My home is my grand-daughter Stephanie's home for now.. The blog type is larger with her assistance.
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I haven't been able to watch Alison's program for some time because somehow the plugin became disabled.
This morning that was fixed as well.
Part of the show was about the culture centre agreement negotiations and in camera meetings relating to same, which are a puzzlement.
Everybody knows where I stand on the agreement and the" arm's- length "board of governance that sucks up three quarters of a million dollars of public resources a year and growing, plus all they can earn in their operation. without accounting for any of it.
We tried it. It's a bust. Money is pouring out of the treasury into the hands of people who have no sense of how inappropriate that is and don't need to give a tinker's damn. .
We have Councillors who think it's fine as well. In their judgement ,all we need to do is tweak the agreement and put a couple of councillors on board. Councillors who have publicly and repeatedly stated everything the board is doing with public money is wonderful and they should just keep right on doing it.
Councillor Pirri thinks it's perfectly fine for property owners to pay the bar bill for whatever brand of art and culture is ordered , when those of a fine arts mind, belly up to the bar to state their preference..
After I've put everything I have into a debate and Council has made a majority decision., there's nothing more to be said in a formal meeting. .
There are people who fancy it means I should forever after hold my peace
If something is rotten in Denmark I'm supposed to pretend it doesn't stink.
It applies in a formal Council meeting. Majority rule is how we govern ourselves. Once the majority has made a decision, the issue cannot be re--hashed over and over again. . When you lose a vote you live with it.
There is nothing in any rule book that determines a majority decision is necessarily correct , If it turns out to be a bummer, I recognise no requirement to deny myself the gleeful satisfaction of saying "I told you so" It's small comfort but it's all there is.
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So, Alison was troubled by the in camera meeting . What could we be discussing?
Mr. Mar, town solicitor, asked for the meeting to advise Councillors on a matter. related to the agreement. It was his advice the meeting be in camera.
Mr. Mar is free to advise Council . Since I voted against the current arrangements I don't have a stake .. They will not ,under any circumstance, satisfy my concern the taxpayers of the town are being badly shafted. How Mr. Mar advises Councillors, whose decision it was, is of no critical importance to me.
I will however put forward a motion next week to waive solicitor/client privilege on the matter to allow it to be disclosed..
We understand from a comment ,Councillor Ballard , who has an interest in maintaining the status quo because he shares responsibility for the mess, is busy coercing the Board Chair to state the board was coerced by Mayor Dawe into agreeing to have Councillors serve on the board..
That should make an interesting dilemma for the Mayor.
His response to my position that we should scupper the contract, was " it would not be honourable' We must think of the town's reputation.".
He said that to me;
The great Gaels of Ireland,
Whom the Gods made mad
For all their wars are merry
And all their songs are sad.
What will it take, I wonder, to make the Geoffrey mad enough to recognise an enemy when he sees one.?
Will he have to fall on his sword, , fatally injured, before he realises how many knives are sticking out of his political hide ?
Friday, 4 May 2012
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21 comments:
The last line in this Yorkregion.com article pretty much sums it up. Quoted from cultural centre president Rob Layton
“The board decided to allow councillors to serve as directors because it was not given any other option, he said”
http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/1347869--council-delays-cultural-centre-decision
Wonder what would happen if any councillor who did not pay the full admission price for every event at the Center that they attended had to declare a conflict of pecuniary interest whenever the topic arose? Ballard springs right to mind as he swans in & out all the time, but others also attend.
Something Fishy in Aurora
The problem with that quote you offered is that Aurorans have already seen & heard Mr.Layton at that dreadful council meeting when it was quite clear he was telling a whopper. And on several occasions, he had to be prodded and provided with information. So we cannot just accept his statements now as being factual. They might well be; also might not be.
Aurora MUST act in the interests of the town and its taxpayers with respect to owned assets and money. In this case it means having a menaingful, effective and transparent role in the affairs of the Centre.
So the Cultural board has two choices.
1. Revoke its "charitable" status. (which is a complete joke in any case) and allow the Town, without claims of coercion, a significant and full place at the boardroom table that its very substantial fiscal contributions warrant,
or
2. Keep its charitable status and learn to operate without the annual cash grab, and start paying market rent for the building.
"Councillor Pirri thinks it's perfectly fine for property owners to pay the bar bill for whatever brand of art and culture is ordered , when those of a fine arts mind, belly up to the bar to place their order."
I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. I think it's perfectly acceptable for property owners to pay for infrastructure that supports the arts - such as the skylight gallery or an acoustically sound council chambers. I also think it’s suitable for a municipality to support artists in an objective and non-biased fashion, it’s the reason we have some sponsorship policies in place. It should never be a political decision, nor should it be a matter of the many blindly funding the few.
Evelyn:
Your print size is now too big. Somewhere in between would be perfect.
You are far more familiar with the background and creation of the Culture Centre. I seem to recollect it was to be a Heritage Centre/Museum at the Church Street School originally and that funding, including a Federal government grant of in excess of $700,000, was for that purpose.
During June of 2009 agreements were entered into between the Town and the "Church Street School Cultural Centre."
(I would like to interject one point here: It SHOULD BE CALLED the "---------Culture Centre." NOT the "-------Cultural Centre." It is supposed to be a centre for culture, NOT cultural.
Whatever idiot misnamed this enterprise should be sent back to grade four for six months to learn the meaning and use of proper words and grammar.)
What transpired between June 2009 and October 2011 with respect to the Centre and its operation I do not recall. However, at a Council meeting October 11, 2011, Council authorized "the CAO, if he deems it necessary, to engage a consultant to assist with the development of the key performance indicators, subject to an upset spending limit of $20,000; and
THAT Council authorizes the CAO to work with the staff of the ACC to define the reporting relationship between the ACC and Council including a plan to incorporate Council representation on the ACC's Board of Directors.
Carried 6 to 2. Voting with the majority were Councillors Ballard, Gaertner and Gallo.
Then:
"Moved by Councillor Pirri Seconded by Councillor Thompson
THAT the Cultural Services Agreement be referred to the Town Solicitor for his input and comments in a report back to Council within a month.
CARRIED"
Most of us who give a damn about our town and about transparent and accountable government and about how our tax dollars are invested or spent, have seen during the past few months a heinous occurrence of events, from packing a public Council meeting with people from out of town, attempts at creating a secret government within a government, misstatements of the basest ignorance and stupidity from three sitting councillors, an outright lie by the President of the Centre - "The board decided to allow councillors to serve as directors because it was not given any other option." Does Mr. Layton say this with regard to the quote from the above October 11 Council meeting minutes or from some other event?
Three councillors who voted in support of the immediately foregoing are rabid supporters of the Centre and of culture in general, or so they say. So are they forcing upon the Centre President, Mr. Bookend Layton, that Council members become mandatory. Is this a form of coercion, a threat, a dagger at his heart? It took Layton 15 seconds to answer yes or no to a simple question from the mayor on February 28, and that was only after prompting from his vice-president.
The Mar report that was presented by the Town Solicitor on December 6, 2011 is about as straightforward a document as is possible and deals with all problem areas and concerns. From here we have vaulted into in inferno of idiocy, ignorance and stupidity such as nothing I have ever before seen.
We have secret committees meeting and making secret reports that must be presented to Council in closed sessions. We have four committee members (I refuse to dignify this by spelling out the five words that go with AHNWG) who somehow between them, and in secret, created a short list of potential facilitators, and from this short list, and in secret, have selected a facilitator for this AHNWG process - always in secret. And this facilitator shall be entitled to receive fees up to a maximum of $20,000, in secret without explanation. And this same facilitator shall be entitled to vote, which in the case of a tie between the two sides, will decide the outcome, with a single vote. IS THIS DEMOCRACY?
PART 2 OF AN EARLIER SUBMISSION
We have secret committees meeting and making secret reports that must be presented to Council in closed sessions. We have four committee members (I refuse to dignify this by spelling out the five words that go with the letters AHNWG) who somehow between them, and in secret, created a short list of potential facilitators, and from this short list, and in secret, have selected a facilitator for this AHNWG process - always in secret. And this facilitator shall be entitled to receive fees up to a maximum of $20,000, in secret and without explanation. And this facilitator shall be entitled to vote, which in the case of a tie between the two sides, will decide the outcome, with a single vote. IS THIS DEMOCRACY?
As far as I am concerned the Centre's cultural activities and ventures have never been threatened. In return for the Town paying in cash and in kind an annual sum of $500,000, and increasing with inflation, there must be an accounting for how this money is spent. Budgets must be prepared in advance for approval by the town - the Centre's significant patron. Programmes must be developed as a joint reflection of the objectives of the Centre and the Town so as to benefit both and all who reside here or who come to Aurora from elsewhere. If there is a possibility of the Centre slowly becoming self-funding this should be encouraged and all assistance should be provided to make this happen.
The Centre is certainly not more special than the Library. If the latter can function well within its parameters I have no doubt that the Centre can do likewise.
In the meantime, I strongly urge all those hot-headed air-bags out there to cool it, and hope that these top-secret/secret meetings and reports in closed sessions and memoranda actually have some use in the end.
I am almost at the point where I am prepared to physically park in front of the Church Street School in protest. And if I do, it will be with ten rented buses.
Nary a problem Councilor ,all that's needed is few more years and the lot will be turfed from office just like the last bunch , they wouldn’t take heed of the warnings against pandering the last term and it appears that once again the garden path leads to self destruction,
after all what does that 83 year old grey haired bat know anyway, According to the New York Times
this is 2012 with a Town full of, "upscale" "well educated" and "hip" folk who love nothing better than flushing $ down the drain
"From here we have vaulted into in inferno of idiocy, ignorance and stupidity such as nothing I have ever before seen."
Pssst, you left out hyperbole and overreaction.
Councillors Abel and Pirri have seen how these people operate, up close and personal. It is other members of Council who are in play here ,particularly Humphreyes, Thompson and Dawe. If they had not pulled that stupid stunt on the termination clause, this would have been dusted off months ago.
"As far as I am concerned the Centre's cultural activities and ventures have never been threatened."
Aren't you a regular reader of this very blog?!
"In the meantime, I strongly urge all those hot-headed air-bags out there to cool it"
*holds up a mirror"
5:43 PM and 5:45 PM Gottcha double-posting again. Thought you were lying last time to pretend there was another idiot. Duhhhhhh!
WELCOME. STEPHANIE. WELCOME ON BOARD!
Clr Ballard says the reason he doesn't support having Council representation on the cc board is "that it promotes political interference in the arts".
Fine. The the cc board shouldn't be accepting any tax dollars or using any town buildings either, Councilor.
It is difficult to imagine the circumstance that caused Mr. Mar to request a meeting with councillors to advise them on a matter relating to the agreement, and that he advised such meeting should be held in camera.
This from the Town Solicitor whose December 2011 report launched the present expedition. His report was clear, concise, eminently sensible, totally accurate.
It would be most interesting to have his explanation for the request.
"5:43 PM and 5:45 PM Gottcha double-posting again. Thought you were lying last time to pretend there was another idiot. Duhhhhhh!"
Is there some quota that YOU have imposed, 7:18?! I'm not aware of any limit; it all depends on Cllr Buck's decision to publish ... or not.
You were wrong with your previous 'gotcha' (seriously, how old are you?). I wasn't lying, and the other commenter identified their comment. But, that's okay, you carry on amusing yourself playing 'spot-the-_____'.
(p.s. You missed the comment I left @ 5:40 - "Duhhhhhh!")
If the Center is a registered charity, does Aurora receive a tax receipt for the money we contribute and the value of the building per year? If not, why not? They can give receipts to those who frequent their premises and we just happen to own them?
My goodness! I thought everyone was being very polite and careful! If there is a fault it might be that we do err to the cautious side. Aurorans aren't much for mobs and bullies of any persuasion.
Please try and get your numbers accurate:
sucks up about half a million and growing
This comment/question is not directed at any specific post on this blog but instead at the blog in general. I don't read this blog often or any others. Mostly because this and many other blogs allow insulting, uninformed and biased comments cloaked by the cowardly cover of anonanymity. It is obvious that many comments come from representatives of the same faction in town and are self serving. Which leads me to the point of my posting. Why do you help in perpetuating this subterfuge by posting anonymous comments. If people want to spout off and spread their propaganda why not force them to acknowledge themselves instead of hiding behind anonanymity thereby reducing this blog to a gossip column. Because everyone else does it doesn't make it right. I have always considered you a woman of honourable morals, values and principles. Allowing this to continue appears inconsistent with those positive characteristics. I could care less whether you posted this or not but would appreciate your rational in giving unidentified malcontents a forum. You identify yourself in support of your positions why not make everyone? If they don't believe in their opinions enough to put their name to it their postings are of little to no value.
Bruce Cuthbert
Brucecuthbert@rogers.com
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