Round and Round it goes. Where it stops nobody knows.

Bonanza night included another give-away. We had a presentation of a new and ambitious plan to regain the purity of Lake Simcoe.

It involves an expenditure of millions, with Aurora's share $400.000 over six years with an annual contribution of almost $67,000. A verbal motion was instantly approved in principle to hand over the dough.

The speed of the motion left me with my jaw hanging open. No time for reflection. No judgement on the merits of the argument.

Just...... “Yes sir. Yes sir. Three bags full, sir.” Lickety-split, Councillor MacEachern moved the request be approved in principle and it was .

I was not silent. I noted the premise of the presentation was flawed. I observed the Region is the responsible Authority for financing thr Conservation Authority and we provide the Region with the money.

I took exception to the link made between "the most populated" to "the most polluted and contributing most to the degradation of Lake Simcoe".

In the first place, Aurora and Newmarket's population does not outnumber Barrie and Innisfill. Our sewage effluent goes to Lake Ontario via the Big Pipe. Barrie's and Innisfill's goes into Lake Simcoe

.

Aurora and Newmarket have been creating Storm Water Management Ponds for the past fifteen years, to keep road and roof pollution out of creeks and waterways. For the same purpose and even longer, we have been replacing open ditches in older subdivisions with storm sewers .Property -owners have paid and will continue to pay a hefty price for these efforts. New home-owners pay within the price of their homes for the storm water ponds in their neighbourhoods.

I objected to the suggestion the people of the two towns are responsible for the degradation of

the lake. Cook's Bay. Cottages, turned into permanent homes ,clustered along the lakefront have septic tanks that flood in the high water of spring. As a consequence, the lake bottom is ooze, not sand.

A treatment plant had to be built at Alcona fifteen years ago because conditions almost to Lefroy were a serious health hazard.

Holland Marsh can't grow as much as a carrot without a ton of fertilizer.and it drains to the Lake.. Farm manure and fertiliser washes down from thousands of acres on hills surrounding the lake.

Heaven knows, we have problems enough to solve, without people who know better disseminating faulty information and a council that swallows holus-bolus every morsel of clap trap that's fed to them and without waiting for a full discussion and staff input into the validity of the request agree to a payment of $67,000 a year. It adds half a percentage point to the tax bill. .

Normally, I would hold my arguments for a council debate. But that did not happen. So, my only option is to tell the tale. Let the people decide if their interest is being served.

How Not to Keep the Books Straight

This year we awarded a contract for $991,000 give or take a dollar for a new road on Knowles Crescent. There are 51 homes on the street. That's about twenty thousand dollars added value per house. We've been carrying out the renewal of infrastructure for a number of years now and paying for it out of general revenue.

Cost has balanced out across the community. Before we started this program, we were reconstructing and replacing underground services in the old part of town and everybody shared in the cost for that program. So... it has been fair and we have grown our assets.

Neighbourhoods built in the late fifties and sixties had semi-rural roads. Open ditches provided drainage and culverts under driveways. Road surfaces weren't much more than a sheet of asphalt thrown down like a table-cloth. Driveways were loose gravel.Only front yards were sodded.

Neighbourhoods have matured and the new roads really do add to real estate values. Many of us look forward to our turn, having had the chance to see how fantastic the improvement.
It seemed that's how it was going to be on Knowles Crescent until the curbs were installed.

There was still a layer of gravel and asphalt to be added but it looked like three or four driveways were so high and the road bed so low, that never the twain might meet.

Then the proverbial element hit the fan. Nothing said could assure a few residents the matter was well in hand. E-mails started flying, talk of legal action, a meeting with the Mayor, a court reporter present and a transcript prepared.

Out of that came the hiring of a consultant to consult with residents and explain the process. It cost $6,500.

To no avail. The consultant did not have the authority to give what these few decided they had to have. More talk of legal action.

The contractor, with two weeks left to complete the job, was ordered to stop.

Councillor MacEachern held a meeting with the disgruntled residents. Subsequently a delegation appeared at council with a list of complaints and demands.

On the spot, a much scribbled upon document from Councillor MacEachern was placed on the overhead and council, without ever having a document in hand, indicating what they were approving, made yet another $65,000 available to satisfy the demands of a few ...however reasonable they may or may not be.

In addition, the delegate, Ms. Bartolomeo asked for a “go-to person” to be named and that it not be the Town's Director of Public Works. She asked for Councillor MacEachern.

It was a bonanza night for demands from the public purse. Another resident staked her claim, in the name of her neighbours, to plan the landscape of Vandorf Sideroad. $6,000, not in the 2007 budget will be spent immediately on bushes and vines. There is a further invoice for $76,000 for the upcoming budget to fullfill that lady's wish list.

Last year, the town spent in excess of $2 million realigning a creek and constructing a road with a sufficient base to carry the weight of heavy industrial traffic. Vandorf is the designated route for truck traffic. It has been for thirty-six years. Residential streets in town are not designed for the purpose. Why would they be?

Now, I understand residents living south of Vandorf Sideroad have avowed their intent – the truck traffic will be removed. As we have had an election since they first raised the issue, we have no way of knowing as of this moment who may have promised what to the residents.

No doubt all will be revealed in the fullness of time. Stay tuned.

Elsewhere It's Theft

In other places, the U.K. to be specific, theft of electricity is a common offence. People rig the wiring to bypass their meters.

In Aurora, the practice has been sanctioned by the Mayor and a council majority.

I am talking about the recent decision to hook up three lights belonging to Canadian Tire to the town's street lighting circuit. We don't know yet if Canadian Tire will permit it. Residents of the Mosaic Town House project have to approach the retailer to get his permission.

It all happened like this; at the last meeting of the last council prior to the election, an angry resident came to council and demanded the Town order Canadian Tire to turn the lights back on. For whatever reason, parking lot lights were being extinguished at ten-thirty p.m. The three lights in question illuminate an easement belonging to Canadian Tire that runs along the south side of their building . The resident was furious. Canadian Tire had to be ordered to keep those lights on.

Well, sure enough as soon as the election was over, in order of priority, after new desks were ordered for the councillors' office, there was immediate action by the mayor to "find a solution to the problem". The Planning Director, the Works Director, Canadian Tire the resident and the Mayor convened in an on site meeting. Council had already been advised by staff this was a private dispute. There had been an unsuccessful attempt to mediate by the Director of Public Works. The Town had no authority in the matter. The meeting did not produce a solution.

Months went by, one resident grew to five, the Mayor kept striving to find a way for the town to take ownership of " the problem". Finally, after many many hours of high price staff research of land titles the following information was unearthed:

Three parties share the Canadian Tire site. There are tri-party agreements There are seven pages of dispute resolution mechanisms attached to the agreements. The easement is intended for emergency access only . There had been previous communication between the parties which ended in stalemate.

Staff emphasized once again - The Town has neither authority nor responsibility to intervene or resolve the dispute.

No matter. Councillors, in the majority, disregarded the advice and declared the safety of residents at stake. We must ride to their rescue blowing our trumpets along the way.

Hence the decision. The town will rig the wiring, take power from street lighting and feed it to Canadian Tire's parking illumination. And no doubt maintain lights on private property forever and a day at taxpayers' expense.

And step right on up folks, take your best shot and win a valuable prize from the town's treasury. There are no limits and no rules that can't be changed or ignored to fit the circumstances.

An Amorphous Blob

Pandering is alive and well and flourishing and not just in Aurora. For the first time, I am close to accepting that politics is the second oldest profession.

Am I becoming cynical ? Perish the thought.

Have I , in the past, blinkered myself to reality?

I think not. Are we going through an arid patch? Hope springs eternal.



An election is being fought. Signs are up. Ad campaigns are in full swing. The media is trying to create a buzz. But oh my, ...it is all so predictable. So drab, so dreary, so artificial.

Dalton McGuinty has clever ads. Looking smooth and urbane, he talks about accomplishments that were not promised. He is peculiarly silent about the promises that were kept.

We have heard nothing from The Medical Association since Liberals came to power. The Teachers' Federations are conspicuous by their absence in this campaign . On the last election day, they promised if they did not get what they wanted from Liberals, they would do the same to them as they did to the Conservatives. We can only assume they did get all they wanted.

Police and Firefighters recently received a gift from McGuinty. Both associations have been given the right to negotiate earlier retirement with beefed up pension benefits.The cost will be borne at the municipal level. There will be justifiable reaction and consequences from other municipal employees. Police and fire already swallow up the greatest part of municipal resources.



At a time when "Legacy Pensions" are proving to be a serious problem in both the private and public sector, this government has seriously exacerbated the problem. And none of the challengers see that as a problem. As long as the public are not paying attention , they probably think it's best not spoken about. .. considering the collective power of The Medical .The Teachers' .The Police and Firefighters Associations



Children spend less time than ever in classrooms. An entire blog could be written about lessons they are no longer taught.



Horror stories abound of experience in hospital emergency rooms.



The variety of crime in our communities expands at a frightening pace. Credit cards are copied in retail establishments. Houses are stolen from beneath the feet of their owners. Marijuana farms flourish in suburbia. Homes are invaded and murders committed. Shootings and stabbings are daily occurrences on city streets. A Child was killed in cross-fire at two o'clock in the morning coming home from a friend's birthday party. He was twelve.



A million dollars of public funds was handed out in an unrequested grant to an ethnic cricket club. Mr McGuinty was an honoured guest at their annual dinner days later. The club has no use for the money. It is in their bank account earning interest.



Municipal governments, on the other hand, have been given the power to create a Code of Conduct. Like we are the ones who really need it.



The Mayor in Toronto has been given extra power which has blown up in his face and has the potential for even more catastrophe if the city implements the taxes he has in mind. In my judgement, it is no accident the taxes to be increased to add to Toronto's coffers are provincial. If they get away with that, how long before those increases are applied in the rest of the Province.
Mayor Miller and his wife have dinner meetings in his home with Premier McGuinty and his wife. Who knows what othere schemes they have devised between them.


So what is Challenger Tory encouraging us to think about? None of the above. Instead, he wants to provide public dollars to private religious schools and teach creationism.



Howard Hampton, the NDP leader is unlikely to expand the debate. New Democrats have long been established as the political arm of organized labour, to be used only to smite whoever holds power, with no serious intent to form a government. It was public service unions that defeated the first and last NDP government in Ontario.



The Neolithic Age, The Stone Age, The Iron Age, The Dark Ages, The Middle Ages, The Nuclear Age, The Age of Enlightenment, HA!



The Communication Age. The Space Age. And now, The Amorphous Blob Age complete with an election which offers us no principles, no philosophy, no intellect, no cultural identity, no choice.



Without a single shot being fired, we have surrendered all. We are The Age of Nothingness. Underneath it all, simmers a cauldron of dis-satisfaction, mutual disrespect and a sense of betrayal. The only response our politicians have to offer is Political Rectitude.



We are a Character Community. ... Pshaw!!!

Leadership

I understated the role of the Mayor in a previous blog. I said there was prestige and a heavier work load but no power over council. It's true only as far as it goes. The authority of the Mayor's office is significant .

If there is no mayoralty contest in an election, only about twenty per cent of the electorate will turn out. With a contest, fifty per cent, give or take a point or two, will come out to make their choice. It isn't just because there is more advertising or more media attention. The community values the office.

The Mayor must be the voice of the community. With a divided council, that can't happen.

The Mayor is the public face of the community. A small business opening is the culmination of hopes and dreams and plans and sinking everything into a venture. Balloons, flags, flowers, coffee and cookies are the festivities. The Mayor's presence brings ceremony, community, and a blessing on the house.

A family marking a milestone birthday or anniversary or a final farewell are cheered or comforted by the Mayor's presence . It means the community cares.

Each councillor is a leader in his or her own right and has an obligation to meet their individual commitment. While the Mayor is only one of nine, nevertheless there is an expectation of leadership from the Chair.

To be a leader, The Mayor needs the respect and confidence of council. Councillors need to be able to trust and respect the Mayor. Councillors need to be respected by the Mayor. The formula is tried and true. If the Mayor does not succeed, neither does the council. If the council does not succeed, neither does the Mayor. If neither succeeds, the community flatlines. Even as the corporation flourishes , there is a perception of gridlock.

Building mutual trust and confidence takes time and goodwill. Paranoia is an occupational hazard for politicians.. Making a mistake is human. Not learning from the mistake is stupid. One-up-manship is the Joker in the Pack.

It 's not easy being Mayor. The weight cannot be shared. No matter how much one invests of oneself in time and energy, performance will often be judged by events beyond one's control. Council colleagues are closest to the action and best able to understand the stresses and strains . They can and should provide support when it's needed . It's never a good idea to gratuitously alienate half the council.

Illusions of Power

I had the opportunity to be Mayor early in my career. Since then, I have found it interesting to observe how succeeding Mayors have handled the responsibility. They have generally lasted longer than I did. But on the whole, if I had it to do again, I would probably do the same again.

In my first term, I was appointed by council. The sitting Mayor found himself in a conflict. He had to resign immediately. Since I had won a vote considerably higher than the next man, the consensus was a new election was not warranted.

There never was an illusion within the council that the Mayor's office held power. There was prestige and a heavier work-load. But the idea the Mayor had "power" over council would have gone down like a lead balloon. We all needed each other.

For a council to be effective there has to be a common purpose. There was never any misapprehension that council could accomplish anything without support and guidance from staff either.

We had Clerk Bud Rodgers, Treasurer Bill Johnstone, Colleen Gowan, the clerk's assistant and Dorothy Wardle the treasury clerk.

We were a compact group. We did good stuff together. It was an exciting time and we set the town in a new direction. Over the years, there have been mis-steps but it has never gone backwards since.

The last several terms of council have been weird. I was an observer of the one before last. A member of the last and now again I have a front row seat, in public and private meetings. We are currently in the tenth month of a four year term. It is hard to see the current council being more productive than the last two. The same element of animosity persists. It divides the council and targets the administration. Spite for the sake of spite.

Politics at its best makes for strange bedfellows. People have different outlooks and that's essential for all round representation. It can be messy at times but it should always be real. Certainly there is no requirement for councillors to be fond of each other. Mutual respect for the obligation to do one's best as each person perceives it would be nice. Nastiness is corrosive.

In the last term,the toxicity was palpable. The same Unholy Trinity plus one exists in the current council.

In November 2003,the 2006 campaign for the Mayor's chair started. The sitting Mayor's life was made a a living hell. Nothing was allowed to be accomplished which could be credited to his effort. My own election was challenged. A re-count was ordered. No secret was made of the Trinity's disgust at the electorate's failure to sweep "The Old Guard " from office.

Now the balance has shifted. The Mayor's chair is in the hands of "The new Guard". The puzzle now, considering recent experience, why would anyone imagine the only skill necessary to be an effective Mayor is to win enough votes.

Another Pat on the Back - www.Auroran.com

HEATHER'S NOTE: We've just learned that The Auroran is now online. I'm thrilled, because this means I can read the paper online, and can refer to it any time. I'm going to make an effort to link all of Evelyn's letters to the editor to the page on The Auroran's site. Kudo's to Ron Wallace and his team for their efforts and accomplishments. Keep up the good work!
~HEATHER SISMAN

A Declaration of Independent Thinking

Since I started this blogging business, I have sensed through the tingle in my fingertips, the power in this new and personal media. There is a freedom I have never known before. In this neck of the woods politicians have always depended on print media to get a point across. As it goes, I have few complaints. Letters to the editor have always been a satisfactory outlet.

Blogging however changes everything. It's exciting but scary too. There are restraints in the traditional practice of politics. Rules of Order require civility in the exchange of views. Carefully chosen words to avoid giving offence. The rquirement to express one's view with all the vehemence one can muster while showing respect for a completely opposite perspective.

Civility is essential for orderly debate. Rules of order must be impartially applied. Members should know the rules and stay within their parameters. If, however, the presiding member doesn't have a clue, it takes longer for new members to acquire the skills.

John West once told me I make people feel stupid. I had heard it before. In a mayoralty debate, the challenger complained to the chairman that my answers were longer than his. I said that was because I knew more than he did. But John's comment had an edge to it and I am fastidious about presenting my arguments respectfully. I cannot answer for people feeling stupid after I have said my piece.

So that brings me to the last two acusations against me from my critical correspondent.... I am "not respectful of other people's ideas nor of the need for co-ordination".

If that means I am not willing to agree to ideas not, in my view, to the benefit of the people I represent, my critic is correct. If it means I am not prepared to skip to The Grand Old Duke of York, when I think the Town's business is going to Hell in a Handbasket, I acknowledge that too.

I did not run in the last election on a campaign platform with a slate of candidates and I am certainly not interested in helping them to achieve their questionable objectives.

I shall use my Blog to keep my readers informed of all efforts to do stuff that I believe is harmful to their interest.

Skullduggery at the top

There was a crisis in a north-west neighbourhood a few weeks ago. I received a call from a resident to report taps were dry. My heart lurched. I thought - Panic Stations. Then my caller told me sprinklers in her neighbourhood had been on for hours and water was running down the street. I recognized that scenario.

When I was a very new resident of Aurora the water was stored in a tank above our heads . We drained it one night. Too many people had sprinklers running at the same time.

To refill the tank, water had to be pumped up faster than it could be allowed to come down. The works department was frantically touring the neighbourhood with a loud -speaker telling people to turn off sprinklers. If they didn't see it happening, they jumped out of the truck, ran up the driveway and turned it off themselves. It was a crisis.

New as we were, we had no idea of how the system worked. A significant number of us were refugees from war-torn Europe. The Suez Crisis had been one too many. We nevertheless knew who to blame . and It wasn't us. We had annual elections in those days. I ran for council that year. My issue was the town's incompetence at managing the water system.

The Region has been created since then. For the same purpose as when Metro Toronto was formed twenty-six years earlier. Immigration was encouraged by national policies. Population was exploding. It meant small communities around Toronto would be pressured for development. They didn't have the tools to handle it. Horror tales abounded of stuff going on between politicians and developers.

The Region of York was formed with similar responsibility for planning and providing hard services. The Province passed The Planning Act. Municipalities were required to create Official Plans.

Without going into detail, it has to be said, municipalities are governed completely by Provincial legislation. There are no ifs, ands, or buts. When an application for development is received , precise and detailed steps must be followed. In Aurora, no plan of subdivision ever receives approval without every 't' being crossed and 'i' dotted.

In the past forty-five years, Aurora's growth has been slow and methodical. Our reputation for meticulous attention to detail may have had some efffect. From a developer's perspective, it wouldn't make sense to go through a laborious process in Aurora, while other municipalities were anxious to welcome the population to support new commercial development which is the gravy in the assessment pot. We were intent on not making mistakes which could not be corrected and the community fully supported that principle.

We are currently at the stage of a finite supply of water and sewage units from the region. Applications which have been approved have service allocations. .There is no mechanism to turn the clock back.

Millions of private dollars have been spent to bring lands to development status. Millions of public dollars have been invested to provide the services to make it happen sensibly. Million dollar facilities and services have been financed in anticipation of revenues from development charges and to meet the needs in advance of the new population.The process has taken years on the part of landowners, municipalities and the Province.

There have always been voices decrying the loss of green fields around us. It is a sentiment we can all share. But we still have green fields around us, flood plains within the urban area and protection for the Oak Ridges Moraine, which we never had before. We have done all we were required to do and more. We have insisted on neighbourhoods that ensure a quality living environment for families who have and will come to live in our community.

Though I was hardly aware of the difference it would make to my life and my family when we made our home in Aurora, I will always be profoundly grateful we received the opportunity.

The crisis that occuirred that hot, dry summer evening has been seized upon as a reason to stop issuing building permits .. I can understand residents without familiarity with the planning process arriving at what seems to be a logical conclusion:..... there was no water in the taps one evening, therefore no further homes should be built.

What I cannot understand is why people who have been elected, are in a position to know better and are responsible for communicating accurate information to the public, appear to be intent on exploiting the situation to lead a crusade based on a false premise which will cause chaos and confusion, exorbitant legal costs for taxpayers and no good purpose served.

When we have public servants on the one hand offering factual information and on the other elected officials saying something they know is not true, is it any wonder there is a loss of public confidence in our institutions? Who are people supposed to believe? Should they have to make a choice? I think not.

To Market To Market To Buy A Fat Pig

Last Wednesday I went to the park to enjoy the concert. The 48th Highlanders were playing. The park was packed. M&M Meat Shop was there, barbecuing hot dogs and hamburgers, popping corn and selling ice cream bars. It was a beautiful evening - the kind that makes for happy memories.

The special events co-ordinator of the town has organized these evenings for years. They plan the programs and find the sponsors. Home Hardware was the sponsor last week. People are able to enjoy quality entertainment and it doesn't cost them a cent.

Staff salaries of course are paid out of taxes, but year round there are fun things going on for the entertainment of people of all generations. Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves of the good things happening and the people who work for us with energy and enthusiasm.

This year we did not have a July 1st Parade. On the other hand, the celebration at Lambert Wilson Park gets better every year. The parents and children who flock to the park leave no doubt the events are well received.

Still, the lament for the Parade was loud and bitter. Considering the glory days of the July 1st Parade were due entirely to community volunteers and an entire year of hard work, commitment and ingenious planning by literally dozens if not hundreds of people, I find it hard to understand the sharpness and the target of the criticism.

If the volunteers are not there to throw heart and soul into the enormous undertaking of a successful parade, just who is it who has the right to stand on the sidelines and shout recriminations?

I do not consider The Farmers' Market in the class of a July 1st Celebration or a summer concert in the park. But If some people are charmed by the opportunity to shop for fresh produce from a stall on a Saturday morning, that's fine with me.

If entrepreneurs want the opportunity to ply their wares at a stall on a Saturday morning, I find nothing objectionable about that either.

What I do not understand is why I should be expected to jump at the chance to put my hand in someone else's pocket for money so others can enjoy shopping at a market?


Neither do I understand why all the checks and balances in place to ensure accountability in public spending should be set aside, so that some or any politician can set himself up as a heroic figure of famers market enterprise. Any day now ,I expect to see a statue in the Temperance Street parking lot of a man in a toga wearing a laurel wreath on his head.

If I wanted to indulge myself as a rip-roaring critic of any person thus far involved with The Aurora Market, the only thing stopping me is my own discipline. Thus far, I have confined myself to simple disagreement that the town's taxpayers should be required to contribute anything at all towards the success of what I perceive to be a commercial endeavour.

The Market has been in place four years. Every year, vendors return. That has to be taken as a sign of success. Why else would a farmer from Uxbridge drive to Aurora every Saturday to peddle his wares? Why would he imagine he has a right to demand taxpayers of Aurora should dig into their pockets to help finance his endeavour?

I do not agree with colleagues who apparently fancy they are presiding over the burgeoning treasury of a Charitable Foundation, a Service Club or a Philanthropic Organization. They scatter money about like flower petals on a Path of Righteousness. I don't do that with my own resources. I am not about to do it with money belonging to people who trusted me not to.

Choose Your Weapons

We are nine months into the current term of council. In the last term, a fairly efficient campaign was waged in the community to convince residents that I alone was responsible for the lacklustre performance of the last council. I stayed the course however and I was re-elected

.Character assassination is not an unusual gambit in politics.. I tend to discount its effectiveness.
Particularly if I am not in a contest for one particular office. But it was effective and it is continuing now, only more openly. A sequence of letters in The Auroran repeat the same phrases; " small- minded , mean-spirited" and deplore the fact there were people who marked a cross beside my name on the ballot." One writer suggested I won votes only because my name was first on the ballot.

Virulent letters tell more about the writer than they do about the target. Yet I know from experience if something is repeated often enough without challenge, it is eventually accepted as fact. Heretofore I have accepted there is not much one can do to counteract the attacks. So I have given my detractors the back of my hand. But things are different now. We have the internet.

So... what to do what to do. How does one defend oneself against an insidious campaign of hate mail? Should one even try? To engage on its level is unlikely to be effective. How would one do that anyway?

"You are small-minded."
"Am Not. "
"You are mean-spirited."
"You are."
"You should never have been elected."
"You neither."

My critical blog correspondent rose to my challenge this morning. She still did not reveal her identity. But she did specify a list of my sins.

• political e-mails

• blame-finding for water shortage

• Aurora Farmers' Market attitude

• refusal to honor the ideas of others

• refusal to embrace the concept of co-operation.

The list opens a host of opportunities for discussion.

I assume my critic is a council member because I do use the internet to correspond with colleagues.in open dialogue.The most recent exchange was my response to an e-mail sent to staff from Mayor Morris. Councillors received a copy.

The Mayor notified staff that in her absence at a conference, she had appointed Councillor McEachern to the position of Deputy-Mayor. Councillor McRoberts was also attending the conference.

I informed the Mayor, with respect, the authority to appoint a Councillor to the position of Deputy -Mayor rests with the council. The Mayor responded thanking me for the information. She stated had she thought of it, she would have made the recommendation at the previous council meeting.

I responded I was glad that had not happened. I would have been unable to support the recommendation and I would not have relished giving my reasons in a public forum. I did however provide them in an e-mail circulated to councillors including the Mayor. It was a blunt statement of facts as I see them.

. Mayor Morris has made no secret of her alliance with Councillor McEachern from the beginning of the term. Impartiality from the chair is non-existent. The clerk has been removed from his place at the left hand of the Chair and the CAO from the right .. The Mayor and Councillor McEachern are openly in control They frequently engage in private dialogue. There are no rules, save the ones the Mayor chooses to exercise.

There is no respect for the essential principle of debate. . No recognition that council is composed of nine members. With control of five votes, there is no need for full and respectful consideration of input from every councillor. . It even seems like some decisions are made before they come to the table.

As a councillor with a substantial background of how things ought to be, I have probably experienced a level of frustration not shared by my colleagues. From time to time, I have reacted. Meetings extending to midnight and beyond have become the rule rather than the exception. There is a total lack of imperative from the chair Because all other efforts have failed and to make a point, I have decided I will not sit past 11 p.m. The hour of adjournment is 10.30p.m.

If anything is being accomplished, I stay. If the meeting has ground to a halt with idle chit-chat from the chair I leave...

As bad as it has been, I do see small signs of improvement . We still have time to discover there is a great deal more satisfaction in working together to accomplish the town's business rather than carrying on the Endless, Pointless , Dance of the Pecking Order.

Four years is a long time to keep butting heads.

Toronto's Exceptionality (contd)

I watched Mayor David Miller on a phone-in show on Saturday. His host had complete empathy with the city's revenue "shortfall".

Questions from callers allowed him to reinforce his arguments: Toronto needs more money. Million dollar programs mandated by the Province and the responsibility of the Province are being paid from property tax.

Cost of security at the provincial courts is charged to the city. Toronto receives a bill for "catastrophic" drug benefits of $140 million. It includes special benefits for the disabled.

What the Mayor did not say was that all municipalities pay the cost of these services. There is a total lack of integrity in these and other programs like ambulance service being charged to municipal government. They are services to people not property. They should be paid from the myriad of relevant taxes collected from people by the Province.

Municipal governments should be making the case together for the people we serve. Toronto would find itself in a more secure position if they chose to align themselves with the rest of us. Over the years however, they have used municipalities around them as the whipping boy when making the case to the Province for relief from this burden. And they have been successful.

For example, each year, for ten years, two hundred million dollars have been siphoned from the pockets of property owners in the GTA and funnelled into Toronto's treasury to pay for social housing and other services inaccessible to non-residents of the city.

There were other revelations during the phone-in program. David Miller served one term as councillor before becoming Mayor of Toronto. He has no experience of how things were. He disclosed City property-owners are getting a good deal on their taxes. He proclaimed with satisfaction they are paying 15% less than any other municipality around them.

It was a startling revelation. It has been known in the hinterlands that people in Toronto pay less tax than the rest of us. In fact, because Toronto refused to adopt market value assessment thirty years ago, propertry taxes within Metro have not been even for decades The fallout from his glib comment about their lower tax rate may yet be felt.

A few weeks ago, The Toronto Star editorialised that Toronto's neighbours should join the city to convince the Province of the inequity of municipal property-owners paying for provincial programs.

If the Province were to stop pandering to the city and the city to stop plundering her neighbours,we might yet arrive at the place where we could stand united and make a difference for the people we serve. All depends on the rediscovery of the dual principles of integrity and equity at Queen's Park versus ignorance and arrogance at Queens Street(City Hall). In this matter,The Toronto Star has not exactly been a beacon of enlightenment.

We will not hold our breath. As long as people outside the city are ignorant of the reality, provincial politicians have not much to fear from property-owners at large.

The more things change the more they stay the same

TORONTO'S EXCEPTIONALITY

Today is the day the Redoubtable David Miller, Mayor of Toronto will reveal the awful consequences of his council's failure to support his efforts to raise money outside of the property tax to pay Toronto's bills. It is mid-August. Two thirds of the year is past. An obvious question is , how did they pass a budget and approve expenditures without indicating the source of revenues to meet the expenditures? On what basis are they collecting taxes?

Media reports on the melodrama of the city's politics has made for interesting summer reading . In times past. we always knew what was going on in other municipalities. Nowadays we know more about what is happening in Kandahar. Baghdad and Kosovo than we do about happenings on our own doorstep. We have learned more about the new City of Toronto in the last several weeks than we learned in the nine years since the Province amalgamated several boroughs into a single unit for the purpose of saving money.

Media coverage, questions not asked, editorials unwritten and some written have been both revealing and astonishing for their lack of analysis.

We had heard references to the increased power of Toronto's Mayor. We had to wait until now to see how it works. It seems the essence of the Mayor's power is the authority to appoint an executive committee numbering a majority of council. The Mayor is able to hand-pick twenty-three members for his power block. According to media interpretation, a condition of membership is slavish obedience to the Mayor's will.

The power however is apparently illusory. In the current controversy, one member chose to exercise his own judgement and that completely upset the apple cart. Speculation is, the recalcitrant member will be dumped from the power elite. First however he had to be dumped upon by various other members of the power elite. Name calling runs freely in Toronto City Council.

Heretofore , much has been made of Toronto's new power to raise revenues by taxes other than property taxes. The Mayor apparently lobbied for that from the provincial Government. I have never understood why a municipal official would consider that an asset.

But the two "new" taxes recommended are not new at all.They are not even Municipal. The Mayor and his power elite have proposed to double The Land Transfer Tax and the Vehicle Permit Fee . These are Provincial Taxes.

When and how did the Government of Ontario grant Toronto the authority to tap in to Provincial tax programs. . What game is being played here? Who are the players?

There is a game. No doubt about it. The Minister responsible for the Vehicle Permit Fee has been quoted that if city council passed it , there is no guarantee the Ministry would collect double the Vehicle Permit Fee.

The Provincial Treasure has been quoted ,there will be no further bail-out for the city from the Provincial Treasury. Yet doubling two provincial taxes and funnelling funds to the City Treasury certainly would be a bail-out .

The Premier on the other hand, has publicly scolded city councillors who failed to support the Mayor's recommendation for the "new" taxes. Now the question is: Which of these three are speaking for the Province ? And what does this mean for the rest of us?

Another weird angle about doubling the Vehicle Permit Fee is that Ontario residents can obtain their permits from any Ministry of Transportation Office Why buy it in Toronto when it can be bought elsewhere for half the price? . How can the province charge city residents double the fee paid elsewhere in the province based on address alone? Where is the logic ?Where is the equity?

Ninety-eight per cent of Toronto drivers are probably paying little attention to the summer political histrionics going on in their city But if that tax gets approved before the Provincial election , that ought be enough for another fifty nails in the Provincial Liberal Coffin.

The Land Transfer Tax increase is just as questionable.There may not be as many property sales in Toronto as there are car drivers , but vendors will certainly become aware of the inequity; real estate agents, lawyers and developers will make certain of that. Every extra cost is an irritant at the time of such a serious transaction..

There have been other revelations in the course of this public discussion .None has been more disappointing than the belligerent and truculent manner of the August Mayor of Toronto. They haven't had a Mayor with flare in Toronto since Phil Givens held the office for one term in the late sixties.

But perhaps the most significant revelation is that the city has finally been brought into step with the rest of the province in the assessment of property at current value. It is thirty-five years since the Province took over assessment from the municipalities. The purpose was to bring equity to the assessment process. The Province had been providing support to municipalities based on their assessment wealth. If there was no common measurement,there was no equity in support. Municipalities had been known to fudge.

The problem was, the City of Toronto for decades , refused to agree to re-assessment.Only Toronto the Powerful could get away with that.Tiny Perfect David Crombie was in charge at that time. William Grenville Davis was the premier.

A quoted remark by a city councillor in response to published criticism by some Mississauga Councillors has revealed the City is finally having to deal with the adoption of current value assessment. The Councillor apparently had no idea the rest of the province had weathered that storm thirty-five years ago.

The greatest impact of course is on wealthy and elite old established neighbourhoods . They have not been paying their fair share for decades.Apparently, they are currently dealing with 8% tax increases quite separate from any impact the 2007 budget might cause.

And therein I suspect lies the real reason Toronto dare not raise property taxes to meet the real cost of their expenditures and risk the ire of prominent homeowners and businesses in the city. For thirty-five years, they have dodged the bullet one way or another . The attempt at doubling two provincial taxes, with the apparent support of Premier Dalton McGuinty ,is just the latest dodge. It has not
gone smoothly.

But the game is still being played and we are more than just onlookers.

CHARLOTTETOWN IN THE MID-SEVENTIES

People are happy to talk to visitors about their town. It was no different in Charlottetown. I had a thousand questions and they cheerfully chatted.

I wondered why the Conference Centre, a concrete block building, was built up against the small hundred year old jewel of the Parliament Building. The Liberals told me it had been a bitter controversy and a few more salacious tales besides.

The concrete flower boxes outside the building had at some time split apart and were bolted together with iron bars. The earth they held had not been disturbed for some time. Dandelions were the only thing blooming. There were thousands of delegates from all over Canada at that conference. The Queen was making a visit two or three days after we left.

In my walks to and from the centre, I noticed several piles of unidentifiable material at the side of the roads. Cigarette butts were prominent. It turned out they were the sweepings from the street. The piles were periodically removed.

A hairdresser told me she was looking forward to going to her cottage at the week-end. I asked about city beaches. She said they were unuseable. The ocean was polluted by city sewage.

I noticed many old mansions lining the beautiful wide sweep that was the the main street. Where there should have been lawns and gardens, there was hard-packed dirt and scattered strollers and bicycles. They were being used as multiple rentals.

If there is such a thing among us as National Pride. If towns and cities hold the key, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa and Banff are eminent examples of the value we place on our history and heritage. They are magnificent.

Yet Charlottetown, where the Fathers of Confederation met and hammered out the terms of agreement. They walked those streets, stayed at that hotel, vsited and no doubt consulted with the residents of those old mansions and they accomplished something which had been tried and failed repeatedly. They created the nation whiich every one of us is privileged to share. Charlottetown in the mid-seventies, several years after the wonderfully successful national celebration of Canada's Centennial, Charlottetown languished in shabby and shameful neglect.

It was with a mixture of sadness and anger I wrote a subsequent column.

Some Aurora residents expressed surprise that I did not enjoy Prince Edward Island. I had obviously failed to make my point.

I remember nothing of the merits of the conference. But I remember Charlottetown.

COUNCILLOR'S TRAVELS

I remember attending the annual conference of the Canadian Conference of Mayors and Municipalities in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in the early seventies. I had heard much about the Province. It was a popular vacation destination with Aurora residents.

I stayed in a motel at the opposite end of the main street from the Conference Centre. I walked to and from the Centre more than twice some days. Alma Walker, a regional councillor from Markham had a room in the beautiful vintage hotel across the street from the Centre. She invited a bunch of regional councillors to her room one evening.

There was a reception at the former home and gardens of a Lieutenant Governor. It was a lovely old colonial mansion. Margaret Britnell, Mayor of King, was at the conference. Margaret was a prominent Liberal and made contact with Liberals wherever she went in Canada. I was invited along to the home of Charlottetown Liberals for a pleasant evening of conversation. Of course it was political... and mostly local.

There was a bus tour of the Island for delegates, a lobster fest, and an ocean ferry trip. If the objective was to familiarise the delegates from cities across Canada to the charms of Prince
Edward Island, it was eminently successful.

Charlottetown has a substantial Lebanese community. They seemd like Greeks to me. Generous in hospitality, with a love of life and laughter and a passion for politics.

David Crombie, Mayor of Toronto, was at the Conference staying at the same motel as myself. He never seemed to attend any of the sessions. He held court at the motel swimming pool. People had audiences in his presence. He left on Sunday. A particular vote did not go his way and he indicated, with a departing flourish, Toronto would withdraw from the organization.

Member fees were based on per capita or some such measurement. If Toronto withdrew
that signalled one of two things. Fees from every other member would escalate. Or, the organisation would collapse. Or, the first would predicate the second with the same result Toronto is still doing stuff like that.

With the exception of Alberta and the North West Territories, I visited every capital city in Canada while I was in office. It was great to see how people lived in other places and how cities functioned. It broadened my perspective. I believe it made me a better Mayor.

Round and Round The Mulberry Bush

Ten--thirty p.m. is council's hour of adjournment. It never happens. At the last meeting, seventeen of twenty-three agenda items were still to be to dealt with.at ten-thirty p.m. Two hours of the 3 1/2 hour meeting were taken up with requests for assistance which did not qualify under the town grant policy.

The situation was typical. Council meanders. There is little semblance of debate and few recognizable rules of order. The hour of adjournment passes and talk continues until close to midnight. An in-camera meeting often carries on after that before staff and council wind their weary way home in the wee small hours of the morning.

The early part of the last meeting was quite bizarre. The first delegate had to be assisted to the microphone. She explained she had been in an accident. She needed help to finance a Literary Festival in East Gwillimbury. She listed names of renowned authors who would be participating.. .. Never heard of any of them. It was not clear who would be benefiting. She assured Council she was a professional and we could be confident the affair would be well organized.

The request met none of the town's criteria for grants. It was refused. The delegate had to be assisted back up the stairs. On leaving the council chamber however, she suddenly became quite self-sufficient and firmly elbowed her way out of the Town Hall - but not before we had spent a considerable amount of time on a sympathetic hearing.

The second request was for free use of a facility that accommodates 200 people, to entertain thirty-two people for ten hours. The facility was already booked on the required date. The delegate wanted chairs, tables, kitchen and the Seniors' dishes . The program was a student exchange. Ten students were involved, two from Aurora. The cost of the request was $1 thousand dollars. The exchange was with the Town of Leksand - Aurora's twin in Sweden. The delegate needed an immediate decision.

The decision was no, but only after another lengthy hearing and staff were directed to find alternate space. The following day, in an e-mail, the delegate requested a letter to go to Sweden explaining why the accommodation was not being made available.

The third request was for a two thousand dollar contribution for a private playground in a Co-op. It was argued by council a Co-op is non-profit. It was granted.

We have several Co-ops in Aurora. They were all sponsored by community organisations. Mortgages were financed with a preferred rate of interest from the two senior levels of government. While they live there, residents have all the responsibilities and rights of ownership. They elect a board of management. They share regular maintenance chores to keep costs down. They must qualify by income to live there. If they do not meet their responsibilities, they are invited to leave. They are not people in need.

Other Co-ops provide and maintain their own playgrounds. The town provides and maintains public playgrounds. But in this instance, we dug our hands into the taxpayers pockets and helped to provide a private one. At the same time, for the the third year running, we cut a playground that needed to be replaced out of the budget to keep the tax increase down.

The town has a grant policy for a couple of very practical reasons. The first is to assure residents of equal treatment. The second is to take the decision out of the hands of politicians and provide futher assurance that money isn't being handed out because of having friends in high places.

It is not working. Hasn't for some time. When I came back on Council in 2004, it seemed to me council could easily be mistaken for a Charitable Foundation or a Philanthropic Organization. It almost seemed there was a competition to find places to distribute public funds.

Last term, we sent money to an outfit in Georgina that claimed to be saving Lake Simcoe. They forwarded their request by mail. We didn't even ask why they needed the money. We likely sent a cheque with a covering letter. For all we knew, they might have been planning a boozy executive night out on a boat on Lake Simcoe.

The same year, we dug into the pockets of Aurora taxpayers to "Save Lake Simcoe". The Lake Conservation Authority had a budget of $64 million dollars. Their mandate is the care and maintenance of Lake Simcoe.

When I was a member of the Ontario Social Assistance Review Board, I visited towns, cities, villages and homes all over the Province. Georgina was an occasional destination. Their building is a former seminary. The council chamber is the former chapel. Council sits on a dais that was the former altar.

In the reception area, there was a glass display case enclosing a fur clad fish. It had a brass plate identifying it as having been hooked in a Georgina Ice Fishing Derby. It was in a trophy case.

Whether it was an example of what was right or wrong with the Lake I do not know. It certainly rooted me to the spot momentarily.

Hazy, Lazy Days of Summer

I read in the Toronto Star yesterday about the Ontario Municipal Board "endorsing" a plan for high rise clusters in the west end of Toronto. It is that kind of language that leads the general public to believe the OMB has a role to play in planning. Since they are not elected, it's easy for people to believe there is something not right about that. It also makes it easy for city politicians to shift blame on to the OMB for decisions they have previously made or didn't make when they should have.

The west end of Toronto, near the Lake and the CNE has many run-down former industrial properties. The city's plan has obviously designated the area for renewal. The Zoning Bylaw, which puts the teeth into an Official Plan, must permit multiple residential development.

I say "must" because no developer in his right mind would purchase sufficient property to build a cluster of high rise structures in downtown Toronto, if he didn't know for certain he could use the property for that purpose.

I don't have to be there to follow the story; the artsy crafty people have formed a community in the area because the old buildings have cheap rents. They have appealed to the politicians to save them from the big, bad developers. Councillors, perhaps knowingly, perhaps not, have leaped on their chargers to defend the righteous and downtrodden people of the arts and the crafts.

It is such a simple formula. Add a reporter or two, also looking for fame and fortune in slaying the dragon, and suddenly you have a completely distorted representation of the facts. Even those who know the truth of the matter stay quiet and keep heads down until the clamour subsides.

There is an indication now, the city, after two OMB hearings, is considering taking the matter to court and spending thousands more of taxpayer dollars for legal costs to argue that their own planning regulations should not be followed.

You may wonder, why does that story matter to us. Well, we came within a vote of it happening here just a few short weeks ago. The Separate School Board, after months of work with the town planning department to determine that the Wellington site for a new high school would be an appropriate purchase, did exactly that.

After more months and expense on architects and such, they received a date for a public planning meeting. At the planning meeting, even with no concerns expressed from the immediate neighbourhood, Councillor Stephen Granger moved the application be refused. Councillors McEachern,Gaertner and, it seemed the Mayor, supported the motion.

One more vote, and the matter would have had to go before the OMB. The Town would have been in the position of having to defend the refusal of a planning application which completely conforms to our plans. The planning department recommended in favour of it. Half of the council supported it. The application was being made by another elected public body. Vast sums would have been spent on legal costs, for no good purpoose whatsoever.

The substance of a good debate is when two rational sides of an argument can be made. When it is over, no matter the decision, everyone can feel they have given it their best shot. They can feel they have justified their place at the table.

When I am reclining on my backyard deck staring up into a canopy of maple leaves, I try to understand why four elected representatives would collectively arrive at that position on the Wellington Street Catholic High School.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom the logic.

Blissful Ignorance Is Not An Entitlement.

Last week, I received a call late in the evening. There was no water in the taps in the north-west corner of the town. The caller added people had been running their sprinklers for hours and the water was running down the streets to the catchbasins. I needed to hear no more.

Forty-five years ago, the town added 750 new homes in my neighbourhood - an increase of more than a third of the town. The same thing happened on another hot summer evening. People turned on their sprinklers and let them run. Soon they found themselves without water in the house. They were stunned and of course, it was all the stupid town's fault.

We were new to the town. Many of us were relatively new to the country. We did not relate the large ball hundreds of feet above us on stilt-like supports to the water that magically ran from the taps. Even when we were informed there was a finite supply from the water tower, we were not convinced the town was not at fault. One of those residents, still indignant at the end of the year, was a candidate in the municipal election. Elections were held annually. It was said she gave the best speech of all the candidates.

People did learn however, and after that first summer, the taps never ran dry again. We observed the watering rules. Our houses were full of children. Babies needed formula, children needed bathing, toilets needed to be flushed. Bottled water was not a commodity. Our water, from artesian wells drawn from deep below the ground, was the best.

This time is similar. Except, we have a reservoir in the ground in the north end of town. The water we are using is from thousands of feet below the ground. It has been carbon-dated. It is thousands of years old. We have many times greater supply and improved water pressure. There are now fifteen thousand homes as opposed to three thousand and there is the internet and email.

Surprisingly though, many people are not better informed than residents of forty-five years ago. Yet, they are just as sure they know who to blame. It is the stupid town and the stupid politicians. It is never, never, never, the people who turn on sprinklers and let this precious resource run in the gutter to the catchbasins, and run and run until the reservoir is dry.

The e-mails that I received are all about rage and abuse and grass and flowers and the cost of it all. Not about being unable to flush toilets, or make baby formula or a cup of tea. One man demands to be informed of the process to install a septic tank and well on his own property.

I know people with wells. They are definitely hesitant to spill precious potable water on the ground to keep their grass green. At times they have to pay for a tank truck to bring water to their wells. Sometimes wells become contaminated and they have to drill new ones always deeper to find potable water.

The town is sending out personal, respectful and placatory e-mails to enraged residents who are demanding additional reservoirs be built.

I do not favour that. Reservoirs cost millions to build. Water costs millions to treat in these post-Walkerton times. I am persuaded it makes no sense to build reservoir capacity and treat a supply of water beyond our needs for twelve months of the year to accommodate a possible need for two months of the summer. So far as I know, there is no way to measure the supply of water from our current source. We are tapping into a source which has been there for thousands of years. It is precious. We need to use it wisely.

I do not support pumping and treating and storing that water beyond our normal needs just because a summer drought is possible but not inevitable. We did not have one last year.

The demand for more capacity is like saying : O.K. thirty students form a gym class and that's the capacity of the gymnasium; we have three hundred students in the school, therefore we need ten gymnasiums and ten teachers because everybody wants to take gym at the same time. No reason, they just want to. Where is the logic in that?

We have sufficient reservoir capacity for ten months of the year for all of our needs. For two months, if there is a heat wave, we need to follow some sensible rules . Three nights of the week, one half of the population waters their gardens and the next three nights belong to the other half. If a sufficient number of ill-informed and uncaring people decide they will disregard the rules, everybody suffers the consequences.

It is an odd thing, in all the e-mail s I received, there wasn't one that complained about not being able to flush the toilet.

Another fact needs to be considered; it doesn't matter how much precious clean water is poured on to the grass, the stuff is destined to dormancy and the appearance of hay in a normal August anyway. We are not living in the rain-saturated environment of the U.K. and the Emerald Isle. We are living at the latitude of the Mediterranean to which people flock from everywhere to enjoy the glorious dry heat of summer and the vegetation particular to that environment.

When you live in a community, you share ownership of its resources, as well as responsibility for good stewardship.

Storm In A Paper Cup

Council met in the evening of June 17th for the first time as an audit committee. Boring, eh?! It didn't turn out that way. Councillor McEachern used the opportunity to repeat an assertion the town's e-mail service had continued to be accessed by the former Mayor for "months” and staff had permitted its extended use.

There was an insinuation of wrong-doing. It was made in a public meeting. An individual was named. and staff were implicated.

From the perspective of public liability and accepted protocol, to say nothing of fairness, the comments had no place in a public forum. They were out of order.

The Mayor did not rule that way. That is one of the functions of a Presiding Member.

Former Mayor Tim Jones circulated his new e-mail address the day he left office. Staff permitted incoming messages as a courtesy to people who might still have messages to convey. The new Mayor learned of it, stopped it immediately and informed council. It was referred to again behind closed doors for reason which are not immediately discernible. (Harrumph!). When it was regurgitated at the public meeting by Councillor McEachern and exaggerated to a period of "months" the Mayor did not correct the Councillor. As noted, she did not rule her out of order.

I did object. The statement was damaging, made in a public meeting, it was an innuendo of wrong doing which I found unacceptable.

The Mayor found my comments out of order. She directed me to apologize to Councillor McEachern. It was never going to happen.

The Mayor decided that gave her the authority to expel me from the council chamber. That too was a dead duck from the start.

The Mayor called for a recess. The vote tied. So that didn't fly.

The Mayor turned the chair over to Councillor McRoberts, who thoughtfully considered the wording of the clause the Mayor was leaning on for her decision. He ruled it not apply.

The Mayor took back the chair.

Councillor Gaertner decided she would not stay at a table where the Mayor was not respected. She left her seat. Councillor McEachern left her seat once and returned, and then left again..

The Mayor vacated the chair, which brought the business of the meeting to an end. She called to Councillor Granger and they all trooped from the council chamber .

Another meeting of the Audit Committee has been scheduled to complete the business barely begun. Staff will once again be assembled for evening duties. The auditors will attend once more. Whether a quorum of council is available remains to be seen.

We have not been asked.