Making Sausage

The procedure bylaw was discussed  again last night. In a televised council meeting. The Mayor's  call.

As we were leaving the town hall, a comment was made, the meeting was so exciting, a reporter fell asleep.

Arguing about rules is like cooking porridge. You have to keep stirring or it goes lumpy. Edible but not appetising.

Rules of Order are an  agreement upon how we conduct ourselves. Without  commitment, meetings are like the traffic pattern  in the north-east  quadrant; plagued by obstructions and deterrents to the safe, smooth, efficient movement of traffic.

According to the agenda, the bylaw was recommended for approval. I had a position .

The discussion opened with the Mayor's announcement, we had already  spent eleven hours  on the issue therefore each Councillor would be limited  forthwith to ten minutes to speak.

Well, I thought. That's a new one for the book. Also not the Mayor's decision to make. Let's see how that works.

Councillor Gaertner was first up and  focused on the clause that dealt with the problem of  improper conduct. The  question and answer session certainly seemed more than ten minutes.

I may have to buy a stop watch. It will go in a bag along with the hand-cuffs I bought to chain myself to the railings in the event of an attempt to remove  me from the seat to which I was elected.

I may also have to buy a bull horn to ensure against an attempt to deny me  the right to speak or finish my thought.

Many dismiss politicians as a bunch of thieves and robbers.

In previous terms the view appeared to be shared by a select group of town representatives.

The supreme beings determined the solution was a Code of Ethics followed by the Code of Conduct followed by the  appointment  an Integrity Commissioner. 

They were the answer to the implied problem of the lack of integrity or ethics among the elected.

They brought Aurora to a "gold standard of integrity".

Extraordinary expense was incurred in a failed attempt to ensure purity and righteousness in public affairs  and bring the  main transgressor to heel.

The time came when  the community made its  own judgment.

Councillor Gaertner was  re-elected and clearly feels the  responsibility to defend the gold  standard.

Seeking to understand what  comes under the Councillor's  heading of  improper conduct, I posed a question.

When the  Councillor  accused staff of deliberately falsifying  records and  refusing to withdraw the accusation or apologize. as requested by the presiding member, would that qualify?

The Councillor called a point of order  and angrily proclaimed herself innocent of the charge.

Being so righteous an' all.

Therein lies the crux of our problem

There is no shared  understanding of  rules or even the meaning of words.  Councillor Gaertner regularly sets herself up as an arbiter of words. Meetings are frequently disrupted while she re-defines a word in someone else's vocabulary and argues it means what she determines it to mean and it's not permissible. And  somebody should apologise to somebody.

In the circumstances,  a lack of consistency or  order  continues to bog the Council down.

Providing the presiding member with power to penalise will not solve the problem. It  creates yet another.

The Municipal Act does not intend  the duties of a Mayor  to provide leadership and guidance means  wielding a whip.
Parliamentary rules have been in print in Canada since 1984. Amended regularly to keep them up to date.

They are tried, tested and true and acknowledged and used successfully throughout the world

By the Mayor's count, Council had spent, before last night's meeting ,eleven hours trying to re-invent the wheel.

Finally on recognition by the chair, I expounded on the principle of restoring authority to council .

I spoke for twelve minutes.Two minutes more than the presiding member's decree.

I was not permitted to complete my thought.

I have one more opportunity to do so when the bylaw is presented to council for approval

I can't promise it will be exciting television.

What's exciting about stirring porridge?