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.
Friday, 26 October 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
22 comments:
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.
Did I miss something here? Was Mr Smith elected to some position of authority in Aurora? I considered him to be The Puppet-Master.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
To 10:16 AM:
As Cllr Buck says herself: "I use every tool I have to influence the decision."
I can respect his right to register his opinion but I hold nothing but disdain for his methods.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
3:36 PM I speak for myself and my family. Councillor Buck speaks very well for herself. Needs no spokesperson.
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.
3:36 PM
Ah, you are running again. Best of luck with that.
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.
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.
Post a Comment