"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

Tuesday 19 February 2013

St Peter Don't You Call Me Cause I can't Go

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Pay Close Attention":

Holy Doodle! If they had spent a fraction of that money & effort on just managing the town as they had been elected to do, we would have been in a much better place. But, then, the 'management' part didn't go too well either. West Hill must have cost a bundle as well as the chicanes and that old bug-bear, the Centr
e.

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You  don't know half of it my friend.

The stuff  that went behind closed that was never  the business of the  town but was financed  anyway.

Because they had six votes  minimum all the time. 

Legal fees alone for Westhill  were not far short of a millioWe  rounded out the figure and more with all the failed hearings  in the quest for a joint Board before the OMB hearing  finally got going.

Traffic calming in the north-west quadrant cost $221,000.It was originally estimated at $100.000    Then refined by staff to $80,000. 

$25,000  was  spent  on the obligatory consultants  to come up with the crazy scheme. .

It took  $59,000 to undo the chicanes  and  a couple of weeks ago  another  $800  to install parking  signs where chicanes had been.

The Culture Centre Board got a  budget 2013  approved for $370,000.

I hear board members don't even have to be Aurora residents. And certainly the  bargain- priced entertainment  so  enjoyed by the Mayor is open to all. 

The Historical Society presented  a budget for their new and improved  program and they're getting  $60,000.for starters .

We have a report before us tonight that recommends hundreds of thousands to  be spent on operating a museum in a minimum of space provided  in the Church Street School.

We have been giving the Historical Society $50,000 a year  for no obvious reason ,since 2003 when the museum was dismantled 

Looks like  Aurora residents will  be paying for a collection which was  mostly donated by Aurora residents over the  last fifty years. years so that it  can officially become the town's historical collection. 

The Arboretum  will receive $60,000  for  flower bed weeding contracts and such

We  are to have a new customer service program that calls for millions to be spent  renovating the town hall to accommodate  ten extra works stations . When the idea  of providing customer service was  launched,  it wasn't going to cost any money at all or extra staff.

Fourteen months ago we spent $440,000 on a software program .
A couple of months later ,$56,000 on bits and pieces initially overlooked . Then  recently  $186,000  for hand held equipment for persons  in the field.

In terms of  goods and service, we got nuthin'.

 Zilch...,Zero.... Nada ....  Nil.

Not a damn thing happenin' man.

Save for  the sound of money swishing down the drain.  

A bunch of namby-pambies  who see their role as outdoing everybody who came before them in a competition to provid an exceptional quality of life for all who pass through these portals.

We don't even have St. Peter presiding at the gate to determine who  may be eligible and who may not.

     
  

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are so many weird things going on that it is hard to focus on one. But I am very sure, positive even, that the head of the Centre sent out a letter listing qualifications for their Board members as they were looking for new ones. It did say you had to be a resident. So, unless that was untrue or has changed, it should be easy to check out.
The snark can surely put us right?

Anonymous said...

Changing addresses clearly alters one's perspective. I don't know where Councillor Gaertner used to live or where she currently resides. But it sure sounded like she had just discovered the congestion and problems on Murray Drive that residents have known about for years. NOW they should be moved up the list for improvements. I agree that they probably need attention & that the big old subdivision needs less, but it is irritating to listen to new converts.

Anonymous said...

Here is a new topic for you and your followers to discuss.

In Sunday's Era Banner, there was an article about the Queen's York Rangers and the event at Cardinal Golf Course.

I see that councillor Pirri has taken on the role of organizer. Previously there has been a backlash against Councillor Ballard and his involvement with the QYR, even though he is doing it as a father of a trooper in the QYR.

Will Pirri now be painted in the same light as Ballard?

Anonymous said...

Hiring suggested for 4 staffers for the historical room at the Centre. That School used to be run by a handful of teachers and a janitor!
We seem to be staffing the Town Hall & Centre as if they were going to be busy airports.

Anonymous said...

To 9:52 AM
Councillor Ballard was correctly criticized for charging $300. per ticket to a 3 hour event using donated items in a silent auction with nothing in the way of entertainment. Attendance was so low that those who bid on items automatically received them.
Since then, I believe the price has gone down and the evening actually has something besides donated food and trinkets to offer. Ballard backed off his attachment when he read the Municipal Act. The event will be judged fairly be residents regardless of who the nominal organizer might be at any time.

Anonymous said...

Ballard is twitting a hissy-fit about his lost Code of Conduct. It is puzzling why people who tend to brow-beat others require some sort of superficial sanction to their action.

Anonymous said...

Councillor Gartner does not understand Irony. The congestion on Murray that she was on about last night is largely caused by the Council on which she sat dead-ending the residential streets by High Tor and refusing to allow the proposed road that would divert traffic to Bathurst. Hoist on her own petard. Again.

Anonymous said...

TO 10:27am


How much is the event at Cardinal? Does the Municipal Act not govern Pirri? I don't see the same hue and cry as when Ballard did something. It looks to me that it is just anti-Ballard. A double-standard.

Anonymous said...


Possibly budget items that are not considered essential to the town's functioning could be placed before the electorate on a quarterly basis.

Voting could be done via the internet, something that is presently occurring in a number of American states.

That way people could express their opinions, before the cheques are written, at very little cost to the town.

Anonymous said...

1:51...

How very socialist of you...

Anonymous said...

12:05 PM
Do your own research. I know nothing about the event but suspect that a councillor should remain at arm's length judging from Mayor Ford's experience. Councillor Pirri has probably checked it out. As Councillor Ballard did.

Anonymous said...

2:54 PM, you say that like it's a bad thing.

Anonymous said...

12:05 PM
There is no double-standard here. Councillor Ballard had to remove himself from ticket sales. the collection of 'donated items ' and the allocation of the money. See Rob Ford's case for specifics and stop playing the fool.