The Wrath of Lake Associations

In the interest of transparency, I include here (below) a copy of an email I've sent in reply to John McCash, President of the Three Lakes Ratepayers Association, on the issue of Ontario Camp of the Deaf motor sport racing noise pollution.

John,

Much food for thought in the OCD related correspondence you've provided me to consume. Thank you for your reporting and analysis.

As a candidate for Ward 1 councillor in the 2010 Seguin election, I've gone public with my take on the issue in a recent Beacon Star letter to the editor...

http://oneseguin.blogspot.com/2010/04/letter-to-editor-seguin-noise-pollution.html

Therein I focus on the measured, illegal production of noise pollution caused by OCD motor sport events. I set aside the zoning issue as it could ultimately only be decided by the court. I also disregard the charitable work conducted by the property owners as it is a distinctly different activity not in question.

In my letter, I urge Seguin's council to either amend the existing by-law, or create a new commercial noise pollution by-law with high, minimum fines that escalate with each additional infraction. In this respect, I'm the 'tough on crime' candidate. Clearly, a strong administrative emphasis on enforcement is called for in my proposed solution. The lack of strict enforcement of an effective noise pollution by-law, I believe, has a highly corrosive effect on community trust in an public administration elected to represent the interests of the people. I'd like such a by-law to come into being now. I think you've got a good idea with special permits to limit the number of annual events. I also feel that the OCD land owners need to build effective sound abatement structure that will reduce the level of noise to provincial standards in order not to pay the high fines associated with unlawful levels.

I've also stated, in my One Seguin blog (www.oneseguin.blogspot.com), that I prefer an out of court settlement to the issue due to the costs associated with a legal action for all parties. As the ultimate legality of OCD commercial activities cannot be determined without a ruling, I set zoning aside in order to clearly deal with what I consider to be the core issue of noise pollution.

With you, I find the current administration shows a disappointing lack of transparency in process, and also reporting (e.g. 2006 is the last year of key performance indicators reported on the Seguin website - http://www.twp.seguin.on.ca/742/key_performance_indicators.htm). As an MBA and former public sector management consultant, I can't understand how Mayor Conn (a former CEO with a BBA) would allow such a narrow, generic range of reporting with lack of operational detail, and overall opacity to persist. I just don't understand the reasoning.

The undiscovered country of Seguin Township operations boggles my mind, frankly, as I assume whatever reporting generated within public administration would, in logical progression, be presented on the township website at end of process. There's no reason not to present reporting. It's the easiest thing in the world to upload the info on to the web....But this is a different subject area, and I'm reluctant to dig deep into this soil at the moment.

Finally, I think it is highly significant that you and your lake association are wading into this even though your members aren't personally impacted by the noise (as I am). The received wisdom is that Seguin council members win and lose their seats on the strength of lake association member votes.

I'm off to hug a tree in the whirlwind.

Regards,

Bill Pocock

Candidate for Ward 1, Seguin Township
www.oneseguin.blogspot.com

P.S. First I have to post this email on my blog for the sake of transparency.