New Year Resolutions

It's the  time when  people go through the exercise of New Year Resolutions.

I don't usually make them but with a new council, a new term , a return to normalcy, I am planning to  make a habit of it. 

There was little  point  last term. A motion from moi simply meant providing an  opportunity for a prod to remind me  that  nothing I, or the people I represented had to say, was of any relevance.

I worked here for three years and four months  to change that. Four years is a long time for patterns  to be established. It may take a bit to change them back.

Our first Council meeting was a good start but a couple of things happened that give me pause.

A familiar  delegation  had a negative impact.

I knew it would

I moved for the delegation to be withdrawn from the agenda . I  received  support only from my seconder ,Councillor John  Abel.

From the Procedural Bylaw I read the requirements necessary to obtain delegation status and pointed out they were not met. My argument had no influence. The delegation was permitted,

Allegations and accusations against staff and misrepresentation  became part of the public record and were in turn, picked up and repeated in The Auroran newspaper.

They  are now  allowed to stand and influence public opinion until a staff report is presented .

Whether the  report  can combat misrepresentation , now part of the public record and in print media is questionable.  It's a lot easier to misrepresent facts  than it is to correct them..

 I tried to stop it. I  failed.  I thought, well!!  I did what I could. Can't do more. The majority rules.

I wrote a post or two on the issue  A letter to the editor is in the works. In the course of my efforts , I checked to confirm  the  facts and discovered something else.

The request for delegation status had found its way to the Mayor's office

The memorandum from Councillor Ballard , with the delegate's written presentation attached, allowed the item to appear on the agenda, which got around the rule that states a delegate may only speak to an item on the agenda, the purpose of which is to ensure against  external manipulation of the town's  business  agenda by a person with a vested interest . The issue  had  been discussed in the  Mayor's office with  staff  prior to the Council meeting.

It got a pass.

The Director of Leisure Services, the target of the allegations, accusations and the misrepresentations, got the short end of the stick .

Yvonne Cattral's campaign, a repudiation of town policies and procedures  and staff , was  accommodated by the people's representatives.

In the past four years,  rules of order have  been  twisted and turned  like a whirly-gig or ignored completely; to the advantage of special interests.

It was a feature of the Mormac administration. 

I still hope the fallout from this instance of  inequality and injustice against town staff , means  this exercise will not be repeated.

In the meantime,the  damage has been done. 

The integrity of an entire town department was challenged by a delegate with a vested interest, with the assistance  a Councillor willing to use his authority to enable that objective and the approval of Council.

False accusations, allegations and misrepresentation were not challenged on the spot by the administration.

When does openness and transparency become subterfuge and obfuscation?

How is the Corporation's interest protected  in the circumstance?

How is the community interest served?

I thought not to be asking these questions at this point in time.