Tuesday would have been a good night for the Integrity Commissioner to attend a council meeting. At the end of our education workshop in the previous week, Mr. Fitkin asked for comments in response to his presentation.
I thought perhaps he had not understood that Councillors have authority to exercise independent judgement. He responded with one word "collegiality". I assured him no such thing exists in Aurora Council.
On Tuesday after almost four hours of tortuous talk, I left the budget meeting when the Mayor had one of her episodes. She spontaneously erupts and rewrites the script to suit lines she has written for herself. From that point on, she is a one-woman production.
An earlier edition of the budget had included a figure of $30,000 to paint the ceiling of the Community Centre. Councillor Gaertner commented the rust was only on the surface - could painting not wait until next year?
Buildings Manager, Aaron Karmazyn answered yes it could but surface rust becomes penetrating rust. I understood from his answer, it's better to paint before rust penetrates.
On Tuesday night, we were looking at figures that eliminated a number of items, including painting the community centre ceiling. Given the opportunity, I moved the item be restored to the budget. I had some comments to bolster my arguments. It's what you do as a councillor. Councillor Wilson was highly amused. and laughed aloud.
The Mayor promptly took off on a trajectory of her own.She is the presiding member. There's no-one to call her to order. She ordered the Chief Building Official to advise on the condition of the ceiling. Ms. Van Leeuwen said she did not know and would defer to the Director of Leisure Services. He wasn't there. Nor was Mr. Karmazyn.
The Mayor contended I had claimed the Community Centre roof was in danger of collapsing and conditions were hazardous. At that point I concluded no rational discussion was possible. I left.
On Wednesday, Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Building Official and Buildings Manager received orders from the Mayor to advance upon the community centre, inspect the ceiling forthwith and report back immediately to herself.
They did. Guess what? They found surface rust on the girders and the sprinkler pipes. Painting could wait until next year but they would continue to monitor the situation throughout the year.
The Mayor further ordered a Memo to that effect be included in next week's council agenda so that the public would be assured, there is absolutely no danger of the community centre's roof falling in.
The Mayor's communication to staff, cited my last Blog. It was reasonable to expect my argument to provide $30.thousand to contain rust on steel girders supporting the roof of the community centre would draw a reference to $108,000 dollars provided to restore a rotting, mouldering, crumbling old shack with no historical significance which has been sitting at the side of Leslie Street, steadily deteriorating, for five years because no one has a use for it.
I conclude the Mayor has a vested interest in not allowing the comparison be drawn in a public meeting.
I've been reading bits and pieces of Toronto's Code of Ethics. Compliance with the Procedure Bylaw and the Conflict of Interest Act are central to their Code.
Toronto and Vaughan and Aurora are the only municipalities with adopted Codes. Mr. Fitkin informed us one of them is a total failure. I don't have great hopes for ours either.
Mayor Morris and Councillor MacEachern didn't attend the educational workshop.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
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10 comments:
The Mayor and Councillor MacEachern did not attend the workshops?! If it weren't so disturbing, it would be laughable. Why doesn't the "Aurora" media report such hypocracy? Because we don't have any true journalism in this town.
The Auroran has no teeth, and The Banner prints pre-prepared articles from the Mayor or one of her co-horts.
I wish Ron would get off his wallet and hire an actual "reporter" for our town. I bet he'd have a readership - and credibility - boost.
It seems like you're on your lonesome Councillor Buck. Keep at it.
The two people who made such a fuss about the DIRE necessity for this stupid code and the high priced commissioner...
The two people who, arguably, need it most didn't attend????
and everyone else did? Even you Ms. Buck??
well, that just says it all doesn't it, eh?
The Co-mayors think the rules apply to everyone else but themselves...
How loud does the clamour have to be before the residents of this town do something.
Thank god I am moving out of Aurora. I have been in this town for 17 years but I can't take 2 more years of this!!
Ms. Buck you are a hypocrite. Last I heard you refused to sign the Code claiming you didn’t need anyone to tell you how to behave. So why did you attend and why haven’t you signed the Code?
As for the budget, you’ve told us how little the others have done to cut the taxes, what exactly have you done besides your usual whine and complain? Get on with the job!
Your amazing Ms. Buck. You're the one who raised the specter of a roof collapse, and then has the gall to criticize the Mayor for ensuring that if the Town doesn't paint the girders, the roof won't collapse. Just wonderful, you are.
Why would the co-Mayors attend a workshop? They know it all, just ask them. I am sick and tired of the antics of those two and they WILL be defeated in the next election. MacEachern knows exactly how to drive the paranoia Morris experiences. Morris seems to have the folks at the Era Banner editorial department fooled. Or maybe it's because they have so few reporters now. The editor-in-chief is a fan of Morris. She needs to take off the blinders and realize because you're a female, that doesn't necessarily give you a free pass. You have to have some smarts to back it up. God save Aurora!
My goodness, why can't a civil discussion on a single $30,000 budget item not be had without it turning into a big drama? The sky is falling....oops sorry, the roof is falling......
Sounds like staff were applying a common sense approach to some routine maintenance. An ounce of prevention being better than a pound of cure.
Makes one wonder if any serious business ever gets done.
I don't believe Evelyn said anything about a roof caving in. I think she was for the preventative. Paint the girders and they will not get to that point. Once again it was the mayor who put the spin on things. It will be her way and only her way! No one should ever challenge her. How does she get people to go her way do they not think that opinion is worth stating.
GROW SOME " " PEOPLE!!
Dear Anonymous March 7th, 3:04. I'm sorry you misunderstood my comment at 1:38 - it was not meant to critize Evelyn. I feel as you do, Evelyn did not cause the drama, she merely rasied a valid concern in the budget, the drama is how this Mayor deflects from herself to others. I'm tired of it.
Anonymous Mar 7 5:28, Sorry I was not offended by your comments. It was the one who refers to Councillor Buck as Ms. B that I was referring to.
I find it very strange indeed that the Mayor, who is so obsessed with optics, did not attend this meeting. I would have expected that she would have been presiding over the workshop scribbling copious notes which she could then reference in the future ad nauseam.
Was the workshop audio recorded?
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