Authority To Expel

People who run for office frequently have different ideas about what the job entails.

Some don't think of it as a job at all. For them, it's all about power.

My impression of Nigel Kean was that he was carrying a grudge and getting elected was payback. I felt the same thing  with  Evalina MacEachern.

I registered late in 2003 as did John West. Ms MacEachern had been registered for some time. Her name was withdrawn. A public statement was made  that when she saw who was running, she decided she had better things to do with her time.

The comment was offensive. It also illustrated presumptuous contempt for  voters' right to choose.

MacEachern started the practice of wasting Council time with an unending, seemingly pointless stream of questions directed to staff.At first I  thought she didn't know how to get off the treadmill

The presiding member proved unable or unwilling to bring  the disorder  to a halt.

Tim Jones is my friend. I hold him in high affection. But I wouldn't give a hill of beans for his ability to provide leadership and guidance to a council.

Tim excused himself laughingly by claiming to be a lover not a fighter.

Leadership means different things to different people.Providing guidance calls for a similar skill set. Tim never mastered the rules let alone their application.

Nigel Kean ran for the Mayor's chair without having been a Councillor. One reason stated was anger against the Mayor.

Finally elected to Council, he showed little respect for the role.His pre-occupation was with the Royal Canadian Legion, the Darts Tournament, Bowling for Big Brothers and creating the Farmer's Market.

He frequently and contemptuously  dismissed  debate as "politics" that  interfered with drinking time.

It seemed the comment was intended to be humorous.Everyone laughed on cue.

There was nothing humorous about his determination to humiliate former Councillor John West.

In his first term. almost his first motion was to re-name John West Way.He didn't propose a new name that I re-call. Just the removal of John's name.

He contended it gave the Councillor an advantage of thousands of dollars of free advertising in an election.It was the essence of his complaint.

He tried again in his second term.Didn't work then either.

His third bid was successful. He changed the motion to place an address of the Town hall parking lot driveway of Municipal Drive.

The effect was to remove  West's name from town hall stationary.

Councillor West was a sitting member of Council.The road had been named fourteen years previously. It had been chosen by the developer and approved by Council.

Kean's motion was seconded by Morris..Morris,Kean,Gaertner were consistent allies.

No rationale was provided with the notice. No reason offered when the motion was presented.

The absence of supporting argument  clearly indicated,  mover and seconder were confident of a majority vote. They had  no need to  provide justification for their action.

The lack  provided an opposing argument. I stated it was clear members supporting the motion were complicit in agreement beforehand.

Councillor Vrancic called a point of order and stated he had not done that.

Mayor Jones supported the point of order and directed I withdraw the word "complicit"

For once,the Mayor was adamant. I concluded he was reluctant to cross Vrancic and counted on me to help him out of an awkward situation.

He misjudged the limits of my friendship.

I refused to withdraw the word. He directed me again or he would be obliged to expel me from the Council chamber.

"No, Mr. Mayor. complicit is the word I used and complicit is the meaning I intend.  I will leave the Council Chamber before I will withdraw the word"

So I had the questionable distinction of being the first Council member ever to be expelled from Aurora Council Chamber.

Mayor Jones,the first Mayor ever to enjoy that questionable distinction along with me. Hardly for a noble cause.

It did not serve him well. He lost the next election.

Morris and Kean were the contenders. Morris won with less than a majority.

The contenders apparently made a pact they would not attack each other.Instead, they would jointly focus their efforts to discredit  Jones. An agreement Kean had cause to regret.

The focus of this post relates to rules of order and how they can go awry.

In the last term, the former Mayor attempted three times to order me to do something or other or she would expel me from the Council Chamber.

It never happened.

Apart from my vow. I would never again accede to a demand that I leave the chair to which I was elected . Not  if Moses himself came down from the mountain, complete with beard and commandments chiseled in stone.There's a practical reason why it cannot be accomplished.

The rule allowing for expulsion of a member who is disrupting a meeting and not allowing the nation's business to be completed,comes to us from the Parliament of Canada.

In the House of Commons and the Legislative Assembly, Officers of the Law are on hand at all times for security of persons.

No person other than a sworn officer of the law has authority to lay a hand or even a finger on the person of another, except as witness to a law being contravened detrimental to peace and good order.

I wouldn't bet a plugged nickel on the chance of any member of York Region's finest, responding to a call from  Aurora Town Hall to man-handle the octogenarian or any other councillor out of a seat to which elected.

I would not go quietly.

I don't know why a politician worth his/her salt would willingly give power to over-ride the voters choice.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I didn't make that up.