"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

Saturday 31 May 2014

The Fatted Calf

A.H. is not a person. It is unflattering nomenclature, by defintion, vulgar.

I simetimes tire of being polite. It's not a natural  facet of my character.

Politeness is an acquired discipline.It's an essential of politics . For an argument to be effective  it must also be emphatic.

It's difficult to be emphatic while being cloyingly polite.

There's  has to be a way  to say what you have to say, so the opposition can't lay a finger on you for lack of civility .

The challenge is two-fold. Persuasion and if that fails ,make  sure the public understand your side of the argument.

That's what drove the last lot out of their minds.

They thought having a majority block  of votes meant absolute power.

Mr. Wilson was quoted ;"She's got to be stopped. She is undermining everything Council is trying to do."

Repeatedly advice  was demanded from town solicitor , Shelley Pohjola.

The advice was finally put into writing. "Councillor Buck has every right to say what she has to say.
 She goes right to the line but she doesn't cross it."

They found a lawyer at a municipal conference who  advized them  how to fix that,

 Create a new line.

Adopt a Code of Conduct  and create a new line. Insert a clause  prohibiting comment by a Coucillor after a  decision is made.

Adopt a procedure and  appoint an Integrity Commissioner to adjudicate complaints. The line up a couple.

Don't give him independent status. Make sure he knows he can be fired if he doesn't make the right decision. Have a second lawyer on  retainer to make the sytem foolproof.

All at taxpayers' epense.

The clause was a "deal-breaker" but he signed it anyway and soon had reason to regret.

It was a race to deliver the first decision before being terminated. He won the race and lost the job.

Had to retain legal counsel to protect his own reputation. He wasn't the first and he  wasn't the last.

Town reaources flowed unimpeded.

Councillor Abel put forwarded a motion last week that looked like a bit of a witch -hunt. It didn't pass.  Who was the intended witch wasn't clear either.

The beat goes on.

Sleeping-dog sleeps still.

For a while yet.




12 comments:

Anonymous said...

There was also someone who advised that the way to prevent homes that were larger than you wanted from coming to your neighbourhood was to declare the entire area a ' protected zone ' or designate it Heritage. How did they do with that one again ?

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure where he was going with that but it would be an eye-opener to have obtained those #'s. I will grant that it is difficult to draw a line under the expenses. Still Cllr Gaertner's protest about the timing sounded false. What timing would she want to see here ? Like, never ?

Anonymous said...


In my opinion Councillor Abel's Motion doesn't go far enough.

The Code of Conduct and the legal costs surrounding its research, creation and eventual destruction should be easy to identify.

While you declared a conflict of interest when Councillor Abel's Motion came up for discussion, Gaertner and Gallo did not. They stupidly realized after having participated in the discussion that they were defendant parties to an action before the Court, and hastily declared conflicts of interest.

This does not recommend "Mayor" Gallo for serious consideration to the position he aspires.

I would like to know the total cost for lawyers and for increases in the Town's Liability/Indemnity insurance premiums involving the former's defamation suit, conflict of interest action, your suit against her and five former/present councillors(before the Court awaiting a decision), and her alleged suit against the town to recover out of pocket legal costs, should this actually proceed in court.

The town's annual insurance premium cost will certainly never decline, so it will be a future further burden based on past legal actions.


Anonymous said...


In my opinion Councillor Abel's Motion doesn't go far enough.

The Code of Conduct and the legal costs surrounding its research, creation and eventual destruction should be easy to identify.

While you declared a conflict of interest when Councillor Abel's Motion came up for discussion, Gaertner and Gallo did not. They stupidly realized after having participated in the discussion that they were defendant parties to an action before the Court, and hastily declared conflicts of interest.

This does not recommend "Mayor" Gallo for serious consideration to the position he aspires.

I would like to know the total cost for lawyers and for increases in the Town's Liability/Indemnity insurance premiums involving the former's defamation suit, conflict of interest action, your suit against her and five former/present councillors(before the Court awaiting a decision), and her alleged suit against the town to recover out of pocket legal costs, should this actually proceed in court.

The town's annual insurance premium cost will certainly never decline, so it will be a future further burden based on past legal actions.


Anonymous said...


I think Cllr Abel might have been trying to emphasize that the spending of this council has been influenced by the one before. Certainly he would be correct in terms of the cost of the town's liability package. The present rate must reflect what went before - we have all experienced that with our own policies.
This in no way means that the rest of the budget should not be considered.

Anonymous said...

Looks promising for the street sale - they could not have imagined this when it was first tried & that date was selected. What a terrific idea !
P.S. This should mean that the organizers should not require any further funding from the town this year. 700 vendors seems an adequate base.

Anonymous said...

Witch hunt going on in Richmond Hill. Integrity Commissioner is constantly being used to smear a councillor on a monthly basis. He's never been found that he broke any rules...yet they keep on filing. I guess they figure one is going to have to stick eventually. $$$$$

Anonymous said...

20:16
Is there anything or anyone not getting finding from the Town?? A list should be generated at the end of the year for everyone/group who received money from the Town. How's that for a motion?

Anonymous said...

20:43
If the Integrity person has found no wrong-doing, they can keep pissing in the wind. What will matter is how the electorate feel. I am unfamiliar with the details. Do you get a sense of how it is going to work itself out ?

Anonymous said...

@20:53
It would be simpler to draw up a list of those not receiving special attention:

- Taxpayers
- Food Bank

Anonymous said...

20:43
Your right. What will matter is the electorate. I get the feeling he's trying to break the "old club" that talk a good talk about "vision", "innovative", "quality of life" BS. It's not just Aurora with those "catch" phrases. It's seems like a virus across the all political levels. Anyway...He seems to be using the municipal act to make changes that are a long time coming, and the Liberal in Richmond Hill (same Error Banner)and the "club" are not too pleased. He's got a pretty strong following....but Oct 27 will tell all.

Anonymous said...

19:02
Thanks. This thread is going to die - try to stick info in every so often, Sounds like a few Evelyns out there. Always a good sign even if they get clobbered occasionally. It will be the voters who literally matter.