Schizoid Council running out of ideas

Is this current edition of Newmarket Council schizoid?

Motions tabled and voted down last term are being repackaged and supported this time around.

For example, last term former councillor Maddie Di Muccio pushed to have all meetings of council live streamed. That idea didn't receive support from the rest of Council. Now I'm reading that they've adopted a motion from Councillor Hempen to live stream their workshops. I actually had to read that document twice because throughout the 2010 to 2014 term, Tom Hempen only tabled 1 motion over the entire 4 years - and that was the infamous 1% tax levy that passed while the rest of us were watching the Leafs vs Penguins in a game 7 playoff.

It's nice to see that Tom Hempen has already matched his work output from the previous 4 years.

Also being tabled is a motion at Regional Council by John Taylor to live stream and archive Regional Council meetings. We recall how stridently opposed he was when former Councillor Di Muccio tabled the same motion last term, which would have the Town of Newmarket Council asking York Regional Council to live stream. It actually made the news.

Finally, on Monday, Newmarket Council is going to vote on supporting an elected Regional Chair. I couldn't find the exact citation (because the new version of the Town of Newmarket's web page is missing a few documents), but this idea was tabled in the past as well. If my memory is correct, it was former Councillor Di Muccio who was leading the way on that initiative as well.

What all of this says to me is that this current version of Council has run out of ideas. They are rummaging through the trash bin of suggestions they already rejected and resubmitting them lest the public catch on that these members of Council have run out of steam. I don't think its mere coincidence that these ideas belonged to former Councillor Di Muccio.

There's a saying that just like diapers, politicians should be changed often and for the same reason.

I think what we are seeing in Newmarket is a group of people who have hung around on Council for one term too many.

It's time for new energy and new faces to take their place.