One of the advantages of Blog is the orderly presentation of my arguments . I often only discover their full strength at the time of writing. Sometimes I discover a weakness as well.
At council the other night colleagues were outraged. They believed I was implying they were doing things improperly behind closed doors.Councillor MacEachern ranted freely for several minutes , uninterrupted by the Mayor, and ended with the ominous statement that after two years of my conduct ,she had had enough.
Councillor Granger had his say as well. Can't remember a word of that though. Councillor Gaertner felt compelled to repeat the Municipal Act requires a council to discuss certain matters behind closed doors.
The Mayor contented herself, as is her wont, by having a staff person recite her version of the rules to refute my contention. She regularly makes reference to my habit of communicating outside "the proper forum"
On Tuesday night , when the question was put to approve the agenda, I exercised my obligation as a member of council to try to persuade council against dealing improperly with certain property matters behind closed doors. In the proper forum. Had they been permitted to hear my arguments they might have agreed . We will never know .
We do know however that with Mayor Morris presiding only those views which agree with her own will be permitted without being refuted by staff. Rules will continue to be perverted as we go along. Wherever else orderly debate on our town's affairs is happening, it will not be in the council chamber.
Not so long as the presiding member can figuratively flick her whip , direct staff to enjoin the debate and provide the version of government Acts and Regulations which supports her position.
In a few weeks,Bob Panizza will leave Aurora Town Hall at the end of a lifetime career in municipal public service. He no doubt hopes to do so without an escort.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
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11 comments:
Councillor Buck
thank god for your blog! I don't know if anyone in town would ever get the straight goods without your commentary.
you must have one hell of a constitution to sit through that crap week in and week out.
thanks for 3 great blogs in a row!
we are listening!!!!
"Councillor Granger had his say as well. Can't remember a word of that though."
Just a guess, but I'd wager he uttered the word "component" - and probably more than once.
"Councillor Granger had his say as well. Can't remember a word of that though."
Probably included something about the issue being too complex for Aurorans to understand.
I watched council on Rogers and was also wondering about your microphone. Is there some central 'control'? I could swear I saw a red light on your mike, and you were talking, but I couldn't hear what you were saying.
I don't want to be paranoid. We'll leave paranoia to Mayor Morris.
She really needs to stop and review her conduct.
I'm not always supportive of you Councillor Buck, but your blog gives me much pause for thought and makes me more aware of issues when I watch council and the way business is conducted.
Please continue to speak your mind, and voters will respond to what is important to them.
I'm also distracted by Councillor Granger's use of the word 'component'. I find myself waiting for him to use the word, and then not actually hearing anything else he says.
Quite like Mayor Morris' use of "unkay", which apparently means alternatively "Are you following my directions?"; "I'm ready to move on to the next agenda item, so please stop asking questions"; "give it a rest already"; "why won't they ALL do as I say, not as I do".
And even more distracting is the Mayor's habit of hurriedly talking over people when they still have the floor. There are other ways to gain someone's attention to move on the process without being dismissive or agressive. A skilled and confident leader knows how to do so.
And the Mayor's curious need to ensure that any fresh or innovative suggestion or idea from a councillor or staff member is something she "was thinking about as well"; "just about to say that"; "I've already mentioned that". Far be it that someone other than herself can be given any credit if she can pull credit to herself. And a bonus if she can take the shine off another person's contribution or enthusiasm.
Textbook self-esteem issues, so perhaps we should feel some sympathy for her when she clearly can't see her conduct in any mirror.
I would hope that if I were in her position that my friends, family and supporters would give me advice on how to show leadership without having to belittle or diminish others to achieve it.
My comments may seem trite, but how public officials present themselves goes straight to their credibility and perceived integrity.
Our Mayor's perception to many is that she is controlling and petty, and the more I hear of that from other residents, the more I seem to be seeing it for myself.
I wonder if Bob Panizza will miss being referred to as "the Clark". And we talk about Dion's english!
Actually I NEVER understand anything that councillor Granger has to say. He rambles on and on and waffles about nothing, totally losing his (and usually missing the)point. No wonder he needs a "gang" to cling to!
Actually I NEVER understand anything that councillor Granger has to say. He rambles on and on and waffles about nothing, totally losing his (and usually missing the)point. No wonder he needs a "gang" to cling to!
Ev, I was soooooooo pleased to read in the Ban-Era today that you had a Blog and how you were using it. I'm only sorry that I wasn't aware of such entertaining reading earlier.
Your, what seems to be, weekly contributions to the Letters To The Auroran have become a must read to get all the facts correct. The apparent "transparency" of Mayor Morris' promise fails to be seen.(no pun intended) Your honest and "no holds barred" approach to local government is a breath of fresh air in what otherwise is a stagnant cesspool of bureaucratic crap.
I seriously think that you should run for Mayor next time around. I would personally campaign for you and do everything in my power to see you get the position over what has to be the biggest mistake Auroran voters have ever made, that being voting in Phylis Morris and ousting Tim Jones.
As the previous commenter said, "We are listening!"
Name withheld, but I will email you my name. Aurora is still somewhat of a small town and people can be categorized with some comments.
"Anonymous said...
I wonder if Bob Panizza will miss being referred to as "the Clark". And we talk about Dion's english!"
What you are hearing is a very specific English dialect that also gives us wonderful words like "Thinkink", "Doink", "Seeiink", etc. The "ing" of words are replaced in speech by "ink". Not quite cockny but not far behind. At she doesn't say "Govnor!".
As someone from English extraction (the northern county of Lanchashire), I can't fault her too much. But that one of the few things that she can be forgiven.
Nice article on Bob Panizza in Tuesday, Sept 23 Era-Banner. A very distinguished career. Too bad it had to end in the silly ructions of this Mayor and council.
I was so pleased to see no mention of the current state of town council.
His accomplishments and contribution to the town need not be sullied with their goings on.
Good luck, Mr. Panizza. You'll be missed.
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