"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

Saturday 26 April 2014

Here a fall,there a fall, everywhere a potential pitfall

So ...we are not  in the running for a satellite campus. As far as I'm concerned  that's a relief.

We will not be giving away an $11 million dollar gift .  We wil not be buying a pig in a poke.

The Mayor is  naturally disappointed.  He is effusive in his commendations of staff who worked so hard on the presentation. Pleased how well it was received. Feels we have set the foundations for great things in the future.

The  Mayor is  careful also to commend staff who filled in  while superiors were occupied with big important stuff.  He thanks  "all" of Council for support.

Pardon me while I turn my head and indulge an evil smile behind my hand.

York has chosen the south end of the Region. We don't know what prize was offered. It  matters not.  If  a satellite campus to be closer to the megalopolis was the objective,  they knew that from the beginning.

What  game were they playing  by inviting municipalities to  do all the work of preparing an offer that could not be refused ? If I were Mayors or big wig of our municipalities,who swallowed the bait,  I would  be more than embarrassed by ingenue exposed ....deflated from high expectations and positive thinking..... angry and humiliated by being taken in, used for their purpose and tossed.

It's not very nice of me to be rubbing it in?

Why should I be nice about it? I was appalled by the proposal.

If  no lesson is learned  it is doomed to be  repeated.

What do Mayors of small but expensive municipal bureaucracies  know of  the business of operating a university.  Nothing  at all, that's what.

Why should we ?  No reason at all.

Do residents expect it ? I don't think so.

What do they  expect?  That we will do the best,for the least cost, of providing  municipal services second to none.

Oh My Goodness ...how tedious ... how dull...how boring.....no glory there.

What's the point  of being Mayor if you can't be heroic, a person of  brilliance and accomplishment ?

Therein lies  a potential pitfall .

Mountains, contrived to climb, become slippery slopes of significant incline.

The makings of  mediocrity and ridicule.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Mayor would like to be seen as a person of brilliance - perhaps he thinks this is a fitting description. But the catch is that to be seen to be brilliant in our municipal setting he must carry through with great ideas/projects without the annual tax increases above the level of inflation.

He does not seem to understand the impact of repeated tax increase with really very little to show for the expenditure. His latest "money saving" move regarding the Clerk has left me confused. His stunt with an open house to justify a very expensive public works garage has left me angry.

Anonymous said...

Maybe we could get back to taking care of things on the home front. We have a trash pick-up today while residents are still too busy trying to clean up their own places. There are plain old pot-holes to be filled and, heaven help us, I think that Heritage Heist is due for a come-back to Council.

Anonymous said...

There are properties that the Town does own that should be dealt with by this Council in what is left of the term. I do not think they can decide about fixing up the old library site but the Petch House should be within their abilities. Driving past it sitting there empty is infuriating given all fine statements of intent that are offered whenever the subject arises.

Anonymous said...


It is difficult to see where and how "we have set the foundation for great things in the future."

Nothing tangible has been accomplished and the experience of having worked hard on a failed bid will really have no impact on our staff and council when it comes to doing the work for which they were hired or elected.

They are there to provide the best municipal services at the most efficient cost.

They need to focus on that rather than all the pie in the sky plans and studies, the majority of which somehow just fade away.

Anonymous said...

This couldn’t have been a surprise to the Mayor. The 3 Townships that are still in the running make up more than half of Regional Council. Unless Aurora/Newmarket was ready to give up the farm $$$$$$, we didn't stand a chance. But I guess someone felt that we had to go through this political exercise. I hope Markham gets picked and it’s at its most eastern border or Vaughan at its most western border…the further the better.

Anonymous said...

It did occur to me that conversations in the Town Hall may be a little less buddy/buddy in the future. That, I believe, would be an improvement.

Anonymous said...

If you never strive, you can never succeed.

Anonymous said...

Christopher

Anonymous said...

15:49- I’m sure this was a “political exercise”. I would be curious to know what each municipality including East Gwillimbury learned from this exercise.