I have discovered something else that I think I already knew. Immersing myself in a book means
my mind is not busy with my own thoughts.
I didn't write a post yesterday. I responded to a number of e-mails as they came in though and late in the day I had to wonder.
I'd like to respond to a few points made re the school site on Mavrinac.
First the neighborhood didn't come to Council up-in-arms about the need for a park if a school
was not going to be built on the site.
A Councillor went to them and alerted them to the situation and advised them , in his judgement, the site should be a park.
Homeowners gathered in the Council Chamber on Wednesday in response to the Councillor's invitation.
Some speakers shared notes at the meeting about what they understood to be the case when they bought their homes.
Not everyone was talking. Some listened.
When one person ,seemingly impatient to know, I would peg him in the Councillor campaign organization, posed the question to Councillors present,where they stood on the issue...Councillor Abel,Ballard and Gaertner were more than willing to assure the crowd they were on side.
I couldn't hear what Councillor Thompson said. The Mayor did not make a commitment.
The Former, equipped with lap-top but carrying hard copies, referred to a clause in the contract
that pinned down the price of the site and proved there was no need for an in camera discussion.
The fact is...the developer owns the site serviced at his expense, with roads, sidewalks,
boulevards, trees. lighting, storm and sanitary sewers, water mains, parks and schools as required by school board and town , Everything required to create human habitat.
I fancy it will take more than a clause in a contract to transfer title to the municipality.
The question of the much larger high school site in the vicinity never came up in the discussion.
Yet it must.
To the residents, it is a far more significant factor.
The homeowners are not reacting differently than most would in the same situation.
In my judgement, they are no better served than the rest of the community by receiving only enough information to raise their concerns
You know, if this was a challenger's strategy to make inroads for the next election it would be instantly recognized and rated. It would not be dismissed.it would be qualified.
But it wasn't a declared challenger.
It was by an incumbent using town stationery and town facilities to give credence to his
actions.
It's the difference between the way it was and the virus.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
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15 comments:
Do I take it that Clr. Gallo used Town of Aurora letterhead stationary for the letter that he then apparently hand-delivered to residents in the area?
I would have thought that Town stationary was to be used only for the communication of Town business, approved by Council.
If my assumption , above, is correct than Gallo should be censured for having gone far beyond his authority.
He reminds me of a spindly little puppy that has yet to be house-trained.
I have never had any use for Ballard, Gaertner, Humfryes and Gallo. The Fab Four, still in the experimental stage.
But Abel seemed to have a mind and an ability to think and express himself ably. It now turns out that he only leased his mind and the lease apparently has expired. This is a very great disappointment. He demonstrated this when the discussion on three trees at 33 Longthorpe Court was taking place.
And he doesn't have the faintest clue about what "heritage" is and is not.
Give him a dunce cap and make him sit in a corner at the next Council meeting.
I guess what is most perplexing is why the matter wasn't simply raised in a Council meeting so that the entire matter could be hashed over. There was no need for the histrionics. Nor the divisiveness.
The legal opinion of the town solicitor out-ranks that of the Former. Her judgement in such matters has been dreadful for Aurora.
Bundle up tonight. It is going to be cold outside. Probably hot inside.
Some councillors perhaps more than others are starting to make their checklists on how they helped the community during their tenure. It's a checklist for the next election and perhaps they are counting on the fact that people remember the more recent events (i.e. the last year in office) than the other previous 3 years.
You'll see next year, they will be listing not their successes per se (the cell tower was never going to change) but how they stood up to be "the voice of the people". And how they "fought for the people".
IMHO, we'll start seeing more councillor PR, more tweets, more blogging, more letters to the editor, more standing up to be noticed for causes that boggle the mind. Remember you heard it here first.
We're already seeing the 3rd party organizers coming out too!
Councillor Humfryes has forgotten that these are some of the same dear folks who told her not to run in the election because she couldn't win & would be of more use on committees.
@10:25
I think the trick might be to be the last person to speak to Cllr. Abel. You see it work on Mayor Dawe at council meetings where the shirt-sleeved one sits close.
12:44
That's Ok. It only takes a few well-placed questions about the bigger stuff. That is not going to vanish.
10:48
But she took 1 law class Before all her legal muddles.
While Abel seems to flip flop on some issues and demonstrate fuzzy thinking on others he is consistent in his notion that Aurora's citizens deserve tax increases. No sir, never a mention from him about a balanced budget.
Let's see if he flip flops on tax increases as we count down to election time.
Gosh. You must have felt like a volleyball last night. Getting clobbered by both sides in their efforts to score points. The electioneering is truly underway.
8:24... Should not be a surprise or an issue.
Politics is the game - our host has said that many times. This is part of that game.
"If you can't take the heat, get ouit of the kitchen!".
Let me see if i got this right. We now have to wait for the letter the mayor said he would be glad to write to find out why he refused to address a question to staff about a concern of a councillor ???
@ 9:37
Or you can have a snit-fit like the Mayor did.
Not that I think the mayor had a "snit-fit," 12:52, but it sure is preferable to a lawsuit.
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