Shop Downtown Peterborough For The Chance To Win Fashion District Prize
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Peterborough Blogs
The Next LARGE Article Garbage Pickup Collection Is May 14th
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When setting out items for garbage pickup, there are certain weight and dimensions it must conform to, so that it is considered an acceptable lift. Items too bulky are considered "large articles", and there are two collections per year to remove them, with the next one being May 14th. Purchase your ticket before May 11th from the Public Works Yard (182 Townsend Street) or City Hall (500 George Street). The cost is $15 for the first item and $5 for each additional item.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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Here's A Time Lapse Video Of A Backyard Mini Ramp Being Built In Peterborough
/It's a beauty ramp and these guys are real pros on the boards, except for Spanky's David Koski who takes a little bit of a fall at the end.
[Vimeo]
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PtboPic: Construction of The Keg At Lansdowne Place Is Beginning
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Work has begun on building Peterborough's The Keg Steakhouse & Bar in the Lansdowne Place parking lot. Construction should be complete by the Fall, and it is slated to open in October sources tell us.
The Keg Steakhouse & Bar in @Ptbo_Canada is looking for Assistant Managers bit.ly/KtYfQy
— Peterborough Careers (@Ptbo_Careers) May 4, 2012
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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Backroom Briefing Q: What Happens During Closed Door Meetings Before City Council?
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GOYETTE'S BACKROOM BRIEFINGQ: What happens during the closed door meetings that sometimes happen before (and delay) City Council meetings? —Elizabeth
Goyette: We begin with the principle that the business of the public must be conducted in public. The democratic underpinning for this has to do with both the watchful inhibition of wrongdoing and the ethical promotion of accountability through transparency. Public exposure of government decision making increases public trust and decreases the invitation to impropriety.
Nonetheless, this fine principle can easily bump up against the practical realities of government decision making. A public meeting about a personal matter involving an identifiable individual may offend his or her right to privacy. A public meeting about a lawsuit may reveal information harmful to the case or offend solicitor-client privilege. The Ontario Municipal Act (Section 239.2) permits meetings or parts of meetings of Council or its Standing Committees to be closed to the public for situations like these, and the City of Peterborough’s procedural bylaw identifies nine such situations. The most recent of these was added last year, with some debate, having to do with education and training for Councillors.
Here’s what happens at a “closed session” meeting.
The meeting is held in a Committee Room, and begins in public or “open session,” followed by a vote of the Councillors to close the meeting to the public. Staff presentations frequently take place, and staff reports are printed on bright yellow paper to identify them as confidential; they are not publically distributed. The procedure for the meeting follows that of an “open session” meeting with the notable exception that formal voting by Councillors does not occur: a direction may be given to staff; a straw vote may be held to judge the will of the Councillors; or a consensus may be reached through discussion. The reason for the avoidance of a formal vote is optics—that is, the laudable avoidance of the perception of deal-making behind closed doors.
When the Councillors come out of the “closed session” they head into the “open session,” typically in the publically accessible Council Chambers. Public reports are distributed by the Clerk on the matters that have been agreed to: these are prepared and edited in advance to respect the confidentiality that brought them to the “closed session” in the first place. Councillors may speak to these reports in the “open session” before they are voted on, but rarely do because of the challenge of respecting the confidential elements of the matters they have just dealt with. The formal vote then takes place in public.
Many observers register surprise when they first come across this closed door process, because it appears to offend the highly desirable principle of transparency. In time, they come to see it as the necessary practice that it is: a means of permitting the City to protect its own corporate interests by meeting in private, but only when it would be harmful or prejudicial to those interests to do so in public.
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David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.
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Made In Peterborough: Video About Girl Power!
/Here's a great video from the Red Pashmina Campaign aiming to celebrate, empower, and connect women here and around the world.
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Silver Bean Café Celebrates The Beginning Of Their 10th Season
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The Silver Bean Café opened yesterday, kicking off their 10th season.
It was a bustlin' place on Day One, to be with many local folks who had been counting down the days until opening day.
The weather seems promising for the next few days to spend enjoying a latté at the "cottage"!
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]
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Titles Bookstore Has Started Their 25% Off Closing Sale
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With the recent news of Titles Bookstore closing, they are now bidding Peterborough a "Thank You for 24 1/2 years" by offering 25% off all books (excluding ones already on sale). There are updated hours as well as they are now open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
We still have lots of Moleskine notebooks! And 18mo Planners. All 25% Off!
— Titles Bookstore (@titlesptbo) May 2, 2012
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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The Silver Bean Café Opens Today
/This very spot will look very different today when the Silver Bean Café will open for the season. Their hours will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends until June—and then they will extend their hours heading into the summer. Be sure to stop in and enjoy a drink made with their brand new espresso machine! And watch for outdoor ping pong there on the way.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]
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Peterborough Downtown Farmers' Market Kicks Off On Wednesday
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The Peterborough Downtown Farmers' Market will begin their new season this Wednesday, May 2nd.
The market runs every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. until October 3rd in the Louis Street parking lot.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]
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