The Citizen, 2012-11-15, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2012.
Continued from page 12
problems the county had with
former members of the senior
management team could be
attributed to the warden’s one-year
term.
“We’ve had a difficult year,” he
said. “These problems we’ve had
between council and staff, I lay a
direct link between the one-year
term and these problems.
“I think this is a great opportunity
to make a significant change.”
While Howick’s Art Versteeg said
he supported the proposed two-year
term, he had a growing problem with
how councillors perceived the
position of warden just weeks after it
had been officially redefined (a
recommendation of the George Cuff
report).
“We agreed that the position
would be primarily ceremonial,” he
said, “but it sounds like there are
some who want it to be significantly
more than that.
“These things aren’t in the job
description.”
He said he feared with the
commitment someone like Shewfelt
wanted the warden to make, that
council would no longer draw the
best candidates because of the
workload.
Klopp compared the job of the
warden to that of the quarterback of
a football team, saying that yes he is
the leader of the team, but on most
teams he has been familiar with over
the years, there have been try-outs
every year.
“The quarterback is very
important and the job is very
important,” Klopp said.
Hessel replied to a comment that
was made about lobbyist groups. He
said that most organizations and
lobby groups go with at least a two-
year term because so much of
lobbying pertains to establishing
relationships. Councillors said that
the county isn’t a lobby group, but
Hessel argued that it is.
“We are a lobby group, we are
lobbying for money and looking for
grants,” he said. “We are
lobbyists.”
Shewfelt responded to Klopp’s
quarterback comparison, saying that
there are try-outs for wardens and
they’re held three times a month in
the form of council meetings.
“This thinking goes back to the
old boy’s club and I don’t think we
want that,” Shewfelt said.
“I think you set the bar really,
really high and the consistency will
be in place,” he said. “You couldn’t
run your own municipalities in a
year.”
The recorded vote then passed by
a vote of nine to six with Ginn,
MacLellan, Hessel, Shewfelt,
Versteeg, Grace, Steffler, Jewitt and
Morris-Turnberry’s Paul Gowing
voting for the motion and Klopp,
Dowson, Robertson, Van
Diepenbeek, Jim Dietrich and Neil
Rintoul voting against it. North
Huron Reeve Neil Vincent was
absent for the vote.
Huron County Warden’s term
extension approved by council
Continued from page 14
hundreds of people waving and
cheering at the ship. Then they
entered the Pacific Ocean and sailed
to San Diego.
It was a wonderful experience and
Val recommends it to all. They spent
five days in San Diego and visited
the Birch Aquarium, the famous
Balboa Park, where they listened to
a 500-pipe organ concert. They went
to the famous San Diego Zoo and it
was wonderful and “age” friendly
for getting around. Welcome back
Val!
Our sympathies are extended to
Danny and Patricia McKay and
family on the passing of his
grandmother Emma McKay.
Our get-well wishes go out to
Gord Pryce who is a patient in a
Kitchener Hospital. We hope he is
improving and will soon be home.
Celebrating birthdays this past
week include Jane Zwep, Kevin
Grosvenor, Jeanne Kirkby, Darcy
McCutcheon, Johnathon
Williamson, Brian Pryce, Danielle
Ducharme, Murray Henderson,
Katie Roth, Barry Hoegy, Michael
Kupjetz, Tristan Rijkhoff, Pat Gillis,
Michael Grobbink and Blaine
Marks. Happy birthday to all.
Sympathies extended to McKays
Continued from page 11
the bill.
“This doesn’t change policy,” he
said, “you just use your own [credit
card].
“We need to take some action,”
Shewfelt said. “Just use your own
[credit card] like you do at the local
level.”
Adams said that cards are
currently being used to purchase
things for departments that have to
be purchased out of the province, or
even out of the country.
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn
said that perhaps council was going
too far as a result of the ordeal they
had just come out of.
“[Central Huron] has eight [credit
cards] and we have never had any
issues,” Ginn said. “I think we need
to be very careful not to have a knee-
jerk reaction to not hinder how staff
operates.”
Grace said council had to
remember that they are essentially
running a $100 million business and
they are currently the biggest
employer in the county.
“You need a credit card for some
purchases,” he said. “We hire good
people in senior management
positions and they should be
responsible enough to handle a
credit card.”
Shewfelt, however, was confused
as to why everyone was being so
light on their regulations and
backpedaling from the
recommendations being made.
“I don’t understand, with what
we’ve just been through, why people
are so afraid to tighten things up,”
Shewfelt said.
MacLellan was quick to clear up
Grace’s statement, saying that there
is a high level of trust between
councillors and the senior
management team.
“This is not because we don’t trust
our employees,” MacLellan said.
“This has nothing to do with trust.”
Adams backed MacLellan up,
saying that it wasn’t about trust or
distrust, but more about managing
risk.
Motions were then made that the
discussion would return to council
as soon as could be accommodated
and that discussions begin about
transitioning into fewer county-
issued credit cards and possibly
bringing county-owned vehicles in
off the road.
Warden says credit card discussion not one of trust
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Chip presentation highlightsdangers of collisions, speed
The Coalition for Huron Injury
Prevention (CHIP) made its annual
presentation to Huron County
Council at its Nov. 7 meeting with a
promise to clamp down on distracted
drivers.
Wingham Chief of Police Tim
Poole, who is a member of CHIP,
was on hand to present the results of
the organization’s speed sign
campaign from around the county.
Results from the Wingham area,
Poole said, indicated that there isn’t
a speeding problem in that part of
North Huron, but that speeding is a
problem in the southern end of the
municipality in Blyth.
Poole called speeding in Blyth “a
problem” saying that the sign was
placed in the southern end of the
town near Sparling’s Propane and
vehicles were clocked going an
average of 67 kilometres per hour,
17 kilometres per hour higher than
the posted speed limit of 50
kilometres per hour. The highest
speed caught during the campaign in
that area, Poole said, was a vehicle
travelling at 108 kilometres per hour.
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn
said speeding is directly related to
people not watching the signs and
assuming that there is a buffer of 20
kilometres per hour between the
speed limit and the speed at which
police officers will pull over a driver.
He also said, citing CHIP’s own
numbers, that more of an emphasis
should be placed on distracted
driving and enforcing the law.
CHIP’s statistics for 2012 through
the end of September stated that
there were 748 total collisions
throughout the county (18 were
alcohol related, 57 were speed
related and 146 were related back to
inattentive drivers).
He said that enforcement for
speeding and drinking and driving is
much higher than enforcement of
distracted driving laws, yet the vast
majority of collisions are happening
when a driver is admitting to being
inattentive.
Ginn said that with a farm on
Hwy. 8, while working his property
he has seen drivers doing some crazy
things will driving their cars.
“I’ve seen people eating, reading
books and reading maps,” Ginn said,
“I’ve even seen a woman nursing her
baby.
“I think we need to put our
resources in the right area.”
Poole said that CHIP has done a
distracted driving campaign in the
past, but that the Ministry of
Transportation had put distracted
driving alongside its “big three”
priorities: seatbelts, speeding and
impaired driving.
Creepy clothes
Walton Little School staff and students got into the swing of
Halloween on Oct. 31 by dressing in some of the best
costumes they could bring from home or find on the
grounds. Shown are, back row, from left, co-op student
Darlene Elliott, toddler teacher Linda Sinnamon and toddler
teacher Erica Bechtel. Front row, from left, are: Adel
Fischer, Sarah VanNes and Ava Rombouts. (Denny Scott photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen