"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 27 September 2014

Neccessary Revision

So I did my two minutes. Twice. Rogers  provided the opportunity for two takes and a choice. 

The first take was a bust. Too much stuff.  In the second one I just he stated who I was ,how long I had lived in  the town. I had raised my seven children here and  also spent most of those years involved in the town  in ways too many to list.

I talked about the need to mme a decision on  redundant buildings on Library Square . That I think 
funds that came from the sale of a valuable asset should be used no to create an equally valuable asset.  Lne that could never be contemplated as a tax burden.

A building to serve every age  group  from nine in the morning until evening hours.
Studio  space  for music,dance,art, writers and  drama workshops, chess,bridge,photography and a computer by cafe, whatever  people might need to challenge their intellect and artistic bent.

To give young people who have fallen through the cracks in the education system a second chance  to  recover and discover and follow a dream. And  provide people at the other edge of the age spectrum
a reason to rise in the morning.

We have the site. The financial resource.  A four year term of office . Enough to see such a project through from start to finish.

All it takes is determination on the part of the new Council.

The project could  easily  be a tremendous stimulant to business in the downtown core.

The time is right.

That's all I had time for.

Stephanie was with me. She said she wished I had smiled more. After the first take she took the notes from me and  said....  " Just  look into the.camera and talk Grannie "

Easily said. Two minutes are but a flash . The challenge is to say something sensible.

Choosing high points from forty seven years of involvement is not easy. Squeezing in goals for the town's future  doesn't make it easier.

Anyway, it's done. Can't remember if I thanked the people at Rogers. They were very nice. Candidates  reading who haven't done their two minutes yet  should relax. It will be fine.

We drove off into the  blinding sunshine and forest of  election signs lining the roads.

Oh .Oh ..Oh  ...

I don't have those resources.

If I had, I' m not sure that's the best use.

Frenzy  behind the scenes is what the proliferation suggests.




9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always wait to see how long it is before the last of the signs come down. There does not appear to be much enthusiasm amongst the losers.

Anonymous said...

I like your sign at the St. John's corner. If you had a whole bunch of them, your time would be wasted on their care & maintenance. This year, the sheer # in ragged clusters gives no one an advantage.

Anonymous said...

Why would anyone seek to boycott the election because of all the signs ? I see no evidence that this is a bad thing for democracy, We are always getting lectured about participation - Now we have it in spades.

Anonymous said...

christopher

Anonymous said...

Apparently Mr Gallo has a tennis facility on his wish list.
Timberlane was created by a group of men, including some Canadian champions, who loved the sport and were prepared to work hard. They sold shares and then memberships, starting from a trailer on a vacant lot.
The town was not a participant except that residents were able to join along with anyone else.
Mr Gallo shot down the tennis bubble as it was deemed " unsightly ". That lonely trailer was not a work of art either.

Anonymous said...

All those signs are already showing the results of weather & natural attrition from bored night- time residents. You can have a clutch of green signs but they are still going to fall apart, the same as those in different colours.

Anonymous said...


The man who would be Mayor.

A shallow man uttering hollow words.

Anonymous said...

19:15
We joined Timberlane when we still lived in RH. They hosted all sorts of events. Tournaments, bridal showers, weddings, camps, receptions, award ceremonies, camps. And then moved over enough to bring in the fitness people.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know how much more it costs to add a photo to a sign ? I am assuming it helps to have someone in the business but still it seems pricey.