"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

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Shrinking Violets ....Not

The  names  David Heard; and Klaus Wehrenberg were mentioned in a post.

Somebody  says. that could be grounds for  complaint.

Is that so?  

The two  regularly  attend  Council  meetings.  Do not hesitate to take the podium to expound on  the singular interest each  has. 

When they've said  their piece , off they go home or wherever else they plan to spend the evening.

I'm  still there , waiting, to  get  at the job  I am charged to perform.

High -price  personnel sit with hands folded , a captive audience, accomplishing absolutely nothing.

There's a stack of work in front of me. I've read  the lot in preparation for debate and decision.

Eight others  at the  table have done the same. 

Our task requires  time, concentration and an awareness  of the fish bowl aspect is never far distant. 

We speak on behalf of the people we represent. 

Time slips away  as we listen. Energy ebbs  as David Heard reads poetry, delivers  lectures 
and waxes fulsomely about his  personal vision.

Last time he  attended ,I had a motion  to present on the agenda .

David took it upon himself  to  use public forum to oppose the motion before it even got  to the table.

Last night , the Council  Chamber was filled with residents from  a new neighborhood.
First time  perhaps for  many attending  a council  meeting. 

Three speakers made the case for the neighborhood issue. 

Council spent an hour  and a half in camera receiving legal advice and determining  how best to 
proceed .

We  reported out . Each  Councillor  spoke to the recommendation.

More than two hours  were spent dealing with one issue. 

Other  items  involved intense discussion .

 The hour of adjournment is 1030p.m.  We  adjourned At 11.15 p.m. 

Much of the agenda  was referred to Tuesday's Council meeting. 

Klaus Wehrenberg  waited five hours for an agenda item on a trail underpass to be considered.

It wasn't.

Klaus was not pleased.

When people choose to become involved to the extent Klaus and David have, they become part of the story.

If their names appear  in this post or elsewhere  that's  hardly surprising . Certainly , nothing  about it is either inappropriate or unexpected. 

They put themselves out there. 

I'll be damned if I see any cause for complaint . 

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Both David and Klaus like to put their names and their causes on the front burner. If they choose to present at council, they, by definition, consent to public discussion.

I do not know either of them, but reading various letters to the editor or listening to their council pitches, it is cleat that they are both over the top on their causes to the point that they become annoying.

A singular view of things is never right and should not be allowed.

As a wise dying man once said, "The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few... or the one."

Anonymous said...

The names of individuals pop up whenever there some matter in which they are involved. Usually it's just a passing mention or two. No offence is meant. Even ex-politiians' names occur. Like Aurora's Nigel K & I can't even recall when he actually was a politician.

Anonymous said...


Are Council and GC meetings being properly managed from the standpoint of effective time utilization, Are discussions focused on the subject under consideration or do they go off in tangents?

I appreciate that matters involving agreements and legalities have to be satisfactorily explained by the Town Solicitor so that councillors fully understand the facts on which to base their decisions.

But surely this can be considered beforehand by the Town Solicitor and provided to councillors in a report with recommendations, with alternatives. Hopefully this would reduce the time spent in closed session, especially when a large audience was present, as occurred last night, waiting for an hour and a half.

And in the end, the crowd was really no further ahead, except to hear that Council had taken a first step, without really indicating what this was. Notwithstanding this, one councillor made the statement that despite this first step, it could be a long time before the matter was finally resolved, possibly some years.

Anonymous said...

14:29 is quoting Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kham and the wise man is Mr. Spock. I just heard this the other day again on a re-run of The Big Bang Theory.

And I remember from grade school learning that one definition of a democracy meant the decision is governed by the vote of the majority but the rights of the minority vote are still maintained. (i.e. just because 50% + 1 vote a certain way they should not trample over the other voters).

This quote doesn't work if the few are for example children or seniors or the disabled etc. Many examples where the needs of the few stand about the many.

Anonymous said...

14:29 " A singular view of things is never right and should not be allowed "
I would love to hear you justify that statement, particularly the part about not being allowed. Sounds ugly to me.

Anonymous said...

Please, Ma'am. Did council ever get to deal with the troublesome tree problem ?

Anonymous said...

It was just a matter of time before 14:29 stepped in it.
Clearly no opinions from outside the narrow range will be tolerated.

Anonymous said...

Klaus has done very nicely from the town. But you are right. He does love the stage. Sorry . I quit when Cllr Gaertner seemed to be making sense about the Leisure Complex. So I don't know if the disposition of the land around the Old Library even got to the table.

Anonymous said...

As far as I am aware, the only viable solution is to relocate the Bell Cell tower in his backyard and then, suspend the trees from the tower like Xmas tree ornaments. This would allow the poor sole to grade the lot properly while his family sings carols.

Anonymous said...

Isn't sarcasm supposed to be funny?

Anonymous said...

I guess 19:29 is the arbiter of which opinions are tolerated here. Who assigned that role?

The Great Editor of the Internet said...

"Who assigned that role?"

Maybe the same person that appointed me to my exalted position.