Scurvy Knaves

Councillor MacEachern wants people to know which members have been carrying an unfair share of Council's work load.

To that end, staff have been assigned the role of sorting out the attendance record for in-camera meetings .

The enormity of the task is unimaginable. The end result will be murky at best.

In- camera meetings were not the solitary or most horrible aspect of this Council.

Having hogged membership of the committees , the Councillor now lays claim to having done all the work. With seeming complaint against those denied the opportunity.

An illegal clause in the procedure bylaw discourages Councillors from attending meetings. It is there at her insistence.

After establishing from the first Council meeting that nothing contributed to the debate by a particular Council member would be allowed without repeated interruption, let alone consideration, the Councillor is now saying ;

"Hey Folks ! Look who did all the work"

Mais attendez!!!!

Are we counting meetings cancelled by the committee chairman because she could?

Are we counting "Emergency" and other meetings with Solicitor George Rust D'Eye in attendance who advised a Councillor not to attend .

Where he was instructed to "investigate a leak" of an in-camera decision three months earlier which should have been public and wasn't .

As if the refusal to sell public land at an appraised price should have been kept a secret. Though that was clearly the intention of the Councillor now claiming to heft the full load.

Are we talking about an in-camera meeting, like a kangeroo court, to cross-examine Directors about a decision they made with authority,by Solicitor John Mascarin retained for the purpose of inquiry and inquisition

Are we talking about the meeting before Civic Awards Night in 2009, when the same solicitor was retained to "investigate" a fellow Councillor(moi); to listen to tapes of public meetings; read open letters to the editor and blog posts; to ferret out instances which might be described as critical of town staff ; to form the basis of a Complaint under their Code of Righteous Conduct, to their brand new Integrity Commissioner.

Following which they did file in, with smiles all around, to the Council Chamber, accompanied by bagpipes for a celebration of goodwill to all men.

Are we talking about the meeting to receive Mascarin's report, when he questioned my right to attend because I might hear something to my advantage What! while he advised Councillors of comments that I had made which could be taken to create the substance of a complaint against ETHICS

Are we talking about a meeting, not the first or the only one , with screeching and abuse after which a Councillor elected with strong support, felt compelled to resign: to be replaced without election, by appointment of a non-elected person.

Are we talking about an ethics workshop, provided by the newly engaged Integrity Director, and boycotted by the Mayor and Councillor MacEachern.

Attendance might well be weighed against content .

There was that hastily called meeting without an agenda (not hasty enough) to strip the Integrity Commissioner of his authority in time to render his decision to dismiss above noted complaint, null and void.

About this time last year.

An attendance record would not include instances when Councillors left meetings in disgust because of foul language and obscene gestures.

Four meetings called to discuss the same item in various guises before the desired decision was obtained and that by a secret commitment to discuss in public, which didn't happen.

Expert witnesses retained,whose evidence already forms part of the public record , to be used in a Municipal Board Hearing, with their first clients compensated by the town for their fees.

Many meetings which should have been held were not.

An off-site orientation meeting for new Councillors to be briefed on the work load, duties and responsibilities; lectures ,questions and answers, all stuff needed to prepare themselves for the work ahead.

Like decisions on surplus buildings in library square.

Like disposal or not of the valuable Hydro Property. Just dealt with on July 13th.

Like the Five Year Revision of the Official Plan. Currently being rushed through at the last knocking.

Oh Dear Me No.

We could not have new Councillors getting uppity ideas about what needs to be done and their authority to do it ,outside the iron control of the terrible twins. After all, were they not responsible with Susan's help, for getting the five of them elected.Are they not owned by the twins?

What about an absent agenda item to discuss the nature of a Jazz Festival staged by private business for private profit and the merits of a $2.thousand hand-out from the town treasury and free use of town facilities and non-accounting of funds raised. .

Or the benefits of town staff and the Farmers Market being harassed for weeks by the peripatetic best friend of the Mayor, who is obviously of the impression, she has received the keys of the Mormac Kingdom.

It has been a tortuous four years. No staff are left who recall the happenings behind closed doors. No record exists except in the memory of those who have endured.

When the first two hours of most Council meetings have the Mayor presenting awards. posing for endless photographs and other trammel to push the town's business later and later and in no way fulfill the requirement of public decision-making.

When scheduled in-camera meetings were frequently cancelled because of the lateness of the hour or truncated for the same reason, or re-scheduled , or duplicated as noted above, with resultant distortion of numbers actually held

When a Committee chairperson can cancel meetings if it's not convenient to attend, how does that equate with the value of a record of attendance.

Are we also talking about the record of attendance of our only representative at meetings of York Regional Council?.

Exactly what can the public be expected to discern with accuracy from the record of attendance of this Council.

That it has survived at all to this point, is testament to the extraordinary endurance and commitment of some members to the people who elected them.

The virtual collapse of the last meeting will testify to that.