Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I Just Realised":
Who is Robert Layton? What is his background?
A google search reveals that Tracy Smith is acting Executive Director of the Ontario Forestry Association, and has ties to Ms. Walmer through the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust, and that Heidi Franken is, I believe, an accountant with the Ontario Securities Commission, and was also a member of the Community Action for Wells Street. However, a google search reveals nothing of Mr. Layton.
I was expecting to learn of his qualifications to run the Cultural Centre, and maybe even a bit about what other ties he may have to certain groups within our community (like the others), but I can't find anything.
What is his background? Is he qualified for the position? What is HIS association with the controlling interests?
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I do not know the answers to these questions.
Comments like this and similar have been flying through the ether all day. I just hung up the phone from talking to an observer at Tuesday's meeting. From the phone to the computer I thought about the saying, "You can't see the forest for the trees"
It's the difference between being a participant in a meeting and an observer.
On Tuesday,the debate on the Abel/Pirri resolution was over.All that remained was for the vote to be called.But it wasn't
I wondered why Sandra proposed removal of a clause and different wording at that point. The fight wasover.
My observer had a clearer perspective.
The Chair failed to call the vote. It was as if he was waiting. Clearly there was a pause.
Like something was anticipated. Then it happened.
Six people had spoken in support of the motion. The vote should have been six in favour....three against.
The change proposed was not a valid amendment. An amendment cannot change the intent of the motion.
It was moved by Councillor Humphrey seconded by Councillor Thompson and put to a vote anyway.
The ultimate vote was six in favour of the castrated motion ... three in favour of the original motion.
That is what happened. There is no dispute.
I told Sandra on Wednesday. In politics, trust must be earned.It's slow to grow.It's easily lost.It's never re-gained.
A whole lot of trust was lost on Tuesday night.
Among all the stuff I read in e-mails last week the board had received advice from their lawyer, a former Councillor.
I couldn't think who that might be.
Damir Vrancic was in the front row of the spectator's seats on Tuesday along with board members.
He sat grimly, arms folded throughout the meeting Apparently he had earlier embraced Councillor Gaertner fondly.
I thought; "Of course he's the board's lawyer"
I never thought of Damir being a lawyer. Mostly he was just the fourth leg of the Morris,Kean,Gaertner foursome.They could always count on each other. He was the king pin. Cos he was a lawyer dontcha know.
It seemed appropriate.
It makes sense he would be advising the Culture Centre.
Notice lots of letters in The Auroran to-day. Nothing like a controversy for getting people riled enough to put pen to paper.
Somebody took exception to my call for the Culture Centre Board to resign. I didn't actually do that.
I simply said, the honorable thing for an appointed board receiving funding and facilities from the town, if they found themselves in conflict with the town, would be to resign.
I did not ask the board to resign. I just think it's the right thing to do,
Doesn't mean they will Doesn't mean they should
It just means I have the right to say they should . And I do.
I do not speak without logic or for myself alone.
I believe it's outrageous this board and members of their staff have conducted a strident campaign full of mischief and misrepresentation in order to challenge the authority of the town..
I would never vote to appoint anyone to a board with authority to act on behalf of the town with such a factor in their background.
How much they love arts does not persuade me.
Being a volunteer isn't a warranty for sainthood.
Susan Walmer and Catherine Marshall volunteer themselves into all kinds of situations.
Volunteering means it's not required.
People who volunteer don't generally do it to set themselves up as an authority on anything.Or an aspiring Joan D'Arc
It's their nature to want to help. The reward is being there, seeing the need and being able to help.
Every day people in this community are being kind to one another.
They are not organizing a mob to jeer and sneer, spreading lies and deceit to get what doesn't belong to them and take it without as much as by your leave or please or thank you.
They give. They do not take
Why should qualifications be a prerequisite to run an organization?
ReplyDeleteHow many school teachers are "qualified?"
How many "lawyers" are qualified?
How many "politicians" are qualified?
How does one become "qualified" and who or what organization is to say so?
You have to believe in yourself and believe that you are doing the best job possible and that people will trust you.
"Volunteering means it's not required."
ReplyDeleteI take exception to this statement. There are hundreds of organizations that rely completely on volunteers. Without them NOTHING gets done.
One of the reasons offered for the CC to be arms-length from the town is so that they can qualify for provincial and federal grants.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the current situation seems to be arms-length only in it's official structure. In fact, as we know, it is entirely dependent on the town through the occupation of the town's building and the receipt of large sums of town money. If I am a grantor for the Prov or the Feds, that would be immediately apparent to me.
In realty, what they are trying to do is syphon from all levels of government, which could also be understood as syphoning from THE SAME TAXPAYER in three different ways.
I say, make a choice. If you think your most lucrative trough is the Town, then submit to the proper contract and reporting requirements. If you think it is the Province or the Feds, then you should actually BE arms-length from the town, stop taking our money, and start paying market rent.
You can't have it both ways.
KA-NON
10:40 PM
ReplyDeleteThe requisite word is 'trust' and it is singularly absent when we deal with the ACC. An unelected board telling the Mayor not to report to his own council, stuffing the meeting hall with vocal supporters who hadn't heard of the Mar report, refusing to negotiate for months and then claiming to have been attacked. The list does go on and on but it's gotten too boring to re-hash. But, yeah, long way before trust appears.
Evelyn,
ReplyDeleteCan you clarify one thing - early on in the debate on the motion - Councilor Able moved to defer the motion for a month to allow another month for discussion. That was defeated. In the end the final motion left the town and board a month to discuss. What's the difference?
And at this point I do have suspicions myself on the matter of weather the "amendment" was set up from the beginning. It was too drastic a turn around for it to seem spontaneous.
Sadly, Aurora is now a town where the Council refuses to provide any funding for the Food Bank and requires taxpayers to heavily subsidize daycare for healthy, well-heeled adults
ReplyDeleteThanks a bunch, Mayor Dawe, Councillor Humphryes and Councillor Thompson. Must be really proud of yourselves.
KA-NON
ReplyDeleteBut they want it ALL. There was a phrase about ' Gimmee, Gimmee, Never Gets ' used to discourage kids demanded more than their parents could afford. In Aurora, Gimmee-Gimmee always gets while the silent majority get left with the bllls. The Mar Report was quite specific about what had to be changed. Our Council simply ignored that report.
It could still be remedied but the will is lacking.
I wonder how many of Dawe's original backers he could call up and ask for a beer to exchange ideas. My family would certainly not be interested and we were there from the very beginning.
"Sadly, Aurora is now a town where the Council refuses to provide any funding for the Food Bank and requires taxpayers to heavily subsidize daycare for healthy, well-heeled adults
ReplyDeleteThanks a bunch, Mayor Dawe, Councillor Humphryes and Councillor Thompson. Must be really proud of yourselves."
Evelyn I hope that you publish this. This person does not understand that Food Banks and Daycare are not the responsibility of municipal government. And should not be. As someone that has used daycare, I can tell you that nothing was subsidized for me.
Mis-information all around.
"Sadly, Aurora is now a town where the Council refuses to provide any funding for the Food Bank and requires taxpayers to heavily subsidize daycare for healthy, well-heeled adults
ReplyDeleteThanks a bunch, Mayor Dawe, Councillor Humphryes and Councillor Thompson. Must be really proud of yourselves."
Evelyn I hope that you publish this. This person does not understand that Food Banks and Daycare are not the responsibility of municipal government. And should not be. As someone that has used daycare, I can tell you that nothing was subsidized for me.
Mis-information all around.
I would never have considered that Michael Thompson would have been complicit in the procedural charade that was the Tuesday's Council meeting. He had always struck me as a straight-shooter who worked hard and did his homework. Now I'm doubtful if he even read the Mar Report. His actions argue that he must have been ignorant or deliberately doing something that injured Aurora.
ReplyDeleteThat Council meeting was a disaster. Rules flew out the windows and infractions lie all over it. The Municipal Act is truly boring but it states quite clearly the rules by which meetings must be conducted That one failed in many aspects and can be appealed.
ReplyDeleteAurorans do not need yet another court case but it appears we are headed there again. The Mayor can come out from hiding and conduct a properly constituted meeting. There is still time. Meanwhile the tape of Tuesday's meeting continues to horrify those who were not aware of the deception.
To Anonymous 10:51.
ReplyDeleteThe point that is being made (by anonymous 10:04) is that the town funds cultural events and does little or nothing for the food bank and daycare.
If the town should not support social services then why are they funding the arts to the tune of half a million dollars ? That's a reasonable question and it makes some of us wonder about our collective priorities.
Councillor Buck, do you really think you should have published 11:11's comment? With our recent town history of defamation and libel actions, those unfair comments strike me as potentially injurious to Mr Thompson.
ReplyDeletePlease take better care.
To Anonymous 2 March, 2012 11:49 AM
ReplyDelete"The point that is being made (by anonymous 10:04) is that the town funds cultural events and does little or nothing for the food bank and daycare.
If the town should not support social services then why are they funding the arts to the tune of half a million dollars ? That's a reasonable question and it makes some of us wonder about our collective priorities."
I am fully aware of the intent of the original post. However, my post was meant to re-enforce that the mandate of municipal government is not to support Food Banks or Day Care. There are different levels of government and NGOs that do this.
In actuality, there are Federal and Provincial Ministries of Culture and they should fund things like this. The provincial Ministry funds libraries.
Personally, the Town should not be in the business of Culture. It's money that can be used to help many other more important projects.
To 4:04 PM.
ReplyDeleteOK. Point taken.