Positive Signals from Councillor Twinney

A lot of people were excited with Jane Twinney's 2010 election.  She ran on a platform to open up government and make it more accessible to residents.  Voters were clear with their mandate.  Victor Woodhouse did many great things around the community including his involvement with Inn from the Cold but he did not communicate with residents well.  As Councillor, Jane Twinney was supposed to change all of that. 

Her campaign promises zeroed in on the very things Ward 3 voters were concerned about.  She promised:

1) Regular newsletters and ward meetings
2) Posting her voting record at Council
3) Opening her books on how she managed her expense account
4) Maintain and update her blog

Prior to her election, Jane Twinney did an excellent job showing residents that she was capable of living up to these promises.  The Era newspaper even wrote a very favourable article about her use of social media. 

Since being elected, Councillor Twinney has fallen well short of expectations. 

- The ward meetings were taken over by the Taylor/ Van Bynen terrible duo who were invited as guests to speak to her constituents whereas Councillor Twinney should have been speaking for herself.

- She posted voting results for 2011 (33 in all) but only 6 times in 2012 and in 2013, just 1 time.  We know she attends the meeting but she gives the impression that she doesn't care to live up to this promise.

- Her expense account information is exactly the same as what gets posted by the Town of Newmarket.  She doesn't provide any further details, such as copies of receipts, or an explanation of why she felt this spending was required. 

- She hasn't blogged since November 2011.  I checked the Era website and searched on her name and could only find one article that quotes her. 

All of the above items has lead me write Councillor Twinney off as just another member of the Taylor/ Van Bynen alliance.  In fact, previously I have been critical of her such as in this blog I wrote in February 2012:  http://www.newmarkettownhallwatch.blogspot.ca/2012/02/review-of-councillor-twinney-in-2011.html (where I link to a video showing Councillor Twinney parroting for Regional Councillor Taylor). 

All of this sounds pretty damning so why am I claiming to see positive signals from Councillor Twinney?

She has done two subtle things in the past month which leads me to believe she is coming around.

1) She commented that she favours developing Glenway Golf and Country Club.  That takes courage of conviction as it is a clear departure from Emanuel; Taylor; Van Bynen.  I know it was just one tweet but it is a sliver of sunlight that hopefully brings the Town back to the negotiating table with the developer instead of the counterproductive OMB headbutting contest being lead by Councillor Emanuel and the Taylor/ Van Bynen twosome. 

2) And this is very subtle but I am hopeful that I have interpreted this correctly:  on the agenda for today's (May 21st) meeting is an item about the Newmarket Environmental Advisory Committee.  It seems that this committee has its nose out of joint about Councillor Emanuel's recent attempt to catalog the trees situated on private property to prevent anyone from cutting down a tree without a permit.  The wording of the agenda item is paraphrased as:  the Chair of NEAC and the NEAC Council representative (who happens to be Councillor Twinney) met with staff to improve effectiveness and enhance interactions with Council.  In other words, they are upset with Emanuel's intrusion onto their turf, and are willing to take measures to prevent that from happening again. 

So much for Emanuel's narrative that he is a well-liked and respected by his colleagues. 

On both these issues, Councillor Twinney has shown the intestinal fortitude to throw Councillor Emanuel in particular under the proverbial bus.  It could be a signal that she is hearing from her supporters that Emanuel's reputation is beyond toxic that she is trying to distance herself from him, but regardless of her motivations, it is nice to see her finally breaking free from the Taylor/ Van Bynen vortex and standing on her own two feet. 

Hopefully this will be the start of a brand new Councillor Jane Twinney.  It took her a few years to get her going but it finally appears that she will live up to the promise voters believed in.