"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

Friday 12 September 2014

It is the season

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Litany of Legal Fees not paid by BFL Continues...":

To 22:49

It's easy to say that after the fact and when you don't have to live through the experience yourself.

We try to make the best decisions we can based on the information we have at the time. What more can we ask of ourselves and others?
Whatever E. Bishenden did at the time she would have thought it best for her and her family in order to put an end to it. IMHO, that whole incident drove a huge wedge into local politics and not only at the municipal level. And it is still not fully settled.
Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 12 September 2014 10:1

***********************************

Apologies to Elizabeth for publishing her name in the Blog. It will not appear again.  It did this time because I had never understood unto now what it meant that the third party sued by the former Mayor had "settled".

It  prompts information not mentioned before.

The news three residents were being sued hit the newspapers while candidates were knocking on doors. Candidates Granger and Gallo both stated publicly they knew nothing about it.


After the election, the new Council had to deal with the matter. The Town Solicitor informed Council that the former Mayor had not signed an agreement forwarded to her previously.

The document was a commitment to pay back to the town whatever had been expended to obtain financial compensation for damage to her reputation.

In previous discussions with Council, the Solicitor had informed no provision was in the insurance policy for a Council member to undertake litigation against any party.

Yet the town did. The CAO retained a lawyer. The Town Solicitor filed the only affidavit.

A Judge found the Town Solicitor was evasive in his answers and lied to the court.

The case had proceeded to court without the normal process of obtaining Council authority.

The judgement was that the action was an attempt to silence criticism of a politician.

We need to think about this.

The environment created in Aurora has been described as toxic.

Last night I had an anonymous comment asking me to release cancelled cheques in payment of my legal bills. How much had I paid? To show if a person doing business with the town had paid. And had I declared a conflict of interest when that person's business was before Council.

The comment was obviously written by one whose first language was not English.

I will keep to myself who I think that might be.

I have little doubt about the instigator.

For years we heard dark references about not being allowed to do the job she was elected to do.

About being compelled to resort to lawyers to protect the town, the other half of the deadly duo, staff and whoever else might be in need under the umbrella of righteousness.

The dark glower sent in shards across the table left no doubt who, in her mind, was responsible for the trouble she had seen.

Always managing to locate people ready and willing to say things needing to be said but she was never willing to say.

We had an election to rid ourselves of the gloom that hung about us. With the assistance of many hands, hearts and minds, we accomplished what had never been accomplished before. We elected a Mayor without prior experience.

But it seems the virus may not yet be conquered entirely.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Town Solicitor at the time produced the ONLY affidavit. During the entire defamation proceedings brought against the 3 residents & 3 anonymous bloggers, none of those who voted for the action made an affidavit.

Anonymous said...

A few last minute candidates have registered. Looks like Cllr Gallo is going for the big one. I had figured he might flip.

Anonymous said...

I do not know if it is relevant but the former demanded that the residents being sued reveal the sources of their funding. That was unsuccessful.

Anonymous said...


There are still lingerers, malingerers, whose term is coming to an end, and yet they seek to perpetuate their presence around the table, but this time in different capacities the one to the other.

It is at times like this that I feel strongly in favour of term limits.

Surely two four-year long terms are more than adequate for someone who sought office to work for and on behalf of Aurorans, to have accomplished his or her objectives.

And those other kind that bring nothing to the council table except a desire to flaunt their stupidity and obfuscate
for all they're worth, which quite frankly is zero, should never have been there in the first place.