The hounds were out last night at the committee meeting. But somewhat lacking in ferocity.
Reddened fangs and claws were conspicuous in their absence.
I hear the usual suspects were tweeting frenetically this morning,
Councillors Ballard and Gallo, T.C.Smith and Clowncil Watch were apparently at it big time.
A recommendation was put forward to give staff authority to meet with the owner of the soccer dome with a view to re-negotiating the lease agreement.
It was the signal for a joint force attack on the Director of Parks and Recreation.
Rebecca Beaton. handmaiden to previous gang of six, was first up to bat with a list of questions requiring answers but without apparent purpose.
The strategy continued into the meeting with Councillor Gaertner, Gallo and Ballard following each other with their own prepared list .of questions.
I was chairman of the meeting.
The questions did not relate to the recommendation before Council. .
Current agreement calls for the Soccer Dome owner not to pay property taxes.
The dome hangs over public land. It has neither a foundation, walls or a roof.
In terms of structure, it's hardly more than a rag, a bone. and a hank of hair
It's a vast volume of watertight fabric stretched across a field and kept aloft by an air compressor.
The municipality shares it.. We use it in spring and summer for recreation purposes.
After the dome was initially hoisted , the property was re-classified and taxes unexpectedly became payable.
The town has been paying the Region and the Board of Education portion of taxes..for the past seven years.
As we do for the Royal Canadian Legion and Legion District Headquarters on their property.
Council gave staff direction to re-negotiate the Dome lease agreement last night.
Council is well aware, top level administration functions as a management team.
It never stopped the gang of six from focusing spite on one or other particular individual.
The gang is smaller now. Doesn't have quite the same force. Rebecca Beaton was present last night to add reinforcement from beyond.
So that's what the squawking.,squalling and tweeting was about this morning.
The predatots were denied their prey
An aspect of the matter regularly overlooked by our band of brothers and sisters in righteousness is the not so minor detail that contracts and agreements must be approved by Council.
Council directs the Mayor and Clerk as signatories on behalf of the Town.
Aurora Men's Soccer Club also have a lease on public property at the south end of town.
A Club house was constructed soon after the lease. was signed. It has a foundation, walls, roof , windows and doors and indoor plumbing. A patio outdoors for the summer months. Very pleasant.
Business lunches are served and advertised from time to time. Receptions are catered. A former Mayor held a victory celebration on the premises.
Use of the facility is not shared with the town.
The property is exempt from payment of taxes.
Go figger!
.
Wednesday 6 February 2013
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13 comments:
Actually, there was another member of the pack for a while. Reading from her script -because she does not speak that well off-the-cuff- Councillor Humfryes referred to what ' we ' want instead of the usual singular person.
"Predatots" sounds almost playful.
The weasels came out to waltz, the music stopped, and home they slunk with their ragged tails between their legs.
You must have had a very satisfying evening as Mistress of Ceremonies.
I can see why they are angry & frustrated. Councillor Gallo & Gaertner are used to cutting one of the herd off for destruction but Councillor Ballard has yet to make a hit.
Question....Should board members at the Cultural Center be Citizens of the Town of Aurora?
We try to use the titles of Councillors. Hence I believe we should use Mr. Smith's given name in order to be respectful. I believe he introduced himself on Evelyn's Blog as " Tracey Smith ". Please correct me if I am not spelling the first name correctly.
Of course, the 'target' was the 'last man standing' among senior staff after the purges of the previous term.
Good for him - he outlasted her.
Isn't it odd that councillor Ballard, who claims to be a journalist, is reduced to bluster and tweeting? His Blog is totally lifeless.
It's easy in twitter to try to make statements for shock value and try to get a rise out of the audience without proof or validation or using another reference that the read then has to link to. Then move on to the next issue. (So many statements of shock or finger pointing but no answers or solutions)
Like "I can't believe what happened at Council last night, Councillor (fill in the blank depending on the week) was so blank, blank, blank. (to 140characters).
And then probably claim this is how everyone communicates these days in social media.
To 11:39AM:
"Isn't it odd that councillor Ballard, who claims to be a journalist, is reduced to bluster and tweeting? His Blog is totally lifeless."
Maybe he realised that no one goes to his website so he could have said "why bother". He can just e-mail Phyllis, John and Wendy directly.
What I find more strange is that former Mayor Morris set up a website and there is a section where she can share her thoughts. The comment section has been blank since the site was first posted. Why create a website in order to share nothing ? That seems kind of strange to me.
Freedom of speech should be redefined as freedom of intelligent speech.
Then these ignoramuses would be unable to utter a sound.
Do the Gang of Six (i.e. their remnants) and their honorary seventh member, wait to establish their policy until they know what the contrarian position will be ? Is it all about causing as much division and political acrimony as possible ? Is it about painting a picture of white hats and black hats ? You really do have to wonder. It strikes me that they have always been about accountability, transparency and listening to the public, unless of course they disagree on any given issue, in which case the rules change and it’s gloves off. I suspect that they have a divide and conquer strategy but it doesn’t appear to be working too well. At this stage it looks like there is a lot more dividing going on and not much conquering.
Grammatical purist that I am, I was going to comment on the obvious typo in your headline; but then I realised that "predatot" is indeed an apt name, given that the whole of Aurora council seems to be populated by a band of rapacious toddlers.
The ongoing lack of decorum and respect shown by the entire group for colleagues and fellow citizens alike is appalling.
Personal attacks and sniping may be entertaining in sitcoms, but they are no way to conduct real life with flesh-and-blood human beings; and certainly no way to honour the people who have put their trust in one to manage town affairs.
It would be nice if council (and all of its adherents) could stick to debating ideas and issues, and leave the abusive ad hominem bickering to those members of society who have not yet had the benefit of years and maturity to teach them the ins and outs of civil discourse.
This lack of civility is not only a slap in the face to the sanctity of public office, it is tiresome as well. How can council expect the electorate to engage in the democratic process when the process has become so poisoned and ugly?
For shame.
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