"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 December 2014

Budgeting is Annual

In Scotland Hogmanay was the traditional holiday . Like Hallowe'en originally it was a Pagan Festival.

It was more than a partee.

It was spiritual. But like everything else Scottish even spiritual is practical.

Home  had to be scoured clean. Everything that could be was polished to a gleam or sparkle. Every speck of dirt or dust remove

Knitting or sewing projects had to be finished. Any task uncomplete by New Year's Eve likely never would be.

A dark-haired man first across the threshold after midnight guaranteed good fortune in the New Year.

Merriment ensued.

War interfered considerably with tradition.

I moved to London before I was eighteen and lived the next several years in a Jewish household.

Jewish celebrations are not the same.

Merriment does not feature significantly.

Christmas became the focus afterwards but the imperative to complete tasks continues to be a driver.

The merit of turning over a publicly owned facility with financial support close to a million to a self-appointed group that meets in secret without accountability  is neither accepted nor considered a fait accompli.

A town  must strike an annual budget. . A million dollars represents 3 points increase in the  tax rate.

A conscientious Council must assure the community, taxes are  both reasonable and necessary

The community in turn must judge whether the assurance is  acceptable.

As long as the town hands over Church Street School  and hundreds of thousands of dollars to a non-
accountable body that makes decisions in secret no such assurance is possible.

There is no integrity in such a budget

Under the current agreement,Council must decide the level of financial support.

We have a new Council. Does community input mean anything?

Comments  to this blog indicate opposition to the expenditure.

Support is mainly expressed in name-calling and accusation.

People can make a difference.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

From what the various re-elected councillors have been saying, all the remains to set the budget are a few little bits and pieces. The dead-line to fill out that ridiculous questionnaire [ it could not be answered with " yes " or "no " ] put out by the town has passed. I do not believe the new councillors will be allowed to make a difference.

Anonymous said...

Other fish to fry this term. I expect the funding for the Centre to be scrutinized if only to show that the council can say " no " to something. They are getting a reputation for rolling over.

Anonymous said...

09:46, the scrutinizing has already happened. Thus, the renegotiated Purchase of Cultural Services agreement.

Anonymous said...

9:46 "They are getting a reputation for rolling over."
Update the HAVE a reputation for rolling over.

Anonymous said...

@10:50

You mean like they did for the South-East Old Aurora Heritage Conservation District initiative?