"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

Thursday 3 May 2012

NOT SO.. NOT SO

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Financial Statements Should be Public":


"...the general public who funds us, sees the same value as our patrons who use us?"


Mr Sesto, the "patrons" are members of "the general public" - there are not two distinct groups, but a contingent of the whole.


**********


Church Street School Board members and hangers-on continue to  have a problem discerning the difference between their clients  or patrons and  the general public of Aurora.

They are not the same.  Their clients and supporters come from miles around.


Critical  discernment  lies in  the source of funding.

During the board's challenge  to the town's authority,  Councillors received a deluge of e-mail admonitions  about our philistine attitude towards the arts .  More than half were from people who live miles away. All were from the Board's e-mail list.


If they were paying what it cost to provide the programs they were enjoying ,it would matter not a whit  where they came from.

If the costs ,covering rent, maintenance and  programs artists were being provided  by the Government of Ontario, it would not matter a whit where they came from in Ontario. 

If  all costs were being completely funded by the Government of Canada, it would not matter a whit whence from in Canada they  came to enjoy the extraordinary facility in Aurora. 

The difference is the funds are  being picked  out of the pockets of    Aurora property owners  by the Town of Aurora without as much as a by your leave . 

The contract was slyly advanced through the approval process with nary a word from  whatever source  to indicate how badly taxpayers were to be gouged and  exploited for the political advantage of less than a handful. 

Who are now gone and replaced with  a new group  intent in covering their  own posteriors  and stubbornly resolved not to deal with the reality of how Church Street School  was  shanghaied by shameless despots, thereby assigning  the new crop  the role of accessories after the fact.

Paul Sesto's calculation is only incorrect insofar as it assumes  users of  the facility are the same as those  paying taxes to fund the facility. 

They are not.

Psshaw...Pestilential Pirates , lily-livered scoundrels, betrayers of women and children,  the lot of them  

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

A Special for May is being offered by the Centre for us regular guys. Far a mere $45.00 they present for our edification, " The Art of Tea ". "All NET proceeds benefiting ACC programming " Dressing up is encouraged.
Yup. I did not make that up. It was in the Auroran. Just the place to take Grandma for Mothers' Day. NOT!

Anonymous said...

Yep, it's Groundhog Day ... again.

Anonymous said...

Guess what, 1:07, no one is making you go. What may not be of interest to you, is to others, and vice versa. It's all about personal preference.

Anonymous said...

So don't go.... For crying out loud.... the deal was done.... the deal is being looked at.....

Do you propose that they stop their programming because of this?

No one is asking you to fork over 45 bucks so sop whining.

Anonymous said...

DO NOT POST DO NOT POST DO NOT POST, PLEASE
Watching ACM. You really do not want to lie or betray her - getcha eventually. Dawe is feeing the storm 2-nite.
DO NOT POST DO NOT POST DO NOT POST, PLEASE

Anonymous said...

interesting - 2 posts with attitude beyond the original comment with 4 minutes. Have to get better at appearing to be more than one person.

Anonymous said...

S'cuse me. Wasn't it the Boston Tea Party that led to the end of British rule in the U.S ? We have an Auroran Tea Party? Neat.

Anonymous said...

@ 7:21

Funnily enough, it was two separate commenters with a similar sentiment. I posted at 3:07, but not at 3:11.

Anonymous said...

I posted at 3:11 and not 3:07... I guess another theory by the haters is dis-proved.

Anonymous said...

Yup, 10:08 PM & 7:41 AM,
There might even be two of them. Hope they don't breed.

Anonymous said...

If the Center paid their own way or even showed an inclination to do so, no one would care about their programming as long as the Museum became an integral part of the operation. Since we own that building and provide ' core funding ', Aurora's taxpayers are entitled to view the programs with a malicious eye. The more smoke and mirrors, secret meetings and veiled threats emerge, the more determined people are to bring this renegade band into compliance with transparency and fiscal accountability.
Just like every other operation in Aurora.

Anonymous said...

Bugs & trees are being used to divert Council's attention from the mess with the Center. That is where the big money goes. Don't let yourselves be manipulated.

Anonymous said...

"Since we own that building..."

Yes, WE (as in everybody in town) do!