Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Potential Move Forwrad":
I don't know how you could do it, E, but you have to try and find out why the outside offer/bid was so much better. That gap has to be eliminated if council is going to consider the local talent. Tricky when you are not supposed to be able to look at the material.
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I have not done it in a while but last week I was a judge in a public speaking competition ./
There were three of us . We were given forms. Points were assigned for various aspects of performance. At the end , judges hardly varied at all in the assessment.
Municipalities are completely circumscribed by provincial regulation on how we go about purchasing services.
Companies who make bids for municipal business have to make allowances for all the red tape involved . The process adds to cost.
People who do it have to be expert in that aspect of their business. Winning a contract, with a bid too low ,can mean losing your shirt.
The town had a full team analyzing Expressions of Interest for museum service.
Neither the Historical Society nor the Culture Centre likely had experience in bidding.
It should have been a surprise to no-one , the professional firm would have had the best plan.
I didn't vote to go that route.
The town enjoyed heritage programming and museum service for twenty-seven years.
We know how to do it well.
I think we should do it again. Only better.
We should have a curator still paid for by the town but under the authority of the Director , who in turn is under authority of Council , who are in turn are accountable to the people who pay the bills.
A museum service is not like any other program.
All recreation programs depend on parents and volunteers to keep them affordable.
A museum calls for more. The collection calls for generosity and trust. Stewardship is a labour of love and many hands.
A curator, like a librarian, has a different role in the community.
Kind of like the warm heart of things.
Helpers acquire skills.
More than enough is already collected in taxes to cover the cost of heritage and museum services.
There just needs to be a wee bit of canny re-distribution.
That's all.
Thursday, 1 May 2014
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5 comments:
I think the Culture Centre has oddles of experience applying for things. Maybe even an individual who does little else.
The historial group listed a job which would involve much the same thing.
We have to be careful not to accept a lessor commitment merely because of the local connection.
I know that sounds as if I believe that you are incorrect, Evelyn. No. You are right - but, my goodness, we have to be careful here.
The thing that must go through many people's minds, my own included, is the suspicion factor that seems to arise whenever this subject comes up for discussion.
I don't know when, why and on what basis artifacts have been donated to the Town of Aurora, and I specifically say the Town rather than the Historical Society since with the former a certainty of ownership and responsibility exist.
If I were considering a donation of historical/heritage value I would want to know who was going to be responsible for it in the many, many years ahead.
The present situation is not conducive to donating anything since there is little, if any, policy and no existing body with both legal obligation and conservatism knowledge and expertise.
Good luck with your motions. I see a lot of problems that are going to have to get sorted before anything gets down. Certainly there should be not rush just to fit it into this term.
What ? You expect the historical society to stop keeping secretive membership lists ?
I like it. If Council even appears to be working towards the Museum, it de-fangs this issue in the election. No one can play the victim or white knight cards.
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