"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Tuesday 17 September 2013

It's Not A Conflict

A pecuniary(financial  interest) for the purpose of the Conflict of Interest Act, which appears to be another piece of meaningless legislation, is when a Councillor would singularly ,or a member of his immediate family woud be impacted by a vote he casts on Council.

If a member has an interest in common with neighbors, of "general" interest,. It  is not a conflict of interest.

He can argue for their joint and common interest. But their advantage must be wieghed aainst the interest of the community at large.

We rely upon the judgement of the other eight members of council for that.

Being elected to Council doesn't mean one surrenders all rights as a citizen.

Some voters even prefer  a Councillor who can be counted on  to give him whatever he demands.

Councillor Gaertner  frequently expounds her  theory it's a Councillor's job to give people everything they demand. Other Councillors are of the same mind.

Like spending hundreds of thousands of  taxpayers' dollars on a fool's errand to force Bell Telephone to remove a cell tower which  they erected within all the regulations.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Watching the meeting. A perfect illustration of why so many trees were quietly cut down in what is now called the Aurora Village in real estate ads. And don't correct me on ' quietly' - it was carefully planned so as not to alert any nut-bars.

Anonymous said...

Here's how you deal with problem trees. Drill strategic holes into the underside of the roots of the offending growth. Pour in a mixture obtained from an old school friend who farms on the Marsh. Sit back and wait for a year. Any tree outfit will declare that the tree is very ill and must be removed. Easy, non ?
It was worth a try to do it at council.

Anonymous said...


Clr. Abel has "Heritage Mouth."

I have never heard so much idiocy, so many person-hours wasted, so much dribble over three trees that should be removable as a right of the homeowner under the circumstances and the Town's Tree By-law.

There are NO HERITAGE TREES in Aurora!!!

Ballard, Gaertner and Humfryes should all be removed along with the trees.

WHAT HAS ALL OF THIS COST?

What if one of these trees was blown over onto the house? Could the homeowner sue the town for forcing him to live under a danger condition?

A compensation agreement needs to be negotiated, planting plans, values, warranties, all at what cost?

Rights of property owner vs. rights of trees.

The sidewalk under construction along Industrial Parkway is destroying how many millions of grasses? Do grasses have rights?

This Council is a joke!!!

Anonymous said...


It's a good thing Aurora Council doesn't have to deal with helicopters or submarines or fighter jets.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. I do't know how the heck you deal with this on a regular basis. Makes Oz look sane.

Anonymous said...

To 20:08 There is a resident who has been fighting an enviornmental issue with the Town for well over a year, and the media has avoided the topic.If committee meetings were streamed, we would have witnessed a councilor trying to silence a member.The end result was three acres of trees cut down, and what looks like a long cover up.

Anonymous said...

There is a topic heading in the Aurora with no story attached yet. It reads that Aurora Council spent $9000. on legal advice abut the cell tower located in King. That would be for the latest Ballard red herring.

Anonymous said...

To 19:28
Or you can take the short route. Our new neighbour simply went out onto his lawn one morning with a chain saw & got to work. By the time our worst neighbour , a campaign organizer of some sort, started to howl, the damage was too bad to stop.
The new guy said the tree was blocking light to his kids' windows.
Place looks much better - there are other trees on the lot.

Anonymous said...

6:31
Yep. We know about that one if it is the one with the over-grown Xmas plantation. Man tried for years to make sense with the various ' officials '. Only then did he act.

Anonymous said...

To 6:31
I have seen most of the documentation about that ' case '. The resident hired one of the best tree outfits who did all their planning. If it goes to court, Aurora is going to look extremely stupid. And lose a lot of money.
Can the time on your comment be accurate?

Anonymous said...

I do not believe you are talking about the three acre clear cutting on the moraine 11:26.

Anonymous said...

6:26
I am.