As municipal budget season came and went, an uproar in Sarnia helped put things in perspective for us.
Yes, we here in Chatham-Kent, have 18 people sitting on council, including the mayor, and they often have some very diverse opinions.
However, none are comparable to Bill Dennis, the Sarnia councillor who flipped out on the mayor of that city, staff, and at least one other councillor during an online budget session for Sarnia council.
His tirade, which included him calling fellow councillor Adam Kilner a “joke” and a “fruitcake,” also saw him drop the F bomb, as well as telling Mayor Mike Bradley to “kiss my ass, you drunk, you cokehead.”
As of press time, Dennis said he had no plans on apologizing for his remarks.
Meanwhile, here in Chatham-Kent, we’ve had councillors suspended for their online comments and actions, but the discourse has remained civilized.
That was on fine display as the budget committee of council met recently to tackle next year’s tax increase. Several councillors looked to pull money from reserves to provide a one-year relief on taxes in 2025, only to be told by veteran councillors and administration that this only pushes the increase down the road for a year.
The discourse and dialogue serves to educate everyone – councillor and ratepayer alike.
We’d all like some tax relief, but no one wants to be staring down an even bigger increase in a year’s time.
Dialogue goes out the window when someone such as Dennis hijacks a meeting and makes wild accusations. Respect is lost, never likely to be regained.
Dennis’ antics have put the D in dysfunction for Sarnia council.
Meanwhile, here in C-K, despite the fact the budget process played out similar to how it has in previous years, with requests to cull the reserves and attacks on lifecycle funding, the four-year budget process has had an impact. Councillors are looking ahead. They’re seeing how a decision today will impact the process down the road.
However, as South Kent Coun. Trevor Thompson pointed out during deliberations, next year’s budget is the final one before a municipal election. And that’s when all bets are off.
“If you think this is difficult, the next one is where you want to be portrayed as a tax fighter,” Thompson said, meaning election years are when the most outlandish save-today, pay-tomorrow proposals tend to come forward.
