"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

Sunday 22 November 2009

The Market

Was up yesterday for debate. The budget was reduced from $4,200 to $100.

A couple of things emerged. When it was decided Councillor Granger would "resurrect" the market at the beginning of this term, a budget was provided.

It was a commercial endeavour and costs should be recovered from vendors, I argued. What a novel notion.

It was counter-argued to be a "Special Event" . Although they come under the mantle of Leisure Services , this one would not. The Mayor would sign all cheques for a continual program of hi-jinks scheduled to attract customers to the market.

Yesterday we learned the Chief Administrator has been signing the cheques. This is the first market season he has been on board. Well, I thought, that's a switch.

We have been also been receiving lengthy Regional Reports lately, supposedly written by the
Mayor. I suspect they are produced to add bulk to extraordinarily thin agendas. I doubt their
authorship. I think the CAO not only writes the reports he reads the Mayor's regional reports as well in order to write the report.

Every day is a day of discovery.

Last week, I discovered the Administrative Assistant to the Mayor has been re-named Executive Assistant to the Mayor. ManagementTeam has been re-named Executive Leadership Team ,the town clerk has been buried under a new and obscure title and the Public Works Director also has high-falutin' new nomenclature.

For the duration of the last war, all street signs in Britain were removed In case the Germans landed. So they wouldn't know what street they were on.

Yesterday, Councillor Granger moved to add $10,000 to the Market budget. He is
not manager of the Market, he said. He is tired and does not have time for the Market, he said. The vendors do not have time to manage the Market, he said. Therefore the town should hire a manager at a cost of $10,000..

The Councillor seemed a tad upset. His motion was seconded but didn't pass. .

Aha! I thought, What have we here? Trouble in the ranks ?

Robert The Bruce has intoned there's little use talking about the Council because nothing is likely to change.

But something could.

A Mayor has little independent authority.

Only with the gelatinous constant support of five votes, this Mayor does exactly as she pleases. If just a couple of members were to exercise the authority voters gave in the last election , the situation could immediately alter.

I have occasionally seen a glimmer of possibility.

I wouldn't bet money on change. But I wouldn't have bet money on this unnatural alliance holding fast for three full years either .

9 comments:

Countdown to Nov 2010 said...

Let me get this straight...Granger wants to hire a market manager because he is tired? Then step aside and let someone else volunteer. He is such a buffoon.

Something Fishy in Aurora said...

Could this be a job for the town crier?

From Snowball?

Robert the Bruce said...

"Robert The Bruce has intoned there's little use talking about the Council because nothing is likely to change.
"


Not entirely an accurate quotation of myself nor an accurate paraphrase of my thoughts. That being said, I am becoming more aware of the pulse of the general Aurora population, and for all of the problems down at Town Hall, there is a deep apathy in the Town. I provided evidence to last week's Aurora with a couple of letters asking certain writers to stop "boring" them with complaints about council and the Mayor.

What has been happening of late is a constant barrage of anti-Morris - anti-GOS "stuff" in this blog and the AC blog - from the usual suspects of course - and in the paper. While it is good to continue the pressure on them and bring to light their failings - there are many to be sure - the public becomes hardened against the letters and posts and soon the effect is lost in a apathetic wasteland.

I have personally decided to refrain from posting as much as I can because, to be honest, it's the same old stuff. How many times can we say that Morris is a power-hungry dictator?

If there is any positive about the GOS right now, it's that they are taking the high road and not responding to the posts or letters. From a political point of view, they appear to the public as non combative!

For those of us that wish to remove this group from office, there will be only one opportunity and that will be just under 12 months from now. They are not going anywhere before that. We must be careful to not "peak" too early with our campaign against them.

So, that is what I meant. Nothing is going to change for a while and with an apathetic public now - it's a long time to keep the interest up so that we can strike when the iron is hot (ie. November 2010).

Fuimus

White Knight said...

To "Something Fishy in Aurora:
Now THAT WOULD be a conflict of interest if her husband continued to get the lucrative gigs at the market. But then everything else is fishy around here so who would be surprised?

There will be change said...

There are alot of things that have happened at this years Market and past under the so called guidance of Mr.Granger .
I do not use Councilor as he does not merit such a badge .
There are many points I will share should Mr. Granger run for Re-election .
They come from a very reliable source who has sworn these facts to me to pass on because of fear of vengence on the part of the Mayor and her crew .

Countdown to Nov 2010 said...

Robert the Bruce - while I agree we musn't "peak" too early, we also can't let them get away with anything.
The more they mess up, the more they have to answer for at election time.
They need to be called out when calling out is warranted.
Small battles can win the war.
It will be interesting to see how Phyllis handles Nigel's announcement

It Makes One Wonder said...

Will these "Executive" designations come with increased pay grades? Is the mayor trying to buy staff loyalty with 'nicer' titles (and potentially better remuneration)?

Why is Al Downey (the last remaining holdover director) no longer the Director of Leisure Services but is now the rather more prosaically-titled Director of Parks & Recreation?

One of these things is not like the others.

Something Fishy in Aurora said...

Has not stopped her while she has been the “special events coordinator”

Something Fishy in Aurora said...

Have they ever disclosed how much money was raised during the “fill the box” campaign at the market this year? They didn’t want to collect food and were asking for money instead. There was no way I would hand any money over to St. Kitts.

Or would asking them this question be like asking for an accounting of the Legion Hall event?