Whatsit ?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Time Has Come":

What a rude awakening! It's as if Aurora was under siege. We've mislaid a Museum and a Park. And now our kids are getting shafted. Will it never end?

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Bless your heart!There's nothing rude about it.
It didn't just start.
It's not about to end.
It's the ordinary everyday business of  municipal oversight.
Despite Numbered  Policies, Provincial Regulations, Master Plans,  Official Plans, Strategic Plans and Precedents, we are a human community like any other.
Competing interests compete.  Every day and  all the time. The struggle to survive and do well is ongoing. For some it's harder than others.
Nine people from different backgrounds sit around a table,with  different skill levels, trying  to make decisions that are fair to all.
It's better if everybody at the table can agree that's why we are there. If the common objective is acknowledged, half the battle is won.
There really isn't room or time for jabs at each other.
Nowadays with televised  meetings and I hope,the internet to bring it all into people's homes, not much  can be hidden.
We are not compelled to see things from the same angle. If we listen to each other, we  have a  better chance of gaining a wider perspective.
If our audience  understands more of the  particulars, we can enjoy the tension  together. 
Council's job is to exercise judgement. Professional advice is not  the whole answer. 
Last week, I watched Bill Moyers interview an author of a book about the American  economic system and how it has failed. He wasn't a Republican but when he was asked what he thought of President Obama's handling of the financial crisis he had this to say;
"The President is an academic. He trusts the experts"
He raised his hands, as if that said it all.  I think it did.
I  believe he meant the President does not trust his own judgement.
There are opinion-makers who believe Councillors, being elected without experience, must trust the experts and simply do what they're told.
I am not one .  I have known too many "experts"  They vary.
Decisions we make are matters of judgement.
After we have heard from  the competing interests, ad I applied what we know and listen to each other, it all comes down to comes down to the tightrope of making a judgement.
Judgement is individual.
When you've done it often enough and made a few mistakes while you were at it, you get good at it.
It's like learning to ride a bike.You fall off a few times and then you get it .
If you never do it and rely completely on " experts " the decisions will not stand up to scrutiny.
You will never find your balance.
There will be no place to hide. .