The July 25th Council meeting will not provide us with any clues about why Joe Sponga controversially resigned amid threats of lawsuits and code of conduct complaints.
The meeting will focus on how Sponga will be replaced followed by who will replace him.
And I would humbly submit that Ward 5 residents and business leaders should make a beeline to former Ward 6 councillor Di Muccio's door step asking her to run.
I don't make this recommendation lightly or without serious consideration. I have surveyed potential Ward 5 councillors and Di Muccio's credentials rises above all others.
There are only two years left in this term, and many significant issues remain that affect this ward. Specifically, Clock Tower, Library, Broad Band Internet, parking issues and so on all need to be debated and voted on.
Di Muccio has been in the closed door meetings between 2010 and 2014 and knows the context of all of these issues. Anyone else will have to rely on other Councillors to "fill them in" on the finer details and are more susceptible to being ill informed when voting. The other councillors won't be able to pull the wool over Di Muccio's eyes because she has first hand knowledge of these issues..
Di Muccio has a consistent track record for standing up to Mayor Van Bynen and John Taylor. Simply put, the gruesome-twosome don't intimidate her. Newmarket has elected "opposition" candidates in the past, only to see them switch sides as soon as they take their oath of office. Jane Twinney and Tom Hempen are two recent examples who ran against incumbents, only to adopt the incumbent's mindset once in office. Di Muccio stayed true to her principles consistently.
The reasons the establishment wanted Di Muccio off council in 2014 don't hold any water in 2016. The establishment said she was too disruptive and pointed to politically motivated integrity commissioner complaints as proof. Well, Newmarket has spent more than double on Integrity Commissioner complaints since October than what we did in four years previous, with more than a dozen investigations against our present council members. So what does that prove about our present council?
And Sponga's resignation shows how dysfunctional this current council is. If Newmarket council was debilitated in 2014, it certainly wasn't the fault of Di Muccio. Newmarket council is more broken in 2016 than ever before. Maybe the fault lies with the gruesome-twosome.
Instead of Newmarket's current "get along gang," the public deserves a council that asks tough questions and holds Town of Newmarket staff accountable for delivering top quality services. I don't see anyone on this present council willing to do that. I do recall that Di Muccio asked tough questions and demanded answers when she served on council, though.
We have a window of opportunity to improve the functioning of our town council, not only for the residents of Ward 5, but for all of Newmarket, as a result of this by-election. I endorse Maddie Di Muccio to fill the vacant seat because she won't flip flop and sell us out. I can't say that wouldn't be the case if others were elected or appointed to replace Sponga.
No comments:
Post a Comment