A couple of corrections are needed.
The Town Hall is open today; January 2nd.
The office of Deputy-Mayor is not voted on the ballot.
Council must appoint a deputy-Mayor to act in emergencies, under the Procedure Bylaw.
The norm is to appoint the Councillor who attained the highest vote.
Council makes the choice.
There is no provision for an alternate for the town's regional representative at regional council.
A Code of Conduct was not signed by the current Council.
A Code is not operative without an Integrity Commissioner.
None has been appointed by the current Council.
Councillor Abel has the same right to comment on a Blog as I have to write it.
To suggest otherwise is to adopt the mindset that permeated the last council and administration that citizens do not have the right to express views without fear or favour.
Being elected to office does not infringe upon that right.
It reinforces our tights.
Councillor Abel speaks for himself and he has authority,for a term of four years, to speak for the electorate.
A Council is the sum of its parts.
Aurora Council is nine separate parts, expected to work together not necessarily of one mind but respectful of the principle of majority decision-making , not required to be correct in every person's view .
The virtue is, if a wrong decision is made, error is shared as are consequences.
Marginally better than having a decision imposed by some inbred jackass who came by power by ancestors toadying to a monarch, dong his dirty work , paying him with men and finances for his armies or bringing home wealth and stolen resources from colonies. abroad .
ReplyDeleteEvelyn:
I regret having to turn back to the subject of the Centre.
It is my understanding that the Town had two members on the ad hoc negotiating "team" - Mr. Garbe and Mr. Downey. Presumably Mr. Mar was consulted from time to time.
This "team" was charged with negotiating an agreement for the provision of cultural services as well as a leaser for the Church Street School building. The negotiations presumably occurred without the day to day input of Council, and only when a "final draft" was agreed was the matter put before Council for comment.
One thing that strikes me as bizarre and completely unacceptable is the proposed term of the lease on the Town-owned building, namely 20 years.
From whose fertile mind did this number come and more importantly why? What relationship does this number have to the service provision agreement, which by the way, is for how long?
It defies all logic to have members of staff negotiate an agreement without interim Council input. It is also well above staff authority to so do unless Council rolled over playing possum and handed them carte blanche.
If we may counter some of your corrections with some corrections....
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, as reference, please visit http://town.aurora.on.ca/aurora/index.aspx?ArticleID=56&lang=en-CA
I recall in the last term, you indicated that singing the code was not required as the oath of office meant that you understood the rules governing you. Has that changed or was it convenient?
There is a large chunk of the code that does not deal with an IC. I think that is is entirely "operative" without.
Councillor Abel speaks for the electorate in his capacity as a councillor. Because he is a councillor does not give him the authority to speak for the electorate outside the confines of his duty. That means that participation on a blog or tweets (not official Town communications) are done as an individual. Just like the rest of the 8 miscreants around the table.
The last Council destroyed itself from within through unfettered arrogance. The current one is presenting confused residents with a strange blend of arrogance and subservience. The result will certainly be interesting during the next election.
ReplyDelete