Still Nattering

It's still going on. The dispute about how the Aurora Cenotaph is identified .

I didn't even mention the "vision" the Promenade Study has for the Cenotaph.

We know it as a Sacred Monument, an Alter of Sacrifice, a Garden of Remembrance with a tree growing for every life lost. I believe there are seventy-five.There are no accompanying concrete plinths on the ground bearing brass nameplates to interfere with seven man lawnmowers.

Under the Promenade Study it will be a passive park where occasionally "events" will be held.

The "vision" has it encircled by buildings and roads.

Currently the rear of the Edwards Plaza is on one side and MacDonald's on the other.

If opportunity ever presented in a redevelopment proposal, a different layout for those two sites should be required.

If I was there when it happened, I regret the oversight. MacDonald's landscaping should abut the Cenotaph not the street. Configuration of Edwards Plaza should also be changed.

The property behind the Cenotaph has a swathe of green.It needs to stay. .

Considering the parks we have, why do we need to contemplate using the Aurora Cenotaph for "events".

Why did the Promenade Steering Committee led by Mayor Morris, feel compelled to include the Cenotaph in their study of the downtown core ?

Was the Promenade Study for the sake of it? To create an illusion of action?

Decisions needed now, didn't happen .... instead, future changes are proposed for things perfect they way they are.

In the last term, staff were replacing the fence around the Cenotaph. They discovered a gate to Edwards Plaza had been installed by a vet who was using the Cenotaph property as a run for his patients. They needed to "go" on grass.

He was told the gate would not be replaced. He appealed to Council.. Some Councillors were so inclined .

Councillor Morris said she and Councillor Gaertner, cleaning up litter on Clean-Up Saturday , found far more disgusting stuff at the back of the Cenotaph.

Councillor Vrancic told us he regularly walked his dog all the way from Kennedy Street to the Cenotaph.

I thought, it's amazing how different we all are. When I put my name forward to serve as a Councillor, in my wildest dreams, I never visualised doing anything so disgusting or silly.

There are a whole bunch of things I won't to do to win a vote. I'm not shy about it.

I demanded the town consult with the Aurora Legion to determine their position on allowing a vet to use the Cenotaph for a dog run.

The vet did not get a gate back into the Cenotaph fence.

Subsequently I received a call from someone who had lived in town for twenty-seven years. She didn't know if I was called alderman or what. She was sure the vet was conscientious. She didn't see dogs any different to squirrels or birds defecating in the Cenotaph property. The whole thing was totally ridiculous.

I listened until she finished. I learned she was twenty-seven years old and a high school teacher. She was speaking from the teachers lunch room. She had an audience.

When I started to respond, she said it was clear she had just wasted her lunch hour. Someone in the background signified agreement.

There was no further exchange.

My God, I thought, they are teachers.