Ward One Councillor Tom Vegh's Record Thus Far

Continuing in the series reviewing the 2010-11 performance of your municipal politicians, the focus of this blog is on Ward 1 Councillor, Tom Vegh.

It isn't hard to overlook Councillor Vegh during a Council meeting.  He will sneak his name into the meeting minutes by offering to "second" a routine motion now and again but you won't hear him contribute to a debate or offer anything substantial to the meeting.  That's the way this long term councillor rolls. 

He doesn't keep a web site.  He rarely participates in social media such as Twitter.  He also tends to stay away from community events.  He hosts a "drop in" meeting at the Magna Centre each month, but there is no agenda or new information offered to his constituents and so there are rarely any visitors to his monthly meetings. 

All of this seems to give us the impression that Councillor Vegh is really a "bit player" in Newmarket politics.  That is precisely what he would like you all to believe because that is what he is pinning his re-election hopes on to.  In 2010, he campaigned strongly to maintain the status quo. 

What we do know of Councillor Vegh is his boast of business acumen and his performance as Vice Chair of the Newmarket Public Library (NPL). 

If I were to put my name forward as a candidate in Ward 1, I would be making the next election a referendum on his management of the Newmarket Public Library.  As Vice Chair, Councillor Vegh has played a major role in creating the current conditions at the NPL. 

Some readers may like the cutesy, "country bumpkin" atmosphere of the NPL.  Others who have experiences with top-notched libraries in neighbouring municipalities may feel a little embarrassed by the NPL.  (It certainly isn't a place you would take visiting relatives to if you were giving a tour of the town).  I think every ratepayer would be shocked to hear about how $2.6 million in tax payer funds were frittered away in scanning back issues of the Era newspaper under Councillor Vegh's watch.  More on this shortly.

What all of this illustrates is that when Councillor Vegh is left in charge, he created a very fine mess of one of our beloved public institution. 

I think most of us would agree that we expect a library to include the following key services:

1. Books, magazines, resource materials
2. Educational opportunities
3. Community Information
4. Recreational and Personal Development programs

I believe that during Councillor Vegh's tenure at the helm of the NPL, these priorities have been set aside and too much money has been diverted to his own pet projects.  Councillor Vegh is a history buff, so Newmarket ratepayers shell out $2.6 million to preserve Newmarket history through a little-publicized program called "SDI". 

Councillor Vegh has business interests, so program money is diverted to Newmarket Chamber of Commerce related initiatives. 

Councillor Vegh lives on the other side of town, so the library stops buying new books (only the smallest fraction of its budget goes towards the purchase of new books), and significant resources are spent connecting residents via the Internet. 

The plain truth is that the NPL is no longer the place we remember growing up.  Its not a place for families, for children, or seniors to meet unless you want to meet over the Internet.

Under Councillor Vegh's direction, the NPL is no longer "open" to the public.  Being open means that the NPL should be accessible to everyone, regardless of age, education, or financial level.  There are a significant amount of services that the NPL delivers exclusively through the Internet.  Councillor Vegh's rush to deliver Internet based services excludes so many people that his policy can only be called ageist, racist and elitist.

Let me explain this further.  Under Councillor Vegh, the NPL has dedicated significant amount of resources, including staff, money and time, to Internet-delivered services.  To fully access these NPL services, a Newmarket resident must have some degree of Internet and computer savvy and be an owner of certain equipment such as an e-reader, personal computer or laptop with Internet access and so on.  The truth is, many Newmarket residents don't have the basic know-how or related materials to be NPL library users; such people include our community's poor, seniors, and new Canadians. 

For example, almost 24% of the world's population resides in South East Asia.  Yet South East Asians comprise of just 0.1% of the world's Internet users.  By focusing on Internet-delivered services, Councillor Vegh is excluding a quarter of Canada's new immigrants from settling in Newmarket.  It is ironic that this Councillor is a member of Newmarket's Inclusivity Advisory Committee and he is a proponent of this racist, ageist, and elitist NPL policy. 

Perhaps you agree that Internet-delivered library services are the way of the future.  I think that objectively you would also have to agree that many of the services the library is offering are not unique to the NPL.  In fact, much of the library's offerings are simply a weblink to existing services offered by other organizations, such as government or the chamber of commerce.  In other words, under Councillor Vegh's leadership, the NPL has been spending heavily to duplicate what is already easily available to Internet users through other government agencies paid for by your tax dollars. 

Under Councillor Vegh's direction, the NPL has tried to re-brand itself in two main areas.  Both of which I disagree:

1) The NPL is independent of Town Hall.  What a load of crock!  The funding comes from municipal taxes.  Does any resident feel comfortable handing a $3,000,000 cheque to the library on an annual basis and not expect accountability to the Newmarket ratepayers in return?   Personally, I think this is political spin so Councillor Vegh can avoid public scrutiny during the election by pretending the NPL isn't a municipal issue.  I believe ratepayers won't be fooled when they vote. 

2) The NPL is an economic engine in Newmarket.  Again, not true.  There is no evidence that the Newmarket library will create any private sector success, jobs, or competitive advantages for any Newmarket business.  I think this is a story made up to convince the politicians to maintain and grow the amount of funds the library receives through your taxes.   

Here are some facts about the NPL:

1) In 2008, the NPL decided to direct $2,600,000 towards an ill-defined boondoggle called "SDI".  There was scant information available on the web site (http://www.sdiproject.ca/) other than its purpose is "to help build a bright future for Newmarket."  The project has added more expense to the library and it's only success is scanning back issues of the Era newspaper.  That's right, $2,600,000 of your tax dollars because Councillor Vegh feels reading old newspapers will "build a bright future in Newmarket". 
2) The library facility is embarrassing and many resources are outdated.
3) The percentage of spending for books and materials is a mere fraction of what the NPL spends on its bloated administration.  If it were a private sector enterprise, the NPL would have a manager and maybe an assistant manager.  I was surprised to read that our library has a CEO and a Deputy CEO instead (both of whom are taking home a six-figure salary).  For someone who boasts a business background, the org. chart at the NPL doesn't make much sense, Councillor Vegh. 
4) Councillor Vegh supports higher wages for NPL employees even though Premier McGuinty has called for a wage freeze in the public sector and keeping budgets in check.  As a tax and spend politician, Councillor Vegh cheerily voted in favour of raising your property taxes  and increasing user fees in 2011.   
5) All of this has occurred with Councillor Vegh at the wheel.

You may not know who Councillor Vegh is but assuredly you are paying substantially more taxes and fees due to his ham-fisted management of the NPL.