"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

Friday 26 October 2012

RENEWAL

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Perception Is The Reality": To 11:12.... 
Everything that is going on revolves around one theme. 
Two years ago the council of the day was replaced with new. Anyone connected to or with the leader of the previous council, be it within the Town organization or out of it, had to be purged. SO much so that the new council began a systematic reversal of previous council decisions and initiatives.
 Naming of John West Way
Chicanes
Green trucks
Cultural Centre
etc etc

And now, we get to Jazz Festival
.This has nothing to do money.
 Evelyn's topic of this post is true.
 This is all about PERCEPTION. The perception is that the years of 2006 to 2010 were ruled by evil doers and we have to reverse the entire 4 years.
*************
One might wish it were so easy to reverse the damage  done to individuals and the  town during  the years 2006/10. 
Most of it will never be undone.
But let's take a look at the items on the list
Council did not change the name of John West Way. Nor did the previous Council. 
It was the Council before that, on the third try by Nigel Keane, that contrived a tag for the town hall parking lot for no other reason than to remove John West's name from  town stationery. 
After many delegations  from John West supporters requesting  an explanation, Mr.Keane offered that such exposure meant thousands of dollars of free campaign advertising.  
Councillor  West was severely ill at the time and had obviously fought his last campaign.They did it to him in his presence.
What this Council did was remove the tag  from the town hall parking lot. and restore the honour bestowed on  the former Mayor, fourteen years before Nigel Keane moved to have it removed. 
Chicanes  are being  removed  because they are  hazardous: deliberate obstructions  to deter drivers from using the roads.That was their only intent.
The colour green for parks trucks;  Council was not asked  to change  from green. . I don't even know when that happened. I do know, the explanation provided  that white was cheaper was untrue.
That Council saw merit in parks trucks being green is a minor matter to be sure. 
So what's the big deal. Why does the chatter continue?
The Culture Centre issue is  pending. I am not hopeful. 
A Jazz Festival and a five foot high chain link fence around  a park for three days, on a holiday weekend , to keep people out, is an  issue  three years overdue.
The Town Park is the Town's Park.
Words used to describe the last term of Council are not mine.    

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I quite like the list of accomplishments. Sometimes it feels like nothing is getting done. Carry on.

Anonymous said...

Quote: "This is all about PERCEPTION. The perception is that the years of 2006 to 2010 were ruled by evil doers and we have to reverse the entire 4 years."

I think that the public has to have confidence that Council will do the right thing and correct past wrongs where and when deemed necessary.

I don’t disagree with this current council for the actions they have taken to date. They were left a mess and have worked hard to improve council's reputation and they were given that mandate by the voters of Aurora.

Don’t forget that Morris came into office wanting to right the wrongs of the previous council before her but the difference lies in the lengths that she would go to in order to achieve her objectives; hiring town funded lawyers to pursue her political opponents, launching a private (town funded) lawsuit agqainst residents, “releasing” the first integrity commissioner and even firing the CAO. One Councillor quit and more than one past Mayor was critical of Morris’ Council and its methods. In politics perception is indeed reality, but facts should still matter.


Anonymous said...

Could the complainant provide us with a further list of any other accomplishments of the past Council? There must have been something besides the armoury.
Guy Poppe kept promising such a list but it never did materialize.

Anonymous said...

No mention of all the legal residue left floating around town. I guess this person thinks that cleaning it up has nothing to do with money either. Some perception.

Anonymous said...

Councillor Thompson's proposed motion about the SLAPP lawsuit is intriguing.