Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Authority By Default":
Evelyn, I've admired your blog, your views, and your contributions to the well being of Aurora for years, but I do have a question.
Do you wake up in the morning wondering if it snowed in the night or do you lie in bed thinking of things to complain about here?
I've noticed the Aurora Citizen blog has pretty much gone dormant. I guess they feel that if you can't say somthing nice maybe it's better not to say anything at all.
***************
Is the comment above nice or not nice?
The blog has been a journey of discovery. It relates the saga of town affairs as they present.
I waken up often with a post already written in my head. Then I log in and read the comments.
A question commands an answer. Invariably it keeps the blog on the topic of the last post.
Sometimes I start with an idea already fleshed out in my head but blog takes off in a completely different direction.
I am content to be doing what I do.
While I disclose stuff that probably makes colleagues uncomfortable. It's not malicious
I like the people on Council. They are friendly, thoughtful and generous. Oh My Lord, they are generous. I just wish they were spending their own.
They have heretofore shown themselves frighteningly unwilling to challenge bureaucracy .
That problem is exacerbated by a bureaucracy that does not identify with people in the community.
Yes, there's lots of talk about "clients" and "stakeholders"
It's not about us. I am not even sure who it's about. It's so far removed from us, it's scary.
They don't live with us. Nor identify with us. They don't care what we think.They don't think they need to . It's a regional mindset.
Three of them are running the show. With the Mayor alongside that makes four.
I think you need to know that's how I see it.
My instinct is towards preservation not destruction.
I'm not talking sticks and stones here. I'm talking about a place without artifice. A place of stark naked public affairs, a great place to raise children, look out for parents and care about neighbours.
We have all the tools. All the rights and freedoms.The collective will.to make it happen is the final piece of the puzzle.
What I do here is not whining and complaining. It's more than that.
It's my determined effort to turn the wheel and get this frigging bus going in the right direction.
Hear Me Roar.
Or don't. It's your choice.
Evelyn,
ReplyDeleteI have a hypothetical question to take your mind off the budget fiasco. Any legal whiz can answer as long as I don't have to pay.
If Hazel M. of Mississauga had not been re-elected,would the charges that she breached the Municipal Act have prevented her from seeking another elected position ?
We have elected nine people to represent us, to identify with us as all fellow members of our community.
ReplyDeleteIt matters not where staff reside. They work here, in Aurora; they work for us; we pay their salaries.
Senior members of staff earn in excess of $150,000 a year. If they want to continue at this pace they should pay attention to what the taxpayers are saying.
It is also necessary for members of Council to pay attention to what the taxpayers are saying, although they seldom speak out and usually without a ROAR.
Staff prepare reports and furnish data and recommendations to Council. It is the latter's responsibility to assess, discuss and vote on these matters. Remember the word: RESPONSIBILITY.
So stop screwing around. You do not sleep in the same bed with staff. You live in separate houses in apparently separate communities.
You were elected to attend to the affairs of our town in an effective and efficient manner filled with transparency and accountability.
Get on with the job.
Got an e-mail that the hams have arrived. Was
ReplyDeletetempted to e=mail back they'd been here for more than a year.i