Is Shoe a Croc? Can a rookie politician be too eager, too busy, to the point of diverting an entire city's attention from things that really matter?
Matthew Shoemaker's City Council colleagues are becoming concerned with the never-ending onslaught of resolutions he's introduced since his election in Ward 3 three years ago.
Last night, as the 106th and 107th resolutions either moved or seconded by Shoemaker failed to gain support, some councillors were openly expressing exasperation.
"I admire that Councillor Shoemaker is all over town and looking at absolutely everything under the sun," said Ward 2 Councillor Susan Myers.
"Every single one of [Shoemaker's 107 resolutions] in and of themselves may bear some value. But I honestly feel that we're really starting to stretch on what we should be spending our time on, and what we're asking our staff to spend time on. I will be voting against this," Councillor Myers said.
Sandra Hollingsworth, who also represents Ward 2, said that city staff are toiling hard on things like the community action plan and the 2018 budget.
Shoemaker's multitudinous initiatives may be placing an onerous burden on staff, Councillor Hollingsworth said.
"They have many outstanding motions thanks to Councillor Shoemaker that they're working on. I would like to suggest that this goes on the back burner and maybe bring it up in 2018. But right now there's a lot more priorities I feel our staff should be working on," Hollingsworth said.
Shoemaker didn't take the criticism well.
"If we're just voting against that report because we've given them a lot of reports to draft, I think that's conceding the obligations we have as councillors," he said.
"We are here to make the best decisions for our residents to make their lives easier, less expensive."
"If we're just rejecting reports because it means more work for staff, when there's no real indication that any of these need to be brought back within a specific time frame, go ahead. But I think that is not our obligation as city councillors," Shoemaker said.
The two rejected Shoemaker resolutions last night proposed disabling most or all of the city's advanced traffic signals between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., and charging a five per cent premium on collecting building permits and inspection services for surrounding townships.
Shoemaker's original resolution on advanced traffic signals proposed disabling them between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. but he changed the times at the last minute after hearing from constituents over the weekend.
The following is a full list of the 107 resolutions either moved or seconded by Councillor Shoemaker since he took office:
Nov, 20, 2017 – Disable Advanced Traffic Signals Between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Nov. 20, 2017 – Higher Permit Fees For Non-Residents
Nov. 06, 2017 – Review of Algoma U’s annual funding
Nov. 06, 2017 – Cash in Lieu of Parkland Policy
Nov. 06, 2017 – Selling Closed Laneways
Oct. 23, 2017 – There’s an APP for that
Oct. 23, 2017 – Private Sector Winter Parking Ban Enforcement
Oct. 10, 2017 – Norgoma and Bondar Marina review
Oct. 10, 2017 – Off-Peak-Hour Road Work
Sep. 25, 2017 – Bid for Amazon’s Second HQ
Sep. 25, 2017 – Local Improvement Charges for All Roads
Sep. 11, 2017 – City Assumption of Red Pine Drive
Aug. 21, 2017 – Implement 5-Ward, 10 Member Council
Aug. 21, 2017 – Parking Issues Around SAH
Aug. 21, 2017 – Peddler By-Law Review
Aug. 21, 2017 – Funding for Customer Service Training
Jun. 26, 2017 – Weekend Downtown Street Closure
Jun. 26, 2017 – Vacant Council Seats
Jun. 26, 2017 – Tax Ratio Presentation
Jun. 26, 2017 – Peddler Licencing By-Law
Jun. 12, 2017 – Charge City Employees for Parking
Jun. 12, 2017 – Congratulate Ross Romano
Jun. 06, 2017 – Advocate for Continued Support and Defence of Great Lakes
May 29, 2017 – Challenging our Construction Labour Designation
May 29, 2017 – Salary disclosure for PUC C.E.O.
May 29, 2017 – Cost Recovery for Fire Services
May 29, 2017 – Motion to thank NorOnt for their visit
May 08, 2017 – Algoma U Scholarship Criteria Change
May 08, 2017 – Advertising on permanent structures
May 08, 2017 – Budget Reduction Targets for 2018 Budget
Apr. 24, 2017 – Implement Independent Job-Evaluation System
Apr. 24, 2017 – Review of Street Closure Procedure
Apr. 24, 2017 – Quarterly Reports on Outstanding Resolutions
Apr. 24, 2017 – Budget Presentation from Animal Shelter
Apr. 10, 2017 – Public Salary Disclosure from economic development agencies
Apr. 10, 2017 – Scent, Air Quality and Environmental Factors
Apr. 10, 2017 – Re-allocation of Sackville Road funds
Mar. 20, 2017 – Tree Replacement Policy
Mar. 06, 2017 – Reduction in Number of Councillors & Wards
Mar. 06, 2017 – Amendment to staff motion on vacancy rebate
Mar. 06, 2017 – Recorded Votes for All Votes
Mar. 06, 2017 – Report on C.O. detection at all City buildings
Mar. 06, 2017 – Additional By-Law Enforcement Officer
Mar. 06, 2017 – Finance Committee Terms of Reference Review
Feb. 21, 2017 – Staff Report on Leasing McMeeken Centre
Feb. 21, 2017 – Albert Street and East Street intersection review
Feb. 06, 2017 – Funding for Closed Captioning for Council Meetings
Feb. 06, 2017 – Changes to Job-Evaluation Committee
Feb. 06, 2017 – Customer Service Training for Front-Line Staff
Jan. 23, 2017 – Reduce department budgets by 1% in 2018
Jan. 23, 2017 – Post City expenses and credit cards online
Jan. 23, 2017 – Recognize David Orazietti’s Service
Dec. 12, 2016 – Construction Employer Designation
Dec. 12, 2016 – Fees at Landfill Site
Dec. 12, 2016 – Sault Area Hospital Smoking Area
Nov. 21, 2016 – Appointments to Water Commission
Oct. 24, 2016 – Consolidate and relocate Korah and Churchill Libraries
Oct. 24, 2016 – Relocate the Seniors Centre
Oct. 24, 2016 – Third Party Review of Public Works
Sep. 26, 2016 – Conduct a CAO Performance Review
Sep. 26, 2016 – Survey parks usage
Sep. 12, 2016 – Funding conditional on presentations and financial statements
Jun. 13, 2016 – Strike a Committee on Democratic Reform
May 16, 2016 – Report on the number of library branches
May 16, 2016 – Public Salary Disclosure for the Innovation Centre
Apr. 25, 2016 – Traffic study at Great Northern Road and Fifth Line
Apr. 11, 2016 – Form a committee to study the Truth and Reconciliation Report
Apr. 11, 2016 – Support the Government of Canada’s initiatives to stop unfair trade
Mar. 21, 2016 – Transition out of the provision of daycare services
Mar. 21, 2016 – Direct the legal department to review the animal control by-laws
Mar. 07, 2016 – Study winter maintenance, parks maintenance, waste collection divisions
Mar. 07, 2016 – Request a vacancy gapping policy be developed
Mar. 07, 2016 – Cease cover the costs for pre-employment assessments
Mar. 07, 2016 – Recover costs to perform Property Title Searches
Mar. 07, 2016 – Reduce the level of meals provided to Council
Mar. 01, 2016 – Stop treating Emerald Ash trees
Mar. 01, 2016 – Eliminate Residential Walkway and Guardrail Maintenance Program
Mar. 01, 2016 – Remove five (5) non-warranted traffic signals
Feb. 29, 2016 – Increase the cost of open-air burn permits
Feb. 29, 2016 – Study the number of parks in the City of Sault Ste. Marie
Feb. 29, 2016 – Freeze Council’s Honourarium and Car Allowance
Feb. 29, 2016 – Freeze the salaries of non-union staff
Feb. 29, 2016 – Develop a policy on the use of budget surpluses
Feb. 08, 2016 – Report from staff on Fire/Emergency Medical Services realignment plan
Jan. 25, 2016 – Suspend the Building Division rent
Nov. 09, 2015 – Review the Downtown parking operation
Sep. 28, 2015 – Review necessity of the Employee Death Benefit
Sep. 28, 2015 – Endorse a community effort to fundraise for refugees
Sep. 14, 2015 – Support for a new Soo Lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Aug. 10, 2015 – Re-design the Sault Ste. Marie Municipal Flag
Aug. 10, 2015 – Determine the most appropriate time for Budget deliberations
Aug. 10, 2015 – Explore new location for the Walk of Fame plaques
July 13, 2015 – Name our unnamed Civic Holiday the Sir William H. Hearst Day
July 13, 2015 – Review the City’s vacancy management policy
Jun. 22, 2015 – Changes to the Highway Traffic Act
May 11, 2015 – Determine timelines and cost for Phase 3 of Northern Community Centre
Apr. 27, 2015 – Review the City’s budget process
Apr. 13, 2015 – Honour Sir William H. Hearst
Apr. 13, 2015 – Finance Commissioner to conduct a 30-day review of vacant staff position
Apr. 13, 2015 – Conduct environmental assessment for P-Patch traffic to access Northern Ave
Mar. 23, 2015 – Honour Mayor James L. McIntyre
Mar. 23, 2015 – Finance Committee develop evaluation grid for Items referred to budget
Mar. 09, 2015 – List of externally funded agencies from the Finance Department
Mar. 09, 2015 – Traffic lights along Wallace Terrace flash red between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Feb. 09, 2015 – Video record closed-session meetings of Council
Jan. 26, 2015 – Accountability at Algoma Public Health
Jan. 26, 2015 – Study Pine Street and Pleasant Drive intersection