Local developers were recently involved in a rather intense lobby effort to persuade New Tecumseth town council to defer a decision to increase residential development charges (DCs).
Initially, it appeared that the robust efforts were going to succeed. In fact, shortly before the New Tecumseth committee of the whole meeting of Sept. 9, 2008, a majority of council were poised to vote in favour of a delay.
However, in response to a question from Mayor MacEachern, CAO Terri Caron advised that a delay in the DC decision would likely result in the loss of approximately $1.7 million of revenue. In particular, a deferral would mean that developments ready for approval would proceed under the lower DC rates.
Quite understandably, this revelation led the majority of councillors who were initially prepared to defer the decision to sensibly change direction. After all, a loss of revenue of this magnitude would ultimately result in the residents of New Tecumseth taking it on the chin in the form of either higher taxes or reduced services.
Notwithstanding this disclosure, but not surprisingly, Deputy Mayor Rick Milne appeared determined to accede to the developers' wishes. Milne has, after all, a reputation of being the most development-friendly councillor and has a lengthy history of advocating on their behalf.
In support of his position Milne invoked what is perhaps best described as the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) "bugaboo"!
A bugaboo is "an imaginary monster used to frighten children" or "an object of obsessive, usually exaggerated fear or anxiety." The OMB bugaboo is, for all intents and purposes, a scare tactic.
The tactic essentially advocates letting developers have their way in order to avoid the "horrific" prospect of a potentially expensive and lengthy appeal to the OMB. It is a form of appeasement that would undoubtedly find favour with former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin (the pre-WWII British Prime Minister widely criticized for his policy in dealing with Germany).
The bugaboo is, of course, counter-intuitive. The best analogy is perhaps that of an elementary schoolyard. So long as one student repeatedly succumbs to the threats or demands of another then this unfortunate conduct is almost certain to continue. It is only when the student demonstrates the absence of fear and resists the threats and demands that the conduct is likely to end.
A municipality that endorses and/or advocates the OMB bugaboo exposes itself as weak, feeble and an entity ripe to be abused.
Oddly, when Deputy Mayor Milne articulated his concern over the prospect of an OMB hearing he cited the interests of New Tecumseth taxpayers. I confess that the statement left me scratching my head as it completely ignored the lost revenues associated with the deferral. Fortunately, councillor Barb Huson picked up on this flawed logic and, in a rather lethal rebuttal, turned in Milne's direction and deadpanned that an OMB hearing would not cost taxpayers $1.7 million dollars.
To their credit, at the committee meeting councillors Dennis Egan, Barbara Huson, Richard Norcross, Jamie Smith and Jim Stone considered the negative impact a delay would have on New Tecumseth taxpayers and voted to approve the new development charges.
Mayor Mike MacEachern only votes in the event of a tie but clearly would have voted with these councillors if called upon. Councillor Christine Brayford voted against the DC's at the committee meeting but reversed her position (for reasons unknown) approximately one-half hour later at the special council meeting. Councillor Jess Prothero declared a conflict and was unable to vote.
In the category of "what was he thinking," it seems that Deputy Mayor Milne either failed to appreciate the impact of a delay upon New Tecumseth taxpayers, or didn't care, as he sat on his hands for both votes.
