Blind Adherence Is Sheer Folly

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Am I Qualified to Judge.":

To answer your question... no you are not qualified.

If you (or other councillors) were qualified, why would you hire people to do this job? After all, council is a part time job isn't it.

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If we extend the argument above to its conclusion, we would have to  conclude there is no need for a Council at all whether it be part-time or full-time 

No need for a Council,  election. or  opportunity to choose  from a selection of candidates for representation.

If Council's role is to rubber stamp staff recommendations. there really is no useful role.  

No need for democracy or the right to govern ourselves 

Remarkably.that's fairly close to the situation we currently find ourselves. 

Our current Mayor is  completely content to work  hand in glove with the administration.

At the last Council  meeting, he presented a motion to study base level of services provided. 

At the very next meeting , there's a recommendation  from the CAO to retain a consultant at a cost of $60,000 to study base level of services.

A resolution from a Councillor  adopted by Council .can disappear for over twelve months with the explanation  no time limit was given for the undertaking.

On Tuesday, the Mayor flew into a temper tantrum that a recommendation from staff would be queried by  Councillor Gaertner and myself.

That's a story in itself. 

Last year about this time at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon
sponsoring the Town's First Citizen, the Mayor gave a happy guest the news the town would be providing sidewalks on both sides of the Industrial Parkway.

It seems, they came at the guest's  request  to the Mayor.

And so it came to be. 

I can cite a number of recommendations to Council  in the past few years cited as "compromises" to professional recommendations. 

None of which did anything to secure my confidence in professional recommendations. 

Remember when we hooked up three Canadian Tire parking lot lights to the town's street system to satisfy a completely unreasonable   citizen demand.

Or when  the town shifted  road and utilities a metre over  so  a determined resident would not have a sidewalk abutting the lot line thereby increasing  space he had for  driveway parking and  depriving  the amenity of  neighbours across the road.

Early in the last term, former Councillor Grace Marsh asked  how  could a Councillor know all that was needed to know.
I answered; "You can't know it all. You have to be able to depend on staff " 

It was not long after that  staff  who  could be relied upon were replaced

Not to have confidence in staff multiplies the responsibility ofa Councillor many times over.

Blind adherence to a principle that no longer applies means the community is not served well.