2024 Life Update: Buying the Sarnia Journal and Entrepreneurialism
An update about what’s going on with me and my new projects including more about how I bought the Sarnia Journal.
Category: Sarnia City Council
Sarnia Police Ticketing Again, This Time for Sitting on a Bench and Drinking Peacefully
So now this just happened 20 minutes ago. I was sitting down by the river near my home. Two officers showed up on bicycles and strolled right up to two men sitting about 50 feet…
Sarnia Police Services Budget Meeting
Maybe another way to describe why I was so agitated last night. This is all government. We have a vast system of resources across our city. And then we have the police by their own…
On My Run For Mayor of Sarnia
I’m still in a bit of shock. On August 14, 2021 I started a category in my note taking app called “mayor run” where I tracked ideas and thoughts about possibly running for mayor of…
Diversity Training In Sarnia Full Story
There is a lot of information coming out about what is happening in the City of Sarnia right now that I think needs some clarifying. At the risk of revealing things that were meant to…
Lambton County and Emergency Funds: Where Is The Money Really Going?
Since March 2020, we’ve been in what has been called a “housing crisis” in Sarnia-Lambton (and the rest of the country). Before the pandemic, Sarnia-Lambton had 60 shelter beds and in the last year and…
Reggae’s Noise Complaints Exposes Sarnia’s Racism
On June 19, around 930pm, my friend and I drove by Reggae’s Caribbean Restaurant a new Jamaican restaurant on Christina St, and they had a full patio. The owner is from out of town and…
Turning Christina St Into Pedestrian-Only For Weekends Is A Good Idea
Last year in Downtown Sarnia, the Chamber of Commerce made a bold suggestion, that council approved, to shut down Christina St on the weekends during the summer. For the most part it was an excellent…
Removing Mike Bradley’s Sanctions and the Infamous ‘Wall’
A motion is coming, “the workplace sanctions previously imposed against Mayor Mike Bradley shall be lifted immediately. This includes restoring the Mayors ability to communicate directly with City staff, his ability to freely access City…
Suggestions On How To Talk About Struggling Neighbourhoods
The recent news of three business owners leaving Mitton Village is really heartbreaking that they found themselves unable to sustain their businesses in that area. It really sheds light onto larger set of issues that…
Choosing Your Own Salary
I have spent most of the last twelve years being the lowest paid staff of any of the businesses I am a co-owner of. I don’t make decisions based on my own financial gain, but…
Rejecting the Integrity Commissioner RFP
Yesterday there was a motion in regards to the Integrity Commissioner to “re-issue the RFP in effort to seek additional proposals and broaden the scope of potential bidders in the interest of the Corporation” in…
Lower Taxes Is Not The Answer
Lower Taxes! This is the mantra of the masses, propagated by politicians. It is a message of fear that attempts to shift the citizen’s focus away from what is actually going on. An honest politician…
Municipal Infrastructure Lending
Coming off the heels of my first budget city council meeting, a motion was made today to increase our contribution to reserves (aka. savings account) of $3.5 million (approx 1.5% increase of taxes) to start…
The Difference Between ‘Having Debt’ and Being ‘In Debt’
Debt is a trigger word in politics, and when we use it, we end up using it no different than how the average consumer talks about credit card debt. In business however, debt is a…
Municipal Staff Turnover
I would estimate, that with the recent exodus of our senior staff, that we are going to see costs to the taxpayer in the City of Sarnia upwards of 1 million dollars to properly recruit,…
My City Council Campaign
I ran for city council in Sarnia and I won! I’ll post a bit more often on my Facebook page. I’m excited! Here is a transcript of a 5 minute talk I gave at a…