Setting a few things straight

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Speculation is Rife":

"The parks department was using the hydro property productively. Heritage salvage was being accommodated in the yard. Town archives were safe and secure in the offices."

We know, we know, we know. But the proverbial horse has already left that particular barn. The stable door is closed; keeping on repeating it won't change the situation - deal with what is NOT what

Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business  .

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As traffic on the blog increases, mis-statements multiply and I feel obliged either not to post or post and make a correction.

Unless the comment is virulent then the choice is easy.

The comment above is a case in point.

The problem of storage for heritage salvage is still with us. Materials are scattered in a number of locations. The policy to salvage material continue and the problem grows.

Even after spending $27 million dollars, space for storage of heritage salvage is not available.

An extra floor of office space in a public works facility, for which no need has been identified, costing a million dollars plus architect fees, is being built and financed with debt.

Winter shelter for parks equipment was also eliminated from the project. Hundreds of thousands are being spent on planting trees and grass on the building's roof with an irrigation system for maintenance but no shelter to protect hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of valuable assets from winter's elements.

The Mayor and Councillor Thompson were appointed by Council to manage the cost.

Councillor Thompson moved not to provide the "optionals " and a council majority agreed.

The function of an administration is to give sound professional advice.

Council responsibility is to examine the advice, make a judgement and decide on behalf of the
ratepayers. Not the administration.

The right, if not the obligation, of a ratepayer is to analyze judgement exercised and determine whether his/her interest has been served and offer criticism if so inclined.

In an ideal world, everyone has a right to the same information.

Everyone will not come to the same conclusion, but if we start on the same page we will have a better chance of understanding each other. That's why I keep taking the story back to the decision to dispose of the hydro building.

A space needs consultant was retained and paid for. It was advised the building be kept for town needs. That advice was not accepted by the former council.

In my judgement, the decision to look after Queen's York Rangers needs ahead of the town's catapulted us into the current catastrophic extravaganza that still does not meet our needs.

The parks department makes good use of contracts. Full-time staff are kept to a minimum. Permanent staff have a variety of artisan skills capable of undertaking works that might otherwise have to be contracted out.

Developers may ask the town for street names. There are terms of reference.

Developers also have the right to name streets in neighbourhood's they are creating. Unless there's a problem for emergency services, the town is amenable. Streets have to be named.

It's only a problem for people with a problem.

When Councillor Gallo took his little jab, it was one of many lighter moments at the Council table. Unlike the previous term when the Chamber was a twilight zone full of foreboding, this Council works together with civility and good humour for the most part.

Councillor Gallo's unwise request that I step aside for him was eight years ago. I put it down to advice  received from a source certainly unfriendly to myself but not particularly concerned with his well-being either. The request was sufficiently outrageous not likely to be forgotten.


However, neither that nor the litigation between us has been allowed to interfere with the business of the municipality.

From a political standpoint, we are simply and naturally poles apart.

I still delete criticism of staff and Councillors from comments for the most part. Readers have been good at avoiding both. I understand it's an opportunity to occasionally vent.

Sometimes criticism of a Councillor will slip through if it's a small part of a larger piece.

It's a skill we can only acquire by doing.

We keep trying.