Political Theatre

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Reminisces":

The street sweeper was a man named Tom. He made his own equipment. It was a garbage can on wheels with wooden handles. He used a brush and shovel to lift the litter.

Yes I remember it well as a kid , I was fasinated by the cart with two bicycle wheels an old steel garbage can and the long handles like a wheel barrow, the man always had a short stub of a cigar clenched in his teeth , you could never walk down town without seeing him, narry a spec of dirt could be found on the entire length of Yonge st,
Thanks for posting this old memory
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Since you were a child you would not realise. it was a matter of pride to keep the streets clean. 
Angus McGregor, Superintendent of Public works first task of the day was an early morning tour of the streets.
It was  six o'clock in the morning before the community was out and about. I went with him a couple of times when I was Mayor, to see what he saw and familiarise myself with the highways and byways. 
He wasn't above getting out of his truck and tossing a broken branch or  other debris into the back. At the same time noting whatever might have occurred overnight in need of attention.
He took personal ownership of the town. Many a furious argument he might have in a meeting  with  former  Mayor Dick Illingworth who had hos own ideas of who was in charge.. 
While Mayor, he was acting CAO for the new Region of Sudbury. It  kept him out of town during the week. 
He made up for it by driving his red convertible, top down, around the town  on a Sunday, making notes on a tape recorder of what he saw needed to be done.
It was a competition to capture attention of the residents;  to make sure they understood  nothing was  left unattended in his absence.
He wrote a Mayor's column weekly for The Banner the same way:.an endless stream of  tape recorded observations.
Aurora has had  lively political theatre for as long as I have known her and not without unnwitting comedy. 
nowadays, we contract out the street sweeping. It's supposed to happen twice a year. We also keep a street sweeper worth $180,000 at the works yard. 
At this time of the year ,gutters are filled with debris and litter is  blown into hedges and boulevards.
I have referred to the  unsightliness on occasion. But . our current Mayor  hastens to silence my complaint. As if it is somehow unfair to  refer to the problem. ..