Municipal Politics

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by jammer139

The mental midgets at city hall have come up with another idea to display their epic failure in common sense.



https://london.ctvnews.ca/london-con...ment-1.6896774

I support a later start, 7am seems too early. 8am is better.

But for the evening, yeah no 6pm isn't goona work. 10pm seems too late, maybe move to 8pm? That at least gives 'normal' / 'day shift' workers who do a 9-5 have a chance to do it weeknights. A 6pm curfew is going to be completely ignored.

So ya I guess I support 8-8 mow times.

[Djeffery]

No mention of snowblowers. Electric or battery mowers and trimmers are one thing, but non-gas powered snowblowers are shit. And telling someone they can't cut their grass when they come home from their late afternoon shift at 2am or 6am is great, but if someone needs to blow their driveway out to get their vehicle in, or the plow comes by at 8pm, and you go back out to clean the driveway before bed if you are a dayshift person, there will be a lot of pushback on that.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

No mention of snowblowers. Electric or battery mowers and trimmers are one thing, but non-gas powered snowblowers are shit. And telling someone they can't cut their grass when they come home from their late afternoon shift at 2am or 6am is great, but if someone needs to blow their driveway out to get their vehicle in, or the plow comes by at 8pm, and you go back out to clean the driveway before bed if you are a dayshift person, there will be a lot of pushback on that.

Maybe it's just for landscaping equipment? Perhaps snowblowers will be exempt. I would assume if it did, it would be completely ignored.

And I got my parents a corded electric snowblower and it works great. No fuss about fuel/oil for gasoline powered ones or charging/swapping batteries. You just need to remember not to run over the cord - but just treat it like using a corded vacuum in your house. Just be sure to get a 15 amp version as most are 12. You need to draw all the power available. You also need a 15 amp cord which is more expensive.

In fact the long, 15 amp winter-rated cord cost about half as much as the snowblower itself... but it's a good quality one and could be used for things like electric chainsaws, leaf blowers, mowers, etc.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Maybe it's just for landscaping equipment? Perhaps snowblowers will be exempt. I would assume if it did, it would be completely ignored.

In thinking more about it, I think the expectation is more people are spending time outdoors relaxing on warm weather evenings, whereas in snowblower season, most people are hidden away indoors. At least, I hope that would be the thought process on this. Either way, look how well fireworks enforcement goes, I can just see the city trying to enforce a lawnmower ban lol

[Djeffery]

From the mayor's twitter...


@MayorMorgan
I will not be supporting this when it comes to Council. We have far more pressing issues to deal with.

The message I’ve heard most often from Londoners is one I agree with wholeheartedly: “get off my lawn.”

[MrSlippery519]

Glad the mayor also thinks this is a waste of time to discuss. Seriously 6pm would be a problem for most households, I'd be lucky to be home from work and dinner done before 630. 8pm sure go for it, but even that can be a challenge for some.
Also I would add, electric mowers while quieter than a gas mower its not as dramatic as your might think. Certainly they are less but if the concern is noise for your neighbour while after dinner this is an even dumber argument to bring up.

[jammer139]

Councillor to pull the motion on gas powered mowers. File this under When ideology slams into cold hard reality chapter.



https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...red-yard-tools

[Nintentario]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Councillor to pull the motion on gas powered mowers. File this under When ideology slams into cold hard reality chapter.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...red-yard-tools

Unfortunate that this is my first comment after enjoying the politically-neutral, informative discussion that usually takes place.

It's a breath of fresh air to see the left-leaning politicians openly engaging in dialogue, actually listening to their constituents, and adjusting their actions appropriately.

What can be said about the conservative and liberal councillors? Is Paul Cuddy or Corrine Rahman actively learning about urbanism and proper city design and publicly changing their minds? Paul Cuddy loves to go on rides with local cyclist advocates - and then vote against closing Blackfriars bridge during the summer for cyclists.

Why would you reach the conclusion that it's appropriate and constructive to bring Skylar Franke's ideaology into their proposal, when the political ideaology of others on council are objectively more harmful to the growth and quality of life of the city of London?


I can only assume your personal political ideaology doesn't personally align with Skylar's, and you've decided to create a personal attack against them for it, unfairly. Your comment sticks out like a sore thumb among this entire message board, so much so it's instigated me to comment. Congrats.

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[CanadianTalk]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Councillor to pull the motion on gas powered mowers. File this under When ideology slams into cold hard reality chapter.



https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...red-yard-tools

Interesting that this is your reaction.

First, I will say that I did have concerns with the proposal as outlined by some of the comments above (mainly that the 6 pm cut-off time would not work for many people).

However, what I saw was a city councillor who put forward a motion with genuinely good intentions, listened to the feedback she received, reflected on it, and realized that it would not work with the majority of people and withdrew the motion. Not often you hear a politician admit they were wrong. I thought that was a breath of fresh air.

I wish we saw that from politicians at all levels of government, quite frankly.


Edit: Welcome to the forum @Nintentario! I just saw your comment after I posted mine and we said almost the same thing haha regarding a "breath of fresh air".

[haljackey]

Well this got the town talking on something different from the norm.

Living in suburbia it's pretty much expected to hear lawn mowers, leaf blowers, etc during the day, and people revving their engines at night.

This vid sums it up very well

• Video Link

[Underground100]

Originally Posted by Nintentario

Unfortunate that this is my first comment after enjoying the politically-neutral, informative discussion that usually takes place.

It's a breath of fresh air to see the left-leaning politicians openly engaging in dialogue, actually listening to their constituents, and adjusting their actions appropriately.

What can be said about the conservative and liberal councillors? Is Paul Cuddy or Corrine Rahman actively learning about urbanism and proper city design and publicly changing their minds? Paul Cuddy loves to go on rides with local cyclist advocates - and then vote against closing Blackfriars bridge during the summer for cyclists.

Why would you reach that it's appropriate and constructive to to bring Skylar Franke's ideaology into their proposal, when the political ideaology of others on council are objectively more harmful to the growth and quality of life of the city of London?


I can only assume your personal political ideaology doesn't personally align with Skylar's, and you've decided to create a personal attack against them for it, unfairly. Your comment sticks out like a sore thumb among this entire message board, so much so it's instigated me to comment. Congrats.

~~~~~~

Agreed, when have any of these one-trick ponies on this forum ever changed their mind?

[MrSlippery519]

I agree it is refreshing to see her change the stance, I think if she just thought about it logically off the start it would have been realized it was a silly action to propose.

[Nintentario]

Originally Posted by MrSlippery519

I agree it is refreshing to see her change the stance, I think if she just thought about it logically off the start it would have been realized it was a silly action to propose.

MrSlippery519, the terms "silly" and "logical" are inherently subjective. Using subjective terms prevents us from engaging in a critical and constructive discussion. It's important to recognize that this forum comprises individuals with diverse perspectives, and consensus on what constitutes "logical" or "silly" actions is unlikely without clear, objective reasoning.

Currently, our country faces severe environmental challenges, including ongoing forest fires that persisted through the winter. This context cannot be ignored when discussing policies that may seem minor in isolation but have broader implications for environmentally sustaining our beautiful country.

If you review the preceding and following CBC articles (which we can assume the London public has not), you would notice that this motion was aimed to mitigate noise pollution and promote environmentally friendly alternatives. The coersive nature of this bylaw was reducing the window for gas equipment by 2 hours, nothing else.

To label this proposal as "silly" disregards the environmental benefits it sought to encourage. For residents with electric mowers, like my grandfather, this change would have only positive impacts whilst contributing to our community's health and quality of life.

Given the escalating climate crisis, why should a policy encouraging responsible practices be deemed "silly"? This reaction seems disproportionately emotional and dismissive of the broader environmental context. It would be beneficial to understand the reasoning behind such strong opposition.

Could you provide a more detailed explanation of why you find this proposal unreasonable? Perhaps then the forum would benefit from your perspective through respectful dialogue... Or are we just going to sit around and, like a certain forum member, use slurs like "mental midget" to describe things and people we don't like? If so - I take dibs on casting the first stone.

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[MrSlippery519]

Originally Posted by Nintentario

MrSlippery519, the terms "silly" and "logical" are inherently subjective. Using subjective terms prevents us from engaging in a critical and constructive discussion. It's important to recognize that this forum comprises individuals with diverse perspectives, and consensus on what constitutes "logical" or "silly" actions is unlikely without clear, objective reasoning.

Currently, our country faces severe environmental challenges, including ongoing forest fires that persisted through the winter. This context cannot be ignored when discussing policies that may seem minor in isolation but have broader implications for environmentally sustaining our beautiful country.

If you review the preceding and following CBC articles (which we can assume the London public has not), you would notice that this motion was aimed to mitigate noise pollution and promote environmentally friendly alternatives. The coersive nature of this bylaw was reducing the window for gas equipment by 2 hours, nothing else.

To label this proposal as "silly" disregards the environmental benefits it sought to encourage. For residents with electric mowers, like my grandfather, this change would have only positive impacts whilst contributing to our community's health and quality of life.

Given the escalating climate crisis, why should a policy encouraging responsible practices be deemed "silly"? This reaction seems disproportionately emotional and dismissive of the broader environmental context. It would be beneficial to understand the reasoning behind such strong opposition.

Could you provide a more detailed explanation of why you find this proposal unreasonable? Perhaps then the forum would benefit from your perspective through respectful dialogue... Or are we just going to sit around and, like a certain forum member, use slurs like "mental midget" to describe things and people we don't like? If so - I take dibs on casting the first stone.

~~~~~~

I am not certain why you framed your response like that, it comes off in a poor light just my opinion. I am not one to cast an opinion of someone and appreciate different perspectives, never have a problem with that at all, you could have just asked and I would gladly respond.

I did not feel it was a detailed motion and lacked substance ultimately. That said I do fully support the use of electric tools, I own an electric line trimmer currently and my next mower will most likely be electric as well when that time comes.

My main concern would be the proposed hours, in a perfect world everyone would have the option to cut their grass between 8-6pm, for a large portion of the population that is not possible. I work 8-5pm, by the time I get home from work even if I were to not eat dinner (or feed my family first) and headed straight out to cutting the grass it would not be possible to finish before the 6pm cut off time.

There also should be incentives in place for people to purchase electric yard equipment, today there are no incentives that I am aware of. For the average homeowner upgrading to an electric model is not a cheap purchase, especially when yard equipment are usually items people use until they break. To ask me to take my perfectly good 3 year old gas mower and toss it the garbage to purchase a new electric without an incentive so I can cut from 6-8pm is a poor proposal in my opinion.