Details

I am reading Tom Vegh's glossy flyer and what he says about himself.  

He reminds us that he is a director of this and a director of that. 

He has more directorships than your average Russian General has medals on his chest.

Of course, all these board appointments come with the job. They are in no sense proof of distinction.

If I were to be elected on 24 October 2022 I would have a fistful of "directorships" within weeks. 

What Vegh says is just puffery. And people aren't remotely interested in that kind of self-promotion.

Experience at executive level

But what caught my eye was this:

*25+ years' experience at the executive level in the non-profit and private sectors

*Past Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity York Region and Inn From the Cold

So, in this election campaign, he parades his experience as a past Director of the homelessness organisation, Inn From the Cold.

Yet he couldn't summon up the energy to talk about it when Newmarket's Mayor, John Taylor, was battling to convince his Regional Council colleagues to give a capital grant of $1M to the charity.

Throughout the long debate on 29 September 2022 Vegh sat on his hands and said nothing.

Abnormal

That is not normal behaviour.

Am I the only person in Newmarket who believes Vegh's silence was weird?

Clearly, the local press don't believe there is a story.

But I do.

In similar circumstances, I would have rowed in behind John Taylor, giving him vocal support.

Election Debate

I've invited Vegh to an election debate in the multi-purpose room at Newmarket Public Library from 7pm-8-pm on Tuesday 11 October 2022. All are welcome.

If Tom Vegh turns up - and I hope he does - I shall ask him to his face:

"Why didn't you speak in the debate on the funding of the Inn From the Cold?"

"Why didn't you support your own Mayor, John Taylor, in making the case?"

"And why did you leave the Inn From the Cold?"

Why?

Gordon Prentice 7 October 2022

 

Details

I am out knocking on doors on Eagle Street with my little band of helpers. Today there are five of us ready to confront the unknown. Our task is to get my lawn signs up in high visibility locations and to listen to what the voters have to say.  

As usual there are plenty of Vegh signs in front of empty properties. This is his modus operandi. We knock on the doors to see if anyone could conceivably be living there and with no sign of life we move on. Vegh’s signs stay in place, proclaiming support from a non-existent resident.

Now I am talking to a fascinating worldly-wise guy, sitting on his porch, cigarette in hand.

He is not voting because his vote won’t change the system. The people with the money and the power call the tune.

Money Talks

I agree with him. Money talks.

But he has the power, through his vote, to elect people like me. And I won’t sell out. I tell him I‘ll rattle the bars of the cage. And I’ll get things done.

I try my best but he won’t take my lawn sign. He has given up. Alienated from the whole system.

Now I am talking to an angry man. He doesn’t want to listen. He retreats into his house refusing even to talk to me.

I say:

“What is it you are so upset about? I won’t be back here again so why not talk to me? What’s the problem?”

He disappears into his house, muttering.

Now I am talking at length to a man who is clearly interested in what I am saying. I have a very clear idea of what needs to change.

Now he tells me he didn’t vote for Tom Vegh at the last election.

Check me out on Google

I am encouraged. I leave him my lawn sign. Check me out on Google. Visit my website. And if you don’t like what you see take it down.

I use this formulation a lot. And it works.

It’s my last call of the evening. I really, really want my lawn sign in this location.

I spend a long time talking to this voter, fielding his questions, making my case.

Pretending

Believe me, I say, I don’t need this job. But I can’t let Tom Vegh sell us out to the developers while pretending he is on our side. 

Eventually he takes my lawn sign.

My friend who is close by hears everything and says I could sell ice to the Inuit.

He is wrong.

I am just telling it as I see it.

And people can take me or leave me as they choose.

Gordon Prentice 6 October 2022

Details

I drove past Lorne Avenue twice today at its intersection with Davis Drive. 

The police were there, lights flashing, ludicrously.

Why on earth do we allow this ridiculous pantomime to continue?

The police are there, presumably, to protect the construction workers from angry drivers, furious they can't get through.

Or, maybe, the answer is more prosaic.

They are on hand to direct traffic.

But there is a big orange sign on Lorne telling everyone:

ROAD CLOSED

The police have powers to direct traffic - and I don't - but what an absurd waste of highly skilled police time.

The police should be out catching criminals not spending their days in idle chatter with construction workers.

All it needs is a one clause Bill to remove the obligation on police to be present when roads are being dug up and traffic may need to be redirected..

Perhaps our new MPP, Dawn Gallagher Murphy, could drag herself away from organising her Corn Fest and BBQ, and do this.

Gordon Prentice 6 October 2022

Details

Do we need a new Library? 

Newmarket Today tells its readers

“No candidate in this election has campaigned on a new library building.” 

This is incorrect.

In the Newmarket Today questionnaire sent out to all candidates I was asked:

Should opening a second branch of Newmarket Public Library be a top priority for the next term?

We were all restricted to a one word answer (!) 

This was my full answer which I sent to Newmarket Today and posted on my election website voteprentice.com

Yes. But we need a new main Library. Our focus and our energies should be on replacing a Library that is too small to deliver services to our growing population. Eight years ago, the previous Chief Executive, Todd Kyle, spelt out the reasons why the Library was no longer fit for purpose. It’s too small. The building frequently leaks. We are way behind other comparable municipalities in terms of the financial support we give to our library.

Blame the pandemic

My opponent promised a new library in his 2018 election campaign (see right) but couldn’t get the support of his council colleagues during the “priority setting” meetings in early 2019. Vegh’s excuse for inaction (the pandemic) is just another of his inventions.

But, that said, getting a new Library is going to be a Herculean task. The Mayor doesn’t see a pressing need and, astonishingly, neither does the Library Board nor the Library’s new Chief Executive. 

For the moment, I am pretty much a lone voice.  

A New Building or Satellite Branches

The previous Chief Executive, Todd Kyle, (photo right), now head of libraries at Brampton, said the Park Avenue site was way too small. He posted this on the Library's website on 28 February 2018.

In 2018 he made his views clear:

“The last two terms of council haven’t put the library on the priority list. It would be nice to just have a space where people aren’t tripping over other people constantly.”

“The current location has restrictions on the land so we would have to build up to expand, which isn’t ideal. Our two options seem to be building a new facility or constructing satellite branches to increase our services to the public.”

So, to be clear, we need a new Library.

Gordon Prentice 6 October 2022

Read Heather Mallick on Toronto's libraries in yesterday's Toronto Star.

Details

Today my little team canvassed London Road. There were five of us doing the work of five thousand.    

It’s hard work.

I’ve got to tell my life story in two minutes. Explain why I am running in another two minutes. And then ask permission to put my lawn sign on their property.

Five minutes minimum but often I am on the doorstep for 15 minutes.

There are no shortcuts.

Engaging with the voters takes time

I explain. I listen. I engage. The voters have got to get to know me.

I make my case to an entranced listener who, at the end of my spiel, asks penetrating questions before saying they don’t take signs. Not for anyone. I scream inside silently.

This happens more than once.

I meet a man who warns there are dangers in elected office. He says he was threatened many years ago when he blew the whistle on a man who was dumping toxic water into Lake Ontario. He was threatened. He is told it only takes $20,000 and we’d make sure your brains would be blown out.

I laugh at this. I tell him I wear an invisible Police Officer’s uniform. No-one is going to threaten me.

I spend as much time with the voters as it takes.

Speed dating

This is not speed dating. It’s gotta be slow and measured.  

People want to know who I am. Why am I running? Why am I knocking on their door? What am I going to do for them?

I’ve got to answer these questions head on. Without appearing weird or confrontational, impatient or bored.

Breathless

Our new Conservative MPP, Dawn Gallagher Murphy, breathlessly boasts that she knocked on 25,000 doors in the Provincial election campaign earlier this year. She says her team knocked on 5,000 doors in three days!

That is 5,000 doors in 4,320 minutes. Or 52 seconds per door.

Whoa!

Not so fast, Dawn. Don’t rush. 

Take it slow. Get to know your voters.

Ford appointee and Office Manager

Dawn probably gets through the preliminaries by saying she was a Ford appointee and worked as the former Office Manager for Christine Elliott. And she is pure PC.

But that would have taken at least 45 seconds, leaving very little time for anything else. No time to ask the voters for their opinions on anything. 

And what about Tom? 

We know he keeps a list of past contacts, going back to 2018. And four years later he wants to get to know them again.

Gordon Prentice 5 October 2022                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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