"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 24 June 2011

What People Write

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Here's What We Could Do.":

Anna (Living in Aurora)I don't think you got the point of this answer. I also agree that there are many things we should move on from and in Councilor Buck's case I think she has every right to keep this in the forefront. This is how some elected officials feel that your tax money should be used!

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Anna  comments regularly and is usually supportive. I posted  the comment though it read like a scold  because I think we can only know what people are thinking by hearing what they say.

The comment this morning is also correct. There are  naive people in the community  who fail to  understand  a  malevolent and maniacal scheme can masquerade as  a religious crusade.

People also pay to attend a Mayor's Prayer Breakfast which is not inclusive.

People  think it was wise use of taxpayers' money to spend over six hundred thousand dollars to stop an owner from using his property for a legally designated purpose. Said  designation provided  by the municipality by the Region of York and  acknowledged and agreed to  by the Province of Ontario in the Oak Ridges Moraine Act.

People  refuse to accept the decision of the  last election when the electorate tossed out most of the rascals responsible.

Who still believe council's time and  the town's resources should be  continue to be used to fight a battle that never had a chance of success.

 It would be foolish to imagine the past is behind us and this term  a  fresh clean start.

On Tuesday, in accordance with  distorted order, Councillor Gaertner contrived to place
correspondence from  a resident Don Quixote on the Council agenda.

It was  a familiar dodge made possible by a deliberate corruption of  the rules of procedure by the previous council to suit their purposes.

A resident   who  passionately believes  the town should  continue to  battle with the Dastardly and Nefarious Ontario Municipal Board. He contends, the Board is a rogue agency with plans to destroy the world and the current  Aurora council equally culpable for betraying the community by failing to fight

Three long  letters to the editor challenged  the Mayor and Council tostate a position 

When they failed to elicit a response, he changed his tactics and sent his demands  to the Town Hall.

Prior to the last council meeting, Council Gaertner directed staff in a memorandum to include his latest missive on the agenda .

Town policy prohibits a member  from directing staff. But no sweat.. the rules were changed to suit  those with THA POWA in the last council.

The resident appeared as a delegate,  made a series of  false allegations and  crazy contentions about Council's duty to mount the battlements  to defend the town from O.M.B. deprivations.

His letter, being an item on the agenda ,was brought forward for discussion  on a motion by Councillor Gaertner and by such device , the O.M.B. decision on the Westhill development came back to the Council table  to be re-hashed.

The Planning Director was  cross-examined.  Questions were  asked, answered and asked again and again in true Gaertner fashion.  A motion was put forward by Councillor Ballard to direct the Mayor to write a letter to the Provincial Minister of the Environment telling him what's what.

It failed .

The meeting dragged on. At ten-thirty a motion was put forward to extend the hour of adjournment .  That passed. At eleven, a second motion to extend  for  fifteen minutes "to finish the business before us"

It passed.

Councillor Gaertner launched into another of her  issues. How to get Evelyn Buck.

I left.

Councillor Thompson was not in attendance. My departure left seven members present.

Councillor Ballard brought  his motion a second time to direct the Mayor to write a furious letter on behalf of the town  to the Minister of  Environment.

It passed.

Councillors Gaertner, Humphryes,Gallo and Ballard supported it.

The Mayor, Councillors Abel and Pirri did not.

It will  be interesting to see if the Mayor believes himself obliged to put his name to a nonsensical device to make his enemies proud.

7 comments:

Darryl Moore said...

"A resident who passionately believes the town should continue to battle with the Dastardly and Nefarious Ontario Municipal Board. "

I would agree that the OMB is both dastardly and nefarious". An appointed organization which can overrule an elected body such as council has business in a democracy. Anyone who supports senate reform should understand this!

That said, I would also say that it is often quite futile and costly to fight them. The fight against the OMB needs to be mounted by citizens at Queens Park, not council at board meetings.



"A motion was put forward by Councillor Ballard to direct the Mayor to write a letter to the Provincial Minister of the Environment telling him what's what."

According to council minutes, the motion was for a letter requesting that a water permit be denied. While the land may belong to Westhill (And they should be accorded every reasonable freedom to do with the land what they want), the water belongs to everyone, and no one is under any obligation to allow them to use it. As Aurora is constantly suffering from water shortages and having to augment with Lake Ontario water, I believe it is quite reasonable for the town to discourage the MOE from granting this permit.

Anonymous said...

Is it permitted to put a motion on the table a second time if there was a vote on the motion the first time? I thought items could not be reconsidered for 6 months?

Anonymous said...

oh, and what a surprise that it was B,G,G & H that voted together on this one!!

Anonymous said...

Anna, well meant and appreciated for that, but
this bunch have played hard ball with Evelyn for
more than four years. This is not a case of a tiff
in the schoolyard that inflicts little damage to
body or soul. The cost in money and damaged
reputations has still to be determined. It may
take years. So,please, butt out on this one
instance.

LivingInAurora.ca said...

To Anonymous No.3, you said: 'So,please, butt out on this one
instance.' - yes, may be I should.

Anna :)

Anonymous said...

There was a phone-in segment on CBC radio this last week about the OMB. As many opinions were for it as against it.

Anonymous said...

Anna Desiderata. We hope..