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Jan. 24, 2002Dear Paul: Could you be kind enough to post my phone number and other info. on the Puslinch Web Site. My home phone is 519-623-7970, work is 519-621-9239, fax is 519-621-6021. My address is 6994 Gore Rd. I was faxed a copy of the web site contents today. I do not have a computer so this is the first time that I have seen most of this material. You did fax me the initial comments regarding Wellington County and Waste Management and I thank you for that. I am sorry that I did not send a response at that time. I will tell you that it was inadvertence and not arrogance that caused this. Please express my apology. I do not believe that I know Sandra Hall but I am sorry that I have upset her. If there was some way I could contact her to help answer her questions, I would be glad to. I try to make myself available to all residents of Puslinch and I am more than happy to speak or meet with anyone to discuss issues or answer questions. On the issue of waste management:
I did not support the implementation of a user pay system. Thanks again Paul for the opportunity to respond. And to anyone else who reads this, if you have any concerns, issues, questions, comments about anything, please give me a call. I will be glad to try and help. As I do not have e-mail, the phone or fax is your best bet. I hope this helps. P.S. If you get a chance to meet me, you may find that I'm not such a bad guy afterall. Hope to hear from you, B. Whitcombe If you have any comments or questions for Mayor Whitcombe please send puslinch.net an e-mail and they will be posted here. Also, the Mayor can post council news or comments that may be of interest to his constituents. On January 28 I received this further comment from the Mayor. Dear Paul Thank you for the posting. I hope that folks will feel comfortable contacting me by phone or in person. I will do my best to be available. Since discovering the comments made on the web site I have given much thought about the appropriatness of using this medium for a political platform. Thus I have decided not to contribute further to the site. I feel that it may be perceived as self serving, also I found the personal comments regarding my character to be hurtful and impossible to defend or refute. In closing, keep up the good work, Paul and thank you for your service to the community. You may post this if you wish. Brad Naturally I am disappointed that the Mayor has decided to opt out of the opportunity provided here to address his constituents on matters of interest. For every person that actually takes the time to write or voice an opinion or question, there are likely many others who are thinking the same thing, but do not--for what ever reason--articulate it. This forum would be particularly helpful to that group. However, that is his decision. The following response came from Sandra, whose comments initiated this debate some time ago. Please note: she is commenting on the Mayor's first reply and had not seen the second at the time of writing. For those of you who may have missed Sandra's earlier comments hop over to The Reader's Forum and get caught up. Dear Paul, Thanks for alerting me to the mayor's comments. I had given up hope of ever receiving a reply, so hadn't visited the web page for a while. The mayor said nothing new. His statement that he didn't know why I was upset with him is laughable. I am not upset with the mayor, I am upset with his PERFORMANCE. I wonder if he can comprehend the difference. Since when does it take three months to answer, when his sole job is to respond to his constituents? Is the mayor telling me that with only 5000 residents, he is so incredibly busy, that he doesn't have time to answer a few simple questions? Or does he have trouble managing his time?? Is the mayor telling me that in this day and age, Puslinch does not have computers that he has access to? There is no e-mail to the offices in Puslinch Town Hall? If this is the case, can Puslinch survive? The mayor is painting an incredible scenario, one that is hardly believable. The point I was trying to make is that while there may have been several meetings regarding the landfill, I never heard or read anything regarding the Puslinch dump being turned into one of two major dumps, prior to it becoming a reality. I want to be kept informed of any decisions that affect my quality of life. And I also don't recall any information regarding whether or not fees should be implemented, or whether there was some alternative. The public meetings were held AFTER there was a public uproar in response to the announcement that there would be fees implemented at the dump. Once again, the mayor stated that he was unaware that the fees were to be implemented. Where was he when the discussions were taking place at the county level? If I recall correctly the mayor was the warden of the council at that time. Since moving here I have had opportunity to drive through several small towns, each of them with a unique charm of yesteryear. The main theme I notice is well tended buildings, and the ability to capitalize on the tourist. Puslinch is approximately the size of most of these. I see none of the charm in Puslinch. On the trek up from the 401, I see industrial buildings, run down areas, and gravel pits. In other words, nothing to be proud of. I can imagine the visitors coming to the Aberfoyle market, looking to stroll down the main street, browse in a few quaint shops, and have a coffee or snack while watching the gravel trucks go by. Oh wait, the only thing that's correct about this scenario is watching the gravel trucks speed by, throwing gravel off the back of the truck, right down main street. Yeah, no wonder Puslinch is on the tourist map. I am incredibly disappointed with the inability of the past and present politicians to capitalize on the incredible potential of Puslinch. I want to see a plan put into place to turn Puslinch into the jewel of Wellington county. Why can't we be the St. Jacobs of Wellington County?? Why can't we have pro-active politicians, instead of looking back, let's look ahead!!! Since I'm sure this is a controversial issue, let's have some discussion. Sandra Hall Once again, thanks for your comments Sandra. At this point it should be pointed out--for those readers who may not be familiar with internet discussions--that sometimes the anonimity provided by this type of forum allows some contributers to take an extreme position in order to promote further discussion. That may be what is happening here. In any case I will pick up the bone. While Puslinch may not be oozing in charm, most of Puslinch is very beautiful. Clearly the residents take pride in their homes and virtually all are well maintained. You don't see any of the tacky trappings so common in other rural areas. The gravel pits are kept out of sight and the mobile homes have designated areas. Yes, that strip up from the 401 to Aberfoyle is an eye sore and my heart breaks when I see Duff's Church standing tall and proud surrounded by an industrial wasteland. But, that is the exception and not the rule in Puslinch Township. To make Puslinch Township the jewel of Wellington County is a worthy goal, but I don't think emulating St. Jacob's is the answer. When Brigitte and I first moved to this area we heard so much about St. Jacob's, that we went to have a look. It was not what we expected in a small town. We were overwhelmed by the traffic, the crowds and the commercialism. If we wanted that, we could just go to Toronto. We have not been back since. No, we don't want to go that route. I do argee with Sandra that we should be looking ahead. How can we improve the Township and make this an even better place to live? Does the Town Council have an overall plan? Send in your suggestions. I will put forward the first suggestion. Puslinchers should support Puslinchers! Part of what I am trying to accomplish with this web site is to provide a listing of resources available within our community. It is my hope that before you pick up the phone to call a plumber, an accountant, an auto repair shop, a real estate agent, a caterer, or even a lowly web site designer, that you will look long and hard for that service to be provided by one of your neighboring Puslinchers--and to call that person first. Taking that one step further, it also means supporting our local township administration. Criticism is easy, anyone can do it and we don't have to look too far to see an example of that. But, working together to establish desirable goals and finding the means to fulfill them--that is hard! So whether or not not we like the current Mayor and councillors is irrelevant, we must work with them if we are to achieve change within our community. Returning to the comments regarding the Mayor's performance, I must point out that I have not met Mayor Whitcombe face-to-face. I have spoken to him on the phone briefly regarding this web site, and I have seen him speak at meetings. My role here on this issue is as an impartial moderator. However, I have been uncomfortable posting remarks of a critical nature directed at one individual. In an open society criticism has it's place--otherwise how could opposition parties justify their existence? But, I prefer to think that Puslinch is a kinder and gentler place. Call me naïve, but I think there is more to be gained through support than criticism. Since the Mayor has chosen not to comment here, we need some experienced citizens to speak up on his behalf. Please send me an e-mail. Even before this page was created I received the following: I was reading through the Reader's forum discussions- I think in all fairness to our councillors- I know that some of them don't even have email and neither does the mayor so it would be difficult for them to answer the Reader's questions if they are not even aware that they are posted. Something you might want to mention to "Sandra Hall" who impatiently awaits answers- she is asking questions to people who don't know she is asking the questions. I know that I have questions and concerns with Township issues in the past and anytime I picked up the phone and called a councillor, they have been nothing but helpful and tried to resolve the issue or pass me along to someone who might help- what's that expression- you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar! Jacqueline Flowers Thank you Jacqueline, your comments have put a better perspective on things. But, I must remind readers that I did fax the intial comments to Mayor Whitcombe and he did apologize for not having responded to them immediately. As well, I have offered to fax the Mayor any e-mail correspondence directed to him and he can fax back his answers to be posted here. He declined. This letter is the continuation of a comment that began on the Morriston Tract Forum page. The Mayor’s Page (or rather the page that isn’t)You expressed great disappointment that Mayor Brad Whitcombe had declined to participate in this way on your web page. Having been a mayor’s secretary for many years, I have to concur with Mayor Whitcombe’s reasons.Mayor Whitcombe expressed his concern that, by participating, he would merely be providing a forum for disgruntled taxpayers to blast off at him anonymously. When I retired from the Mayor’s office (not Puslinch Township), the internet was beginning to come into its own. The volume of mail received the old fashioned way, along with telephone calls, produced large amounts of critical comments - often unfounded and very time consuming to deal with. With e-mail, the problem was only acerbated and I can only imagine what my ex-office deals with today. By going through a web page, the e-mailer can maintain their anonymity while at the same time expounding facts that are, invariably, unfounded and untrue. Why would anyone voluntarily open themselves up to this sort of abuse? When criticism of this nature, which is definitely not constructive or productive, is published, it is an up hill battle to try and set the record straight and get the facts across. I fully respect Mayor Whitcombe’s decision not to participate - I hope you will, too. With reference to some comments made by Sandra Hall. I hope she is aware by now that: a) The positions of Mayor and Township Councillors are not full-time and these officials are certainly not expected to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the taxpayers of Puslinch Township. From my own observations I would say that they already put in more than is expected of them; b) Mayor Whitcombe did not say he was unaware of the user-pay process for garbage, he said he did not support it. A fact he stated several times at the landfill meetings I attended - meetings that the Mayor himself initiated; and c) Puslinch Township is unique and I would hate to see it become another St. Jacobs; the peace and tranquility of our Township is one of its greatest charms. As I am sure Ms. Hall is aware, if she dislikes living in Puslinch Township, she always has the option to move. Paul, I commend you for what you are doing for the community and I appreciate your balanced approach to matters. I agree with you that we are a diverse and wonderful community and, by working together, we will make our township even better. Sandra Solomon 4080 Maddaugh Road Sandra, I appreciate your comments on the Mayor's decision not to participate in the discussion. It was my hope that by providing information and clarifying his position on issues on the web site, that that would reduce the need to respond to individual inquiries. Thank you for your positive comments about what I am trying to accomplish with this web site. Below is more support for the Mayor and Council. Congratulations to our Mayor and council for standing strong against gravel pits, development etc. Once they have a hold we have seen what happens and then it's too late. Their word means nothing and with their money behind them these large corporations and developers care nothing about US, the residents of Puslinch. A sad word of sympathy in the passing of Tootie McPherson (Mildred) who fought a couragous battle against cancer. Our thoughts are with the family. Tootie has done so much for the community and the children of Puslinch. God bless you, Tootie. Karen Dailous |