That's An Excellent Question

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "O.K .Back To Work":
Is there an administrative chain of command, of authority, of responsibility?
Who is accountable to who and for what?
Where do Council and individual councillors fit in the broad scheme of things?
Is there a distinction between administrative and policy functions?This Council is almost two years old.
One would have thought that by now the above questions would have been answered.
But that is not the impression one get
 
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The question can not be answered with any certainty.

Monday's  meeting was called for a single item of business.
The Treasurer made a presentation.

Council  received as an overview of the 2013 Capital Investment Plan and advice that following  capital budget deliberation ,staff will bring forward  all items within the Capital investment Plan .

Council chatted around the table for a bit with no conclusion drawn. The Mayor ruled there was no role for Council other than to receive. 

Forecast of 8.1% was  raised  to 8.3% tax increase.
A  list of sixty-seven " growth and new projects" were  presented.. for a total of $19 million six-hundred and forty-seven thousand.

Nary a whimper of protest was heard with the exception of myself.
Councillor Gaertner was not present. Word on the street is the Councillor  has sold her home and may no longer live within the municipality. 

The treasurer informed Council once the budget is approved, items will not be seen again until contracts present for award.

Change at that point might risk litigation.

It was  noted, since the Strategic Plan had been  approved by Council ,staff had used it to design the budget.

Council watchers may recall the oft -stated aim of the plan  to provide an" exceptional  quality of  life for  the community"
In terms of spending the budget  it certainly should be accomplished.  

The mind boggles. 

The Mayor was firm that no motion other than  receive would be 
considered..

Council, so-to-speak, had no roll, save and except, to listen  and nod.
Some  list items  jump out. 
$2 million will be spent on the "OLD" twenty-yearold, town hall. 
A coupleof hundred thousand on Computer and Infrastructure renewal. $440,000  was spent on a software system this time last year. As far as is known ,still not up and running. More needs to be spent to get it  there. 
We will spend $150,000 replacing water meters without indication of meter meltdown. 
An additional  $100,00 on ice plant retro fits at the Aurora Family Leisure Centre   $300,000 or thereabouts was spent on the same plant  last year, against  my arguments,  use of the space should be reviewed.
The arena  is home base for  the figure skating club. It might better serve as a teen centre.
We will spend $200,000 on the old library building. A resolution  passed a year ago, calls  for a staff report on disposition of the surplus  buildings on Victoria Street. I've heard  of contractors working inside the building although no funds were provided in the last budget for any such purpose.

Quarter of a million dollars is allocated to cleaning out storm water ponds although  reports do not indicate the ponds are accomplishing much of anything. 
 $40,000 is listed for management of the emerald ash borer. There is no  effective  management of the little suckers. 
We replaced fitness equipment last year. We will spend another $55,000 again this year.
 $879,300  is allocated for  Wellington Street West entrance features. We just finished dressing  up  Wellington Street West entrance 
 $405,000  will be added to taxes for soccer fields on the old  Ontario Hospital property. We've been waiting ten years for an agreement with that outfit. It never happens. We should wait it  before adding a point and a half to the tax  rate. 
$300.000  in two separate items, relate to Customer Care.
When it was first proposed ,the bafflegab  said it wasn't supposed to cost anything.
At the time I had no complaints about customer service. 
I do now.  
$200,000 earmarkedfor town hall parking lot expansion.Where?. When the Seniors Centre was built, insufficient  space for parking was a negative.Where can  the space materialise now.
$100,000 for  happy planter volunteers to plant in a natural ravine. .
$800,000 for a skate board park.
$77,000. for a Seniors Memorial Garden and Bocce Court.
$88,000 for a pathway from Mark Street to McMahon Park. That's the bowling green and tennis courts. Nobody pays any user fees up there. 
$220,000  allocated for a resident survey, a cultural Master Plan and an urban forest study
The Culture Centre  and the Historical Society will likely be invited to present budgets to be provided from the tax rate. 
The list has been  subjected twice to the gimlet eyes of the Executive Leadership Team before being considered fit for public consumption.  
Clearly, it is  expected to be taken seriously. 
Councillor Thompson indicates it does not have his support. 
 I  have heard that faint echo before during the last two budgets.  Little changed from the administration's outline.  
Presentations were similarly  received and moved steadily forward towards  approval.
Chairman of the Board ( the Mayor) is clearly comfortable allowing the "professionals"  full sway. 
At Monday's meeting he emphasised , Council had no role in that exercise. 
Council acquiesced. 
My  problem is. "the professionals" are not accountable to the electorate.
Other than as beneficiaries, they are not affected by growing the tax burden . They do not  live in the  community, share the burden or face the neighbours. 
 None of the natural  checks and balances exist.
So, with a Council  without a role in the scheme of things.

We got Nuthin'      
         
   .