Maclean's said Caledon is safest community

Be proud of yourselves, Caledon residents, because you deserve it, along with our police, the OPP.

The Town of Caledon has been deemed "The Safest Community in Canada" by Maclean's magazine.

This title was bestowed upon us in the March 24 weekly issue of the Canadian magazine. The rankings were based on the 2006 per capita crime rates, available from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.

Last week, I was interviewed from coast to coast. The most frequent question was, "How did you do it?"

I want all of you to know that my answer was, "our residents get involved in our community; our police listen to our community and we have a wonderful group of volunteers who care and work hard for our community."

I also told them that we have thrived on developing Caledon solutions to Caledon problems. That in my opinion is what sets us apart.

We have a police service that listens to the residents and responds in a proactive fashion, working with us to solve our problems. We have a Policing Advisory Council of Caledon, which is a grassroots, community-driven initiative that allows the community to identify policing priorities for their community. Along with input from council, those priorities are a reflection of the community needs and objectives that the OPP uses to tailor its policing for our community.

We have outstanding programs that involve the community, such as RoadWatch, which targets dangerous and aggressive driving; Citizens on Patrol, which help to watch out for possible criminal activity; the Youth Restorative Justice Program, in which the police identify certain offenders and offences that are diverted to this program rather than through the court system; and the Youth Leadership Program, in which both the police and young people give back to our community by working together. The officers in this program volunteer their time.

Inspector Andy Karski started the Hot Spot Program a few years ago, which means that he assigns 50 per cent of his traffic unit to the areas where people are getting killed or have had serious personal injury accidents. Since this initiative began, we have reduced our fatalities 50 per cent. Mind you, we all think any fatality is too many.

Our police are involved in Project Life Saver which is a program in place to help families with autistic children should they go missing. We are only one of a handful of police agencies in Canada that have this technology. This program was brought to our attention by a resident who came forward with a need and some possible solutions.

By working together we all benefit. As I said in many of the radio interviews, "In Caledon we like to fly under the radar. We do not go around pounding our chests or being overt, but I guess that this designation has changed our profile, for a while at least."

Last but not least, Inspector Karski, our OPP detachment commander and I do house calls! We pick a couple half days a month and we knock on doors in neighbourhoods because we want to hear what our residents are saying. We want to hear feedback. Of course we wish we could reach every single home, but that is not practical.

Keep an eye out for us and thank you very much for being such a wonderful community to live in.

If you are interested in getting involved in any or all of these programs or committees please let us know at (905) 584-2272, ext. 4156 or the OPP at (905) 584-2241.

Goodbye to a 'very, very

valued employee'

Staff and council of the Town of Caledon said goodbye to a valued employee recently; Cheri Cowan.

I am sure that many of you have had the pleasure of meeting, talking with or receiving correspondence from our dear Clerk. Cheri was very knowledgeable, likeable and smart. She did her job with the utmost integrity and always had a smile through it all.

I first met Cheri when she came to work for the Town as the mayor's assistant for Carol Seglins. Carol chose well and we at the Town were fortunate that when the position of Clerk came vacant, Cheri applied for it and was successful. That was good for Caledon. Cheri was extremely competent as Carol's assistant and I know that they became friends.

The assistant to the mayor is someone that the mayor must have total confidence in. They must handle and be privy to all matters that come to the office of the mayor and they are charged with keeping confidentiality, getting along with everyone, even those who call and yell at them, and they must do this with the utmost integrity and respect for others. This position is also a liaison for the mayor's office with the rest of the staff at the Town and therefore there must be a good relationship so that they can get the answers they need to many questions that are put through the mayors office that need a response.

Cheri did this job in an outstanding manner. In fact, she garnered the respect of the staff at the Town of Caledon, so much so, that when she decided to apply for the Clerk's position, it was a natural step for her because she already had the contacts and relationships built up. She was a natural.

Cheri saw many changes at the Town of Caledon during her tenure. She ran the elections for us, which many times proved to be interesting, to say the least. She saw and lived through the renovations to the Town Hall. She had seen councillors come and go, but through all of this she has been the statesman on the front line, representing the Town at the Town Hall.

On Sept. 24, 2004, the Minister of Consumer and Business Services introduced changes to the regula- tions made under the Marriage Act to authorize municipal clerks to solemnize civil marriage ceremonies subject to council approval. Cheri invited me to her very first ceremony that she had the pleasure of performing. She arranged for a cabinet to be hung in the Town Hall, Town Square with pictures of the "happy couples" displayed in it. She was like a proud parent every time she married a couple and put their picture in her cabinet.

I loved her enthusiasm. She also put us on the map outside of Caledon and became one of the important people at the Annual General Meeting for Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), helping to run the elections for president, directors etc. of AMO. They loved her.

As I said in my e-mail to staff Friday, Cheri will be dearly missed and so we now move on to another era in the Town of Caledon's history, but not without sincerely thanking a very, very valued employee for her outstanding contributions to our community.