Four Years Is Too Long

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Change Happens":

A slight glitch in Georgina. Seems the by-law isn't fully rescinded until all fees associated with it have been paid.

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A Bylaw is rescinded when  Council, in a  properly  constituted meeting, rescinds it.

A contract  with a cancellation penalty clause, cancelled, would call for payment to be made to terminate the  contract.

We retained an Integrity Commissioner before the clerk's retirement in November of 2006.

The retainer was $1000 a month. The contract wasn't signed until June 2007. It was cancelled early in August, concurrent with his first decision.

The contract called for payment of eighteen months retainer fees to be paid if  terminated before the contract expired.

We retained another Integrity Commissioner .He received two complaints  against the same councillor .at the same time, from Councillor MacEachern.

There was a moratorium on complaints by the time he delivered a decision. He followed none of the procedures called for in the Code of Conduct. He did exactly what they wanted instead.

He received $40,000 from the town before the contract was terminated by the new council.

I believe the prepared resolution passed in September when the election was already underway,  by five members of council in a closed session ,was deliberately worded in a such a way to permit  the town solicitor to proceed with litigation without receiving council authority or  council having time  to re-think the previous decision. .

Ordinarily a municipality does not proceed to litigation without council authority.

Closed session is intended  to deal with matters where the municipality's interest would be jeopardised
by  public disclosure.

Or the privacy of an individual  might be harmed  by public reference.

A politician being slagged by a constituent is not a town  issue. It's an occupational hazard . 

I have never agreed politicians are entitled to close doors behind them in the town hall, to plot and scheme  for the political demise of another politician.

The Municipal Act was never intended to  provide cover for such miserable, cowardly behaviour. 

The election was in full swing. There were no further Council meetings. While some of them could have failed to understand what was afoot, at least two of them knew full well  what was intended.

All of them were of a mindset that  there was  a limit to criticism  elected officials, particularly a Mayor, should be expected to endure. No matter how well-deserved..

They could make sly, underhanded, blatantly self-serving decisions. They just couldn't handle the fall out. 

Councillor Bob Mc Roberts attended the closed door session. When the resolution was reported out in public, he made it  clear advice received behind closed doors was not in accordance with his understanding of the Municipal Act.

I  want  to make clear, what happened in Aurora during the term 2007/ 2010 had never happened  before in all the town's history or in any other town I know in Ontario.

It was two parts malice and four parts unimaginable stupidity. .

It's  the reason  a four year term of office for municipal council  is not a good thing.

The cost of  an election is a fraction of  the  cost and damage  a rogue council  determined to trample all known principles of public service, can effect in four years.