"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Sunday 26 February 2012

Another Sample

There are thirty e-mails on my screen this morning I've responded to most of them . Two have engaged in back and forth discussion.One from Aurora .One not.
I just responded to the Aurora resident for the third time. I used blogging time and I have some legal stuff to attend to so I will share the  last response with you.
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Good Morning,
Your e-mail is again on my screen. You are making several erroneous assumptions. Obviously you feel your questions are rational and they are. Why therefore would you assume they have not already occurred to the people who were elected to represent your interests
The agreement ,according to our town solicitor was not written by a lawyer.It was written by friends of the ex-mayor and probably the lady herself. She was not re-elected. You might have noticed that. 
There was an amendment to the resolution to approve the agreement. It was made to respond to my concerns about the haste to approve it.
The amendment referred the agreement to the new solicitor, who was appointed that evening, to review the agreement and report back to council if any modifications were required.
No report  came  back. NOT  because the agreement was satisfactory as we have now learned, but for the same reason we had a new solicitor, a new clerk,a new CAO. a new director of public works.
I am not a lawyer either. The contract provides for a year's notice of termination.The resolution proposed by Councillors Pirri and Abel is in accordance with the agreement.
It's me who would break the agreement here and now by withholding funds from the board. I would have done that last year.
 It is my contention the board did not uphold the intent of the community and the agreement  when they froze the Historical Society out of the building. They did that from day one.
That was  adversarial .
They have never chosen to offer an explanation to the community.
The town did not lease a building to the board with  market value rent. The board contributes nothing towards the cost of the space they occupy.That suggests to me  something more  than a  strictly legal arrangement.
 Why do you assume the Historical Society has not interfaced with the board in the three years since renovations were completed? How reasonable is that assumption? I believe you are confused because you do not wish to deal with
the obvious.
I cannot believe you have lived in Aurora all these years and paid  nominal attention to your town's affairs and were not aware what has been going on. This issue did not spring up out of the ground overnight like a fungus.
Politicians tend not to be adversarial. They tend to look for compromise to avoid the kind of reaction you are perfectly illustrating.Councillor Pirri and Abel are doing exactly that and look where it has got them.
If anything is wrong it always has to be the fault of  politicians. Oh My God, we won't vote for them again.
Sometimes that's exactly the right decision. It was in the last election. It may be again in the next if   right decisions are not made.
I tend not to be typical and walk around carrying fear of consequences on my shoulders. I enjoy my responsibilities. I am glad to be where I am.
I asked for the job. I believe I may assume  people who vote for me tend to like that about me.
I am the kind of politician I would  like to have represent me. I keep putting my name forward for election because I have never found anyone else like me.
People who don't  like where I stand on any given issue, tend to accuse me of being adversarial. Usually when they can't find another reason  to disagree.
 I may share our conversation with my blog readers. I have  put  enough blog  time into it 

Have a great day

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Evelyn, They do not WANT to accept your reasoned arguments. To do so would be an admission that they were merely pawns in a nasty rip-off by a very select few. Almost impossible to swallow when you believe you are something special and discover you were used just to satisfy the selfish needs of others.

Anonymous said...

Evelyn:

A reasoned and responsible statement.

Would that other people took the time to think and write equally.

Anonymous said...

You have managed to pry open Aurora's Pandora Box of Financial Mismanagement and Abuse ! We are now seeing the money that should have gone to the Parks, the Youth Centre, the Museum and to balance the budget, all pissed away by con artists in the name of culture and the entitled elite. What a godawful mess!

Anonymous said...

You have managed to pry open Aurora's Pandora Box of Financial Mismanagement and Abuse ! We are now seeing the money that should have gone to the Parks, the Youth Centre, the Museum and to balance the budget, all pissed away by con artists in the name of culture and the entitled elite. What a godawful mess!