What Comes First...Chicken or Egg

Council supported several resolutions last night. 

Leisure Services  are to  work on terms of reference for a curator's position and museum program.  Funds were  added to the 2011 budget for the purpose.

Reference was made  during  council's debate by the Chief Administrative Officer to the issue of ownership of the  museum collection. The CAO raised his hand to be recognised  and he was.

Historical Society members were in the audience. There is  opposition to the  curator  being an employee of the town.

Their ownership of the collection is cited as an argument. It's spurious.

The collection has been  assembled over  years. Some artifacts were purchased by the town. Artifacts may have been  received from an estate or donated  for  care and keeping to the Historical Society.

Like any volunteer organization, society membership is fluid. Anybody can  be a spokesperson.

The collection has been  stored in various venues for years. At  one time,  the town  received a statement indicating a storage fee of $12Ks for the  collection owing to the Historical Society.

Hillary House  is owned by the Historical Society. For the purpose of funding, it's been argued it should  be the town's museum. 

This year the town  provided $10Ks  to  the Historical Society to mark an anniversary. As well , the usual grant of $50KS.Their  employee  is identified  as manager/curator.

Forty-two years ago, the Historical Society, gladly accepted space in the old school for a museum. The annual grant began  when a curator was appointed.  Town and Society worked comfortably as partners  for  years, under different councils,  to accomplish a common purpose.

 As a town facility, the building was managed by the Leisure Services Department. Organizations such as Big Brothers and Sisters and the Seniors Friendship Circle shared the space.

Then the building had to be vacated for renovation needs. The Society gutted the interior. 

Then a particularly aggressive  society spokesperson declared, if they were to raise funds and renovate the building, they had to be in charge. They required complete control  An agreement was signed giving them what they wanted. The Leisure Services Director was excluded.

Three years passed. The building. costing town resources for maintenance,sat idle and useless/ 

The town authorized $2.3 million to fund the renovations, a grant of $770.K was received and used for the same purpose. The work was completed.

The  noisy spokesperson left.  They didn't raise or contribute further funds. They pulled out of their commitment to manage the facility. With a new spokesperson, At fify-nine members,they were too few, they said.

Council should consider giving them a budget like the library board, they said.

It's anybody's guess who put that idea forward  though we  all know who pulled the rug out from under when the time was right to claim star status  for raising Aurora's culture level  by vinyl bootstraps.

Arguments the Society owns the collection are a canard. No matter, the collection  currently has no home.

The persistent notion, the town should hand over money and butt out of business; has become irksome to more than myself.

When the irrelevant question of collection ownership is insinuated into a council debate as a serious consideration, by a person with no authority to participate in a Council debate, a point of no return has been reached.

The town is bankrolling a payroll at the culture centre to the tune of half a million dollars.  Programs offered  are duplications of those offered by the Board of Education , Seneca College and Aurora Leisure Services Department.

Classes are offered in unfair competition with  taxpaying business  trying to make a living

So far as I am concerned, nothing is happening here but a determined and obnoxious  campaign to protect vested interest.

It's well past time for the town to put the community's needs come first.