Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Budget Is Crunch Time":
isn't there a legal contract that has years to go clr buck?
************
There is indeed a contract .
If Dalton MacGuinty, in the throes of an election , can cancel a multi-million dollar contract for construction of a hydro generating station already underway, the Town of Aurora can cancel a contract for use of a facility when its intended use is not fulfilled. .
What liability do we face?
Should we be required to pay for furniture, glass display cabinets and a grand piano already acquired with public funds ?
Are we in breach of trust.? Did we trust our museum would have its rightful place in the building?
Was the building designed and renovated for the purpose, at a cost of $2.3 million , a campaign to raise funds in the community for the community's museum , a bequest made from commitment toAurora's heritage, $750,000 heritage grant obtained from the federal government for purposes of a museum?
The facts speak for themselves.
If the museum had been located in the building as intended and as the public anticipated , there would not now be a question of whether or not the contract should be upheld.
Failure to uphold the agreement does not rest with the side that provided resources for a museum and culture to co-exist in a single facility.
It rests with the side that obstinately refused to realize that objective.
A one-sided contract is a contract begging to be cancelled. How much could it cost, if it cost anything, to cancel?
ReplyDeleteSurely less than we are paying.
T.C.
Since it sounds as though there is total disconnect when it comes to handling finances, a cancelled contract might involve the return of money spent on booking advance goings-on. And returning cash given to pay for events well-booked into the New Year. They
ReplyDeletewould certainly howl about that but we could all see the furious planning and publicity to get those things pre-booked so that they could plead hardship.
If that incredibly tacky ad in the Auroran was made necessary by the need to have a tiny balance going forward, it may become a matter for deep regret when pennies count.
Wonder if we will ever trust another outfit that bills itself not-for-profit..
Cancelling a contract does not nessesarily cancel all financial obligations of such contract. There are usually penalties assigned as part of the contract. The non-cancelling party also has the legal right to appeal to courts to get renumeration for cancelled contracts.
ReplyDeleteCancelling the contract does not happen without knowing full well what the ramifications are for doing so.
Just because Dalton did it does not mean it is the right thing to do. You will remember Cretien did a similar thing with a helicoptor contract and the cost to the government (you and I) was almost as much as the contract, and when it was all said and done we re-contracted for the same things a few years later.
The grand piano was a great mistake, the first indicator of a place out of control. Ship it to the Seniors' Centre.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the opportunity to post to your blog
ReplyDeleteI am very proud of this town -- I like the Library, the Cultural Centre, the trails, the Town Park, the wood lots (especially Henderson and Sheppards Bush), the sports facilities, Hilary House , great restaurants and bars, many fabulous local businesses, the Seniors Centre (although not using that yet) the Santa Clause Parade, the Farmers Market, the great street sale. OH and Town Hall which I attend on occasion.
We are blessed with a wide variety of activities and facilities in town to meet the needs of all the citizens whatever their interest. Thanks to our council for balancing these needs. It would be nice to have a beach and ski hill but then I would never leave town.
I support these things in town with my tax dollars, my volunteerism, my patronage and my political support
Ive been here for 27 years -- its been a fabulous place to have raised two children. and I plan to stay. I stay because of all this town offers and I don't begrudge my fellow citizens the facilities that they use that perhaps I don't. That's what community is about.
Thanks again.
Tracy Smith
Oh, please be careful, Evelyn. They will fight hard and dirty to keep the building. It has become essential to all planning and they cannot conceive of losing it. There would be no reason to get up in the morning - it means that much to them.
ReplyDeleteBluntly put, I think they will try to destroy you and ordinary rules do not apply when people feel threatened. A bully is used to always working the system and manipulating a show while saving the rough stuff for opponents when unobserved. Having so much money gives them an added advantage which they will use to smooth their way.
Be very careful,please.
Evelyn:
ReplyDeleteYou have been arguing the point about the Cultural Centre at great length the past few weeks.
The Town Solicitor produced a report/recommendation recently that was very well written and to the point with respect to the agreement that was entered into by the dying previous administration on its way out and the Cultural Centre.
What has happened to this? Is it being actively considered by members of Council?
Presumably you speak with other fellow Council members and no doubt this subject comes up. What do they feel?
The 2012 Budget is coming up for a possible final consideration and vote very soon. The Budget contains a provision for Cultural Centre operations. If the Budget is approved without change concerning the CC, that is tacit acceptance of the questionable agreement that funded it in the first place and ignores you and all of those who are opposed to its continued operation under the existing arrangement.
This is not a subject in need of the mind of a nuclear physicist. It just requires some common sense to bring about the creation of a joint cultural/historical entity, to be possibly managed under the Department of Leisure Services. The $50,000 presently budgeted for the Historical Society, that basically does nothing because it has no place to do it, can be recaptured or amalgamated into a total budget for the two.
It's time we see what other members of Council think and feel about this sort of thing. After all, they have minds and spines. That's why they were elected. It should not be up to you alone, with some support from mainly anonymous bloggers to fight this battle, which from my own perspective is like flogging a dead horse.
It's time to do something for the community, not something to it.
Even this bunch must have learned not to turn to lawyers to solve a problem. Besides, since we own the building and provide funding, they couldn't expect us to pay their legal bills. That would just get Council's back up and they do appear to have a solid solicitor-this time. We must wait until he offers his advice and see if
ReplyDeleteMayor Dawe regards it as worthy of his attention.
Plenty of players are going to be involved.
5:40 PM
ReplyDeleteRight on but I fear that they want the entire deal and not prepared to work with or for Aurora. Any other group would negotiate a compromise but we have seen the arrogance. And let's face it. Would you want to share a budget with such an organization ? It would be a constant battle.
This is like shooting fish in a barrel. But a shiver of doubt drifts to the surface. Is it OK to become a part-time bully if your excuse is to take out full-time bullies ?
ReplyDelete"I think they will try to destroy you and ordinary rules do not apply when people feel threatened. A bully is used to always working the system and manipulating a show"
ReplyDeleteAin't that that truth , but if you think for one minute they will destroy Evelyn you badly under estimate her, scroll back to the last term where she wiped the floor with the lot of them, Don't ever worry about Ev she's been in more battles with those type of Tin Horns since they were in nappies
"It just requires some common sense to bring about the creation of a joint cultural/historical entity"
ReplyDelete... and thank you for your common sense in expressing this. It makes such a change from the ill-informed throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater, scorched earth, conspiratorial comments often found here.
Many of those Aurora Citizen refugee commenters seem to be motivated by a vestigial animosity towards the thankfully-defeated MorMac administration. Their opposition to the Cultural Centre is completely misdirected if they're making some spurious connection to that gratefully-ended era in our town's history.
An accommodation arrangement is the way forward, not always looking back and fighting old battles - especially ones that have nothing to do with current operations.
9:39 PM
ReplyDeleteAstonishing comments!
We should move forward with accommodation even if
the people posting to this Blog are " Aurora' Citizen refugees motivated by a vestigial animosity."
Way to make friends ? Not.
Way to leave behind old fights ? Not.
Way to insult everyone reading the Blog ? Yes.
Thanks for the opportunity to post to your blog
ReplyDeleteI am very proud of this town -- I like the Library, the Cultural Centre, the trails, the Town Park, the wood lots (especially Henderson and Sheppards Bush), the sports facilities, Hilary House , great restaurants and bars, many fabulous local businesses, the Seniors Centre (although not using that yet) the Santa Clause Parade, the Farmers Market, the great street sale. OH and Town Hall which I attend on occasion.
We are blessed with a wide variety of activities and facilities in town to meet the needs of all the citizens whatever their interest. Thanks to our council for balancing these needs. It would be nice to have a beach and ski hill but then I would never leave town.
I support these things in town with my tax dollars, my volunteerism, my patronage and my political support
Ive been here for 27 years -- its been a fabulous place to have raised two children. and I plan to stay. I stay because of all this town offers and I don't begrudge my fellow citizens the facilities that they use that perhaps I don't. That's what community is about.
Thanks again.
Tracy Smith