The Scrupulosity of an Amateur

I heard that phrase years ago from the altar at a Sunday Mass. The sermon is a blank. It was undoubtedly a warning about the dangers of thinking. It's a fabulous put-down. I was never deterred. In the public's business however, I form conclusions only after every question I can think of has been answered.

In the matter of preventive maintenance of the roof supports at the Community Centre, we know the Mayor ordered the CAO and other staff to advance upon the centre, establish conditions of the girders and place a written memo on the agenda of the next council meeting.

The CAO has done that. His memo states "there is absolutely no indication that the rust presents a critical life safety issue with this ceiling structure".

No-one suggested it did.

Management Team recommended $30.thousand in the budget to paint the girders as preventive maintenance.The item was subsequently deleted by council. I moved it be restored. The Mayor went berserk at this blatant challenge to her authority. The outcome was a memo from the Chief Administrative Officer which supported the Mayor's false contention that my contention that the community centre roof was in danger of collapse was not accurate.

Quite the process. Ethics come to mind; misuse of town resources is a phrase from the Code. The merits of dragging staff into a political debate is hardly worth noting but there it is. Leaving that to the side........for the moment...let us take up the merits of painting the girders to keep them in good condition.

The Leisure Services Budget was ready for presentation on September 16th 2008. Rust must have been visible prior to that date for the recommendation to have been made. It is now March 2009. At least half a year of rusting has gone by. According to current recommendations of staff the project can be deferred until the 2010 budget. By then two years or more will have passed since rust first became visible and before a contract can be awarded.

The CAO's memo states the situation will be monitored. Presumably, if conditions call for painting, $30.thousand will be found. It will not have been a figure in the budget. Why not? Will the estimate still hold in 2010? Or will the condition call for something more than painting?

When senior staff (four)went to the Community Centre at the Mayor's command, to determine if the roof was falling in, how exactly did they accomplish their task.? The memo doesn't say .Did they stand on the ice and gaze at girders? Did they climb on the railing behind the seats to get a closer look? Did they know what they were seeing? Unless I am mistaken,the Chief Administrative Officer of Aurora knows no more than I would, if "surface" rust had advanced to be a sufficient cause for concern. Why was he ordered to be there? Why did he go? Why was the advice of the Manager of Buildings not sufficient ? What's the game ?

Here's what we know; $30.thousand for preventive maintenance for an arena roof has been deleted from the budget by council. $108.thousand has been included to fix up a rotting structure that nobody needs and few care about.

I guess if enough clamour is made about a roof that's not falling in, taxpayers might not notice $108.thousand being allocated to a useless structure with a roof that caved- in years ago.All that's needed to keep the natives from thinking is to baffle them with bull shit.

I don't think so!