Shelter funding loses out
Bid to aid homeless fails to make it into county budget

- Friday, March 30, 2007 @ 09:00

WYOMING - A handful of county politicians refused to support Lambton's 2007 budget Thursday after failing in their bid to set aside money for a homeless shelter. "I'm really afraid of what may happen to the most vulnerable in society," said St. Clair Township Mayor Steve Arnold. "We're not doing enough for the homeless." Minutes before the majority of county councilors approved the budget with a 21-16 vote, Arnold made an impassioned plea to earmark $250,000 for a shelter.
County councilors have repeatedly singled-out homelessness as a priority for them to tackle this year. In fact, Mayor Mike Bradley recently called on Lambton County staff to set out an action plan by June 30 as to how to proceed with a permanent shelter. But at budget time, Bradley urged the rest of county council to turn Arnold's proposal down. Bradley said he wants to see the staff report in June before any money is thrown at the problem. "There's no one solution," he said.
A decision was made not to establish a hostel in Sarnia a few years ago because there was a sense that a shelter "will perhaps create more problems and institutionalize the homeless," said Bradley. Coun. Jim Foubister, recently appointed as chairperson of a task force on child poverty, also refused to support Arnold. "I didn't want to create a blind trust because I really don't know what staff would do with the money," Foubister said later. "I don't believe the answer to solving homelessness in Sarnia-Lambton is building a shelter. I want to find a way to get these people into permanent homes."
Others like Coun. Anne Marie Gillis, Coun. Dave Boushy and Coun. Bev MacDougall were onside with Arnold. "I'm in favour of supporting some kind of contingency fund," Gillis said. "The homeless problem is a lot bigger than we thought and we should start putting money away for it now even if the logistics aren't all there." Ultimately, county council voted 23-14 against putting $250,000 in the budget for a shelter. Lambton's 2007 budget includes $160 million in spending and represents a 3.3 per cent increase over last year.
Since property values weren't reassessed this year, home owners who have not made upgrades can expect their county taxes to rise exactly 3.3 per cent and no more, said Lambton's finance director John Innes. "It's a fairly reasonable increase," said Warden Jim Burns. "I don't like passing tax increases any more than the next person does, but I honestly feel...we have sound planning."

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

Hospital grants: County council is now providing three area hospitals with grant money. Council continues its obligation to Bluewater Health and will provide Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital with $50,000 over the next five years and the new Children's Hospital of Western Ontario with $50,000 over the next two years.• Other grants: The Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership gets $900,000 this year and a new summer traveling theatre troupe was handed $6,000 to entertain at special events across the county.  

•Tourism Sarnia-Lambton: Lambton Shores Mayor Gord Minielly initiated heated debate when he suggested completely cutting the tourism promotion agency from the county's budget. He received only one other vote of support but Mayor Mike Bradley said the motion was a red flag to Tourism Sarnia-Lambton. "Based on our use of Tourism Sarnia-Lambton in the north, we believe we can do a better job of promoting tourism," Minielly said. His city is pivotal to local tourism because it encompasses Pinery Provincial Park and Grand Bend. Coun. Anne Marie Gillis called Minielly's motion "a bombshell" and warned that it was irresponsible.
"Tourism is very important to all of us," said Point Edward Mayor Dick Kirkland. "I didn't expect anything like this at a budget meeting."
Council rejected a request for additional funding to Tourism Sarnia-Lambton but agreed to a grant of $451,000 this year.
• Major roadwork: Lambton County will spend $9.6 million on roadwork this year, including $2.4 million on resurfacing. Bigger projects include 11 kilometers of London Line from Blackwell Sideroad east at a cost of $2.1 million. A provincial grant announced Friday will cover $1.7 million of that. Courtright Line from Inwood Road to Old Walnut Road is getting a $890,000 upgrade, and Front Street in Point Edward from Lite Street to Michigan Avenue will be resurfaced.
• Failed Attempt at Global Cut: In a highly controversial move, Lambton Shores Mayor Gord Minielly criticized county council's budget process and called for staff to make a $1.25 million reduction across all departments.
"(County politicians) don't have the ability and we don't have the knowledge that staff has," Minielly said. That didn't sit well with Coun. Jim Foubister.
"For someone to make a global cut of this size is really unfair to staff," he said. "We were elected to make cuts, not just hand it back to staff and say, here, you do it." Foubister praised staff for bringing forward a draft budget with few increases. Minielly's motion for a global cut was defeated 22-15.
However, council directed staff to find a way to cut $1.25 million from next year's budget.
• Cost Recovery for Building Permits:
Lambton Shores Mayor Gord Minielly tried to lower taxes by cutting $250,000 out of the building department's budget and increasing the cost of inspections.
Council endorsed the concept of making builders pay the full cost for inspections, but decided $100,000 was a more realistic amount to be saved in that department this year.

[ Home ] [ Ministry ] [ Who Are We ] [ Ministry Leaders ] [ River City Outreach ] [ Kids Zone ] [ Harbour Inn Mission ] [ Newsletter for 2007 ] [ VineLine ] [ Press Releases ] [ Gym and Cardio ] [ Videos and Photos ] [ Links ] [ What should I expect? ]