City Hall
We hope to use this page to provide an ongoing perspective on city governance. We acknowledge that we are not unbiased, but we believe our contribution will be valuable. We’re building a list of specific concerns at the bottom of this page.
If you have news, ideas for the page, suggestions, criticisms, or other comments, please contact us through the form at the bottom of this page.
If you have thoughts you would like to share with an individual councillor, use this link.
To send an email to all councillors, go here.
If you’d like to join the discussion, use the comments box in the posts below.
RECENT POSTS
More on the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project
Two weeks ago we wrote our Mayor and councillors to learn more about the Cordelia BESS battery storage project, which received official support from the City in December. The eight questions in that letter dealt with safety, protocol, proper financial controls, and...
Open Letter to Council on new battery project
See transcript of the December 8 meeting here Dear Mayor Ritsma and Councillors, I am writing you about the December 8 meeting of Council, in which a letter of support was approved for a battery storage system at 465 Wright Boulevard, composed of up to 50...
Forum on Democracy and the Environment: project for the 2026 election
Get Concerned Stratford has made the decision to hold an all-candidates meeting for the 2026 municipal election, and we are counting on you to help us write the discussion questions.This is a time when things are changing...
Opinion: Let’s do the math on affordable/attainable housing
The problem with affordable housing is that nobody seems to know what it is. I’m not saying the City hasn’t been working on housing. Look at the Attainable Housing Project Summary Report, published in May of 2023. That took some time to be acted on, but it led to the...
OPINION: Councillor Wordofa’s proposal for a homeless shelter
Link to meeting video & minutes Sometimes I complain about Council, but last week they really earned their salary: the meeting lasted nearly five hours. So much talking. Sitting in the audience, it was pretty easy to imagine being in a homeless shelter entrance,...
GUEST POST: Sebringville’s probelm is Stratford’s problem too.
In 2012, a development proposal for a patch of farmland on Sebringville’s edge wasquietly shelved. The project faced a wall of provincial safeguards: a firm EnvironmentalAssessment process, strict groundwater protection rules, and a public system that,...
Loreena McKennitt on Stratford’s new CAO
With the retirement of Joan Thompson, the City of Stratford is looking for a new CAO. This is not just another boring administrative detail, but an extremely important step for us, as Loreena McKennitt made clear in a recent presentation to Council. The CAO...
Securing our digital future
This is a very geeky post, written for fellow activists responsible for the data their organization collects. For those who are just interested in whether the U.S. government is peeking in to their personal affairs, here's a short summary of what we learned for this...
Mike Sullivan’s talk at The Stratford Rotary Club
"We hope this is a blip,and not a trend to more secrecy." Last month Mike Sullivan spoke at the Stratford Rotary Club on Get Concerned Stratford's role in the 2020 Glass Factory issue. Club member Rheo Thompson obtained a copy of the book, ‘A Winning Campaign’,...
Americans! Having a little trouble with your government??
When we are down and things look dark, Canadians often think of the words of our national guru, Red Green. Always a wise councillor, he advised, “If the women don’t find ya handsome, they should at least find ya handy.” We have all memorized these words, and we know...