Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Different Perspective On A Child's Needs":
While it was a fun read, I wonder how being elected as a town council member makes you an arbiter of child rearing? You may have opinions on how child should be raised, but like it or not this is not the 1960's anymore. Federal and provincial governments have legislated all sorts of laws to "protect" us. Seatbelts, bike helmets, no more lawn darts! Yes we all survived our youth, but this is not the same world that it once was. If you feel that you represent the electorate, perhaps you need to understand it first.
If I received your note, I think I would be offended first, angry second and then more resolute to get this process underway to get what I wanted.
******************
It's always interesting to observe another person's thought process.The foregoing is no exception.
It suggests that I must understand the electorate before I offer an opinion..
Being elected does not suffice to indicate of my authority to speak for others.
On the other hand, a resident not elected is the one for council to follow.
A person comes to a public meeting,proceeds to the microphone to make a point. For five minutes. choking on her tears,she relays a disjointed a tale of what might have been, had she not been on hand to prevent it.
But being on hand, she did not prevent it.
So the responsible party for a near accident is obviously the municipality and the equipment provided for children older than her own,to play and learn.
The spectacle was acutely embarrasing . But the speaker who returned a second time with a four year old in her arms, coached to speak into a microphone. for even greater dramatic effect.
We live in a free and democratic country. People are free to choose methods to get what they believe they should have. And risk making fools of themselves or the people who respond to the embarrassing nonsense.
One of the most significant changes I have observed over the years is how willing the moderns to make horses asses of themselves to get what they want, however unreasonable it may be. .
"I want it . You will do as I say because I want it"
"If you don't, I will call you names. Put forward outrageous suggestions such as coroner inquests to terrify the gullible and demand the sensible step out of the way If it doesn't work, I will demand you step down from office because you do not represent me"
"When all else fails, I will darkly refer to disrespecting a resident"
All in the name of dumbing down the electorate.
Time to ease off, Evelyn.
ReplyDeleteIf the Mom hasn't learned from this experience,
there is nothing more you can do. In future she
may prove to be an excellent 'spotter'.
This is exactly the same world it once was, and always has been and always will be.
ReplyDeleteIt matters not with what toys our children play, or the potential harm that might befall them as a consequence.
What does not change is our responsibility as parents for the safety and welfare of our children, whether asleep in their cribs or clambering over nature's detritus of rocks and rotting logs, or, heaven forbid, playing on the various apparatus in our town's parks.
Some of the people posting comments should obviously not have had children. They take all the fun out of childhood with their paranoia.
I guess the point that you fail to grasp is that being an elected official DOES NOT give you the right to malign a member of the public who has, in her mind, a safety concern. You are making these statements as a member of Aurora Council - regardless of the platform being used. If I were her, I would be lodging an official complaint that there has been a breach in the integrity code here!
ReplyDeleteWhat's the process for that now?
Except in cases of handicaps, the environment
ReplyDeletedoes not usually evolve to suit the needs of a
single individual, be it a large person or a very
small one. We need more challenge in the
play grounds, not less.
The child is safe, her Mom properly frightened.
Let's leave it be for now.
Holy Shit ! Wendy is out of her cage again! She
ReplyDeletethinks ? we need a new integrity czar ! See the
Auroran !
August 16th we find out about Councillor
ReplyDeleteHumphrey, is we should judge her by the
company she keeps or by what she says and
does.. will she roll over on the integrity guy and
say ' well, it won't cost much if we share between municipalities ', or will she remember why she was
elected ?
To: Anonymous at 2:34 PM
ReplyDeleteSince when does an elected official cease to have the right to speak out as an individual, to express a personal opinion?
The trouble with politics in this day and age is that people elected to public office seem to be hobbled by provincial and federal party leaders who apparently cannot abide the thought of personal expression. As a consequence political leadership has sunk to a miasmic low, and we, the people, apparently accept this.
If a complaint were to be lodged against members of Aurora Council, the list in order of insult would be Gaertner, Ballard and Gallo. There might be a fourth name to appear shortly, but for the moment we withhold judgement.
The tattle-tales are back trying to find a mentor.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a problem, deal with it through the
Council or, as Wendy does, go to the papers. We
cannot afford to get mired in that old garbage.
The air is fresher without an integrity guru.
Re Windy's resurrection of an integrity commissioner in the Auroran.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, doesn't she (and all the others at the table)realise that the whole debacle of the code of conduct and IC was THE hottest election issue and I think the voters made it quite clear that we want no more of this, both from a principle and financial perspective.
Secondly, if I remember correctly, at the beginning of this term, the first step re this whole issue was to review the code of conduct and need for it - or not.
So what on earth is she doing putting this motion on the table to direct the CAO to recruit a new IC?????
I am going to be watching this one VERY closely because I voted in the last election and thought that mine and others' voices had been heard. I will be very disappointed if there is an "about face" on this one. If there is, it will indicate to me that it is the candidates who won in the election that either don't understand or are lacking integrity.
I do not want to go through this crap and expense all over again!!
When there is no challenge on the playground, children climb the slides. Smaller children pick up, and do the same.
ReplyDeleteThus, we need a balancing factor on our playgrounds so all ages can play, and we do have one.
Now to the issue. Well it is easier to blame someone else than yourself. Like Evelyn said 'The spectacle was acutely embarrassing.'
... oh why not remove cars and driveways from front of the houses, children get killed like that all the time ... accidents happen.
As much as I would like to blame anyone, my child's safety will always be my responsibility.
This issue is really not necessary ...
A sticker, an inexpensive alternative on the bar for the parents will do, if they cannot recognize the risks for themselves.
Anna
Evelyn, I sometimes think some of these posters are yanking your chain. There is an eery similarity sometimes that makes me think there really is only one anonymous person posting.
ReplyDelete