How Do I Convince You How Important Tuesday Night is to Carleton Place?

The mayor, Louis Antonakos , has been found guilty again for the FIFTH time by the Integrity Commissioner and it will be brought up at a special meeting Tuesday evening.  I don’t like this anymore than anyone else does, but there is an election coming up October 22. So please attend Tuesday night and make your decisions for the upcoming vote.

What’s going on Carleton Place? Logically, you’d want an intelligent person who understands the best approach and methods running for mayor in the best possible way. But no, people seem drawn to demonstrations of questionable intellectual abilities, and I just don’t understand it.

In today’s politics, a vote is far more likely to be a force of castigation than a result of inspiration or aspiration. I call it the “least-lousy justification: “My side sucks, but not as much as those other guys. democracy would be perfect if it weren’t for all the people involved”.

This election people are being given something to vote for rather than against— like finally a council that will work together and get things done. No more drama! No more chaos!  We have some brilliant caring people running this election and we need a new direction.  Can Carleton Place stand another 4 years of bad media? You tell me, because in the end it is your decision, and your vote will form the future of Carleton Place for the next 4 years.

 

Because some appear to have lost sight of the larger issues, like our town moving ahead positively, we have managed to split our town on thoughts about the mayoral election, and turned an entire generation off from it. The cycle continues, as you see young people so totally uninspired by the way our town runs, and are now resigned to its trials and tribulations of chaos.

l say we reinvent the town of Carleton Place’s politics and government by voting in the positive and what our town really deserves. I don’t want people to feel compelled to hold their nose while voting. Please attend Tuesday’s night council meeting and listen to what has happened. This is not pot stirring or bringing up old issues. These are new issues which you need to know about before making your decision.

 

Please be There!

A G E N D A
FOURTH SPECIAL MEETING OF THE 129TH COUNCIL
Tuesday, October 16, 2018 Council Chambers 7 PM

 

READ more here..

 

Got Something to Say About this Election? JOIN

Carleton Place Politics: Discussion And Debate–CLICK

 

 

 

Related reading….

Am I the Only One? An Opinion from the Lone Wolf Who Cares

Filed under Uncategorized and tagged Carleton-Place, election, Lanark-County, Mayor | Leave a comment

Am I the Only One? An Opinion from the Lone Wolf Who Cares

I don’t like this anymore than anyone else does, but there is an election coming up October 22. The mayor, Louis Antonakos , has been found guilty again for the FIFTH time and it will be brought up at a special meeting again Tuesday evening. Vote for who you please but how many times does this man have to be found guilty for people to understand we need a new captain at the helm.. Do we want the history of Carleton Place to repeat another 4 years?

 

read more here… CLICK

 

Why am I the only “new guy”  running for council saying anything about this? Why are the other challengers not speaking up? Are they happy with what’s going on and just willing to let all this slide?  I have been consistent in my views, and stood up for everything I believe in– as I want the best for Carleton Place. Someone who has been found guilty and disrespects the staff is not who I want in charge. It’s common sense 101.

I’ve had people email me tonight wondering if the mayor should be disqualified for running this time because of this last conviction. Ontario has very firm rules about municipal stuff like that. I just found this in an old issue of a 2013 Now Magazine talking about Rob Ford. “How to get rid of a Mayor”

What can we do about him?

Well, there’s laughing and crying, but you knew that already.

No, I mean, like, to get rid of him?

Ah.

Can council remove him?

No.

Can the province remove him?

In theory, yes – the province can pass pretty much any law it wants with regard to municipalities. But it’s not gonna take the bait here. Needless intervention in politically charged municipal shitshows isn’t really this government’s thing

So you don’t lose your seat if you’re convicted of a crime, but you do lose your seat if you go to jail?

A member of council is disqualified from holding office if, at any time during the term of office of that member, he or she” would not be eligible to vote if a municipal election “was held at that time.” (The Municipal Act, which applies to all other Ontario municipalities, has the same clause.) The moment you cease to be an eligible voter, you’re disqualified from holding office and your seat is declared vacant.

Because people in jail can’t vote?

Exactly. Ontario’s Municipal Elections Act specifies that “a person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution” is barred from voting in municipal elections

 

Huh. Well, what if the mayor, say, gets arrested in a bar fight and is kept in a cell until morning?

Nope. It has to be imprisonment “pursuant to a conviction,” says Mascarin. “Not just jailed overnight because they’re holding you.” He offers the example of the G20. “If you had a council member out there and he was put in a holding tank with everybody – that wouldn’t qualify, in my view.” It has to be imprisonment as a sentence that flows from a conviction.

What now?

Linda says- We wait for the conclusion of the vote October 22, 2018

And until then?

We go back to laughing and crying.

Linda says: If you can’t fix stupid you Vote it Out!

 

Got Something to Say About this Election?

Carleton Place Politics: Discussion And Debate–CLICK

The Squeaker Election — November 1980 Carleton Place

 

 

 

November 1980

 

Clipped from

1. The Ottawa Citizen,
2. 03 Nov 1982, Wed,
3. Other Editions,
4. Page 3

 

Clipped from

1. The Ottawa Citizen,
2. 03 Jan 1983, Mon,
3. Other Editions,
4. Page 3

Clipped from

1. The Ottawa Citizen,
2. 15 Dec 1980, Mon,
3. Other Editions,
4. Page 3

In 2010 Wendy LeBlanc became Carleton Place’s second mayor. Former mayor Melba Barker held the position for 11 years, beginning in 1980. Since 1901 when Carleton Place had their first mayor, Dr. Preston (we had reeves before that) there have been only 6 women in municipal power.

 

 

1. Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun and theSherbrooke Record and and Screamin’ Mamas (USACome and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place. Tales of Almonte and Arnprior Then and Now.
   

   The Thomas Alfred Code Journal – Letters-Part 12- Code Family–“Had I the course to go over again I would evade outside responsibilities beyond my share, even if it cost more”

2. It’s Hard for Women to get into Office in Carleton Place — 1974 –Mary Cook

3. Carleton Place is Like Kansas of the United States

It’s Hard for Women to get into Office in Carleton Place — 1974 –Mary Cook

By Mary Cook Citizen special correspondent CARLETON PLACE (Special) February 22 1974

Those people who are directly-responsible for the welfare of the county of Lanark, the elected representatives, would concur the county is a beautiful place to live in, the urban centres modern and progressive, the people alert to new ideas and keenly aware of the need for continuing progress. In the most part they would be right, however there is one area in which the county is completely backward – that is in the electing or appointment of women to municipal or community office.

A recent survey within town offices in the county found the town of Almonte was the most progressive in appointment of women to town positions. After a recent resignation of a council member a woman was appointed to fill the post. The direct opposite is true in the town of Carleton Place. It is next to impossible to get elected by public ballot in this town of 5,000 let alone be appointed to any board of any significance if one is female.

Two women ran during the last municipal election and both trailed at the polls miserably. Only one woman was ever successful at the Carleton Place polls and that was more than *20 years ago. Of the 46 appointed people to eight different town boards only five are women and those five have been strategically placed on boards which have little or nothing to do with the actual workings of the town.

Two of the five are on the library board, a nice quiet place, where the main concern is to keep the shelves stocked with good books and the library working within its allotted budget. One woman is on the community centre board and two are on the committee which jointly handles parks and recreation.

The hospital board always been male dominated with the president of the hospital auxiliary the only woman allowed into the group. Almonte boards contrast greatly in that not only does the board have several female members, its chairman is Mrs. Barbara Potvin, a dynamic leader who carries on the hospital business in a manner enviable to many other boards and organizations.

Perhaps the glaring example of discrimination appears in the Industrial Commission of all three towns. A woman has never been part of this committee which operates much like an exclusive private club. In Carleton Place council has no control over the committee’s appointment and until it is notified by the Industrial Commission is unaware of who a new member might be. No one seems to know how or why new members are chosen but women on the Industrial Commission so far have been strictly taboo.

All male committee Almonte has one female on its planning board and Perth has two but again Carleton Place hasn’t made the leap from an all male committee since the start of the board many years ago. Perth’s lone female councillor, Mrs. M. R. Church, headed the polls in the last municipal election and although most of the council appointed committee members are male, Mrs. C. C. Inderwick heads the historic Preservation Committee and the Perth Museum board.

The rural areas are not much different from the three urban centres. Marilyn Tufts, from North Elmsley, and Eleanor Brady, of Bathurst, are the only elected representatives from 12 townships in the county. In the rural areas very few women have ever sought public office which accounts for the scarcity in those regions and rarity are women appointed by rural councils to sit on committees. No one has a pat answer as to why women are so scarce on the government scene. Carleton Place Mayor Eldon Henderson said he has tried on many occasions to get women to run for public office with little success. Allan Code, deputy of Carleton Place, said he would like to see more women politically active but doubts they are really interested.

However the fact remains that few women are chosen for appointed jobs which would directly affect the basic running of the town. There is no woman on the Industrial Commission so questions asked directly relating to the employee’s families such as school, shopping and housing are answered by men. One civic minded female from Carleton Place sums up the situation this way. “Women have a lot to offer but for some reason men are terribly afraid they might lose some of their prestige if they open their doors to women in public office. This situation isn’t so prevalent in big government or larger urban areas but it’s almost an illness in the smaller communities”.

She asked to remain anonymous she doesn’t want to jeopardize her chances of ever being appointed to a committee or being elected to public office.

Here is your Carleton Place question today. How many women have been in Carleton Place government? Only 7 since 1901 when Dr. Preston became the first mayor (before that there were reeves)

Linda Seccaspina

 Theresa Fritz

Wendy LeBlanc (mayor)

Linda Schmidt

Melba Baker (mayor)

Barbara Walsh

Trudie Dickie

• Clipped from

  1. The Ottawa Citizen,
  2. 07 Dec 1954, Tue,
  3. Page 4
  4. Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun and theSherbrooke Record and and Screamin’ Mamas (USACome and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place. Tales of Almonte and Arnprior Then and Now.
     

     Signs Signs– Nothing but Roadscape? A Humorous Look at Election Signage

     Mary Cook Photos Of Carleton Place

  5.  Do You Know Where Mary Cook Once Worked?

     And Then There was Cook’s– and Most of All Mary Cook

     Mary Cook’s Deportment Classes for Young Ladies in Carleton Place

     Carleton Place Mod Fashion Show 1960’s

Carleton Place is Like Kansas of the United States

 

l   first column  read down                  |

 

Bill Prime was the youngest Mayor of Carleton Place. He was 31. He also worked as assistant manager of the Brewer’s Retail store.

 

Clipped from

1. The Ottawa Journal,
2. 13 Nov 1952, Thu,
3. Page 3

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun andScreamin’ Mamas (USA)

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place.

James J. Hands – Dies in Perth — Former Mayor Accidentally Drowns in House Bath

Thomas Raines Almonte — US Confederate Soldier Mayor and Dentist– Biological Mystery!!!

Samuel J. Berryman Last Survivor of 1866 Militia–Genealogy

They Once Lived in My Home– Arthur Cram

Don’t Bring Your Guns to Town!

Mrs. James Lawrie and Her Ginger Beer

“One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” in Lanark County

Mississippi Hotel Beer — Brading’s Beer

The Big Beer Store Heist in Carleton Place

Signs Signs– Nothing but Roadscape? A Humorous Look at Election Signage

 

 

When the leaves begin to float down this year the local campaign signs will begin sprouting in population. It’s also the season when the partisans of various political candidates agonize waaaay too much over who has more lawn signs. In fact some campaigns think of little else but their signs—at the expense of the actual work of winning over voters.

The annual sign routine is predictable:

• • Candidate Joe gets his signs up first, causing the supporters of Candidate Jane to freak out.

 

• • Jane overcompensates by trying to put up twice as many signs as Joe, escalating the sign wars.

 

• • Now it’s Joe’s supporters’ turn to freak out, so Joe orders another 100 signs to catch up, making Joe and Jane roughly even.

 

• • Both teams suddenly realize that if they put TWO signs on each property, it looks like they have double the support! Then they realize that three is better than two. And four is better than three. (Five, however, makes the property owner look crazy.)

 

• • Jane’s cousin gets caught with a trunk load of stolen Joe signs, creating a bunch of bad publicity for Jane.

 

• • Meanwhile, the local zoning enforcement officer (a member of Jane’s campaign committee) decides to enforce a little-known local law, requiring Joe to take down his signs because they are 3.25 inches too tall.

 

After the first week of this annual ritual, voters stop even seeing the signs, as they become just another feature of the roadscape.

Finally, after months of sign wars, your local election occurs. The votes are tallied. Turns out that having more signs had nothing to do with who actually won. The outcome could be predicted as reliably with a coin flip. Because no one—well, almost no one—decides which candidate to support because of a sign. Or do they?  Maybe yes or maybe no… What’s your comment?

 

 

Vote for Linda Seccaspina

https://www.facebook.com/Vote-for-Linda-Seccaspina-Carleton-Place-Council-2018-1082255855285857/