Paul Sesto's Demand For Clarification

Was forwarded to The Mayor and Council and copied to The Auroran and the  Aurora Citizen Blog.

Responding to Mr. Sesto's questions one by one is not my responsibility.The decisions he challenges were not mine.

I did not attend the closed door meeting on September 14/15 , where a critical comment by an anonymous poster to a blog was referred and discussed.

In my view, it never  was  a matter for council deliberation.

Mr.Cooper, town solicitor had given that advice to Council previously and publicly when unfounded and unsubstantiated alllegations against a councillor were encouraged to be made in public by the former Mayor,

His advice was dis-regarded then

However, I fully expected him to repeat it behind closed doors and the matter would not have been on the table for discussion.

It is my position none of what happened that night should have .

I believe it did because the former Mayor and Councillor MacEachern never saw a policy, procedure or tradition that applied to them. I believe policies and procedures were ignored for two reasons:

1. I believe the former mayor obtained legal advice suitable to her purpose prior to
   the meeting. There was certainly no council approval for that.

2. I believe the open-ended resolution was  calculated and written prior to the meeting.

3. the support of former Councillors Granger and Wilsom amd current Councillors Gaertner and Gallo provided the majority needed to carry out the intent.

4. I do not believe all of the above mentioned Councillors understood the intent.

Since I do not believe this action is entitled to be protected with confidentiality, I sought Council approval to release the report of George Rust D'Eye.

I was not successful.

The report  suggests Conflict of Interest on the part of the former Mayor. Filing a complaint would certainly produce the information sought by Mr.Sesto . A judicial decision would be made, one way or another.

So far as “new” policies to be struck by the current Council,as referred in the Town's Media Release, policies are already in place which would have prevented this scandalous affair.

No elected official including the Mayor has free access to the town treasury. No politician with any sense of survival would wish to have it.

Since any formal conversation with legal counsel has a tab, that means no politician has free and unbridled access to solicitors for any municipal purpose.

We need no new policies. We need adherence to current policies.

We also need staff , secure in their positions as advisors to Council of adopted policies , procedures and practices of municipalities.

But despite all measures, a mindless and persistent block of six votes will undermine integrity and propriety every time.