Attention Please

Here's a bit more information .  Staff reports  generally provide historical background to support a recommendation.  Report No.IES11-058 notes as follows:

"Council approved funding  in the 2009,2010,and 2011 budget process for capital  project no. 3107- Asset Management System."

To put those dates into perspective :

The town's previous Chief Financial Officer was appointed during the term prior to  Mormac Regime. He introduced an early fall  calender for working documents of the  budget. It meant  the budget could be  finalised by year's end  to take advantage of  early awards  for capital projects which meant  optimum prices and work carried out during seasonal best. 

In  the fall of 2008, the budget was ready and a schedule of  meeting dates approved by council.  They never happened. 

In January 2009, the new Chief Administrative Officer took office. On the first morning, as I heard it, he followed the Mayor into the  treasurer's office.  The budget, a hefty document,  was thrown on to the treasurer's desk,described in severely unflattering terms and orders were peremptorily delivered  to start again.This was a budget council had never set eyes upon.

It must have been a seminal moment for the new C.A.O . 

When the two left his office, the treasurer made his way  to the Clerk's office and delivered   notice of  resignation to take place on April 15th. A date when the budget would  be completed and  staff would not be left to cope by themselves.

Nothing was  attached to last week's report. It would appear no previous history was available. Only that the item was included in the capital budget of  2009 which had been   re-written to order by the Mayor.

Budget discussions  were pretty much under the thumb of former Councillor MacEachern.

In  four years ,I  did not support the forecast upon which  tax rates were calculated.

I never saw a project introduced  during the 2006/2010 term that wasn't contrived  for the purpose of promoting the political fortunes of the Mayor and her loyal following.However misguided that proved to be. 

A budget forecast is the plan from whence all things flow. It is the essential asset management tool.  Departments have business managers. Records are kept. Down time for repairs, down time combined with cost determine time for replacement. Records support budget recommendations.

Assets are  in plain view. In continual  use. Even mechanics  have a system  to ensures tools don't take   legs and walk. They own them and the town pays for use thereof.

During the  2003/2006  term a complete inventory of  properties was undertaken for the purpose of determining  idle parcels  in public ownership which should be sold into private ownership and put to work producing tax revenues. It was my motion. The exercise never got off the ground. The night  the presentation was planned, every department head was present but no quorum of council.

Aurora is a small town. Assets are relatively few. Tracking them is  simple. We have one works division, one parks division, a couple of fire halls, two arenas  a couple of recreation complexes. one  seniors' Centre , one library and Oh yes! a town hall.

Parks, sports fields  and playgrounds are tethered in plain view, and unlikely to disappear. Somebody would notice.

We  had a museum once. We don't any more.  A software system would  not explain  how it  morphed into a culture centre. There's a grand piano we paid for but it's not ours, so not part of the tally.

I've seen no  report to indicate problems with the current operating system.

This report indicates costs will rise with the new software. Right from the beginning. Additional staff, not less,will be needed.


It won't pay for itself, let alone save money.

Supervisors will have to spend several hours a day processing work orders. A task which takes minutes by hand.

Funding  for the project was included in the 2011 budget. I did not support  it.

I pointed out then the 2011 budget followed  direction set  by the previous council.

I suggested  new  members, including the Mayor had failed to understand the  message that saw their predecessors  unceremoniously booted out of office.

An  airy-fairy bland acceptance of  half a million dollar expenditure, without  a problem needing to be fixed ,offering nothing but  additional  costs, and verifying no substantive advantage of any kind, might easily be interpreted to mean little  has changed in council's understanding
of how a municipality functions and the role of council therein.












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