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Local blogger’s petition seeks calmer Town Council

September 22, 2016   ·   0 Comments

It’s been no secret that this particular term of Orangeville Council has been a well of frustrations and headaches for local residents. In its first year, Council received the nicknames of ‘The Gong Show’ and ‘Orangeville’s Soap Opera’, with many non-residents tuning in to broadcasted meetings for entertainment.

Depending on who you ask in town, the fault lies with different people. However, no matter who they believe is at fault, there seems to be a general consensus on Social Media that they would like Council to focus more on working together for the betterment of the town.

Lisa Post, a local resident who ran for Council in the last election, has been following Council closely for the last two years, writing about the meetings in her political blog, In My Humble Opinions. She also happens to be one of the residents who feels Council needs to make a change.

With that in mind, she decided to send a letter to Council and says she will be presenting members with a petition at next Monday’s meeting.

“The intent behind the petition is more about asking them to take a long, hard look at what their job description is as a member of council,” explained Ms. Post. “I am really hoping they will take a good look in the mirror to see if how they’ve behaved stands up to that description.”

She added that she doesn’t expect them to actually take action, much less resign, but she does hope it will strike a chord with them.

“I’d like to see them actually consider whether they have been acting appropriately as councillors, and if not, make adjustments to what they are doing so they can really represent Orangeville.”

Ms. Post said that as she has become more involved and vocal in local politics, she has witnessed a lot of negative feelings from the community – whether it’s been in letters to the local newspapers, through social media, or when they’ve expressed their concerns directly at Council.

“The community has been frustrated, whether they agree with one councillor or another, the basic feeling is that something has got to change, regardless of who they support. The general consensus is something isn’t working, so Council needs to do something different.”

Her letter opens by thanking members of Council for their service to the Town, but adds that while she has found the past two years entertaining, the ‘circus’ – as she calls it – needs to come to an end.

“Two years ago, each one of you ran on platforms that included making Orangeville a better place, and you have broken that promise to the electorate,” she wrote.

In the letter, she explains that she feels the reason for these broken promises lies in the pursuit of personal agendas and desires that have fueled animosity and infighting.

She explained that her reason in writing this letter, and starting the petition, is that she does not want to see the last half of Council’s four-year term end up heading in the same direction.

“They have two years left,” she explained to the Citizen. “In the first two years, we have not seen things get better, we have seen them decline. The next two years will continue to get worse if things don’t change now.

The full letter can be read on Ms. Post’s blog, www.inmyhumbleopinions.net/an-open-letter-to-town-council.  She plans to present the petition to Council, as well as address her letter, at the council meeting next Monday, September 26.


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