Though elected in October, Council did not take office until December 1st 2010.
The ousted Mayor kept herself busy up to that date with amendment to a secret lease agreement with the Department of National Defense which benefits the town not a whit, and pursuing legal action against various town residents with public resources, perhaps unknowingly, authorised by councillors, also defeated in the election and the town's administration.
Council met once in December and cancelled the lawyer retained by the ousted Mayor or town solicitor. It's not clear.
In the New Year, we spent a further $8,500. to still another lawyer to advise if the town had an obligation to pay bills for legal action against three citizens for exercising their democratic rights.
Newly elected, flushed with support from the electorate to undo horrendous damage of the previous four years, nevertheless, Council did not have sufficient confidence in their own judgement to say;
"NO! We will not acknowledge responsibility for public resources being pissed away without purpose"
The $55,000.bill was paid. We were elected in time to stop it. We did not. We added $8,5000.
The case continued to court. To be thrown out months later with a tongue-lashing from a judgefor a totally inadequate performance.
Approved by a brand new council, taxpayers of Aurora paid $55,000. for a lawyer to pursue a will-o' the- wisp argument, apparently of insufficient substance to pass the test.
The case continued. Three Aurora families were obliged to expend family resources to defend themselves against charges which ultimately failed and failed miserably..
How it continues for recovery of costs and damage to reputations is not known. I think we can be assured, it is not over.
We live in a country which guarantees rights granted under a legal charter.
We do not expect to have to spend personal resources to defend them.
We particularly do not expect to have to defend them against those trusted,with authority in a civil and orderly election at the level closest to the people
Yet with the abused force of money and power combined, that is what happened.
Under our very noses.
No checks or balances exercised.
Incredibly.
Unthinkably.
Evil triumphed.
And continues..
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
10 comments:
don’t worry this act will never be forgotten ,especially by those responsible for turfing them out of office, If any of them have the balls for another run at it in 2014 , they will once again embarrass themselves at the polls, Remember not once in 149 years has a sitting Mayor been turfed in favor of a non sitting politician of any kind, Rest assured a repeat performance is not in the cards for this Well Educated, Hip and Upscale electorate
Whack !!!!!!!!
The singularly weird thing is that there has never been an apology from any of the participants, not even the hint of regret evidenced by Scrooge after he took a good look at his personal spooks. And there is a growing suspicion in town about the identities of those who might be funding legal matters in order that they will continue to drain the town's treasury and the bank accounts of local residents.
So you are right, Evelyn, it has not ceased. A huge example of CYA by indifferent stake-holders from the past and present.
" But, your Honour, We were merely following orders."
A tragic| comedy of many parts costly to a small town of ordinary people.
Councillor Gallo was quoted in the Auroran that his
religion did not not allow him to lie. Isn't it possible to lie by omission?
Two well-paid senior staff still guiding the town and advising the Council, What does that tell you about responsibility and accountability ?
To Anonymous 29 December, 2011 8:26 PM
It tells me that you get what you pay for. We have elected officials making sometimes multi-million dollar decisions but are paid a salary that is below the poverty line. I have been a long-time supporter of paying elected officials a wage that rivals what they would get in their private lives. This would allow people much more qualified than the lot of losers on council now (and previously) to run for office and not be left wanting financially.
It is time we, as a country, realize that being an elected official is not a part-time job that is done in a person's spare time. Even reading Ms. Buck's last post about having issue with the schedule of meetings, imagine how difficult it would be to attend a meeting if you had a "real" job as well.
I would much rather pay a realistic full-time wage to 9 people than the silly part-time wage the part-timers get now and they have to rely on staff to do the work.
Happy NEW YEAR to all.
I couldn't agree more with anon @8:26PM.
And how would we pay for full-time councillors? I think that we are finding more than enough fat in our budget - cutting the financial support to the "Cultural Centre" and the Arboretum would just about do it - to pay for most or all of it.
To Anonymous at 31 December, 2011 10:35 AM
I think you don't understand the point. If the salary offered was on par with the salary earned in the private sector, you would have a BETTER quality of people looking to serve the public's interest. With a better quality of people in office, the problems you see in the past would be reduced (bad apples can still get in). You would haev people that have taken courses in ethics and understand the how the real world works.
These council positions are not for the housewife who is loking for a night out every other week anymore. This is a multi-million dollar corporation run by a bunch of people who think they are running the local sports club.
Post a Comment