For you to go hammer and tongs again and again diminishes the ability of THIS council, and your ability to influence it. Isn't that what is facing you now when you're becoming more frustrated by them not listening to you? Broken record and crying wolf syndrome kicks in. The sky is perpetually falling in according to you.
Staff at Town Hall head the other way when they see you coming so they don't become snared in your net. You'll flog their director at some stage so don't want to be painted with the Buck brush.
Don't feed the MorMac or you'll give them legendary status. Move on or YOU'LL be tossed the next time!
********************
The above is an excerpt from a comment. I published it to respond .
It's a popular notion that everything was made right when Council membership changed in the last election.
The people re-elected two of the former majority and one other who often aligns himself with the last lot.
Myself being the exception,everybody else is new. Brand new. Like shoes. Newness can cause blisters and discomfort for a while.
Each Councillor is. at one and the same time, a rival. Satisfaction comes from working to-gether for a common cause but people are watching, making judgments, comparing notes.
A Councillor needs to listen without appearing to be a know-nothing and a perpetual follower.
Getting elected is the easy part. Earning your place is the real challenge.
Problems created by the preceding Council need to be corrected. That was the message I received last October. Some never will be corrected. It's like turning back the clock.
Elections are the people's opportunity to have a say. Four year terms are too long. All the more reason,to read the message right.
I was re-elected. I know why.
We did not start with a clean slate. Pish- Tosh to that notion.
The commenter may be correct. Colleagues may be soft-soaping me to smooth their path. If so,I have not noticed. If I do detect it, it will change nothing.
The blog is not a blunt instrument.
It's where I turn. Where I find people who read and understand.
The points of an argument may not lead to the same conclusions but the points themselves are seldom in dispute.
The blog means I am never solitary.
I do not speak for myself alone.
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Generational Difference
Chris Watts is not in competition with me. We are separated by several generations.
He is older than my oldest grandchild. But younger than my youngest son. Who is younger than my oldest son by fifteen years.
I remember a time when homes were lit by gas mantle. Some by oil lamp still. Cooking was done on a coal range. Water for laundry was heated in a boiler with a fire underneath in a wash house in the yard shared by eight tenants.
Laundry was scrubbed on a wash board with a bar of soap. Water was heated in a copper boiler with a coal fire underneath.
Whites were not kept white with bleach. They were boiled in washing soda and bleached on the drying green.
I knew no wireless (radio) for the first eight years of my life. Television was not in every home for thirty years after .
Chris Watts may remember a time without computers. My grandchildren don't. His expertise exceeds mine by light years. They would learn from him. I learn from them.
My grandchildren appreciate how Chris Watts expresses himself. His fearless and outrageous use of language and visual images shocks and delights them. He is a lightning rod. I suspect he attracts more readers than not by his precocity.
His instruction is far beyond my range of computer literacy.
I may still acquire skills that allow me to use my computer to better advantage.
Chris acknowledges he finds what I write interesting and informative.
I am in awe of his amazing skills ,intellect and cutting wit.
And very glad Chris Watts has become part of our circle of communication.
I call him friend.
He is older than my oldest grandchild. But younger than my youngest son. Who is younger than my oldest son by fifteen years.
I remember a time when homes were lit by gas mantle. Some by oil lamp still. Cooking was done on a coal range. Water for laundry was heated in a boiler with a fire underneath in a wash house in the yard shared by eight tenants.
Laundry was scrubbed on a wash board with a bar of soap. Water was heated in a copper boiler with a coal fire underneath.
Whites were not kept white with bleach. They were boiled in washing soda and bleached on the drying green.
I knew no wireless (radio) for the first eight years of my life. Television was not in every home for thirty years after .
Chris Watts may remember a time without computers. My grandchildren don't. His expertise exceeds mine by light years. They would learn from him. I learn from them.
My grandchildren appreciate how Chris Watts expresses himself. His fearless and outrageous use of language and visual images shocks and delights them. He is a lightning rod. I suspect he attracts more readers than not by his precocity.
His instruction is far beyond my range of computer literacy.
I may still acquire skills that allow me to use my computer to better advantage.
Chris acknowledges he finds what I write interesting and informative.
I am in awe of his amazing skills ,intellect and cutting wit.
And very glad Chris Watts has become part of our circle of communication.
I call him friend.
Friday, 9 September 2011
Stephanie, Provincial Candidate
Stephanie Russell, is a candidate for the Green Party in Sudbury in the upcoming election.
The riding is an NDP stronghold. Currently held by a woman whom my grand-daughter greatly respects.
Formerly held by Shelley Martel, who succeeded her father. Elie Martel who held the riding since it was created.
Stephanie lives in the riding with her partner Eric. Eric comes from Holland Landing is a marine biologist. I think doing his PHD. They are poor as church mice and laden with student debt. Stephanie has not had a permanent job since she graduated from Guelph University. Must be three or four years ago.
Time is relative . The longer one lives the less relative.
I tried to persuade her not to do it. It was no go. I told her it's an NDP stronghold.
You wont can't even make a dent. If it's experience you want, work for the N.D.P. See how a successful campaign is run.
"I can't do that Grannie" she said. "I like the N.D.P. but I really believe in what the Green Party stands for"
So my daughter Theresa, Stephanie's mother is going to Sudbury on election day. Win or lose and of course she will lose, her mother is going to be there for her.
And maybe her grandmother.
And maybe her Aunt Heather.
And her cousin Robyn.
And maybe Lizzie, who lives in Oshawa with a cat and a dog and two degrees ,one in Women's Studies. and works in a health food store for minimum wage and writes a blog on serious topics.
I think the election is three days before Thanksgiving,the next family gathering. By which time my grand-daughter Stephanie will be a seasoned politician, having fought for her principles ...and lost.
If all goes as it's likely to, she will learn more in the next six weeks than she did in her entire time in University.
She took Dramatic Arts. Has had lots of successful experience. Played the star,the ingenue and danced in the chorus line of Grease. But worked for gas money.
When she was two, which seems like yesterday, she told anyone who would listen, she was going to be a star. We went to Sudbury for that too.
She has time.
The riding is an NDP stronghold. Currently held by a woman whom my grand-daughter greatly respects.
Formerly held by Shelley Martel, who succeeded her father. Elie Martel who held the riding since it was created.
Stephanie lives in the riding with her partner Eric. Eric comes from Holland Landing is a marine biologist. I think doing his PHD. They are poor as church mice and laden with student debt. Stephanie has not had a permanent job since she graduated from Guelph University. Must be three or four years ago.
Time is relative . The longer one lives the less relative.
I tried to persuade her not to do it. It was no go. I told her it's an NDP stronghold.
You wont can't even make a dent. If it's experience you want, work for the N.D.P. See how a successful campaign is run.
"I can't do that Grannie" she said. "I like the N.D.P. but I really believe in what the Green Party stands for"
So my daughter Theresa, Stephanie's mother is going to Sudbury on election day. Win or lose and of course she will lose, her mother is going to be there for her.
And maybe her grandmother.
And maybe her Aunt Heather.
And her cousin Robyn.
And maybe Lizzie, who lives in Oshawa with a cat and a dog and two degrees ,one in Women's Studies. and works in a health food store for minimum wage and writes a blog on serious topics.
I think the election is three days before Thanksgiving,the next family gathering. By which time my grand-daughter Stephanie will be a seasoned politician, having fought for her principles ...and lost.
If all goes as it's likely to, she will learn more in the next six weeks than she did in her entire time in University.
She took Dramatic Arts. Has had lots of successful experience. Played the star,the ingenue and danced in the chorus line of Grease. But worked for gas money.
When she was two, which seems like yesterday, she told anyone who would listen, she was going to be a star. We went to Sudbury for that too.
She has time.
It's A Vent
Anonymoose has left a new comment on your post "About Order And Chaos ...2":
Anonymous, so what you are saying is that Gaertner and Gallo should shut up and obey and not being permitted to attend would be the consequence for disobedience
*******************
Anonymoose is obviously venting. It's allowed.
The fact is, Councillors Gaertner and Gallo occupy seats on Council. Obviously, they represent a constituency in the community and irritate. another.
I do too.
The question is, do their views reflect others on Council?
Will Council adopt rules that will continue to bedevil us.
Or will we spend enough time to determine a set that everyone finds acceptable.
There are votes that call for unanimity of purpose.
This is one of them.
There is no merit in the majority seeking to impose their will on the minority, in the matter of personal conduct.
We are not robots. We are not mindless dolts.We are not children who can be made to take time out or stand in a corner facing the wall and hang our head in shame.
We cannot be forced to comprehend the simplest of concepts, if we do not have the ability.
But we can do what every legislative body must. We can choose order over chaos.
Anonymous, so what you are saying is that Gaertner and Gallo should shut up and obey and not being permitted to attend would be the consequence for disobedience
*******************
Anonymoose is obviously venting. It's allowed.
The fact is, Councillors Gaertner and Gallo occupy seats on Council. Obviously, they represent a constituency in the community and irritate. another.
I do too.
The question is, do their views reflect others on Council?
Will Council adopt rules that will continue to bedevil us.
Or will we spend enough time to determine a set that everyone finds acceptable.
There are votes that call for unanimity of purpose.
This is one of them.
There is no merit in the majority seeking to impose their will on the minority, in the matter of personal conduct.
We are not robots. We are not mindless dolts.We are not children who can be made to take time out or stand in a corner facing the wall and hang our head in shame.
We cannot be forced to comprehend the simplest of concepts, if we do not have the ability.
But we can do what every legislative body must. We can choose order over chaos.
It Was Not A Grand Opening
LivingInAurora.ca has left a new comment on your post "I Have An Appointment":
Was that a closed door ceremony Evelyn?
That suck's that I didn't even know about the grand opening for which I was keen to attend.
With so many platforms to communicate especially this year when town aurora started blogger, twitter and facebook, and the newsletter which I subscribe - I have seen nothing.
Well it is not just a customer service (re Chris pipe post) but also communication issues.
*******************
No, it was not a closed door ceremony. I can't give you any particulars about how the opening was organised. Only that the town's communication division was in charge.
I was informed by e-mail but I was up and down and round about before I found the location of the event.
Seemed most of the guests were officials from the towns linked by the trail. Aurora ,Newmarket and East Gwillimbury.
It was a sparse crowd .
I think the best could be yet to come. An event should be planned for a Sunday when everybody can be there and participate in a hike, or a bike ride or a run or whatever as far as they want to go between here and East Gwillimbury.
We should have t-shirts ,baseball caps. back packs, coffee mugs or water bottles or all of the above to commemorate the event. Some enterprising business in town should pick up on the idea.
There should be flags and jaunty music to accompany children running and skipping.
Completion of the project is a triumph over adversity and I'm not kidding.
The saga stretches from 1999 . I don't know all the details but enough to understand it's nothing short of amazing it finally got done. .
I understand a report is coming from Leisure Services with a full financial accounting. And that's a good news story as well.
Things are looking up. Way up.
I think a Fall hike from here to East Gwillimbury might be a great way to initiate and introduce this exciting new asset to the community. A picture of the Pied Piper of Hamlin springs to mind.
I can imagine the earthy smell of Fall with leaves carpeting the ground.
But I may be mixing that up with the little ceremony to be held at the Case Woodlot. That's happening within days as well.
The town has acquired the remainder of the woodlot out to Bathurst Street . That too is a good news story.
The woodlot is completely natural. The ground is carpeted with Trilliums in Spring.
I think we need to give thought to how it might be enjoyed without altering its character.
Maybe a meandering path with benches in special places for bird watchers,photographers and artists to sit quietly for a while and watch.
We have the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail from North to south in the area. So we don't need another one.
When Seneca College first opened on the Eaton estate on Dufferin ,snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing were offered and well received.
Maybe we could have the ruins of a castle in the woods and create our own legends.
Well why not. Where's the harm. We all need a little magic in our lives.
Was that a closed door ceremony Evelyn?
That suck's that I didn't even know about the grand opening for which I was keen to attend.
With so many platforms to communicate especially this year when town aurora started blogger, twitter and facebook, and the newsletter which I subscribe - I have seen nothing.
Well it is not just a customer service (re Chris pipe post) but also communication issues.
*******************
No, it was not a closed door ceremony. I can't give you any particulars about how the opening was organised. Only that the town's communication division was in charge.
I was informed by e-mail but I was up and down and round about before I found the location of the event.
Seemed most of the guests were officials from the towns linked by the trail. Aurora ,Newmarket and East Gwillimbury.
It was a sparse crowd .
I think the best could be yet to come. An event should be planned for a Sunday when everybody can be there and participate in a hike, or a bike ride or a run or whatever as far as they want to go between here and East Gwillimbury.
We should have t-shirts ,baseball caps. back packs, coffee mugs or water bottles or all of the above to commemorate the event. Some enterprising business in town should pick up on the idea.
There should be flags and jaunty music to accompany children running and skipping.
Completion of the project is a triumph over adversity and I'm not kidding.
The saga stretches from 1999 . I don't know all the details but enough to understand it's nothing short of amazing it finally got done. .
I understand a report is coming from Leisure Services with a full financial accounting. And that's a good news story as well.
Things are looking up. Way up.
I think a Fall hike from here to East Gwillimbury might be a great way to initiate and introduce this exciting new asset to the community. A picture of the Pied Piper of Hamlin springs to mind.
I can imagine the earthy smell of Fall with leaves carpeting the ground.
But I may be mixing that up with the little ceremony to be held at the Case Woodlot. That's happening within days as well.
The town has acquired the remainder of the woodlot out to Bathurst Street . That too is a good news story.
The woodlot is completely natural. The ground is carpeted with Trilliums in Spring.
I think we need to give thought to how it might be enjoyed without altering its character.
Maybe a meandering path with benches in special places for bird watchers,photographers and artists to sit quietly for a while and watch.
We have the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail from North to south in the area. So we don't need another one.
When Seneca College first opened on the Eaton estate on Dufferin ,snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing were offered and well received.
Maybe we could have the ruins of a castle in the woods and create our own legends.
Well why not. Where's the harm. We all need a little magic in our lives.
About Order And Chaos ...2
It happens. A post is started with a thought in mind . Then it takes off like it has a mind of its own.
The first on Order and Chaos speaks to how Councillors work together, civilly, orderly and productively.
Rules are useless if Councillors do not share a common understanding of their intent..
Wording must be succinct with no opportunity for interpretation
Councillors Gaertner's and Gallo's comments in Tuesday, provides their perspective of how a Council functions.
I had no expectation otherwise..
The alignment of others with Gaertner's and Gallo's perspective is what concerns me.Once the Bylaw is passed, I have no other opportunity for influence.
Gaertner's main concern is that confidentiality of information from closed door meetings should be thoroughly understood and observed.
Gallo expressed comfort with words like obey and consequences for disobedience.
The Municipal Act is clear on matters a Council may deal with behind closed doors.
Plotting a scheme to destroy the reputation of a Councillor who is not malleable,is not in the list.
Nor are public resources to be expended to destroy one's political adversaries. Or to punish one for "disobedience".
Rules of confidentiality are not to provide cover and secrecy for plots of nefarious intent
Councillor Gallo's comfort with words like obey and disobedience reveals a mind beset with the concept of power of the majority over the rights of the individual. .
A chasm exists between myself and these two councillors. No set of rules will bridge the gap.
But who among the rest aligns themselves with those two.?
Which consciously chose wording to uphold the principle of absolute dominance?
My concerns would be resolved by a simple adaptation of Bourinot's Parliamentary Rules.
They have withstood the test of time and practice throughout history. Their intent is to serve the principle of order over chaos.
They have been written and amended to suit the times by experts acknowledged nation wide and through the centuries.
Instead ,we have rules flooded with redundancy and phraseology that disrespects the authority of a person chosen by the electorate; denies the right to exercise judgment; leading to frustration and precipitating bitter dispute and serious consequences.
Unanimous agreement made in good faith for rules to abide by.for the rest of the term is essential.
Nothing less will suffice.
Whatever time it takes to reach a common understanding , is the time it should take.
Hours of futile wrangling at Council meetings are not conducive to mutual or the community's respect.. .
Rules giving power to the majority, to beat the minority into the ground. like a wooden tent peg splayed out with a sledge hammer, have the opposite effect..
The first on Order and Chaos speaks to how Councillors work together, civilly, orderly and productively.
Rules are useless if Councillors do not share a common understanding of their intent..
Wording must be succinct with no opportunity for interpretation
Councillors Gaertner's and Gallo's comments in Tuesday, provides their perspective of how a Council functions.
I had no expectation otherwise..
The alignment of others with Gaertner's and Gallo's perspective is what concerns me.Once the Bylaw is passed, I have no other opportunity for influence.
Gaertner's main concern is that confidentiality of information from closed door meetings should be thoroughly understood and observed.
Gallo expressed comfort with words like obey and consequences for disobedience.
The Municipal Act is clear on matters a Council may deal with behind closed doors.
Plotting a scheme to destroy the reputation of a Councillor who is not malleable,is not in the list.
Nor are public resources to be expended to destroy one's political adversaries. Or to punish one for "disobedience".
Rules of confidentiality are not to provide cover and secrecy for plots of nefarious intent
Councillor Gallo's comfort with words like obey and disobedience reveals a mind beset with the concept of power of the majority over the rights of the individual. .
A chasm exists between myself and these two councillors. No set of rules will bridge the gap.
But who among the rest aligns themselves with those two.?
Which consciously chose wording to uphold the principle of absolute dominance?
My concerns would be resolved by a simple adaptation of Bourinot's Parliamentary Rules.
They have withstood the test of time and practice throughout history. Their intent is to serve the principle of order over chaos.
They have been written and amended to suit the times by experts acknowledged nation wide and through the centuries.
Instead ,we have rules flooded with redundancy and phraseology that disrespects the authority of a person chosen by the electorate; denies the right to exercise judgment; leading to frustration and precipitating bitter dispute and serious consequences.
Unanimous agreement made in good faith for rules to abide by.for the rest of the term is essential.
Nothing less will suffice.
Whatever time it takes to reach a common understanding , is the time it should take.
Hours of futile wrangling at Council meetings are not conducive to mutual or the community's respect.. .
Rules giving power to the majority, to beat the minority into the ground. like a wooden tent peg splayed out with a sledge hammer, have the opposite effect..
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Blather is it?
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "About Order And Chaos.":
Cut to the chase, please. Was anything accomplished
with all that talk ? Were you pleased with the results?
Is that the end of the exercise or do we have more
blathering to endure ?
********************
Some things were accomplished.
It's not the end of the process.
I am not displeased .
If you are not a councillor, you dont have to endure any blathering at all. . Rules of order affect councillors. in the conduct of meetings.
If members agree to respect and observe a set of rules, meetings should run smoothly and seamlessly and town business will proceed efficiently and productively with satisfaction to all concerned that a good job is being done.
The blather will have been worthwhile.
By the way, according to the rules, blather would likely not qualify as parliamentary language or proper decorum and could result in a ruling by the chair or a point of order called from the floor.
Both of which would have the effect of interrupting the speaker who has the floor, which would also be a breach of order because the member who has the floor is entitled to speak without interruption save and except for a point of order being raised or a ruling from the chair both of which happen
regularly because the member interrupting on a point of order simply disagrees with the point being made by the speaker,doesn't understand that is not a point of order but has all the confidence in the world, they have a right to stop the member who has the floor from putting forward a legitimate argument.
Hardly conducive to a respectful work environment,
We are a new Council. With new opportunity to do things better than in the past.
We can take advantage of the opportunity. Or we can sink into the old ways and bring this Council into the same disrepute as the last several.
It's easier to continue with bad habits, than it is to put effort into better understanding,ensuring all members are satisfied with the process, leading to a respectful, efficient and more productive method of conducting town business.
Cut to the chase, please. Was anything accomplished
with all that talk ? Were you pleased with the results?
Is that the end of the exercise or do we have more
blathering to endure ?
********************
Some things were accomplished.
It's not the end of the process.
I am not displeased .
If you are not a councillor, you dont have to endure any blathering at all. . Rules of order affect councillors. in the conduct of meetings.
If members agree to respect and observe a set of rules, meetings should run smoothly and seamlessly and town business will proceed efficiently and productively with satisfaction to all concerned that a good job is being done.
The blather will have been worthwhile.
By the way, according to the rules, blather would likely not qualify as parliamentary language or proper decorum and could result in a ruling by the chair or a point of order called from the floor.
Both of which would have the effect of interrupting the speaker who has the floor, which would also be a breach of order because the member who has the floor is entitled to speak without interruption save and except for a point of order being raised or a ruling from the chair both of which happen
regularly because the member interrupting on a point of order simply disagrees with the point being made by the speaker,doesn't understand that is not a point of order but has all the confidence in the world, they have a right to stop the member who has the floor from putting forward a legitimate argument.
Hardly conducive to a respectful work environment,
We are a new Council. With new opportunity to do things better than in the past.
We can take advantage of the opportunity. Or we can sink into the old ways and bring this Council into the same disrepute as the last several.
It's easier to continue with bad habits, than it is to put effort into better understanding,ensuring all members are satisfied with the process, leading to a respectful, efficient and more productive method of conducting town business.
About Order And Chaos.
I can't wait until I've read the agenda. I have to share this thought with you.
On Tuesday night, a revision of the Procedural Bylaw was on the agenda for discussion . A new Council is obliged by Municipal law to adopt a Procedural Bylaw as a second item of business in every new term of office. First item is the Oath of Office.
Procedure is mostly administrative. It sets date and time of Council Meetings and Council- in- Committee. It commits to publicising Agendas. which sets out business to be decided . It indicates time of adjournment so \ people are aware within which hours council will deliberate and decide which issues.
We did all that during the last term.That's all we did. Seldom was business carried out within hours specified. Decisions were frequently made during the witching hours and items were often deferred, more than once, from one meeting to another
If a member of the public was trying to keep tabs on town business ,they would quickly have learned the impossibility of the task.
We have done better this term. But we do seem to be drifting in that direction again.
Since I came back to Council in 2003, this is the first time I've felt I had a chance of influencing the bylaw.
We have had it before us three times now. I am most concerned with the rules of order. They govern the form of our debate.
Without order, there is chaos.
Eight people and a presiding member are at the table, Everyone with a right to participate. Meetings are scheduled for 3.5 hours. Discipline from all present is required
Councillors are individually chosen by the electorate. They are not chosen collectively. They are not a gelatinous mass,subject to being. compelled to surrender personal judgment. They are not subservient.
(Unless they have made the error of agreeing to be part of a slate riding in on someone else's coat-tails)
Each and every Councillor is endowed with personal authority by virtue of being elected.
Authority revolves around responsibility and accountability.
A clause in Rules of Order requires Councillors to "obey" and determines punishment for "disobedience"
It irritates me exceedingly and has done so since I returned to Council in 2003.
The presiding member of council, has a greater responsibility than others within a Council meeting. The Municipal Act states the Mayor shall provide" leadership and guidance" It does not say he exercises power and authority. The opposite is true in reality. The presiding member is first among equals, subject to the authority of council.
Nine people are elected . People who may not otherwise choose to be to-gether but have been chosen to work together for a common purpose; the betterment of the community.
In academia, it is referred to as collegiality.
There is no place for words like " obey and disobedience" in such an organisation.
The onus is upon Councillors,to agree to respect and abide by a set of rules governing meetings, for the purpose of working constructively and with civility.
Rules that require no individual to surrender judgment to the majority.
Rules of Order require unanimous consent to be respected and observed.
They cannot be foisted on an unwilling member.
They don't work either if some councillors don't understand what they are agreeing to or why.
On Tuesday night, a revision of the Procedural Bylaw was on the agenda for discussion . A new Council is obliged by Municipal law to adopt a Procedural Bylaw as a second item of business in every new term of office. First item is the Oath of Office.
Procedure is mostly administrative. It sets date and time of Council Meetings and Council- in- Committee. It commits to publicising Agendas. which sets out business to be decided . It indicates time of adjournment so \ people are aware within which hours council will deliberate and decide which issues.
We did all that during the last term.That's all we did. Seldom was business carried out within hours specified. Decisions were frequently made during the witching hours and items were often deferred, more than once, from one meeting to another
If a member of the public was trying to keep tabs on town business ,they would quickly have learned the impossibility of the task.
We have done better this term. But we do seem to be drifting in that direction again.
Since I came back to Council in 2003, this is the first time I've felt I had a chance of influencing the bylaw.
We have had it before us three times now. I am most concerned with the rules of order. They govern the form of our debate.
Without order, there is chaos.
Eight people and a presiding member are at the table, Everyone with a right to participate. Meetings are scheduled for 3.5 hours. Discipline from all present is required
Councillors are individually chosen by the electorate. They are not chosen collectively. They are not a gelatinous mass,subject to being. compelled to surrender personal judgment. They are not subservient.
(Unless they have made the error of agreeing to be part of a slate riding in on someone else's coat-tails)
Each and every Councillor is endowed with personal authority by virtue of being elected.
Authority revolves around responsibility and accountability.
A clause in Rules of Order requires Councillors to "obey" and determines punishment for "disobedience"
It irritates me exceedingly and has done so since I returned to Council in 2003.
The presiding member of council, has a greater responsibility than others within a Council meeting. The Municipal Act states the Mayor shall provide" leadership and guidance" It does not say he exercises power and authority. The opposite is true in reality. The presiding member is first among equals, subject to the authority of council.
Nine people are elected . People who may not otherwise choose to be to-gether but have been chosen to work together for a common purpose; the betterment of the community.
In academia, it is referred to as collegiality.
There is no place for words like " obey and disobedience" in such an organisation.
The onus is upon Councillors,to agree to respect and abide by a set of rules governing meetings, for the purpose of working constructively and with civility.
Rules that require no individual to surrender judgment to the majority.
Rules of Order require unanimous consent to be respected and observed.
They cannot be foisted on an unwilling member.
They don't work either if some councillors don't understand what they are agreeing to or why.
Scattered Thoughts
My mind is all over the place this morning with things I want to tell ..
In the meantime, I've had laundry in the washing machine for a couple of days waiting for the skies to clear.
I got rid of the dishwasher a few years ago to make room for the washing machine. I haven't used a dryer for many more years. I hang the laundry out on a clothes line . In inclement weather , mostly winter. there's enough heat in the house from the furnace to dry clothes overnight.
The laundry is going through a second rinse and spin cycle to freshen it. .I will probably have to do a second spin because I think there's an earring in the drain pipes needs to be removed for the spin to work effectively.
It probably won't happen until the provincial election is finished because my contractor daughter Heather will be working every day in the election office until it's over.
After yesterday's 12.30 appointment which took longer than expected, I made it to the opening.
Afterwards, I went to Superstore to get a couple of outside round roasts at a $1,95 a pound for Thankgiving family get- together. We have beef with gravy on a bun in sufficient quantities to satisfy the heartiest appetites of men women and children who universally enjoy the meal because of arriving at a house full of the smell of roasting beef coated with a rub I learned from a cook show.
They are complete roasts in vacuum- packed seal. The beef stays moist in the roasting and flavour is enhanced when the roast is of sufficient size to take several hours of medium heat. It's Canadian beef.
Superstore had them advertised on sale until September 8th. But yesterday, there was no sign of the offering. I asked. thinking I had made a mistake on the dates. But, no. They didn't have any, they didn't say they had had any but they did say they didn't know if they were going to have any.
It wasn't a fruitless trip . I bought some beautiful Ontario peaches A punnet of cherry tomatoes.
And a bag of grapefruit the size of large oranges.
No beef.
But never mind , I'm sure I'll find some before Thanksgiving.
Now I have to go and turn the knob of the washing machine for a second spin.
When it's done and hung out wherever, and I've read the agenda for to-night's economic development committee meeting I will return and concentrate on a subject more serious.
That's the plan ..
In the meantime, I've had laundry in the washing machine for a couple of days waiting for the skies to clear.
I got rid of the dishwasher a few years ago to make room for the washing machine. I haven't used a dryer for many more years. I hang the laundry out on a clothes line . In inclement weather , mostly winter. there's enough heat in the house from the furnace to dry clothes overnight.
The laundry is going through a second rinse and spin cycle to freshen it. .I will probably have to do a second spin because I think there's an earring in the drain pipes needs to be removed for the spin to work effectively.
It probably won't happen until the provincial election is finished because my contractor daughter Heather will be working every day in the election office until it's over.
After yesterday's 12.30 appointment which took longer than expected, I made it to the opening.
Afterwards, I went to Superstore to get a couple of outside round roasts at a $1,95 a pound for Thankgiving family get- together. We have beef with gravy on a bun in sufficient quantities to satisfy the heartiest appetites of men women and children who universally enjoy the meal because of arriving at a house full of the smell of roasting beef coated with a rub I learned from a cook show.
They are complete roasts in vacuum- packed seal. The beef stays moist in the roasting and flavour is enhanced when the roast is of sufficient size to take several hours of medium heat. It's Canadian beef.
Superstore had them advertised on sale until September 8th. But yesterday, there was no sign of the offering. I asked. thinking I had made a mistake on the dates. But, no. They didn't have any, they didn't say they had had any but they did say they didn't know if they were going to have any.
It wasn't a fruitless trip . I bought some beautiful Ontario peaches A punnet of cherry tomatoes.
And a bag of grapefruit the size of large oranges.
No beef.
But never mind , I'm sure I'll find some before Thanksgiving.
Now I have to go and turn the knob of the washing machine for a second spin.
When it's done and hung out wherever, and I've read the agenda for to-night's economic development committee meeting I will return and concentrate on a subject more serious.
That's the plan ..
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
I Have An Appointment
At twelve-thirty and the St John's Sideroad connection to the Nokiida Trail is being officially opened at 3p.m.I hope to get there.
I allow myself longer than I used to to get to appointments. It's good to avoid any and all unnecessary
anxiety. There is joy in some stress. But not in being late for appointments. I've had a problem with punctuality for most of my life. But it was never a careless thing.
I have a post practically written in my head about council's revised procedure bylaw. It will have to wait I am telling you about it to keep me on focus
We will talk later.
.
I allow myself longer than I used to to get to appointments. It's good to avoid any and all unnecessary
anxiety. There is joy in some stress. But not in being late for appointments. I've had a problem with punctuality for most of my life. But it was never a careless thing.
I have a post practically written in my head about council's revised procedure bylaw. It will have to wait I am telling you about it to keep me on focus
We will talk later.
.
What People Are Saying...Chris Watts in Particular
circling the drain of Customer Service
This notice was taped to my door around 10AM yesterday morning:
Instructions are provided in the notice to take the action prior to the arival of work crews.
At 8AM sharp this morning work comenced on my street making me question if the town believes it is acceptable to give less than 24 hr notice for this type of service disruption.
The notice was served on Labour Day a Nationwide statutory holiday.
Meaning that families, like mine, with small children returning to school the next day are involved in numerous preparations.
Unless it is the town's position that combining these activities with the inconvenience of not drawing water, using washing machines, laundry tubs, having showers, baths or flushing toilets this seems to be a planning oversight.
I understand that it was decided back in March that the town is developing a customer service strategy that would address things like customer service standards and measurements.
The town's pathetically cobbled together, inactive and now defunct blog made mention that :
"Council's approval means a consultant will now begin working with the staff to look at the current state of customer service at the town, identify gaps and come back to council with recommendations."
How about I save you the cost of your consultant.
As a resident facing the recent huge spike in our water bill I expect more from the town of Aurora.
If the town honestly considers this to be an example of exemplary customer service then they have such an overwhelming amount to learn that they need to focus their efforts away from monitoring water loss and start tracking grey-matter loss.
Monday, 5 September 2011
It's All Relative
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "What Other People Think":
Should we judge Mayor Dawe by the Tuesday night telecasts of Council meetings, or judge him by different atmosphere around Town Hall and it's staff.
Maybe we should be judging him and the rest of Council by the amazing decrease in contentious issues that no longer fill the blogs and local media.
*****************
"We" will not be judging the Mayor's performance. When it comes to the ballot, an election is won by one vote at a time. It will not happen for another three years. When it does and the separate votes are counted, we will know then how the Mayor's performance has been perceived.
But only if the Mayor decides to be a candidate in the next election.
Becoming a Mayor without experience of what is expected is not an easy row to hoe.
Being a mayor with a pre-conceived notion of what a Mayor should be, is fraught with potential pit-falls.
Nothing, except having been the Mayor, prepares a person to be a Mayor .
I doubt Aurora has ever elected a Mayor without a record of performance on Council.
It never happened during my time .
We would be disregarding the obvious, if we did not acknowledge it happened this time because the community was focused on the former Mayor and overwhelming need for replacement.
This Mayor won solid support at the polls. The campaign was unlike any other because it needed to be.The community rallied to the cause.
We elected a Mayor without necessary experience. We knew that. It is completely fair that we recognise the disadvantage we all share because of it.
But politics is a harsh taskmaster. You only get to take a certain number of false steps. Every one counts. Every person at the table is a possible contender for the office; Each one measuring the Mayor's performance and the chances of taking him on in the next round.
There's time to fantasize while awaiting one's turn to speak.
I have noted previously, there are no shrinking violets in politics. If it looks that way...it's a lie, I tell you.
See how quickly the American public have forgotten. President Obama did not create the current economic disaster. All that counts now are millions of lives ruined. No hope. Only despair.
The rich become richer, the middle class vanishes and the ranks of the poor swell commensurately.
The same thing is happening here in Canada.
The public service sector continues to grow disproportionate to the private sector or any other factor.
Not just federally or provincially but at the municipal level as well.
Salaries and benefits continue to climb without checks or balances or regard for ability to pay.
Municipal tax revenues are down because of inability to pay, building permit revenues reduced. Budgets and spending continue to increase.
The burden of expenditures tips disproportionately to the ability to pay.
Is the public service expected to acknowledge the problem? Not likely.
Is the situation relative?
I think so.
Should we judge Mayor Dawe by the Tuesday night telecasts of Council meetings, or judge him by different atmosphere around Town Hall and it's staff.
Maybe we should be judging him and the rest of Council by the amazing decrease in contentious issues that no longer fill the blogs and local media.
*****************
"We" will not be judging the Mayor's performance. When it comes to the ballot, an election is won by one vote at a time. It will not happen for another three years. When it does and the separate votes are counted, we will know then how the Mayor's performance has been perceived.
But only if the Mayor decides to be a candidate in the next election.
Becoming a Mayor without experience of what is expected is not an easy row to hoe.
Being a mayor with a pre-conceived notion of what a Mayor should be, is fraught with potential pit-falls.
Nothing, except having been the Mayor, prepares a person to be a Mayor .
I doubt Aurora has ever elected a Mayor without a record of performance on Council.
It never happened during my time .
We would be disregarding the obvious, if we did not acknowledge it happened this time because the community was focused on the former Mayor and overwhelming need for replacement.
This Mayor won solid support at the polls. The campaign was unlike any other because it needed to be.The community rallied to the cause.
We elected a Mayor without necessary experience. We knew that. It is completely fair that we recognise the disadvantage we all share because of it.
But politics is a harsh taskmaster. You only get to take a certain number of false steps. Every one counts. Every person at the table is a possible contender for the office; Each one measuring the Mayor's performance and the chances of taking him on in the next round.
There's time to fantasize while awaiting one's turn to speak.
I have noted previously, there are no shrinking violets in politics. If it looks that way...it's a lie, I tell you.
See how quickly the American public have forgotten. President Obama did not create the current economic disaster. All that counts now are millions of lives ruined. No hope. Only despair.
The rich become richer, the middle class vanishes and the ranks of the poor swell commensurately.
The same thing is happening here in Canada.
The public service sector continues to grow disproportionate to the private sector or any other factor.
Not just federally or provincially but at the municipal level as well.
Salaries and benefits continue to climb without checks or balances or regard for ability to pay.
Municipal tax revenues are down because of inability to pay, building permit revenues reduced. Budgets and spending continue to increase.
The burden of expenditures tips disproportionately to the ability to pay.
Is the public service expected to acknowledge the problem? Not likely.
Is the situation relative?
I think so.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Layton's Choice
I can't print the comment sent at 10.02. There's a hint of corruption.
If I thought or had evidence of corruption. this blog would not be the place to deal with it. Lives can be devastated. Careers and reputations destroyed. It is not a matter for idle chat.
Dreary weather had me watching dreary television . The news channel with Charles Adler had a list of items for discussion.
The NDP "secret agenda " was one.
The Honorable Libby Davies M.P. for Vancouver East was the focus. She has apparently tabled numerous motions in the House. Because of her status in the party. she may be a candidate for the leadership. It's never too soon to put her philosophy under the microscope.
Motions in the House are hardly secret.
Mr. Adler with a beguiling twinkle asks the rhetorical question;
"Do they think we're stooopid"
A second item was about a doctor in Whitby who has set up a clinic that provides prompt and presumably additional care for families willing to pay a membership fee of $1,000.
According to Adler, the doctor is being "persecuted" because charging fees is against the law.
A spokesperson for the Fraser Institute, a right-wing think tank, supported Adler's contention. He said every country in Europe with a health care system includes an option of private care.
He said people in Switzerland were asked if they preferred their own system or the Canadian system.
They preferred their own.
Why were they being asked?
Does Adler think viewers are "stoopid"? .......... Obviously.
The station is now asking why Jack Layton didn't come clean about his health, when he undertook the campaign to become Prime Minister of Canada.
They contend the NDP would be first to demand an explanation of Conservatives or Liberals, if they put forward a candidate in similar circumstance.
As if there has ever been similar circumstances ?
If the question succeeds in becoming a brouhaha, as the station clearly intends. the politicians will have created their own rod.
They gave Mr. Layton full honours as a great Canadian at the time of his death.
They knew the circumstances as well as the rest of us.
Stephen Lewis gave Mr. Layton's eulogy. I listened to a couple of sentences before changing the channel.
I thought, had Layton been a Catholic, Lewis would have been calling for canonisation.
Layton was astute and adept in politics. He was dedicated to a particular political philosophy. He did not aspire to sainthood.
At the time the election was called, he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Anyone who knows anything ,knew he could not have been cleared within that time.
He had a choice to make. Thousands of candidates,riding associations and millions of supporters across the length and breadth of Canada depended on him to lead them into the election.
Should he keep his commitment and dedication to his life's work and the people looking to him for leadership?
Should he step aside and fight for his life?
I doubt a politician present at Roy Thompson Hall for the commemoration ,could have answered with certainty, they would , in the face of it, have made the choice he did.
They understood too well.
They know the demands. They know the price.They know the rewards or lack thereoff.
From every level of government, they accorded him wholehearted respect for the choice he made.
They did not spell it out.
They left that to history.
Would he have allowed the opportunity to pass?
I think not.
If I thought or had evidence of corruption. this blog would not be the place to deal with it. Lives can be devastated. Careers and reputations destroyed. It is not a matter for idle chat.
Dreary weather had me watching dreary television . The news channel with Charles Adler had a list of items for discussion.
The NDP "secret agenda " was one.
The Honorable Libby Davies M.P. for Vancouver East was the focus. She has apparently tabled numerous motions in the House. Because of her status in the party. she may be a candidate for the leadership. It's never too soon to put her philosophy under the microscope.
Motions in the House are hardly secret.
Mr. Adler with a beguiling twinkle asks the rhetorical question;
"Do they think we're stooopid"
A second item was about a doctor in Whitby who has set up a clinic that provides prompt and presumably additional care for families willing to pay a membership fee of $1,000.
According to Adler, the doctor is being "persecuted" because charging fees is against the law.
A spokesperson for the Fraser Institute, a right-wing think tank, supported Adler's contention. He said every country in Europe with a health care system includes an option of private care.
He said people in Switzerland were asked if they preferred their own system or the Canadian system.
They preferred their own.
Why were they being asked?
Does Adler think viewers are "stoopid"? .......... Obviously.
The station is now asking why Jack Layton didn't come clean about his health, when he undertook the campaign to become Prime Minister of Canada.
They contend the NDP would be first to demand an explanation of Conservatives or Liberals, if they put forward a candidate in similar circumstance.
As if there has ever been similar circumstances ?
If the question succeeds in becoming a brouhaha, as the station clearly intends. the politicians will have created their own rod.
They gave Mr. Layton full honours as a great Canadian at the time of his death.
They knew the circumstances as well as the rest of us.
Stephen Lewis gave Mr. Layton's eulogy. I listened to a couple of sentences before changing the channel.
I thought, had Layton been a Catholic, Lewis would have been calling for canonisation.
Layton was astute and adept in politics. He was dedicated to a particular political philosophy. He did not aspire to sainthood.
At the time the election was called, he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Anyone who knows anything ,knew he could not have been cleared within that time.
He had a choice to make. Thousands of candidates,riding associations and millions of supporters across the length and breadth of Canada depended on him to lead them into the election.
Should he keep his commitment and dedication to his life's work and the people looking to him for leadership?
Should he step aside and fight for his life?
I doubt a politician present at Roy Thompson Hall for the commemoration ,could have answered with certainty, they would , in the face of it, have made the choice he did.
They understood too well.
They know the demands. They know the price.They know the rewards or lack thereoff.
From every level of government, they accorded him wholehearted respect for the choice he made.
They did not spell it out.
They left that to history.
Would he have allowed the opportunity to pass?
I think not.
Friday, 2 September 2011
What Other People Think
The comment below came in yesterday. Theresa heard me . "What are you laughing at" she asked.
So I read it to her right to the end.
I know I have solid support. Many have been loyal since my first time candidacy.But it's nice to see a positive rating.
"Of course" I said "I can't publish it. Readers may think I wrote it myself".
But I didn't reject it. I 'll sleep on it ,I thought.
And I changed my mind. Why should I not accept a positive rating? I'm a politician for goodness sake. We thrive on encouragement. Written expressions of support are rare and should be taken as we find them
Thank you, anonymous.
I do not keep score cards. We are each accountable to the people who elected us. None of us are responsible for the performance of others. I am happy to share my substantial experience but if it is not considered useful, I can live with that as well.
I agree with your observations about conduct of meetings . Fortunately there is time for improvement all around. Councillors were chosen despite a lack of experience. They need time to learn.
They appear not to grasp the necessary tension between administration and the political body. Choosing instead, almost one hundred per cent, to align themselves with the administration.
The electorate have a different perspective. Closer to my own I think.
The administration is not accountable to the electorate.
Councillor members are.They need think independently instead of leaning entirely on information from staff ; which can only be intended to support staff recommendations.
It is for councillors to decide what voters will or will not accept.
Comments like the one below remind them.
It's why I decided to post it. Though it has a sting . For which I may be held accountable.
**************************************
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "You Were Saying":
Talking of funnelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to non-elected bodies that bear no responsibility for accounting for how it is spent, have you ever mentally prepared a report card on the mayor and your fellow councillors?
Ability to think (under fire/otherwise) Ability to speak coherently Overall performance Political Future
____________________________________ __________________________ ___________________ ______________
Geoff Dawe 6 6 1/2 6 unclear
John Abel 6 6 6 unclear
Michael Thompson 5 1/2 5 1/2 5 1/2 unclear
Paul Pirri 6 6 6 unknown
Sandra Humfryes 4 1/4 4 3/4 4 1/2 questionable
John Gallo 4 3 3/4 4 none
Wendy Gaertner 0 0 0 * retire
Chris Ballard 4 3/4 5 4 7/8 very questionable
Evelyn Buck 8 1/2 9 9 1/2 ** unlimited
* This grading system does not permit negative numbers ** Bonus point
On the whole, the result is probably on a par with many other municipal councils. But there is a great deal of improvement that must be made if Aurora residents are to get the service to which they are entitled in exchange for their tax dollars.
There is far too much time wasted at both Council and GC meetings on matters such as repeater delegations, awards (should be separate), motions and questions and points on purely procedural factors.
Meetings must be managed better and agendas should be completed for each session.
Thinking and speaking clearly MUST be improved if our town is going to have the future it deserves.
Please try and get this layout right.
So I read it to her right to the end.
I know I have solid support. Many have been loyal since my first time candidacy.But it's nice to see a positive rating.
"Of course" I said "I can't publish it. Readers may think I wrote it myself".
But I didn't reject it. I 'll sleep on it ,I thought.
And I changed my mind. Why should I not accept a positive rating? I'm a politician for goodness sake. We thrive on encouragement. Written expressions of support are rare and should be taken as we find them
Thank you, anonymous.
I do not keep score cards. We are each accountable to the people who elected us. None of us are responsible for the performance of others. I am happy to share my substantial experience but if it is not considered useful, I can live with that as well.
I agree with your observations about conduct of meetings . Fortunately there is time for improvement all around. Councillors were chosen despite a lack of experience. They need time to learn.
They appear not to grasp the necessary tension between administration and the political body. Choosing instead, almost one hundred per cent, to align themselves with the administration.
The electorate have a different perspective. Closer to my own I think.
The administration is not accountable to the electorate.
Councillor members are.They need think independently instead of leaning entirely on information from staff ; which can only be intended to support staff recommendations.
It is for councillors to decide what voters will or will not accept.
Comments like the one below remind them.
It's why I decided to post it. Though it has a sting . For which I may be held accountable.
**************************************
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "You Were Saying":
Talking of funnelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to non-elected bodies that bear no responsibility for accounting for how it is spent, have you ever mentally prepared a report card on the mayor and your fellow councillors?
Ability to think (under fire/otherwise) Ability to speak coherently Overall performance Political Future
____________________________________ __________________________ ___________________ ______________
Geoff Dawe 6 6 1/2 6 unclear
John Abel 6 6 6 unclear
Michael Thompson 5 1/2 5 1/2 5 1/2 unclear
Paul Pirri 6 6 6 unknown
Sandra Humfryes 4 1/4 4 3/4 4 1/2 questionable
John Gallo 4 3 3/4 4 none
Wendy Gaertner 0 0 0 * retire
Chris Ballard 4 3/4 5 4 7/8 very questionable
Evelyn Buck 8 1/2 9 9 1/2 ** unlimited
* This grading system does not permit negative numbers ** Bonus point
On the whole, the result is probably on a par with many other municipal councils. But there is a great deal of improvement that must be made if Aurora residents are to get the service to which they are entitled in exchange for their tax dollars.
There is far too much time wasted at both Council and GC meetings on matters such as repeater delegations, awards (should be separate), motions and questions and points on purely procedural factors.
Meetings must be managed better and agendas should be completed for each session.
Thinking and speaking clearly MUST be improved if our town is going to have the future it deserves.
Please try and get this layout right.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
You Were Saying
Something Fishy in Aurora has left a new comment on your post "Whereas......It Is Hereby Resolved":
With the history of this topic, I wonder how successful the search for the new curator will be.
*****************
To replace the original curator, the Historical Society was successful in retaining the services of a highly qualified curator.
The $770 thousand grant received for the Church Street School was the result of a successful application by that curator.
The resource person to the Ad Hoc Committee Council appointed to oversee terms of reference and an agreement with a board of management for the facility when it was completed was the curator.The curator was no longer there when the agreement was finalised.
It was during that time, the Aurora Historical Society withdrew their commitment to manage the Church Street School and agreed to dissolve the legal agreement they required the town to sign signed to protect their financial investment.
It was about then the curator accepted another position in the Town of Markham.
I do not see employment by a volunteer organisation as secure employment.
Volunteer Membership is fluid. Executives change . A commitment by one executive can be withdrawn by the next. It happened.
There is not much point in staying in a job if the rug,figuratively speaking, has been rudely removed from beneath your feet.
The position with the Historic Society is now described as manager/curator. I understand management refers to the business of the Society.
I believe with the municipality as employer, the position presents as a more attractive and secure opportunity.
Not counting the last Aurora council .
Also, Council is the body responsible for expenditures and accountable for return.
In principle, I absolutely oppose non- elected groups having hundreds of thousands of tax dollars allocated to spend as they see fit.
It's unthinkable. It is not traditional.
The oversight I regard as part of my responsibility as an elected representative does not include funneling out hundreds of thousands of dollar to non-elected bodies who bear no responsibility for its disposition, in the hopes they will think kindly of me at the time of an election.
With the history of this topic, I wonder how successful the search for the new curator will be.
*****************
To replace the original curator, the Historical Society was successful in retaining the services of a highly qualified curator.
The $770 thousand grant received for the Church Street School was the result of a successful application by that curator.
The resource person to the Ad Hoc Committee Council appointed to oversee terms of reference and an agreement with a board of management for the facility when it was completed was the curator.The curator was no longer there when the agreement was finalised.
It was during that time, the Aurora Historical Society withdrew their commitment to manage the Church Street School and agreed to dissolve the legal agreement they required the town to sign signed to protect their financial investment.
It was about then the curator accepted another position in the Town of Markham.
I do not see employment by a volunteer organisation as secure employment.
Volunteer Membership is fluid. Executives change . A commitment by one executive can be withdrawn by the next. It happened.
There is not much point in staying in a job if the rug,figuratively speaking, has been rudely removed from beneath your feet.
The position with the Historic Society is now described as manager/curator. I understand management refers to the business of the Society.
I believe with the municipality as employer, the position presents as a more attractive and secure opportunity.
Not counting the last Aurora council .
Also, Council is the body responsible for expenditures and accountable for return.
In principle, I absolutely oppose non- elected groups having hundreds of thousands of tax dollars allocated to spend as they see fit.
It's unthinkable. It is not traditional.
The oversight I regard as part of my responsibility as an elected representative does not include funneling out hundreds of thousands of dollar to non-elected bodies who bear no responsibility for its disposition, in the hopes they will think kindly of me at the time of an election.
Whereas......Be It Hereby Resolved
A Motion will be presented at the first regular Council meeting in September. To the effect, the town retain the services of a curator with credentials sufficient to establish a museum, organise a collection provide advice to Council, guidance and leadership to the Aurora Historical Society and to volunteers willing to participate in the operation of a modern museum.
The motion is based on thirty- years of precedent that the Town of Aurora honours its heritage will continue to promote awareness to residents, young,old and new, of the town's proud history by provision of a museum and ancillary services.
Since 1976. Aurora invested millions of dollars in repairs to restore and maintain the structure of Church Street school. It was to stand as a symbol of the values of the founding families who struggled and sacrificed to create a place where families could grow and prosper..
In 2006 Aurora Council committed $2.3 million dollars to restore the interior of the building with a state of the art museum design funded by the Aurora Historical Society and adopted by Council.
A further $770 thousand heritage grant was obtained and used for the same purpose
Restoration of Church Street School has been complete since two years.
The town provides an annual budget in excess of $340.thousand dollars to its operation. In addition to providing maintenance services at a value of $147,thousand dollars.
The facility has a staff . No curator.
The town provides a grant of $50. thousand to the Aurora Historical Society, traditionally understood to fund curator services for the town's museum.
Today, no museum exists in the Church Street School. The collection is stored in boxes in the basement
Space has been apparently been provided to the Historical Society to "catalogue" the collection.
No curator is available to establish and organise the museum collection in its intended home.
No sign indicates the service will resume now or in the future, unless the town takes positive steps to make it happen.
The purpose of the motion is for the town to retain the services of a curator with sufficient credentials to provide advice to council, with the intent of restoring the museum to its rightful home.
To establish and organise the collection.
To provide guidance and leadership to the Aurora Historical Society and other volunteers who may choose to participate in the operation of the community's museum.
The over-all aim and objective is continued awareness of town history, respect for the work and sacrifice of the founding families who provided a concrete set of values and principles to guide its future which we are currently enjoying.
Funds are provided in 2011 and have been provided in previous budgets sufficient to cover the cost.
Church Street School continues to exist because of this community's commitment to respect its heritage and values.
It is this Council's authority and responsibility to ensure that happens.
The motion is based on thirty- years of precedent that the Town of Aurora honours its heritage will continue to promote awareness to residents, young,old and new, of the town's proud history by provision of a museum and ancillary services.
Since 1976. Aurora invested millions of dollars in repairs to restore and maintain the structure of Church Street school. It was to stand as a symbol of the values of the founding families who struggled and sacrificed to create a place where families could grow and prosper..
In 2006 Aurora Council committed $2.3 million dollars to restore the interior of the building with a state of the art museum design funded by the Aurora Historical Society and adopted by Council.
A further $770 thousand heritage grant was obtained and used for the same purpose
Restoration of Church Street School has been complete since two years.
The town provides an annual budget in excess of $340.thousand dollars to its operation. In addition to providing maintenance services at a value of $147,thousand dollars.
The facility has a staff . No curator.
The town provides a grant of $50. thousand to the Aurora Historical Society, traditionally understood to fund curator services for the town's museum.
Today, no museum exists in the Church Street School. The collection is stored in boxes in the basement
Space has been apparently been provided to the Historical Society to "catalogue" the collection.
No curator is available to establish and organise the museum collection in its intended home.
No sign indicates the service will resume now or in the future, unless the town takes positive steps to make it happen.
The purpose of the motion is for the town to retain the services of a curator with sufficient credentials to provide advice to council, with the intent of restoring the museum to its rightful home.
To establish and organise the collection.
To provide guidance and leadership to the Aurora Historical Society and other volunteers who may choose to participate in the operation of the community's museum.
The over-all aim and objective is continued awareness of town history, respect for the work and sacrifice of the founding families who provided a concrete set of values and principles to guide its future which we are currently enjoying.
Funds are provided in 2011 and have been provided in previous budgets sufficient to cover the cost.
Church Street School continues to exist because of this community's commitment to respect its heritage and values.
It is this Council's authority and responsibility to ensure that happens.
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Fabrications Abound
The answer to the question in the comment posted at 10.23.p.m. is it's a fabrication of which there are plenty
******************************
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Who's Talking About Fair...I'm Talking Common Sens...":
To Anon 6:48pm
Some of the mentioned are trying to be safe so re-election is possible.
It isn't right but it is politics
************************
I don't agree with the comment. I think Councillors are being careful and trying to do the right thing. On that basis, they would have a reasonable chance of re-election. But at this point. it's still too early to forecast even a bid for re-election. In the last council, one member resigned. Two did not seek re-election. It was hard for them to stay that truly dreadful course.
********************************
Speaking of fabrications, tales about the museum and the museum collection continue to proliferate.
At one point, it was suggested the town pay the historical society rent for storing the collection.
Then the claim of ownership was made by the Historical Society and everybody had better not get any ideas.
Early on it was said there is no community interest in a museum.
Then "nobody knows where the collection is"
Then again the collection is owned by the Historical Society. Plans for a curator to be appointed by the town, better keep that in mind.
The latest is, there is no collection of any value. Just a bunch of stuff people picked up at garage sales and passed on to the historical society because it might be part of Aurora's history.
Here is what I know for a fact:
Since the time I was first elected and before, the Town and the Historical Society have worked together to preserve the community's history in a comfortable relationship of mutual trust.
A small storage room upstairs in the building used as a Town hall, the Society held their meetings and stored the collection..
When the old water works became vacant in the early seventies, we gave it to the Society to use as a museum. Artifacts were lovingly identified and carefully displayed..
When the Church Street School was vacated in 1976, we gave the Society the entire second floor for the collection. A volunteer provided curatorial services. Whether professional or a labour of love ,I am not sure. I wasn't a member of Council at the time.
In the early eighties, a town grant of $50,000 was provided to the Society to retain the first curator. That bespeaks a collection to me.
From time to time, attention was drawn to available items of historical interest. The Historical Society had no financial resources. The town bought the items and assigned them to the care of the Society. There was no talk about ownership.
The museum collection was on display in the Church Street School from 1976 until 2002 when It was packed up and stored elsewhere while the building was to be renovated. We understood the Hillary House.
In 2003 , the curator retired. Her services to the community were manifold Research for town planning.. Classroom visits for schoolchildren, Summer history camps. Christmas displays and re-living Christmas past. Research for residents with a question about town history or their own.Ms Stewart was highly regarded and honoured for her service to the community by Council on the occasion of her retirement.
The grant to the society was money well spent for services returned and appreciated. .
The town and the society continued to work together . The grant continued. .
Eventually a new curator was retained.
The Society came to Council and withdrew their commitment to organise and manage the museum. Membership was said to be fifty-nine. .
The curator being the Historical Society's employee was first referenced shortly thereafter,
A legal agreement had been sought and signed by the Society and the town to protect their financial investment and interest in the Church Street School when it was the society's plan to raise the funds, renovate the building and manage it completely.
The agreement shut out Leisure Services Director who had been in charge of managing the town's facility.
There had been a fund-raising announcement. Stated purpose was restoration of the building . The Society appointed a project manager and architects were retained to design a state of the art museum at their expense.
Volunteers gutted the building back to original walls and ceilings.
It stayed that way for three years.
The town sold the Aurora Hydro Utility. We vowed to create and protect a fund which would only be used for a meaningful project that could not happen if taxes had to be raised to pay for it.
Without input from the Society, the town decided to spend a portion of the proceeds to finish Church Street School restoration and get the museum back, up and running, in its rightful place.
The vote was unanimous. I expected negative reaction in the community. There was none. The old building and museum became the first project to benefit from what I think of ,as the Heritage Fund.
The Society's state of the art museum plans were presented by the architects at a council meeting and adopted by the town. The project went forward.
Specifications prepared, tenders called a contract awarded in an amount of $2.3 million dollars.
A new curator was retained by the Society, Served as resource to the Ad Hoc committee set up by council to steer the plan of operation of the new facility.
The curator prepared an application and was successful in obtaining a $770. thousand grant for the building. It was intended , among other things, to provide the climate controlled environment necessary to protect artifacts.
The curator subsequently resigned. As resource person to the committee , a member of the committee,
and friend and campaign manager of the former Mayor, was appointed to advise the committee on an interim basis. With pay.
Eventually a board was appointed, an agreement was signed ,a budget approved and the building officially opened.
Guess what! No museum
$2.3 million dollars on restoration. $770, heritage grant all exoended for museum purposes.
$349.thousand annual budget, $147.thousand for maintenance.
No museum. No sign of same.
Question asked in council. Twice. No answer .Presiding member's eyes slid about for a bit before indicating Chief Financial Officer would be reporting.
First tale in circulation. "Museums don't make money"
The pace quickens.
Hardly a week goes by without a new tale to mitigate against the museum.
Historical Society's efforts to exert rights under the agreement ineffective.
Lectures and displays provided as a sop to town heritage.
Society apparently agreed to dissolve the agreement with the town to protect their investment when they withdrew the commitment to manage the facility.
Sometimes, it's hard to help people. They won't let you.
******************************
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Who's Talking About Fair...I'm Talking Common Sens...":
To Anon 6:48pm
Some of the mentioned are trying to be safe so re-election is possible.
It isn't right but it is politics
************************
I don't agree with the comment. I think Councillors are being careful and trying to do the right thing. On that basis, they would have a reasonable chance of re-election. But at this point. it's still too early to forecast even a bid for re-election. In the last council, one member resigned. Two did not seek re-election. It was hard for them to stay that truly dreadful course.
********************************
Speaking of fabrications, tales about the museum and the museum collection continue to proliferate.
At one point, it was suggested the town pay the historical society rent for storing the collection.
Then the claim of ownership was made by the Historical Society and everybody had better not get any ideas.
Early on it was said there is no community interest in a museum.
Then "nobody knows where the collection is"
Then again the collection is owned by the Historical Society. Plans for a curator to be appointed by the town, better keep that in mind.
The latest is, there is no collection of any value. Just a bunch of stuff people picked up at garage sales and passed on to the historical society because it might be part of Aurora's history.
Here is what I know for a fact:
Since the time I was first elected and before, the Town and the Historical Society have worked together to preserve the community's history in a comfortable relationship of mutual trust.
A small storage room upstairs in the building used as a Town hall, the Society held their meetings and stored the collection..
When the old water works became vacant in the early seventies, we gave it to the Society to use as a museum. Artifacts were lovingly identified and carefully displayed..
When the Church Street School was vacated in 1976, we gave the Society the entire second floor for the collection. A volunteer provided curatorial services. Whether professional or a labour of love ,I am not sure. I wasn't a member of Council at the time.
In the early eighties, a town grant of $50,000 was provided to the Society to retain the first curator. That bespeaks a collection to me.
From time to time, attention was drawn to available items of historical interest. The Historical Society had no financial resources. The town bought the items and assigned them to the care of the Society. There was no talk about ownership.
The museum collection was on display in the Church Street School from 1976 until 2002 when It was packed up and stored elsewhere while the building was to be renovated. We understood the Hillary House.
In 2003 , the curator retired. Her services to the community were manifold Research for town planning.. Classroom visits for schoolchildren, Summer history camps. Christmas displays and re-living Christmas past. Research for residents with a question about town history or their own.Ms Stewart was highly regarded and honoured for her service to the community by Council on the occasion of her retirement.
The grant to the society was money well spent for services returned and appreciated. .
The town and the society continued to work together . The grant continued. .
Eventually a new curator was retained.
The Society came to Council and withdrew their commitment to organise and manage the museum. Membership was said to be fifty-nine. .
The curator being the Historical Society's employee was first referenced shortly thereafter,
A legal agreement had been sought and signed by the Society and the town to protect their financial investment and interest in the Church Street School when it was the society's plan to raise the funds, renovate the building and manage it completely.
The agreement shut out Leisure Services Director who had been in charge of managing the town's facility.
There had been a fund-raising announcement. Stated purpose was restoration of the building . The Society appointed a project manager and architects were retained to design a state of the art museum at their expense.
Volunteers gutted the building back to original walls and ceilings.
It stayed that way for three years.
The town sold the Aurora Hydro Utility. We vowed to create and protect a fund which would only be used for a meaningful project that could not happen if taxes had to be raised to pay for it.
Without input from the Society, the town decided to spend a portion of the proceeds to finish Church Street School restoration and get the museum back, up and running, in its rightful place.
The vote was unanimous. I expected negative reaction in the community. There was none. The old building and museum became the first project to benefit from what I think of ,as the Heritage Fund.
The Society's state of the art museum plans were presented by the architects at a council meeting and adopted by the town. The project went forward.
Specifications prepared, tenders called a contract awarded in an amount of $2.3 million dollars.
A new curator was retained by the Society, Served as resource to the Ad Hoc committee set up by council to steer the plan of operation of the new facility.
The curator prepared an application and was successful in obtaining a $770. thousand grant for the building. It was intended , among other things, to provide the climate controlled environment necessary to protect artifacts.
The curator subsequently resigned. As resource person to the committee , a member of the committee,
and friend and campaign manager of the former Mayor, was appointed to advise the committee on an interim basis. With pay.
Eventually a board was appointed, an agreement was signed ,a budget approved and the building officially opened.
Guess what! No museum
$2.3 million dollars on restoration. $770, heritage grant all exoended for museum purposes.
$349.thousand annual budget, $147.thousand for maintenance.
No museum. No sign of same.
Question asked in council. Twice. No answer .Presiding member's eyes slid about for a bit before indicating Chief Financial Officer would be reporting.
First tale in circulation. "Museums don't make money"
The pace quickens.
Hardly a week goes by without a new tale to mitigate against the museum.
Historical Society's efforts to exert rights under the agreement ineffective.
Lectures and displays provided as a sop to town heritage.
Society apparently agreed to dissolve the agreement with the town to protect their investment when they withdrew the commitment to manage the facility.
Sometimes, it's hard to help people. They won't let you.
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
| Old Sea Story There's an old sea story about a ship's Captain who inspected his sailors, and afterward told the first mate that his men smelled bad. The Captain suggested perhaps it would help if the sailors would change underwear occasionally. The first mate responded, "Aye, aye sir, I'll see to it immediately!" The first mate went straight to the sailors berth deck and announced, "The Captain thinks you guys smell bad and wants you to change your underwear." He continued, "Pittman, you change with Jones, McCarthy, you change with Witkowski, and Brown, you change with Schultz." THE MORAL OF THE STORY: Someone may come along and promise "Change", but don't count on things smelling any better. Have a Grand Day... |
Who's Talking About Fair...I'm Talking Common Sense.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Where Does The Salt Go?":
I like the idea of a "runnel" to collect these toxins. What I can't understand is why it should be so expensive to skim off a bit of oil and residual matter.
Salt is most definitely the greatest toxin in the mix, and the millions you quote for cost would be well worth it if only it could deal with this substance. It is a pity that it cannot. I don't think writing it off as "a natural substance taken from the earth in the first place" is fair. Uranium and asbestos are both natural substances as well. In all cases they are fine if we leave them where we find them, but once we dig them out of the ground we have to take a little responsibility for them.
**********************************
I did not quote millions. The budget is half a million.
Salt is not in the same category as uranium and asbestos. As noted it can't be removed in a treatment system. No matter how many hard-earned tax dollars are flushed away in the endeavour...
This story started a number of years ago. During the council term before the last.
An environmental advisory committee was proposed by Morris and Gaertner and approved by Council.
The number of members were to be seven. Eleven applied. Eleven were appointed.
The Public Works Director was to be the resource person. I asked what he thought about that.
He said he didn't mind.
Next budget meeting ,he recommended hiring an environmental engineer at an annual cost of $100 thousand including benefits and equipment.
I asked what would be the job. "Identifying environmental initiatives" he said.
And attending environmental advisory committee meetings,I noted. He didn't raise his eyes when he nodded .
For several years after, at budget time, I asked about environmental initiatives identified. He was no longer with us.
There was never an answer. Just a bemuse look in my direction. I wasn't surprised.
The project now under consideration was approved in the last year of the last council, in an amount of $500 thousand.
$123,911. has already been spent." The design is in progress".
So if the question is asked again ;" what environmental initiatives have been identified" I guess this will be it.
Only it isn't.
In the Oak Ridges Moraine, home-owners can't build a patio in their yard without approval from the Committee of Adjustment after paying several hundred dollars for an application fee.
They can't put down a concrete pad for a garden shed without going through the same process
But the town is planning to cover a permeable gravel area with an impermeable concrete surface with a concrete runnel, to direct melting snow with a questionable measurement of salt into a treatment facility that will likely capture less than the gravel surface would, before the melt has any chance of reaching ground water. In the area,the run-off is far more likely to reach a stream of running water before it ever reaches an aquifer.
The amount of salt in the snow is not been measured. How much can there be after it melted ice on the few streets from which it was removed and ran down the gutters into catchbasins and from there into storm sewers.
In my view it's similar boondoggle,only at half a million dollar cost as the trumpeted "Right to Dry"campaign that brought us headlines in the New York Times. The tshirt bearing the logo is probably one of Al Gore's most precious mementos of his trip to Canada.
Yet there never was a prohibition on drying washing outdoors in Aurora.
There was a covenant on end units of townhouse rows. It stopped family laundry,(underwear and such), (well-washed or indifferently),(bloomers or thongs) from becoming part of the streetscape.
A purchaser with an urgent need to hang a clothes line always had the option of purchasing a unit without the covenant
The fact was not noted in news reports. All media love to shine the spotlight on an example of political idiocy.
But I digressed.
The item in the capital construction list presented at the August Council meeting, to spend a further $300 thousand on a concrete pad, a runnel and a treatment system that isn't was on the list in error.
The Treasurer assures me it will be removed until the decision deferred at budget time is dealt with by council.
The Treasurer was on vacation when $600.thousand was approved in part, for replacement of the Aurora Family Leisure Complex, heaavy water use ice-making equipment and a working elevator that makes the building accessible.
Approval slid through despite an in depth council discussion that resulted in neither of the items being approved.
I like the idea of a "runnel" to collect these toxins. What I can't understand is why it should be so expensive to skim off a bit of oil and residual matter.
Salt is most definitely the greatest toxin in the mix, and the millions you quote for cost would be well worth it if only it could deal with this substance. It is a pity that it cannot. I don't think writing it off as "a natural substance taken from the earth in the first place" is fair. Uranium and asbestos are both natural substances as well. In all cases they are fine if we leave them where we find them, but once we dig them out of the ground we have to take a little responsibility for them.
**********************************
I did not quote millions. The budget is half a million.
Salt is not in the same category as uranium and asbestos. As noted it can't be removed in a treatment system. No matter how many hard-earned tax dollars are flushed away in the endeavour...
This story started a number of years ago. During the council term before the last.
An environmental advisory committee was proposed by Morris and Gaertner and approved by Council.
The number of members were to be seven. Eleven applied. Eleven were appointed.
The Public Works Director was to be the resource person. I asked what he thought about that.
He said he didn't mind.
Next budget meeting ,he recommended hiring an environmental engineer at an annual cost of $100 thousand including benefits and equipment.
I asked what would be the job. "Identifying environmental initiatives" he said.
And attending environmental advisory committee meetings,I noted. He didn't raise his eyes when he nodded .
For several years after, at budget time, I asked about environmental initiatives identified. He was no longer with us.
There was never an answer. Just a bemuse look in my direction. I wasn't surprised.
The project now under consideration was approved in the last year of the last council, in an amount of $500 thousand.
$123,911. has already been spent." The design is in progress".
So if the question is asked again ;" what environmental initiatives have been identified" I guess this will be it.
Only it isn't.
In the Oak Ridges Moraine, home-owners can't build a patio in their yard without approval from the Committee of Adjustment after paying several hundred dollars for an application fee.
They can't put down a concrete pad for a garden shed without going through the same process
But the town is planning to cover a permeable gravel area with an impermeable concrete surface with a concrete runnel, to direct melting snow with a questionable measurement of salt into a treatment facility that will likely capture less than the gravel surface would, before the melt has any chance of reaching ground water. In the area,the run-off is far more likely to reach a stream of running water before it ever reaches an aquifer.
The amount of salt in the snow is not been measured. How much can there be after it melted ice on the few streets from which it was removed and ran down the gutters into catchbasins and from there into storm sewers.
In my view it's similar boondoggle,only at half a million dollar cost as the trumpeted "Right to Dry"campaign that brought us headlines in the New York Times. The tshirt bearing the logo is probably one of Al Gore's most precious mementos of his trip to Canada.
Yet there never was a prohibition on drying washing outdoors in Aurora.
There was a covenant on end units of townhouse rows. It stopped family laundry,(underwear and such), (well-washed or indifferently),(bloomers or thongs) from becoming part of the streetscape.
A purchaser with an urgent need to hang a clothes line always had the option of purchasing a unit without the covenant
The fact was not noted in news reports. All media love to shine the spotlight on an example of political idiocy.
But I digressed.
The item in the capital construction list presented at the August Council meeting, to spend a further $300 thousand on a concrete pad, a runnel and a treatment system that isn't was on the list in error.
The Treasurer assures me it will be removed until the decision deferred at budget time is dealt with by council.
The Treasurer was on vacation when $600.thousand was approved in part, for replacement of the Aurora Family Leisure Complex, heaavy water use ice-making equipment and a working elevator that makes the building accessible.
Approval slid through despite an in depth council discussion that resulted in neither of the items being approved.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Where Does The Salt Go?
Winter snow is piled at the side of the road.,into the ditches ,on lawns,on boulevards.
Streets are salted and sanded to prevent freezing and mixed with snow, melts and runs .into storm sewers. In Spring , on my street, it fills the ditches and runs off into creeks and waterways.
Winters are not so cold as they were. We don't use less sand and salt. The grass at the edge of the boulevards no longer turns yellow and builds up with sand the way it used to.
Great mountains of accumulated snow on shopping centre parking lots, stay there until they melt in the Spring leaving behind piles of litter that are cleared away handily.
Here and there, the town removes snow from particular locations. We didn't always do that. . I remember getting a boot full quite often on Yonge Street ,when the town hall was in the middle of the East Block.
The collected snow goes to a gravel parking lot at the Lambert Wilson property. It sits there until it melts into the ground. Like everywhere else in the town.
Salt, whatever is left of it, dissolves in the melt. It filters down through the permeable layers of the good earth in that particular location. Eventually some of it may find it's way into the creek that drains the property.
Sand and litter is easily collected.and transported if need be. .
Not a big deal.
Except, we have a plan to change that. In the capital construction budget, we have half a million dollars to pave the parking lot with cement, create a runnel feeding into a treatment facility to remove "toxins"
The plan is in response to a call from the Minister of Environment to reduce "toxins" from finding their way down to the water table.
"Toxins" identified are oil and grit and sand and salt.
We have never, I mean me, seen any evidence of oil on the grass from winter snow melt. Salt no longer turns the edge of the boulevard grass yellow. We collect sand and re-use the stuff.
The only toxin, if there is any , to merit the description is salt. Salt is soluble.It can't be trapped in a treatment system.
Despite the argument,unwilling to make the decision to remove the item from the budget, like the repairs to the Aurora Family Leisure Centre. it was deferred by Council at the time , to be more thoroughly discussed at a later date.
We did not get to it at the all-day meeting held at the later date.We spent half the day listening to consultants for the Draft Strategic Plan and Space Needs for the 5 million dollar re-organisation of the town hall.
We did thoroughly discuss proposed $ 600 thousand dollars expenditure for the Aurora Family Leisure Complex and rejected most of it. But minutes from the meeting did not reflect that action. They noted the report was received.
It was not. .
It didn't much matter.
The expenditure was approved anyway through another route..
The CAO explained " the later meeting" had been held to allow Council to have "input"
The explanation sat well with the Mayor. No other Council member expressed concern . Therefore, the discussion and conclusion by council not to undertake the expenditure didn't count.
The expenditures are being undertaken.
Yet another Financial report was before council in our single August meeting agenda.
A list of capital construction projects and status is provided and staff approval recommended.
The snow storage site selection /construction is listed at $500,000.
$123,911. has been spent for the design in progress.That was done in a previous year.
The report recommends approval for the project to continue. .
I called the report for discussion. My recollection of budget indicates several items of capital construction deferred for in- depth discussion prior to approval.
If you are still reading this post, I commend you for perseverance.
At the August meeting, the usual complement of delegates, two appearing for the third time, had their turn at the mike to talk about their special interests and they in turn, were debated by Council with variable results,
Half the designated time to deal with town business was expended.
Insufficient time was left to deal with items of town business. They were deferred to September. The agenda will no doubt once again accommodate another flurry of special interest delegates as well as new items of business requiring council attention.
The nub of this post, in case it has been lost is. we are spending half a million dollars on a treatment system to remove "toxins" from a fraction of snow that melts, couldn't be stored if we wanted to, mixed with the minimum of salt we spread, that can't be removed because it dissolves.
Salt is a natural substance taken from the earth in the first place which we use of necessity, to make our environment habitable.
.
We have storm water ponds that filter" toxins" into the sediment
Streets are salted and sanded to prevent freezing and mixed with snow, melts and runs .into storm sewers. In Spring , on my street, it fills the ditches and runs off into creeks and waterways.
Winters are not so cold as they were. We don't use less sand and salt. The grass at the edge of the boulevards no longer turns yellow and builds up with sand the way it used to.
Great mountains of accumulated snow on shopping centre parking lots, stay there until they melt in the Spring leaving behind piles of litter that are cleared away handily.
Here and there, the town removes snow from particular locations. We didn't always do that. . I remember getting a boot full quite often on Yonge Street ,when the town hall was in the middle of the East Block.
The collected snow goes to a gravel parking lot at the Lambert Wilson property. It sits there until it melts into the ground. Like everywhere else in the town.
Salt, whatever is left of it, dissolves in the melt. It filters down through the permeable layers of the good earth in that particular location. Eventually some of it may find it's way into the creek that drains the property.
Sand and litter is easily collected.and transported if need be. .
Not a big deal.
Except, we have a plan to change that. In the capital construction budget, we have half a million dollars to pave the parking lot with cement, create a runnel feeding into a treatment facility to remove "toxins"
The plan is in response to a call from the Minister of Environment to reduce "toxins" from finding their way down to the water table.
"Toxins" identified are oil and grit and sand and salt.
We have never, I mean me, seen any evidence of oil on the grass from winter snow melt. Salt no longer turns the edge of the boulevard grass yellow. We collect sand and re-use the stuff.
The only toxin, if there is any , to merit the description is salt. Salt is soluble.It can't be trapped in a treatment system.
Despite the argument,unwilling to make the decision to remove the item from the budget, like the repairs to the Aurora Family Leisure Centre. it was deferred by Council at the time , to be more thoroughly discussed at a later date.
We did not get to it at the all-day meeting held at the later date.We spent half the day listening to consultants for the Draft Strategic Plan and Space Needs for the 5 million dollar re-organisation of the town hall.
We did thoroughly discuss proposed $ 600 thousand dollars expenditure for the Aurora Family Leisure Complex and rejected most of it. But minutes from the meeting did not reflect that action. They noted the report was received.
It was not. .
It didn't much matter.
The expenditure was approved anyway through another route..
The CAO explained " the later meeting" had been held to allow Council to have "input"
The explanation sat well with the Mayor. No other Council member expressed concern . Therefore, the discussion and conclusion by council not to undertake the expenditure didn't count.
The expenditures are being undertaken.
Yet another Financial report was before council in our single August meeting agenda.
A list of capital construction projects and status is provided and staff approval recommended.
The snow storage site selection /construction is listed at $500,000.
$123,911. has been spent for the design in progress.That was done in a previous year.
The report recommends approval for the project to continue. .
I called the report for discussion. My recollection of budget indicates several items of capital construction deferred for in- depth discussion prior to approval.
If you are still reading this post, I commend you for perseverance.
At the August meeting, the usual complement of delegates, two appearing for the third time, had their turn at the mike to talk about their special interests and they in turn, were debated by Council with variable results,
Half the designated time to deal with town business was expended.
Insufficient time was left to deal with items of town business. They were deferred to September. The agenda will no doubt once again accommodate another flurry of special interest delegates as well as new items of business requiring council attention.
The nub of this post, in case it has been lost is. we are spending half a million dollars on a treatment system to remove "toxins" from a fraction of snow that melts, couldn't be stored if we wanted to, mixed with the minimum of salt we spread, that can't be removed because it dissolves.
Salt is a natural substance taken from the earth in the first place which we use of necessity, to make our environment habitable.
.
We have storm water ponds that filter" toxins" into the sediment
What's Not Right About It...Where's The Harm?
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Newspaper Editorials":
Except that the name of the editor is usually just over there, right next to the editorial on the masthead, ask your buddy Ron at the Auroran.
Anonymous, indeed...
My friend Ron Wallace puts his name on the column he writes in the space usually retained for editorial comment.
It is acknowledged newspapers usually publish the names of editors. They just don't publish the name of the editor who wrote a particular editorial. They do however stand behind it.
Letters to the editor are not endorsed by any newspaper
Ron makes that clear on a regular basis.
I just thought of something else to mention in this space. When a resident speaks to his or her Councillor about a particular issue, the conversation is normally considered private. An e-mail
expressing a concern to a Councillor is also generally considered private.
People who post comments to my blog anonymously have the right to express the same opinion to a councillor without being named in a public debate. Unless with agreement..
It's not written down anywhere.
It's just generally understood.
Like we understand our right to secret ballot.
There are many good reasons why a person would not choose to trumpet personal opinions.There is nothing in the Charter of Rights that requires us to do so
That's why I think the opportunity to comment anonymously is a plus. It doesn't receive the same weight as with a name attached. In the minds of some it may not have any weight at all. But it gives the person who writes it an opportunity to vent that wasn't there before.
At this point in the evolution of the social media, who is to say that's wrong.
Except that the name of the editor is usually just over there, right next to the editorial on the masthead, ask your buddy Ron at the Auroran.
Anonymous, indeed...
My friend Ron Wallace puts his name on the column he writes in the space usually retained for editorial comment.
It is acknowledged newspapers usually publish the names of editors. They just don't publish the name of the editor who wrote a particular editorial. They do however stand behind it.
Letters to the editor are not endorsed by any newspaper
Ron makes that clear on a regular basis.
I just thought of something else to mention in this space. When a resident speaks to his or her Councillor about a particular issue, the conversation is normally considered private. An e-mail
expressing a concern to a Councillor is also generally considered private.
People who post comments to my blog anonymously have the right to express the same opinion to a councillor without being named in a public debate. Unless with agreement..
It's not written down anywhere.
It's just generally understood.
Like we understand our right to secret ballot.
There are many good reasons why a person would not choose to trumpet personal opinions.There is nothing in the Charter of Rights that requires us to do so
That's why I think the opportunity to comment anonymously is a plus. It doesn't receive the same weight as with a name attached. In the minds of some it may not have any weight at all. But it gives the person who writes it an opportunity to vent that wasn't there before.
At this point in the evolution of the social media, who is to say that's wrong.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Newspaper Editorials
I just thought of something.
Newspapers have been publishing editorials since ,I think, the advent of print.
They see their role as watchdogs of the community .
They regularly criticise politicians and governments.
Yet they are mostly faceless and nameless.
Anonymous you might say
Newspapers have been publishing editorials since ,I think, the advent of print.
They see their role as watchdogs of the community .
They regularly criticise politicians and governments.
Yet they are mostly faceless and nameless.
Anonymous you might say
Saturday, 27 August 2011
I Take This Line Back
" I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite like this."
It's not true. The last Council was a total nightmare.
It took Bob and Allison and Grace a little while to realise what they were dealing with.
Then Grace resigned. Bob is such an honorable man, it took him a long time to accept the reality. In his whole life in Aurora, I doubt he ever encountered anything like it.
How would one recognise it, if one has never seen it before?
A poster asks "What do we tell our children?"
You don't tell your children. You tell your Councillor.
You give them your take on things. You may be reinforcing their own instinctive reactions.
They did not take over a perfect or even a mediocre situation.
This group of Councillors mean well. They intend to do the best job they can. With one obvious exception.
Turning things around to what it should be is hard for people who don't know what it should be.
What if they do it wrong and make a mess.?
They need to hear from you. You need to tell them how you see things from outside and challenge them to explain why it should stay like that.
***********
Anonymous has left a new comment on my post "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning":
Is there any director at Town Hall that you don't have an issue with? No wonder they give you short shrift!
************
Councillors will be hearing comments like that as well.
The administration is in charge.
Perish the thought a lowly Councillor might challenge a staff recommendations on behalf of the people paying the shot. She will quickly find out who is in charge and get short shrift in exchange.
In a pig's ear
It's not true. The last Council was a total nightmare.
It took Bob and Allison and Grace a little while to realise what they were dealing with.
Then Grace resigned. Bob is such an honorable man, it took him a long time to accept the reality. In his whole life in Aurora, I doubt he ever encountered anything like it.
How would one recognise it, if one has never seen it before?
A poster asks "What do we tell our children?"
You don't tell your children. You tell your Councillor.
You give them your take on things. You may be reinforcing their own instinctive reactions.
They did not take over a perfect or even a mediocre situation.
This group of Councillors mean well. They intend to do the best job they can. With one obvious exception.
Turning things around to what it should be is hard for people who don't know what it should be.
What if they do it wrong and make a mess.?
They need to hear from you. You need to tell them how you see things from outside and challenge them to explain why it should stay like that.
***********
Anonymous has left a new comment on my post "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning":
Is there any director at Town Hall that you don't have an issue with? No wonder they give you short shrift!
************
Councillors will be hearing comments like that as well.
The administration is in charge.
Perish the thought a lowly Councillor might challenge a staff recommendations on behalf of the people paying the shot. She will quickly find out who is in charge and get short shrift in exchange.
In a pig's ear
A Cry of Desperation From Klaus Wehrehberg
I received the e-mail below this morning from Klaus Wehrenberg, Chairman of the Town of Aurora Trails Committee.I think it's a last desperate plea to obtain at least a reaction from the Region on the issue of a trail underpass under a five lane highway.
Leslie Street runs parallel to Highway 404. Five lanes represent a barrier which will effectively divide a community.. For the Region and the town to ignore or deny the problems the juxtapositon of land designations and vehicular traffic will create in the very near future is incomprehensible.
********************
Dear Councillors:
Yesterday you were forwarded information that pertains to the Leslie Street underpass issue, by the Mayor's office. The documents: A Region of York report on the issue, prepared by the Transportation Services Committee (Report No 2) , and the Minutes of the Feb 17 Regional Council Meeting.
As you will have found, I was a delegate at the meeting. However, the Minutes don't reflect the substance of my presentation.
I am writing to you to:
1. inform you of what I said at the Feb 17 meeting
2. why I disagree with the Recommendation of Report No 2, and
3. to enlist your support to have the issue placed on the Agenda of the next Aurora Council Meeting, and to explain why I seek your support.
Re 1: Allow me to point out that the previous Council had adopted the draft trail corridor layout for the 2C Lands as Town of Aurora policy. That layout includes three corridors which cross Leslie Street between Wellington and Aurora's north boundary, all of them along deep valleys that straddle Leslie in a more or less east-west direction. Report No 2 recommended that the trail traffic utilize a push button traffic light to cross Leslie, at grade.
Being aware of the history of the underpass issue, that includes constant concerns about the costs of building such underpasses (estimated to be about $1 million, without any concrete backup), I asked Regional Council to include the design of the 3 underpasses in the terms of reference for the bidding process, the RFP for the widening of Leslie.
I said that the bidders should be asked to quote on the cost of building each underpass, so that it would be known, in concrete terms, how much more it would cost if they were to be built. Aurora Council could then decide whether to have them included in the re-construction of Leslie - the precise costs would be on the table.
Re 2: Report No 2, even though it appears comprehensive, is mute on two important items of information:
a) The Report does not set out the fact that, in the 2C Area, about 8,000 residents are expected to be housed immediately west of Leslie, and that immediately east of Leslie, over 6,000 employment opportunities are to be created. The average distance between the residences and such places of employment is about 1 km - a distance over which just about any traffic participant should be able to move without using a car, and hence could utilize the proposed trails corridors. One should also consider that the higher density residential clusters will be closer to Leslie Street than the low density residential areas, thus potentially reducing the average commuting distance between home and work to below 1 km per commuting trip.
In addition to commuting trips to the 6,000+ places of employment in the 2C Area, there will also be many shopping trips to the commercial (Walmart etc) area just to the south of the 2C Area, also on the east side of Leslie. Many of those trips could well be made via alternative modes of transportation, so called 'active' modes.
The writers of the Report have thus failed to include key demographic and traffic analysis information that should automatically trigger recommendations that encourage and promote non-motorized traffic, including the elimination of at grade crossings of a 4 to 5 lane Regional Road.
b) The Report also does not deal with the consequences of having non-motorized traffic cross a 4 to 5 lane road, via the push button triggered traffic light. Such crossings will happen predominantly in the high volume morning and afternoon periods, and will substantially inconvenience motorized traffic participants. Leslie Street is being widened to better move traffic - and then traffic is being slowed through lack of foresight.
No attempt has been made to assess cumulative wait times that will be suffered by the motorized Leslie Street traffic participant, and any consequent impacts. The one-time capital expenditure for the building of an underpass may pale in comparison to potential cumulative costs if non-motorized traffic is forced to cross at grade.
The absence of relevant comparative data, and related analysis, must be considered lack of due professional diligence, which renders the Report nonsuitable as a base for professional recommendations.
c) At this stage, the Leslie Street Environmental Study Report has been advertised as completed. That means, with the Feb 17 Regional Council decision incorporated in that Report, that the Regional Municipality of York has rejected the building of underpasses under Leslie Street, as part of the re-construction and widening of their Regional Road.
The Town of Aurora can ask the Minister of Environment to initiate a review of the Region's position. That request could be made based on the position that the widening of Leslie Street grossly conflicts with the Town of Aurora's policy to route 'active transportation' commuting corridors across Leslie, in that, e.g. at grade crossings are contrary to encouraging non-motorized traffic alternatives, and are contrary to Regional policies to encourage walkable communities and sustainable traffic, among other reasons.
The Town of Aurora could also accept the Region's position, and not appeal to the Minister of Environment for a review. However, in that case, the Town could nevertheless ask the Region to include the design of the underpasses in the RFP process, and await the actual cost quotations, before making a decision as to whether to include all or some of the underpasses; that approach would burden the Town with the costs, starting with design costs. This approach, the request to have the designs included, can still be made. I have recently (Aug 23) been assured by the Region's Senior Project Manager that the design can still be included, if Aurora gives direction to that effect.
The Town of Aurora could also pursue both of the above options.
The last day on which the Minister of Environment can be asked to review the Region's Environmental Study Report is September 21 - the request to review must be in the Minister's hands by then.
I am asking you, my Town Councilors, to request that this issue be placed on the Agenda of Council, before it is too late to take advantage of the re-construction of Leslie Street, to build underpasses. It will be prohibitively expensive to do it after the fact - in that the writers of Report No 2 and I agree. While one does not need special brains to arrive at that conclusion, realizing the impact of such delay should conjure up sober thought.
I have twice tried to have the item placed on the Council Agenda, and my second attempt could yet bear fruit. Hopefully I have convinced you why you should have at least a political dialogue on this issue. It is not too late yet.
You need to have your visionary mind in place, to realize the tremendous value of such underpasses - will they ever pay off!
could then decide whether to have them included in the re-construction of Leslie - the precise costs would be on the table.
Re 2: Report No 2, even though it appears comprehensive, is mute on two important items of information:
a) The Report does not set out the fact that, in the 2C Area, about 8,000 residents are expected to be housed immediately west of Leslie, and that immediately east of Leslie, over 6,000 employment opportunities are to be created. The average distance between the residences and such places of employment is about 1 km - a distance over which just about any traffic participant should be able to move without using a car, and hence could utilize the proposed trails corridors. One should also consider that the higher density residential clusters will be closer to Leslie Street than the low density residential areas, thus potentially reducing the average commuting distance between home and work to below 1 km per commuting trip.
In addition to commuting trips to the 6,000+ places of employment in the 2C Area, there will also be many shopping trips to the commercial (Walmart etc) area just to the south of the 2C Area, also on the east side of Leslie. Many of those trips could well be made via alternative modes of transportation, so called 'active' modes.
The writers of the Report have thus failed to include key demographic and traffic analysis information that should automatically trigger recommendations that encourage and promote non-motorized traffic, including the elimination of at grade crossings of a 4 to 5 lane Regional Road.
b) The Report also does not deal with the consequences of having non-motorized traffic cross a 4 to 5 lane road, via the push button triggered traffic light. Such crossings will happen predominantly in the high volume morning and afternoon periods, and will substantially inconvenience motorized traffic participants. Leslie Street is being widened to better move traffic - and then traffic is being slowed through lack of foresight.
No attempt has been made to assess cumulative wait times that will be suffered by the motorized Leslie Street traffic participant, and any consequent impacts. The one-time capital expenditure for the building of an underpass may pale in comparison to potential cumulative costs if non-motorized traffic is forced to cross at grade.
The absence of relevant comparative data, and related analysis, must be considered lack of due professional diligence, which renders the Report nonsuitable as a base for professional recommendations.
c) At this stage, the Leslie Street Environmental Study Report has been advertised as completed. That means, with the Feb 17 Regional Council decision incorporated in that Report, that the Regional Municipality of York has rejected the building of underpasses under Leslie Street, as part of the re-construction and widening of their Regional Road.
The Town of Aurora can ask the Minister of Environment to initiate a review of the Region's position. That request could be made based on the position that the widening of Leslie Street grossly conflicts with the Town of Aurora's policy to route 'active transportation' commuting corridors across Leslie, in that, e.g. at grade crossings are contrary to encouraging non-motorized traffic alternatives, and are contrary to Regional policies to encourage walkable communities and sustainable traffic, among other reasons.
The Town of Aurora could also accept the Region's position, and not appeal to the Minister of Environment for a review. However, in that case, the Town could nevertheless ask the Region to include the design of the underpasses in the RFP process, and await the actual cost quotations, before making a decision as to whether to include all or some of the underpasses; that approach would burden the Town with the costs, starting with design costs. This approach, the request to have the designs included, can still be made. I have recently (Aug 23) been assured by the Region's Senior Project Manager that the design can still be included, if Aurora gives direction to that effect.
The Town of Aurora could also pursue both of the above options.
The last day on which the Minister of Environment can be asked to review the Region's Environmental Study Report is September 21 - the request to review must be in the Minister's hands by then.
I am asking you, my Town Councilors, to request that this issue be placed on the Agenda of Council, before it is too late to take advantage of the re-construction of Leslie Street, to build underpasses. It will be prohibitively expensive to do it after the fact - in that the writers of Report No 2 and I agree. While one does not need special brains to arrive at that conclusion, realizing the impact of such delay should conjure up sober thought.
I have twice tried to have the item placed on the Council Agenda, and my second attempt could yet bear fruit. Hopefully I have convinced you why you should have at least a political dialogue on this issue. It is not too late yet.
You need to have your visionary mind in place, to realize the tremendous value of such underpasses - will they ever pay off!
*************
My Response
*****************
Good Morning Klaus,
Thank you for the succinct and comprehensive outline of facts related to consideration of the movement of people between residential and employment lands already designated in the town's eastern neighbourhood .
I know you have made this argument to Council many times and in fact Council has supported at least, having the Region include the underpass design as part of the specifications for re-construction of the road.
As Chairman of the town's trail committee, I am aware yours has been more than an intellectual vision. You are in the habit of hiking the lands to determine the complete practicality of your recommendations.
Years of your personal time has been expended and you have experienced a great deal of frustration.
I am glad to have received your presentation in writing and I am at a loss to understand why the Region is ignoring the town's request to have underpass designs included in the specifications.
With the help of senior levels of government , including a permanent share of the gas tax, we have been able and will be able to seriously contemplate better more natural ways of moving people.
All the effort and expenditure of the Region and Municipalities to trumpet concern for the environment, is apparently, as too often happens, nothing more than empty sloganeering.
I will certainly support the town doing whatever it must to insist the Region include an underpass crossing of Leslie Street in the bidding process.
Further, I don't believe It should be beyond the capability of the road building industry to provide a ball park figure of cost without necessarily designing the project in itemised detail. It has surely been done before.
I think of a five lane highway and its impact on the Oak Ridges Moraine as opposed to a golf course and close to a million dollars spent on legal and man hours from the public purse to prevent the golf course from happening.
At the end. Not a stone upon a stone, nor a stick upon a stick to be seen for it.
Nothing but a level of hubris to the shame and embarrassment of an entire community.
Klaus ,I believe the readers of my blog might be interested in receiving your earnest appeal to Council to do something about this situation before time runs out.
Do you agree to allow me to publish it?
Leslie Street runs parallel to Highway 404. Five lanes represent a barrier which will effectively divide a community.. For the Region and the town to ignore or deny the problems the juxtapositon of land designations and vehicular traffic will create in the very near future is incomprehensible.
********************
Dear Councillors:
Yesterday you were forwarded information that pertains to the Leslie Street underpass issue, by the Mayor's office. The documents: A Region of York report on the issue, prepared by the Transportation Services Committee (Report No 2) , and the Minutes of the Feb 17 Regional Council Meeting.
As you will have found, I was a delegate at the meeting. However, the Minutes don't reflect the substance of my presentation.
I am writing to you to:
1. inform you of what I said at the Feb 17 meeting
2. why I disagree with the Recommendation of Report No 2, and
3. to enlist your support to have the issue placed on the Agenda of the next Aurora Council Meeting, and to explain why I seek your support.
Re 1: Allow me to point out that the previous Council had adopted the draft trail corridor layout for the 2C Lands as Town of Aurora policy. That layout includes three corridors which cross Leslie Street between Wellington and Aurora's north boundary, all of them along deep valleys that straddle Leslie in a more or less east-west direction. Report No 2 recommended that the trail traffic utilize a push button traffic light to cross Leslie, at grade.
Being aware of the history of the underpass issue, that includes constant concerns about the costs of building such underpasses (estimated to be about $1 million, without any concrete backup), I asked Regional Council to include the design of the 3 underpasses in the terms of reference for the bidding process, the RFP for the widening of Leslie.
I said that the bidders should be asked to quote on the cost of building each underpass, so that it would be known, in concrete terms, how much more it would cost if they were to be built. Aurora Council could then decide whether to have them included in the re-construction of Leslie - the precise costs would be on the table.
Re 2: Report No 2, even though it appears comprehensive, is mute on two important items of information:
a) The Report does not set out the fact that, in the 2C Area, about 8,000 residents are expected to be housed immediately west of Leslie, and that immediately east of Leslie, over 6,000 employment opportunities are to be created. The average distance between the residences and such places of employment is about 1 km - a distance over which just about any traffic participant should be able to move without using a car, and hence could utilize the proposed trails corridors. One should also consider that the higher density residential clusters will be closer to Leslie Street than the low density residential areas, thus potentially reducing the average commuting distance between home and work to below 1 km per commuting trip.
In addition to commuting trips to the 6,000+ places of employment in the 2C Area, there will also be many shopping trips to the commercial (Walmart etc) area just to the south of the 2C Area, also on the east side of Leslie. Many of those trips could well be made via alternative modes of transportation, so called 'active' modes.
The writers of the Report have thus failed to include key demographic and traffic analysis information that should automatically trigger recommendations that encourage and promote non-motorized traffic, including the elimination of at grade crossings of a 4 to 5 lane Regional Road.
b) The Report also does not deal with the consequences of having non-motorized traffic cross a 4 to 5 lane road, via the push button triggered traffic light. Such crossings will happen predominantly in the high volume morning and afternoon periods, and will substantially inconvenience motorized traffic participants. Leslie Street is being widened to better move traffic - and then traffic is being slowed through lack of foresight.
No attempt has been made to assess cumulative wait times that will be suffered by the motorized Leslie Street traffic participant, and any consequent impacts. The one-time capital expenditure for the building of an underpass may pale in comparison to potential cumulative costs if non-motorized traffic is forced to cross at grade.
The absence of relevant comparative data, and related analysis, must be considered lack of due professional diligence, which renders the Report nonsuitable as a base for professional recommendations.
c) At this stage, the Leslie Street Environmental Study Report has been advertised as completed. That means, with the Feb 17 Regional Council decision incorporated in that Report, that the Regional Municipality of York has rejected the building of underpasses under Leslie Street, as part of the re-construction and widening of their Regional Road.
The Town of Aurora can ask the Minister of Environment to initiate a review of the Region's position. That request could be made based on the position that the widening of Leslie Street grossly conflicts with the Town of Aurora's policy to route 'active transportation' commuting corridors across Leslie, in that, e.g. at grade crossings are contrary to encouraging non-motorized traffic alternatives, and are contrary to Regional policies to encourage walkable communities and sustainable traffic, among other reasons.
The Town of Aurora could also accept the Region's position, and not appeal to the Minister of Environment for a review. However, in that case, the Town could nevertheless ask the Region to include the design of the underpasses in the RFP process, and await the actual cost quotations, before making a decision as to whether to include all or some of the underpasses; that approach would burden the Town with the costs, starting with design costs. This approach, the request to have the designs included, can still be made. I have recently (Aug 23) been assured by the Region's Senior Project Manager that the design can still be included, if Aurora gives direction to that effect.
The Town of Aurora could also pursue both of the above options.
The last day on which the Minister of Environment can be asked to review the Region's Environmental Study Report is September 21 - the request to review must be in the Minister's hands by then.
I am asking you, my Town Councilors, to request that this issue be placed on the Agenda of Council, before it is too late to take advantage of the re-construction of Leslie Street, to build underpasses. It will be prohibitively expensive to do it after the fact - in that the writers of Report No 2 and I agree. While one does not need special brains to arrive at that conclusion, realizing the impact of such delay should conjure up sober thought.
I have twice tried to have the item placed on the Council Agenda, and my second attempt could yet bear fruit. Hopefully I have convinced you why you should have at least a political dialogue on this issue. It is not too late yet.
You need to have your visionary mind in place, to realize the tremendous value of such underpasses - will they ever pay off!
could then decide whether to have them included in the re-construction of Leslie - the precise costs would be on the table.
Re 2: Report No 2, even though it appears comprehensive, is mute on two important items of information:
a) The Report does not set out the fact that, in the 2C Area, about 8,000 residents are expected to be housed immediately west of Leslie, and that immediately east of Leslie, over 6,000 employment opportunities are to be created. The average distance between the residences and such places of employment is about 1 km - a distance over which just about any traffic participant should be able to move without using a car, and hence could utilize the proposed trails corridors. One should also consider that the higher density residential clusters will be closer to Leslie Street than the low density residential areas, thus potentially reducing the average commuting distance between home and work to below 1 km per commuting trip.
In addition to commuting trips to the 6,000+ places of employment in the 2C Area, there will also be many shopping trips to the commercial (Walmart etc) area just to the south of the 2C Area, also on the east side of Leslie. Many of those trips could well be made via alternative modes of transportation, so called 'active' modes.
The writers of the Report have thus failed to include key demographic and traffic analysis information that should automatically trigger recommendations that encourage and promote non-motorized traffic, including the elimination of at grade crossings of a 4 to 5 lane Regional Road.
b) The Report also does not deal with the consequences of having non-motorized traffic cross a 4 to 5 lane road, via the push button triggered traffic light. Such crossings will happen predominantly in the high volume morning and afternoon periods, and will substantially inconvenience motorized traffic participants. Leslie Street is being widened to better move traffic - and then traffic is being slowed through lack of foresight.
No attempt has been made to assess cumulative wait times that will be suffered by the motorized Leslie Street traffic participant, and any consequent impacts. The one-time capital expenditure for the building of an underpass may pale in comparison to potential cumulative costs if non-motorized traffic is forced to cross at grade.
The absence of relevant comparative data, and related analysis, must be considered lack of due professional diligence, which renders the Report nonsuitable as a base for professional recommendations.
c) At this stage, the Leslie Street Environmental Study Report has been advertised as completed. That means, with the Feb 17 Regional Council decision incorporated in that Report, that the Regional Municipality of York has rejected the building of underpasses under Leslie Street, as part of the re-construction and widening of their Regional Road.
The Town of Aurora can ask the Minister of Environment to initiate a review of the Region's position. That request could be made based on the position that the widening of Leslie Street grossly conflicts with the Town of Aurora's policy to route 'active transportation' commuting corridors across Leslie, in that, e.g. at grade crossings are contrary to encouraging non-motorized traffic alternatives, and are contrary to Regional policies to encourage walkable communities and sustainable traffic, among other reasons.
The Town of Aurora could also accept the Region's position, and not appeal to the Minister of Environment for a review. However, in that case, the Town could nevertheless ask the Region to include the design of the underpasses in the RFP process, and await the actual cost quotations, before making a decision as to whether to include all or some of the underpasses; that approach would burden the Town with the costs, starting with design costs. This approach, the request to have the designs included, can still be made. I have recently (Aug 23) been assured by the Region's Senior Project Manager that the design can still be included, if Aurora gives direction to that effect.
The Town of Aurora could also pursue both of the above options.
The last day on which the Minister of Environment can be asked to review the Region's Environmental Study Report is September 21 - the request to review must be in the Minister's hands by then.
I am asking you, my Town Councilors, to request that this issue be placed on the Agenda of Council, before it is too late to take advantage of the re-construction of Leslie Street, to build underpasses. It will be prohibitively expensive to do it after the fact - in that the writers of Report No 2 and I agree. While one does not need special brains to arrive at that conclusion, realizing the impact of such delay should conjure up sober thought.
I have twice tried to have the item placed on the Council Agenda, and my second attempt could yet bear fruit. Hopefully I have convinced you why you should have at least a political dialogue on this issue. It is not too late yet.
You need to have your visionary mind in place, to realize the tremendous value of such underpasses - will they ever pay off!
*************
My Response
*****************
Good Morning Klaus,
Thank you for the succinct and comprehensive outline of facts related to consideration of the movement of people between residential and employment lands already designated in the town's eastern neighbourhood .
I know you have made this argument to Council many times and in fact Council has supported at least, having the Region include the underpass design as part of the specifications for re-construction of the road.
As Chairman of the town's trail committee, I am aware yours has been more than an intellectual vision. You are in the habit of hiking the lands to determine the complete practicality of your recommendations.
Years of your personal time has been expended and you have experienced a great deal of frustration.
I am glad to have received your presentation in writing and I am at a loss to understand why the Region is ignoring the town's request to have underpass designs included in the specifications.
With the help of senior levels of government , including a permanent share of the gas tax, we have been able and will be able to seriously contemplate better more natural ways of moving people.
All the effort and expenditure of the Region and Municipalities to trumpet concern for the environment, is apparently, as too often happens, nothing more than empty sloganeering.
I will certainly support the town doing whatever it must to insist the Region include an underpass crossing of Leslie Street in the bidding process.
Further, I don't believe It should be beyond the capability of the road building industry to provide a ball park figure of cost without necessarily designing the project in itemised detail. It has surely been done before.
I think of a five lane highway and its impact on the Oak Ridges Moraine as opposed to a golf course and close to a million dollars spent on legal and man hours from the public purse to prevent the golf course from happening.
At the end. Not a stone upon a stone, nor a stick upon a stick to be seen for it.
Nothing but a level of hubris to the shame and embarrassment of an entire community.
Klaus ,I believe the readers of my blog might be interested in receiving your earnest appeal to Council to do something about this situation before time runs out.
Do you agree to allow me to publish it?
Friday, 26 August 2011
In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "TheWinter Of 2001/2002":
It must be a very low pressure system that is influencing the function of both Council and staff last month and this.
Your description of the decision-making process makes one wonder whether all these peoples' marbles are properly aligned, or whether they are, in fact, all there.
This does not seem like good government. It is more akin to outright stupidity.
Are we really expected to believe that a former Director is being constantly questioned for his opinion and advice by a present Director. Surely something is amiss - like intelligence.
Why do we go through the expense and aggravation of having elections every so often when staff members end up making decisions that go contrary to Council's expressed wishes?
How is it that the town's CEO apparently does not point out an anomaly or two, rather hoping, waiting, to have a question raised, and when no one does is not surprised that it has not occurred.
By the sound of things it might be prudent to dispense with Council meetings altogether during the two months of summer, when the atmospheric pressure so obviously invades and renders impotent the minds of our elected representatives.
*****************
In the last term a consultant was retained to advise on re-organisation of the administration.
Responsibilities were shifted from one director to another.
The Chief Financial Officer became responsible for Human Resources.
The Chief Building Official took responsibility for Bylaw Services,
The Municipal Clerk no longer had responsibilities that matched his expertise.
Responsibility for maintenance of recreation facilities was taken from the Director of Leisure Services whose programs in the main were provided in the facilities. He was the man with experience in that area. He knew the facilities. He understood the programs.
Half of his responsibility related to facility management.
It was transferred to the Director of Environment and Infrastructure who does not know the facilities. Nothing in his area of expertise equipped him to preside over maintenance management of facilities.
The directors sit side by side at the council table. Often a question on facilities is directed to the director newly responsible for facility management. It has to be re-directed to the director who used to be responsible. because he is the one with the answer.
I did not support the re-organisation. I found no logic in the recommendations. I believe then and still do that logic was not the reason for the changes.
It was Mormac and their merry band of docile warriors who shifted the authority to where they could best control it.
Adding and creating new positions to the administration as we approached build-out of the town was never justified.
In my view, circumstances called for the opposite; not replacing vacated positions to adjust to a lesser work-load.
At the all -day meeting of council at the end of June, we had a report presented from yet another consultant retained at a cost of tens of thousands.
Council was told the town hall was built in the mid- nineties for a smaller population and administration. Now the building needs to be re-organised to accommodate new staff and population. We must spend $5 million dollars to do it.
No such thing
No administration builds a new facility without providing for future needs.
We are also planning to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to re-organise the old library to accommodate existing staff, while the town hall is being re-organised to accommodate new staff.
During the new council orientation in 2003, we were advised several studies had recommended demolition of the old library. Because it cannot be adapted for other uses. Because of the horrendous cost of outstanding repairs. And because space is needed and was needed from the time it was built, to accommodate parking for the new library.
There have been two new councils since and no real honest-to-goodness council orientation since 2003.
When you read my blog, you are reading my perspective . It reflects long experience in the town's affairs. Our current council is mostly new. They have chosen, to follow through with plans underway at the time of the election.
They can listen to me or not. It's their decision to make.
I can only participate in the debate and watch with something approaching horror ,as things hurtle from bad to worse. I frequently hope I may be wrong.
What you read in my blog is my view of things.
Over the years I've often been in the minority.
I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite like this.
The main difference is, I can share with readers of my blog.I don't have to keep my thoughts to myself.
There are plenty who believe I should not be allowed to do so.
To quote from the last term;
"She needs to be stopped. She is undermining everything we are doing."
Needless to say I do not share that opinion either.
But Clause 3 of the Cockamamie Code of Conduct states " Councillors must explain the attitude of council even if they do not agree with the majority decision"
I think it might be hard to explain the attitude of decision-makers if you don't even understand the decision.
It might not be well received either.
It must be a very low pressure system that is influencing the function of both Council and staff last month and this.
Your description of the decision-making process makes one wonder whether all these peoples' marbles are properly aligned, or whether they are, in fact, all there.
This does not seem like good government. It is more akin to outright stupidity.
Are we really expected to believe that a former Director is being constantly questioned for his opinion and advice by a present Director. Surely something is amiss - like intelligence.
Why do we go through the expense and aggravation of having elections every so often when staff members end up making decisions that go contrary to Council's expressed wishes?
How is it that the town's CEO apparently does not point out an anomaly or two, rather hoping, waiting, to have a question raised, and when no one does is not surprised that it has not occurred.
By the sound of things it might be prudent to dispense with Council meetings altogether during the two months of summer, when the atmospheric pressure so obviously invades and renders impotent the minds of our elected representatives.
*****************
In the last term a consultant was retained to advise on re-organisation of the administration.
Responsibilities were shifted from one director to another.
The Chief Financial Officer became responsible for Human Resources.
The Chief Building Official took responsibility for Bylaw Services,
The Municipal Clerk no longer had responsibilities that matched his expertise.
Responsibility for maintenance of recreation facilities was taken from the Director of Leisure Services whose programs in the main were provided in the facilities. He was the man with experience in that area. He knew the facilities. He understood the programs.
Half of his responsibility related to facility management.
It was transferred to the Director of Environment and Infrastructure who does not know the facilities. Nothing in his area of expertise equipped him to preside over maintenance management of facilities.
The directors sit side by side at the council table. Often a question on facilities is directed to the director newly responsible for facility management. It has to be re-directed to the director who used to be responsible. because he is the one with the answer.
I did not support the re-organisation. I found no logic in the recommendations. I believe then and still do that logic was not the reason for the changes.
It was Mormac and their merry band of docile warriors who shifted the authority to where they could best control it.
Adding and creating new positions to the administration as we approached build-out of the town was never justified.
In my view, circumstances called for the opposite; not replacing vacated positions to adjust to a lesser work-load.
At the all -day meeting of council at the end of June, we had a report presented from yet another consultant retained at a cost of tens of thousands.
Council was told the town hall was built in the mid- nineties for a smaller population and administration. Now the building needs to be re-organised to accommodate new staff and population. We must spend $5 million dollars to do it.
No such thing
No administration builds a new facility without providing for future needs.
We are also planning to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to re-organise the old library to accommodate existing staff, while the town hall is being re-organised to accommodate new staff.
During the new council orientation in 2003, we were advised several studies had recommended demolition of the old library. Because it cannot be adapted for other uses. Because of the horrendous cost of outstanding repairs. And because space is needed and was needed from the time it was built, to accommodate parking for the new library.
There have been two new councils since and no real honest-to-goodness council orientation since 2003.
When you read my blog, you are reading my perspective . It reflects long experience in the town's affairs. Our current council is mostly new. They have chosen, to follow through with plans underway at the time of the election.
They can listen to me or not. It's their decision to make.
I can only participate in the debate and watch with something approaching horror ,as things hurtle from bad to worse. I frequently hope I may be wrong.
What you read in my blog is my view of things.
Over the years I've often been in the minority.
I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite like this.
The main difference is, I can share with readers of my blog.I don't have to keep my thoughts to myself.
There are plenty who believe I should not be allowed to do so.
To quote from the last term;
"She needs to be stopped. She is undermining everything we are doing."
Needless to say I do not share that opinion either.
But Clause 3 of the Cockamamie Code of Conduct states " Councillors must explain the attitude of council even if they do not agree with the majority decision"
I think it might be hard to explain the attitude of decision-makers if you don't even understand the decision.
It might not be well received either.
In My Garden
Cardinals in their numbers have permanent homes. Black capped chickadees flit in groups across the yard as if riding the waves. They cling to brick walls and hang upside down.
At the weekend two bright yellow finches appeared for a bit
Humming birds are making regular visits to the feeder and mauve and pink flock blossoms.
Blue jays of course make their raucous presence heard, creating a pretty picture when they appear with cardinals at the same time.
A woodpecker makes a regular appearance, moving up and down and round and round an upright limb of the maple.
Last week, my son, sitting on the deck said. I think I'm looking at a hawk in that tree. No sooner said than it took flight and flew low to a neighbouring tree.Then lower still, so we could see his brown fan tail spread ,with white tips showing, he flew off between the houses.
Mourning doves are always with us and grackles and big crows seem to be here more than they used to.
I need to go out now and see what I can see.
At the weekend two bright yellow finches appeared for a bit
Humming birds are making regular visits to the feeder and mauve and pink flock blossoms.
Blue jays of course make their raucous presence heard, creating a pretty picture when they appear with cardinals at the same time.
A woodpecker makes a regular appearance, moving up and down and round and round an upright limb of the maple.
Last week, my son, sitting on the deck said. I think I'm looking at a hawk in that tree. No sooner said than it took flight and flew low to a neighbouring tree.Then lower still, so we could see his brown fan tail spread ,with white tips showing, he flew off between the houses.
Mourning doves are always with us and grackles and big crows seem to be here more than they used to.
I need to go out now and see what I can see.
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