"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

What is Confidential? What is not?

Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 6:15 PM
Subject: Discussion on the Music Festival
  To Aurora Councillors.
> I wish to express my sincere disappointment in the out come of the discussion regarding the Jazz Festival.
> I ask any one of you to correct me if I am wrong in my understanding   that this council has now appropriated an  event that was  started by  entrepreneurs , developed and successfully run  over the  past four years.
> Council now takes all that hard work as their own  and puts something that  is not theirs , out for competition.  This  town will be the laughing stock of the festival circuit when this word  gets around, I can assure you.
> It was quite clear from the discussion last evening that certain
> councillors have no idea what so ever about putting on an event like  this (which is why it best left to those that do ) ---- to sit in  council on
> October 23 and say there is "lots of time" to organize an  event for next  summer is just with out  thought or  knowledge of how  these things work.
> This decision will certainly discourage any one from starting out with  a  small idea and attempting to grow it using this town as a venue.   Will  you be tendering out hockey tournaments, soccer tournaments the  Hoedown, The Terry Fox run, the Rib fest ?
>> It was quite clear to me that this entire matter was been brought  forward  in a spirit vindictiveness and score settling.  Expected from  some but  hardly becoming of those that supported it.
> This is sad and embarrassing politics.
> Sincerely
>Tracy Smith
> Reuben Street

*****************
Dear Councillor Buck
A friend called to day to let me know that I have had the dubious honour of being mentioned in your blog today.
 Is this is how it works in this town , of which I have been a citizen for 27 years, that when one makes one's view known to elected officials the very next day the person is castigated publicly in your blog.  That kind of tactic has been used by bullies all over the world in some very unpleasant regimes.  It stifles real dialogue between elected officials and their constituents and promotes divisions in the community.
Our elected representatives are charged with leadership in making this a better place to live for all residents. Your blog is offensive to me and I believe that I deserve more respect from you.
Sincerely
Tracy Smith
Sent from my iPad
*****************8
The foregoing were received a day apart. The first circulated to  each and every member of council. The second  to myself alone. 
A municipal Council is the sum of its parts. Aurora is nine parts.
.
We are  a publicly elected body. Any communication sent to a public body is a public communication.  
 Mr. Smith's second communication was sent to myself alone which indicates  he understands the difference
Mr. Smith is a member of the Culture Centre Board
The  unaccountable body  that  mounted  a challenge to  Council's authority,  when  a resolution to give notice to terminate the agreement to purchase arts and culture services  and the lease of facilities was first tabled  at a Council meeting . 
I do not favour a new contract with an unaccountable board of governance. I do not acknowledge the need for separate governance or public funding of the service.    
Further to that , I would never agree to sign an agreement with a board  of which Mr. Smith is  a member. .
Mr. Smith's e-mails epitomise   complete lack of respect  for Council's authority  and by extension, for the community  expected  to fund that  board's program.  
    

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Weird. 'Castigated publicly' ? Not so. There might have been a snicker or so at his reappearance in the time of need. I can't recall any mention of him since he popped up during the threat-session, got entangled in gender-confusion - ours- and accused Mr Watts of trying to intimidate him. That was it. When the man earns more respect from us, he may have it. Meanwhile he is just a Shadow.
Post or not - your call.

Anonymous said...

Did I miss something here? Was Mr Smith elected to some position of authority in Aurora? I considered him to be The Puppet-Master.

Anonymous said...


Is this the very same Tracy Smith who stood beside his rather bewildered President Layton while the latter took a very lengthy pause in thinking how to respond to Mayor Dawe's simple question that required an answer either "yes" or "no?"

Mr. Smith finally whispered in his President's ear and the assembled crowd then became a party to his response.

Mr. Smith protests too much.

There seems to have evolved a small group in our town whose sole resolve is to create things that then place them in positions of authority without any sense of responsibility but to themselves.

Aurora would make a great location for a group of research sociologists specializing in deviant human behaviour to conduct some in depth research.

Might even make a horror movie.



Anonymous said...

This is a strange game. Our family has lived here for longer than Mr Smith. So what? Maybe he should think about respecting others who do not push themselves forward. It isn't as if he has become a well-known loved figure in Aurora. Frankly, I wouldn't know him if I saw him. Tracey Who? Tracy Who?

Anonymous said...

If he has lived in Aurora that long, it must have come as quite a shock when he moved onto Centre stage last time only to discover that residents didn't even know if he was male or female. Or care.

Anonymous said...

I suspect that a # of special interest not-for-profit outfits have relied heavily on Provincial grants. That would appear to be coming to an end as the Province has even cut money for aid to the homeless. Those who ' sit ' could be feeling a mite uneasy.

Anonymous said...

Smith uses the term 'Bullies '? Really. We have seen him in full bully-mode threatening our Council in their own Town Hall. Backed by outsiders summoned from secret list of e-mails to speak about how Aurora was a threat to Culture. The raised voices and angry faces were not those of local residents. They were not welcome - just needed to pay the freight.

Anonymous said...

To those slagging Mr Smith:

You wouldn't have known about his communication to Council if Cllr Buck hadn't taken it upon herself to share it. He's free to share his concerns with our elected body, as are any residents (no "position of authority" required). You may not agree with his opinion on the music festival (I don't, as it happens), but at least respect his right to register it.

Anonymous said...

To 10:16 AM:

As Cllr Buck says herself: "I use every tool I have to influence the decision."

Anonymous said...


I can respect his right to register his opinion but I hold nothing but disdain for his methods.

Anonymous said...

11:10 AM Right. There sure are a lot of bullies up here. No mobs formed by outsiders, no occupation or fencing of town land, no threats or mass mailings. Heck. No one even laid a finger on that fence. Really dull up here. All we do is try and discuss our concerns and vote. Those would also appear to be Evelyn's methods. You are truly mixing up your comparisons.

Tracy Smith said...

Councillor Buck -- this post of yours actually proves my point exactly. I wrote you an emal and signed it with my name as a citizen, expressing my views on a decision at council by my elected officials -- sent to all councillors and the mayor. I think that is my democratic right in action. You have turned this into some kind of battle with me personally and have enlisted all your anonymous followers to pile on with remarks about my character -- OK I expect that kind of thing from some but not from an elected representative. You use your position and the council chamber to mete out personal vendettas -- which was my exact point in my original email to you. The entire motion regarding the Jazz Fetsival was a personal attack on the organizers , plain and simple.You don't like them nd you are willing to do anything to make sure they are unsuccessful in putting on another event. unfortunately you have drawn in 5 other councillors to support this mis use of your position on council.

BTW I received several responses to my email from your council colleagues that were respectful and thoughtful.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Mr Smith. You have used the Blog before & are using it now. The first time was when you posted all sorts of comments here while attending a Town meeting, including accusing someone you had never mer to trying to intimidate you. This time around you send Councillor Buck an insulting letter and then claim surprise that she posted it.
And for the record, the comments I have read have not concerned your character. They have reflected upon past actions and tactics. Your 'character ' is intact.
Your argument that opposition to the Jazz Festival is personal is pure nonsense. The multiple reasons for losing the fencing and making better arrangements with Aurora have been presented in depth and often. In essence, you appear to object to the idea that either the Jazz Festival or the Centre should provide any return on use of Aurora property or facilities to the funding source.

Anonymous said...

It appears we have ' A gentleman ' who verbally attacks a senior elected politician because he does not approve of a vote that has yet to occur. How very sad.

Anonymous said...


Mr. Smith: 1:09 PM

Are you prepared to share their names?

We should all know who are participants in this matter.

I can think of three.

Anonymous said...

With due respect, may I point out that Aurora town business was moving along smoothly until the advent of Mr Smith's particularly nasty letter? I see no reason for him to complain now when he went out of his way to create a controversy where there was none. Perhaps we should let our duly elected representatives do their job without such interference? Most who support one cause or other manage to do so using decent manners.

Anonymous said...

"Your argument that opposition to the Jazz Festival is personal is pure nonsense."

I know you're not speaking on behalf of Cllr Buck - not with a straight face, at least.

Anonymous said...

3:36 PM I speak for myself and my family. Councillor Buck speaks very well for herself. Needs no spokesperson.

Anonymous said...

Well, 3:36 PM, that's all well and good, but as you and your family aren't leading the public charge for the music festival to be open to bidding, your motives for opposition don't really come into it, do they?

Hey, I support Cllr Buck in this regard, but I also know that to say that her desire for change isn't personal is "pure nonsense". It became particularly personal after the former mayor allowed the Snowball Self-Promoter to harangue said councillor during a council meeting.

Whatever the virtues of open competition for the event, the genesis of the call for change is rooted in mutual, personal animosity.

Anonymous said...

3:36 PM
Ah, you are running again. Best of luck with that.

Anonymous said...

I am finding it ironic that the Jazz Festival operating on town property deems it appropriate to demand a cut from its vendors yet fails to see any similar need to contribute to the tax base of those provided them with this ability. No other operation in town generates less revenue and more irritation. It would seem simple common sense to remove the offending fence and join all the other smoothly-running events that occur throughout the year.
I believe that is what Council wishes to do. There is no over-reaching ' charge ' to do other than treat all of its stake-holders equally.

Anonymous said...

I hope the Rotary or another group are successful.

I know those groups will not screw the Farmers Market for the start up monies.

Fact,so bite me.