Ruminations On Yesterday's Post.

A lengthy drive to Georgian Bay yesterday to spend the day with my family gave time to dwell on the time the late Sergeant Norm Stewart served on Aurora Council.

Despite the substantial list of initiatives to his credit, none of us seemed to think much of it.
Including Norm.

When an idea was adopted by Council. Everybody just got behind it and did whatever needed to be done. The credit was shared.

Dick Illingworth was credited as being the best Mayor .

Dick put forward few initiatives. He was an air force veteran with huge respect for rank and of a bureaucratic mind set.He never took risks. He was a better Mayor than he was a Councillor

He prided himself in his proficiency as presiding member. He respected Rules of Order sufficiently to recognise a challenge as part of the process. He did not appreciate being challenged but he did not hesitate to put it to the vote. If he lost it, he took a minute to recover
confidence and control.

The risk of a lost challenge always kept the presiding member's feet to the fire.

The practice of our craft did not mean a different perspective was a criticism and therefore had to be silenced.

It didn't mean a Councillor had to be destroyed by whatever means possible, including spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of public resources.

It meant... on the basis of our performance, the people would decide, when their turn came again.

As Councillors, we neither loved nor hated one another .

But there was a relationship from working together in a common endeavour. The tension of differing ideas competing made it real and satisfying and yes, the community took notice.The press liked to refer to the "Old Boys Club"

You won some. You lost some. Onward and upward, there was always another exhilarating battle hovering on the horizon.

I have never hammered that thought out in words before now.

Great age means broad experience and the knowledge that life is a continuing learning experience.

We have that in common with the very young. Along with the spirit to laugh with abandonment over the silliest things.

We know the greatest part of our journey is behind us. Much of what concerned us, is of little consequence now. What's ahead is simply return on investment we are fortunate to be around to collect.

I pondered yesterday on the long drive.

is it unrealistic to compare the current and last Council's hostility, consistent block vote and shameless exploitation of the most fundamental of thinking, to the way we were?

Should I accept the current pattern as the norm and surrender my principles and expectations?

I think....Not Bloody Likely