Posts Tagged ‘Colin Best’

Hamid, Best and Smith throw their hats into the ring

January 6th, 2010
Email This Post Email This PostspacerPrint This Post Print This Post

spacer

2010 has arrived and it looks like the race is on for Milton’s eight Town Council positions spread across it’s recently realigned 8 Wards.

Zeeshan Hamid started things off on January 4th by announcing his intention to run in Ward 8 on the Hawthorne Villager forums as well as his own blog and newly formed campaign page.

From his post January 4th on the Hawthorne Villager Forums:

It should come as no surprise to regular readers of villager that I have decided to enter the race for the Local council for Ward 8.

I am not going to make vague and ambiguous promises. I am not promising to change the world, bring about world peace, end world hunger or to teach every bad driver how to drive. However, I do unconditionally promise to be accessible, transparent and representative (full commitment).

A councillor is supposed to listen to his or her constituents and represent their interests in the Council. Those who know me know that I can do that very well.

I want to improve the quality of our lives, and those of our children (“our” = residents of Milton). You can get highlights on my campaign page (or drill in deeper to get a whole lot of details).

If you support me then perhaps you’ll considering fanning me on facebook to show support and making a little campaign donation. Every bit helps.

Zeeshan Hamid
Ward 8 Candidate for the Local Council

Announcing his candidacy was the worst-kept secret in town to those who regularly read the aforementioned forums, of which Zeeshan is both a frequent and much-appreciated contributor. His blog has become a must-read and you have to commend his passion for the community and for transparency and accountability in government. MiltonSearch.com would like to wish him the best of luck come election time this October 25.

It also came as no surprise later in the day when on the same venue, current Local and Regional Councillor Colin Best announced his intention to throw his hat back into the ring in 2010.

I want to let everyone on the hawthornevillager know that I have registered my candidacy for re-election and filed my nomination papers for the office of Local & Regional Councillor in the new ward 2,3,4,5 north of Derry road.

I congratulate all those who have registered today and encourage all Milton residents to become involved in this first election with eight local wards and two new regional wards.

Will be posting further information on my campaign and position on issues through my web site and blog at www.colinbest.ca.

Looking forward to talking with all the residents in the ward during the campaign and working for all the residents of Milton.

Colin Best
Local & regional councillor
Milton/Halton
www.colinbest.ca

Again, Colin is constantly connected to the community as a whole through his website and the local forums and has been über-responsive to all kinds of requests for information and updates on all things Milton for years now.

And just today, while perusing the world of Twitter, we stumbled across Jennifer Smith’s Twitter page.

On January 4th she posted the following:

is deciding whether to submit my nomination papers today, or wait a few weeks and keep ‘em guessing #miltonvote

Followed up yesterday by confirming her intentions:

just submitted my nomination papers. I am officially a candidate for Milton Town Councillor, Ward 2! #miltonvote

Smith’s blog Sprawlville: The quest for sustainability in Canada’s Fastest Growing Town is another essential read and we wish her luck as well in her campaign for office in 2010.

And so it begins. The next 10 months should be interesting in Milton with some fresh blood vying for a spot on our Local Council and no shortage of hot button topics in and around town. We’ll do our part to try to bring awareness of some of the issues facing Milton and how some of the candidates plan to tackle things.

As is has been over the past several years, we’re in a very important time in the history of this town we all call home. It’s time for everyone to get more involved so we can shape Milton’s future together.

After a poor voter turnout for the Municipal Elections in 2006, I think we can agree that the most important thing we can all do is educate ourselves, get to know the candidates and get out and vote come October!

Comments on this story are moderated

2 comments »

Posted in Election, Hawthorne Village, Milton Development, Milton: The Good, Politics

Tags:

Derry Road underpass update

November 19th, 2009

From MiltonSearch.com:

Earlier this week, Local and Regional Councillor Colin Best posted an update on the Hawthorne Villager forums on the possible acceleration of a project critical those living in the new Milton developments west of the hospital.

That particular area of the town has and continues to grow and expand rapidly. Trains on the north-south CN railway tracks just west of Milton District Hospital frequently stop traffic in both directions along Derry Road, not only simply inconveniencing residents, but also delaying emergency response services to that new development — ambulances and fire trucks being the obvious ones.

Thanks to the response of Milton residents, Colin’s request to accelerate the underpass project was included in the 2010 budget presentation. Hawthorne Village Escarpment resident Zeeshan Hamid should also be commended for his efforts. Hamid posted a petition on his personal website to assist in bringing awareness to this issue in an attempt to accelerate the project and 273 residents sent emails through his site to the town.

Both Colin and Zeeshan should be commended for their efforts on this critical issue to thousands of new Milton residents.

From Colin Best:

Just wanted to let everyone know that thanks to the hundreds of emails sent by Milton residents and hawthornevillager members, my request to accelerate this project has been included in the 2010 budget presentation which was presented today to bring forward the engineering and design work to be tender ready from 2014 to 2010 at a cost of $ 2.4 million with the construction work which takes about 18 months to complete from 2016 to 2012 at a cost of $ 20.6 million.

Regional council will be considering all the budget submissions and recommendations over the next three weeks and have final approval at the Regional Council on Wednesday Decemeber 16th.

You can see the details of the staff recommendations at www.halton.ca and in Friday’s Champion.

Council also today finalized some of the details of the engineering work for the widening of Tremaine Road to Main St. W. to start that process in early 2010 and the completion of the widening of Derry road from Bronte to Tremaine Road and the detour around the CN line within the next few months to allow the underpass construction to start.

Chair Carr and the public works staff have been working closely with the Town and I to bring this project forward due to the growth of the Harrison and Scott neighbourhoods and increased traffic along Derry road.

The Town will be announcing its staff recommendations next week and I will be posting more information on both budgets in the near future.

Colin Best
Local & Regional councillor
Member of the Halton Budget Review Committee
www.colinbest.ca

From Zeeshan Hamid:

Thanks Colin!

273 people sent e-mails via my website. Wow, I did not expect more than a few dozen hits honestly.

@csb101 – design etc. in 2010. Construction in 2012. One caveat is that 2010 budget is what’s coming up for approval in 3 weeks … 2012 is technically still at the mercy of the next council.

I will take the petition down from my website when the budget is approved (Dec 16th).This petition was a huge motivation behind setting up the site (my blog was initially hosted at blogspot). The site will feel so empty without it.

Comments on this story are moderated

2 comments »

Posted in Halton, Hawthorne Village, Milton Development, Milton: The Good, Politics, Traffic, Transportation

Tags:

Motion won’t affect Milton

November 21st, 2008

With his councils backing, Carr will go to a planned meeting with Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman in early December to make his case that growth has not been paying for itself – and things have to change.

This development in Oakville, north of Dundas will be affected by the motion to stall growth in Halton.

It looks like Gary Carr’s motion to stall Halton development will have little or no affect in Milton.

Here is the latest from Milton Councillor Colin Best, from a recent thread on the Hawthorne Villager Forums:

Regarding the Town hall contact call 905-878-7252 and ask for the Building department or check milton.ca under planning and building for details on the application. 

Regarding the motion the prime area which are affected is the OPA 8 area which is the proposed 18,000 homes in Oakville north of Dundas St. and the possible 6000 homes in the OPA 25 area in Halton Hills west and south of the current Georgetown area. 

Both areas require large infrastructure requirements such as the new Oakville Hospital at 3rd line and Dundas (you can see the sign at the north-west corner) the estimated cost of the hospital alone is $ 700+ million with the Province delaying approval to go ahead with plans for a possible 2013 opening. Also there is a need to fully account for the financing of these areas before they go ahead as the current Development Charges Act only funds about 82% of the cost of growth due to exemptions in the Act for various services and no capital plan from the Province on such things as highway and school funding over the next 10 years even though the Province requires Towns and Regions to have a 10 year capital plan to justify the associated Development Charges. 

The motion does not affect current Milton area development but may slow the approval of the Phase 3 Boyne Survey area south of Louis St. Laurent Blvd. from Tremaine to James Snow Parkway. Milton Council has similar concerns regarding the cost of development and lack of approvals and funding for the Milton Hospital expansion which is estimated in the $ 180+ million range. The region has requested Milton Council to review and comment on the motion. 

Will be posting more information as soon as I know. 

Also understand Phinjo Gombu of the Toronto Star is doing a feature story on Milton and Halton’s growth in the next few days to follow up on the motion and infrastructure concerns. 

Comments on this story are moderated

No comments »

Posted in Halton, Hawthorne Village, Milton Development, Politics, Real Estate

Tags:

2008 Milton Santa Claus Parade Route

November 11th, 2008

MiltonSearch.com’s inbox has been flooded with inquiries as to the actual route this year’s Milton Santa Claus Parade will take, so we’ve decided to post it.

From the Milton Canadian Champion: 

This year’s parade will take place Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2 p. m. It’ll leave from the corner of Bronte and Barton streets, proceed along Main Street and end up at the rear parking lot of Milton Mall in front of the Winners store.

The theme for the 2008 parade is Christmas Around the World, which is sure to inspire a number of interesting floats depicting Christmas as it’s celebrated by diverse nationalities.

So there you have it, straight from the local fishwrap.

It’s sure to be a great parade this year, with, according to Regional Councillor Colin Best, “a few surprises in store.”

We encourage you to post any comments below, before or after the parade, and hey, if you have any photos of the parade, why not register for an account and post them on MiltonSearch.com’s photo gallery to share with all of Milton?

Let’s give Santa a warm Milton welcome!

Comments on this story are moderated

No comments »

Posted in Entertainment, Holidays, Milton Events, Milton: The Good

Tags:

To fluoridate or not to fluoridate…

November 10th, 2008

The debate is back: should new Miltons water supply be fluorinated or not?

The debate is back: should "new" Milton's water supply be fluorinated or not?

Let the debate begin.

Local Councillor Colin Best recently posted a question on the Hawthorne Villager Forums asking for opinions on new Milton’s water supply – keep it fluoridated, or go with non-fluoridated water like the rest of the Town whose water comes from the escarpment rather than the “big pipe” from Lake Ontario.

Here is Colin’s post:

I have a poll question for readers who live in newer areas of Milton served by lake water. The Halton region Health & Social Services Committee which I serve on is having a special meeting this Thursday November 13th at 1.30 pm with a item on flouridation of water within the region (check halton.ca click on council, agenda and HSS agenda for 11/13/08 item 3 of the regular agenda report MO-37-08) there is already 11 registered delegations on this item both pro and anti fluoridation speakers concerned about residents health and risks of using and not using fluoride in their tap water. 

The pre-2000 residential area of Milton which is served by well water does not have fluoride in it while the rest of the Region urban areas have fluoride. 

I want to get your opinions and votes on whether you want fluoride in your tap water or not and your reasons. 

Thank you for your input which I will be raising at the meeting which is expected to last until 5 pm when the committee starts its debate on the hospital expansion issue and the proposed moratorium until the Province makes a committment for the approval and funding of the new Oakville hospital and the expansions of the Milton, Burlington and Georgetown hospital to keep up with the growth of the Region.

Colin Best 
Local & regional councillor, Milton/Halton 
colinbest.ca

As residents of Hawthorne Village (aka “new” Milton), MiltonSearch.com is in the “no” camp for fluoridated water. If you’ve followed this issue at all, there are good points to be made on both sides, but one post on the Hawthorne Villager thread from “kkhan657″ summed it up best:

“From all of the pro-fluoridation sources posted, I am only able to pick out one totally solid benefit of this chemical — and that benefit is that it helps us by enhancing our teeth. The question (after considering the opposing veiws) would be: is your dental health more important than the health of the rest of your body? 

From what my dad has always told us, “The less chemicals ingested, the better.” He used to tell us that “they (scientist/ people who do this kind of research) would first heavily promote a certain thing for many years and down the road when the side effects/ health risks become evident, they simply start to oppose it. For them, its just another experiment, meanwhile, the innocent people are left to deal with the issues that came out of the particular chemical.”

MiltonSearch.com encourages you to educate yourself on this matter and be sure to voice your opinion either by posting in the thread started by Colin on the Hawthorne Villager, or by sending Colin an email directly via his website.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to leave your comments here as well. MiltonSearch.com is also interested in hearing the opinions on this matter and providing a forum in which to do so.

Comments on this story are moderated

No comments »

Posted in Hawthorne Village, Milton Development, Politics

Tags:

Milton Santa Claus Parade 2008 – Last call!

November 4th, 2008

From Colin Best, Milton Santa Claus Parade Assembly Marshall:

The 2008 Milton Santa Claus Parade takes place on Sunday, November 23 at 2pm along Main St. from Bronte St. South to the Winners parking lot behind Milton Mall

The 2008 Milton Santa Claus Parade takes place on Sunday, November 23 at 2pm along Main St. from Bronte St. South to the Winners parking lot behind Milton Mall

Hi everyone

Just to remind anyone who is interested in entering a float for the Santa Claus Parade the deadline is this week and there is only about 10 spaces left.

Check out the official parade website at miltonsantaclausparade.ca for entry forms and other information or email Mike Ricker at mlricker@sympatico.ca or call 905-876-1331. Forms can also be picked up at the UPS store at Main & Ontario St.

Also the parade committee is looking for volunteers to help on parade day Sunday November 23rd starting at 2 pm. on Bronte St. S. and going through the downtown area on Main St. to end at the Milton Mall parking lot in front of the Winners store.

Call either Linda Ricker at 905-876-1331 or Diana Bracken at 905-875-2109 to arrange to help in any of these areas: costumes, make up, candy, barricades, marshalling or assembly area. If you have teenagers looking for community hours, the committee needs help for about 2-4 hours depending on the location and the parade qualifies those hours.

The parade is organized by an all-volunteer committee and no tax dollars are used in the hosting of the parade which attracts nearly 20,000 people along the 3 km route. There is also a Salvation Army food drive at the front of the parade collecting non-perishable items through the Milton Firefighters and transit bus. Canada Post is also collecting letters to Santa from children in the area.

The committee is planning some surprises this year with new bands, attractions and a new sleigh for Santa!

Colin Best,
Assembly Marshall

Thanks Colin, and again a reminder that the 2008 Milton Santa Claus Parade takes place on Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 2pm and this year’s theme is “Christmas around the World.”

Comments on this story are moderated

1 comment »

Posted in Halton, Milton Events, Milton: The Good

Tags:

Is the Thompson Road nightmare almost over?

October 9th, 2008

After enduring years of pain and agony in the form of Thompson Road between Derry and Main Streets – can if finally be almost over?? 

That’s the way it looks according to Town/Regional Councillor Colin Best who posted this information on the Hawthorne Villager forum:

“I’m just as unhappy as you are with the rate of construction on the Main to Derry Road section of Thompson Road. I drive on Thompson road almost everyday and have been after staff to get the contractor to finish the work as soon as possible.”

“I understand that the top coat of pavement is being poured starting Wednesday (weather permiting) and should take four days to complete the paving on both sides of road with the final road markings and traffic lights operational later next week. The official opening is scheduled for October 23rd at the Thompson Road arena and will have more details when they become available.”

Wow.

I still need to actually see this to believe it, however. The road was actually scheduled to have been completed by the end of September, but my drive along that stretch sure didn’t get any faster on October 1st as construction, lane closure flip-flops, gridlock and road rage continued to be the norm through that stretch of road, for most hours of the day.

Along with all of the benefits that Milton’s growth has provided us long-time residents, the ongoing road work and poor town planning has been far more frustrating. No stretch of road other than maybe Derry Road east of town highlights said disastrous planning more. 

This dysfunctional key artery through town connecting new Milton with both old Milton and the 401 has caused residents of most areas of town huge grief for a long, long time – to the point where it has become not even an option now for most drivers, instead opting to take Ontario St. or the newly opened James Snow Parkway extension to Main St.

So, we shall see if this does indeed get wrapped up in the coming days/weeks. And, if so, where is Milton’s next traffic-catastrophe-in-waiting?

I don’t know if the town is planning any kind of ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the brand new 4-lane Thompson Road.

Nevertheless, I’ll be celebrating.

Comments are moderated

No comments »

Posted in Milton Development, Milton: The Ugly, Politics, Transportation

Tags: