-much.htmlSo I'm still puzzled as to why no members of the community were not asked to sit on this committee. Again it was all the buddies of the Mayor who are on this committee, and some of them are failed business people in my eyes, and they should not be sitting on a committee that will prepare a report for council and the town, who can't even make a go of their own businesses.Over to the noise issue from our local trailer parks during the summer. Every year since I've lived in Wasaga Beach the residents who live near these parks always complain about the noise. Town staff always say that they are sending out the by-law staff to enforce the towns by-laws and nothing is ever done. All of the candidates during the campaign said they will put a plan into place to ensure that our residents have the right to enjoy their own property without being subject to the noise that always happens in the summer months. So where is the plan to deal with the noise? Recent letters to the editor of the local rag, the Wasaga Sun have asked where's the help? Responses to some of the letters from other readers is that if you don't like it the move. Again where's the leadership from our Mayor on this issue?Some say I just love to attack our Mayor, and for the most part they are correct because as a resident of this town he's failed to make this town a better place for all our our residents. He does not have a problem helping his "buddies", but he does have a problem helping to make a community a better place by bringing good paying jobs to our area, helping our residents that are in need of help, and projecting a better image of Wasaga Beach to the outside world. A good example of what I mean relates to a project of bringing a solar panel company to Wasaga Beach which I was working on with several other people, both of a political and business nature. I even spoke to the Mayor during one of the town hall meetings during the campaign to advise him that a company was willing to look at our town as a place to set-up shop and create at least 200 high paying jobs, and he was excited about it at the time. However after the election when I was prepared to hand over the file to him so he can get the project moving along he was not interested at all. So this is the Pro-Business Mayor who's not interested in creating jobs in our community.

In closing, the town continues to lack leadership, it continues to have a vision, and all residents have a right to know what type of community are we? Are we a retirement community? Are we a tourist community? Do we want to create high paying jobs? Do we want to be a community that helps other residents who can't help themselves? In the end it all boils down to leadership or the lack of it.
Until next time!