"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Thursday, 27 January 2011

A Terrible Tale of Perverted Loyalty...and Intrigue

A public planning meeting held last night had one item on the agenda; a re-zoning application for a house on Wellington Street to be used as an office.

A policy was struck by the town almost fifty years ago, to encourage adaptive re-use of fine old homes and maintain the old town's heritage intact. It was before L.A.C.A.C. Long,long before the Heritage Advisory Committee and newcomers who now claim credit for protecting the town's heritage as if it has just been discovered.

Some days,it irritates, other days it irritates more.

In the latter circumstance,I am inclined to mischief. Last night was one of those.

The application was a simple affair but we had to go through the hoops.

Councillor Gaertner has been ill-tempered since the election when her idol was defeated. Being re-elected has not been a solace to her.She continues to grieve.

Former Councillor MacEachern is the star in Wendy's universe.Councillor Gaertner is nothing if not blindly loyal to her idol.

So last night the Promenade Study so beloved of Mormac,,had to be referred on the re-zoning.

I have something to say about most issues.Sometimes nothing needs to be said. But if talk starts and meanders aimlessly and endlessly,I am quite likely to explode and say something which contributes absolutely nothing to the debate. I have never claimed to be perfect.

Except for Councillor Ballard and occasionally Councillor Gallo. I don't think there's a Councillor at the table who doesn't want to push Wendy down and sit on her at recess.

She on the other hand, appears to be sublimely indifferent.

The latest gaffe has had a significant impact.

After the off-site orientation ,alright as far as it went but not as fine as the Mayor said, Councillor Ballard, who did not attend, sent an e-mail to the Mayor with questions and assertions to which the Mayor responded politely with some of his own... assertions that is.

Councillor Gaertner joined the e-mail discussion. She forwarded a suggestion to Councillor Ballard about how to use the Mayor's e-mail response for implied nefarious purpose. Unfortunately for Winsome Wendy, she clicked on Reply instead of Forward and the e-mail went astray.

At first blush,it was quizzical, then hilarious,then astounding and horrific.

Councillor Gaertner had copied her response to Councillor Galahad to the Dreadful Duo, MacEachern and Morris.

So now we think we know what was always suspected. The Terrible Twins waiting in the wings are in Councillor Gaertner's confidence every step of the way.

What to do ....What to do ....

Judgment can be learned. It cannot be taught.

A Councillor either has it or not.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not a surprise, but short of letting the public know about this, is there anything from a legal perspective that can be done?

I somehow doubt it. She simply says that they are her "advisors". There is nothing illegal about advisors.

She really is not the brightest bulb in the box but this is nothing new.

Anonymous said...

W T F !

Remove Windy's email ability so that she has to send notes on paper in future.

This woman is bereft of a brain.

Anonymous said...

YEA, I LOVE the Galahad reference!

NAY!!

Anonymous said...

Evelyn,

If the Code of Conduct had been crafted with the intent to apply to anyone, other than yourself, we would already have enough violations for about 4 complaints by my reckoning. The Tunaman still feeds at the trough until February 20, maybe he should earn his daily bread.

Luckywife

Anonymous said...

I was watching the council meeting on my laptop on Tuesday and granted, the picture was very small. The camera seemed to be looking over Ballard's shoulder quite a bit of the time and I do believe I saw a blackberry on the table in front of him.
If I were the chair of the meeting, I would insist that electronic devices be banned during the meeting. There is little doubt in my mind that prompts from certain parties were being received almost simultaneously with his questions.
or comments.
I voted for a council of members who bring their OWN thoughts and opinions to debates and discussions about the town's business.
I really don't think that's too much to ask of our newly elected officials.
I am getting really pissed off already, barely 2 months into the term. As far as I am concerned there are already 3 who should not be re-elected.

Anonymous said...

Councillor Gaertner has been bad-tempered and bitchy since the election when her idol was defeated. Being re-elected has not been a solace to her.She continues to grieve.

Wendy is the ring around her Planet Uranus, former Councillor MacEachern. Gaertner is nothing if not blindly loyal to her idol.


Who's writing this stuff - Christopher Watts?

Broderick Epps said...

Anonymous 5:12 wrote "Who's writing this stuff - Christopher Watts?"

Who care who wrote that. The point is Wendy continues to bring council down. Her kindergarten level understanding of most issues is an embarrassment to the Town of
Aurora and to some a disgrace.Her vaccuous and obtuse behaviour notwithstanding her continual quest to gain a better understanding is laughable. Perhaps if she had availed herself of the offsite orientation session, she might not be so lost.
But then again that regarded some intelligence to understand the intent of the session.Enough said.

Anonymous said...

What to do? Quite simply, Ms.Gaertner should resign. Clearly her loyalties rest elsewhere. You cannot serve two masters. She appears to make no effort to bring anything new to the table other than sheer misery.Four years is a long time to endure this unproductive bullshit! While I will recognize the good things she has contributed to the town, perhaps its time she cast her net elsewhere.Theres work to be done!

Tim the Enchanter said...

No need to worry about WG. or CB.
A 'Gang of Two' is really not viable. If Mayor Dawe and majority of council continue as we are seeing in the early going, ie; motion - discuss - shut up - vote - move on, and not fall into that 'delay and defer ' routine then WG will simply have to get with the program or get left behind.
So far so good on council - as far as newcomers go, besides Mayor Dawe, I'm particularly impressed with Mr. Thompson - he is prepared, straightforward, well-spoken and on point.
Keep it up.

Elizabeth Bishenden said...

Anonymous 9:59 pm,

One thing I can say is that this little town needs to wean itself from the teat of the legal system.

Only the lawyers are being enriched by the process.

However, should we all use good judgement? Yes, indeed, we should. So, we should use good judgement and tell Ms Gaertner and Mr Ballard that we disapprove of their antics and that we expect them to serve us better.

They could endear themselves to 50,000+ residents or two unelected politicos. Their choice.

Community blogs have ensured that municipal politics remain active even when there are not elections. That, to me, is a good thing.

No need for legal eagles to get involved. The community will.

As it should.

Anonymous said...

This has to be the best yet , can you imagine those two twitts using Windy as their conduit , talk about the three blind mice ,

Anonymous said...

I wonder what an FOI would discover on WG's e-aurora email address?