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Not sure why but I was prompted last night on Twitter to remind someone of an old issue ,  within this last Council term however.   The term is 4 years and that is a long time.  

We almost lost the greenspace behind Cadarackque school, was in ward 2 , now in ward 4 ,  the main issue was lack of consulting the school community and neighbourhood.

The school board was fine with the Land Swap and had no problem with houses coming right up to the yard edge resulting in the loss of park area directly behind the school and if the group I was in did not stand up and do something we would have seen the entire park area moved to where Miles park is now.  Trustees at the time were no help.

The Council agreed in-camera to swap land with Runnymede to get a redeveloped Miles Park. (more…)

This is the response I received from Legislative Services,  I copied Colleen Jordan’s campaign on the note. 

______________

Colleen Jordan’s Campaign would NOT meet the eligible criteria as outlined in the A.G.C.O. Policy Manual for a Lottery Licence.
 
The Town did not issue an Lottery Licence for this event.
 
By-law 132-2006 defines the fees related to certain types of gaming events and isn’t applicable here.
 
As the Town’s Licencing Officer, I have received no complaints regarding this event.
 
Had I received complaints regarding this event, and as they would not have been eligible for a Lottery Licence, I would have provided the complainant with the contact information for the O.P.P. Criminal Investigative Branch assigned to the A.G.C.O.
 
M. de Rond

____________________

There you go,   I am not making an official complaint but as I said before , it is the responsibility of a sitting councillor of that level of experience to know better.   The rules are FOR EVERYONE. 

I am not responsible for any action anyone else takes,  I am not advocating for anything but a statement from Colleen herself on her own website that says she is aware of what she did was wrong and I suggest she not be so critical of others.  

That’s it.  Previous post under this one is the response from Colleen Jordan’s campaign. 

So when the expenses are filed from this election ,  if there are any issues , complaints must be dealt with at that time then,.  
 

This is what I received in my email this evening.   I thanked her for the response.  

______________________

Dear Karem Allen,

Your email has been forwarded to me from Colleen Jordan.  I have acted as the Chief Financial Officer of Colleen Jordan’s campaign for the 2003 and 2006 elections.  As the Chief Financial Officer, I ensured that I was well versed in the regulations under the Municipal Elections Act as well as the Town of Ajax regulations governing campaigning finances.  Colleen Jordan has consistently advised her team that all regulations governing election campaign contributions be strictly adhered to. 

As you are no doubt aware, Colleen Jordan does not accept contributions from corporations and therefore it was imperative that careful scrutiny be made of all donations so that any questionable donations were returned to the source which was done to ensure compliance with Colleen’s personal commitments to integrity.

When unsure of the interpretation of any regulations, it was my standard practice to contact officials at the Ontario Municipal Affairs office who would have jurisdiction over the Municipal Elections Act and the Ajax town clerk’s office.  This was done on a few occasions.  I can assure you that all records were maintained and reported by me and signed off by Colleen with the utmost principles of honesty and integrity.

Fundraisers were not open to the general public and all contributions were reported according to the Municipal Elections Act.

All disclosures on the financial statements were made honestly and openly.  The financial statements for the 2006 campaign were prepared by me, approved by Colleen Jordan and submitted to an accredited auditor.  They were audited and then filed with the town clerk prior to any deadline required for submission of financial statements.  No concerns or complaints were received by any of these impartial bodies.  No formal complaint was received by any member of the public.

The financial records of the 2006 campaign have for sometime been filed away in storage.

Regards,

Tracy Gillam
_________________________

So in 2006 did she violate an existing Town Bylaw ? 

I had sent an email to Roger Anderson inquiring about how Ajax Police Service levels are determined.   After hearing about our lack of service from the region at the debates I thought it would be helpful information. 

This is the response I received today in my email.

Here are some comments from Chief Ewles on your questions.

The bottom line is that Ajax staffing levels have never been affected by the closing of the Ajax station at 990 Westney Road back in the 1990’s. The recent configuration of the patrol zones through PSAP have better balanced officer workload for Ajax-Pickering officers by having the North Durham Units patrol farther south.
I will not provide operational staffing numbers to be placed or used on a blog for obvious officer and community safety reasons.
 
The next major decision for the DRPS will come as Seaton comes on line- namely do we build a new Ajax Station for the 100k plus resident and free up space in Pickering to allow additional Seaton officers  to work out of 19 Division. for 70 thousand or so residents to come.
Those discussions should take place sooner rather than later as Season is only holding a placemarker in our long term capital.
Roger A

So what do you think?  It appears we need Regional Councillors that will help this decision be made. 

In Politics everything can be a symbol.   It was not a lot of money that was brought in to the 2006 campaign to re-elect Colleen Jordan via a reported 50/50 draw and a raffle , it was $396 ,  the winner received cash since it is a 50/50 and they more then likely donated it right back to the campaign and received the rebate, exploiting the full intent of the program.  The financial report does not specify how much was 50/50 and how much was a raffle, it could be one amount , who knows.   A “Pass the Hat” style of raising cash at an event is allowed and acceptable up to $10.00 per person and no receipt need to be given.  (more…)

You can VOTE VOTE starting tomorrow,  here are the details on advance voting.    Avoid the rush VOTE early.

To see Candidate Profiles on this blog please scroll down and on the right in the section call Pages . you will see them listed.

To Navigate this site ,  you can always click the VOTE in the Title to take you back to the main starting point.  Blogs are structured in a reverse chronological order with most recent blog posts at the top.   You can click on the Categories to the right and see all posts relating to this Election period in order.  

The blog is about 3 years and one month old , you can view archives by month selection also.   If you are on twitter you can find me at VoicesofAjax  , post alerts and I admit sometimes plain silly tweets with no real purpose but to make one chuckle.  (more…)

My email is overflowing and I am not the Clerk!   The Election website does not make the fundraising portion of contributions very clear for this election period.

Clerk , please put some clear , in non Municipal Speak,  rules to this part of the process on the Town website.

1) What are the rules regarding Cash and Cheques.   [edit- $24.99 is the max for cash]

2) Can a Ticket purchase qualify for rebate ?  Cheque for ticket also only?  [It appears so]

3) 50/50 issue still outstanding in terms of Town response to my email.   [edit: Auctions are ok]

Thanks.   Here is link I received in another email.  

Disclosure– Mine.  -  I received the rebate in 2006 or 2008 , I forget.   I think it is important for new candidates.  
Let’s just examine it some more but I do not support eliminating it for the majority that use it for it’s true intention.

There is a price for democracy I am constantly told.    I give to the Federal Level also.  I get a tax rebate.  

I propose we all pay 50% of our taxes for 50% of the year.

I don’t work for any campaign by the way.   I don’t ignore people that talk to me but I am not associated with any  candidates campaign - I am being asked this. 

As a resident,  rebate for the non fundraiser event donations.   I am ok with that. 

I named this Blog Voices of Ajax– Yours , Mine,   I am getting lots of Voices in email!  I can’t post them all but if they are relavent to the election and I won’t get sued I will do my best to post them.I read the review of the debate last night and contrary to the article , there was some dissent , other then the Clymer issues.  I am glad she did not turn up and as the Q and A went on,  people started to leave,  understandable if they were not from Ajax.   (more…)

This just in. :

Seeking a Mandate from Ward
1<http://katiekortekaas.blogspot.com/2010/10/seeking-mandate-from-ward-1.html>

The election process requires two things that a candidate gives voters. We
need to give voters a reason for their votes. In return, voters give their
Councillor a *mandate* to represent *their *interests, even if it means
challenging the Mayor’s position *to protect and promote Ward 1 interests.*

There are five candidates vying to represent Ward 1. Therefore, a selection
of which candidate is *best qualified* to argue the case for Ward 1
residents on Town Council must come down to trust, financial leadership and
the ability *to represent the residents in THEIR best interests*.

At each Council meeting, the Councillor for Ward 1 has the same voting
rights as the Mayor. The Mayor has one vote; Municipal and Ajax Regional
Councillors each have one vote. The Mayor, of course, has the additional
duties of leadership and serves as the Council’s director with Town Staff

Here is the copy of the email I sent on Sunday , no response.   I have read enough to conclude that Colleen should have known better.    A 50/50 at a Stag and Doe , big deal, we are not the morality police.   I think it is different for a councillor.  A new candidate can be forgiven for making what seems like an innocent mistake.     Not a re-elect campaign.

It bothered me when she pointed her finger at a business person from the community and shouted him down about what comes down to rules and standards.  

If a licence was given for this then tsk tsk on the Town as that is a bigger problem. 

Again, I gave every opportunity for a response or explanation, in writing.   Pat Brown Challenged everyone to list their campaign contributors a week before the election, that is why I went on a line by line search,  it was there the whole time and no one really bothered but of course this stuff does not come up until the next election.   This blog did not open until 2007 I think then it was the byelection that took the focus.   We will monitor this stuff better now that’s for sure!

Boy this blog is not making me any best friends right now!  It bothers me more because this is my new ward area. 

Hello Colleen,  (Sent on early Sunday afternoon)

Based on something said at the debate I decided to go back and look at statements filed regarding donations.

I noticed you had a 50/50 draw and recorded funds received from it.   We were going to have one at our school once but decided not to because it was just too strict in terms of how the money could be spent, they needed to know exactly how the funds would be allocated, basically it was too much trouble to bother.

As you know SCC’s have charitable numbers,   a campaign is not a charitable organization . 

Just curious how you were able to hold one or if not the actual holder of the 50/50  be the beneficiary of a 50/50 .

Can you let me know as soon as possible please.

Just want to point out,  unlike some bloggers,  I will at least attempt to get an answer before coming to a conclusion.

Thanks

Karem