Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Rob Ford's
Folly":
The Judge in Mayor Ford's case was quite specific about it
not being about the actual amount of money. Rather he seems to say, & I
might have it wrong, that it was the ' appearance ' of a conflict that was the
problem. He also made some suggestions about future wording to straighten out
just what qualified as a conflict. He was fairly harsh and other elected
officials are probably reading the verdict carefully.
***************
On Saturday, I had my annual lunch with a friend of fifty years .
We started off as always catching up on the well-being of our respective families but soon got into our favourite topic.
This year's argument was ferocious. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Most people tend to avoid political arguments at all costs.
The Great Gaels of Ireland
Whom the Gods made mad
For all their wars are merry
And all their songs are sad.
Mary and I are Irish women at the core.
The topic was Rob Ford.
Because I disagree with what has transpired, Mary believes I admire the man. It's beyond her comprehension.
Everything that happened to him should have. He deserves it.
It hasn't happened to Hazel McCallion,despite more egregious circumstances .... but that's fine too.
Hazel has been an exemplary Mayor over the years and an outstanding human being.
Everything Rob Ford is not.
A vigorous argument with a friend is always good for several days of cogitation..
Respect for intelligence and integrity means the opinion can not be easily dismissed
Since I hold my own opinion in equally high regard, the root of our disagreement must be ferreted out.
Fortunately, the answer is at hand .The problem is a constant one. My logic is not easily understood.
It's the complexity of the enterprise that engages me.
Municipal politics are unique.
A council is chosen randomly.
That which has been wrought in an election cannot be known until the votes are counted.
There is no pattern.
No matching of skills to create a team.
Expectations are, those chosen will work together for the greater good.
But working together doesn't mean bland agreement.
It means expounding differences and again, random votes to determine the outcome..
It means personalities aside, every issue should be argued on merits. The chips must fall where they may.
An argument lost simply means moving smartly on to the next.
I have nothing invested in Rob Ford personally.
My passion is for the system to work as it will.
Ford is the people's choice.
He is a man without artifice. He did not mislead or prevaricate in the election.
He got down to brass knuckles and bare bones.
He drove a pile driver through a morass of doubt and insecurity left by David Miller and before him, in absentia,Mel Lastman and along with them, successive provincial governments who created a massive megalopolis, impossible to govern, despite planning fifty years ago to prevent exactly that.
Voters knew what they were getting in Rob Ford.Whether he would realise their hopes still remains to be determined.
Whatever his warts, they were writ large upon his face.
By judicial decision, that needed to be clarified, the voters choice has been reversed.
By half-assed legislation that allows Mayors all over the GTA to do freely in spades and with golf clubs, and receive credit for charitable works that which Toronto's Mayor is deemed to be guilty.
I don't have to be a fan of Rob Ford to find fault with inequity..
Rank injustice cannot be allowed to stand.
Not to mention millions of dollars in cost to Toronto's taxpayers and massive disruption of an additional election mid-term.
Personal feelings about an individual cannot be allowed to trump the community's right to choose who will represent them.
At no other level of government is the right to choose considered expendable.
Egregious conduct may cost a cabinet minister his post. It does not cost an elected member his seat.
Personal feelings have no place in conduct of a town or city's business.
Ideas are what count.
I am not a fan of Rob Ford.
I respect that he is true to himself .He is larger than life and twice as real.
In contrast to the sly, chittering, scuttling about of his would-be rivals, I find that refreshing
Monday 3 December 2012
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4 comments:
Wow, perhaps it's important to conserve your energy by restricting your meetings to once a year.
Wow!
The Mayor of London, Ontario is accused of using town money to pay for his son's wedding. They have photocopies of the cheques. He is refusing to step down. I do not know if this is going to involve the Municipal Act but the use of money s very different from what Mayor Ford was doing.
Unfortunately during the term of the previous council, while there was no matching of skills to create a team, a team was nevertheless created, 6 members.
This was as unskilled a group as one could create, only in a nightmare.
And it was upon you personally that this team directed its bile, and you well know the consequences, still awaiting a judicial outcome.
Those who seek the people's trust must show a strength of character by deed, not by promise or the spoken word. Strength of character is something we earn, from experience, from the ability to establish meaningful and positive relationships with our fellows.
Ford's character appears to be brass knuckles, bare bones and a pile driver. This will never succeed.
McCallion has held office for 34 years, and apart from a hiccup or two, she has led her community well. If she employs brass knuckles, bare bones and a pile driver she does so discreetly so that her electors never realize what she is doing. Possibly this is the reason for her success.
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