Last Of The Mohicans

Would this be the same well-paid staff that seem to be unable to deal with Aurora's birthday celebration? It shouldn't have been such a surprise. I guess we should lower our expectations if they cannot handle what is needed now - before the new soft-ware system kicks in. Silly me. I thought it was Council who called the shots. 
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Yesterday's post title came to mind as I dwelt on  tomorrow night's  general committee agenda  and another item that came to hand. 
Readers may note at this time, decisions are made by Council. Council is accountable.
Whether or not they called the shots is neither here nor there.
I am no longer confident  this Council understands the authority invested in them by the electorate.
Or has an interest in exercising it even if they understand it. .
Last Wednesday I was a guest on Alison's show. Tim Jones was also.
The topic was the Hydro Sale Asset. How and why the sale
happened  and  intention of the Council after  the deal closed.
Mr. Jones took advantage of the opportunity to introduce an idea that has no legs.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned  an investment scheme being floated in Historical Society  quarters since disposition of the Hydro Reserve Fund came back to the fore.
Councillors were invited individually, by Suzanne  Reiner, President of the Historical Society,  to meet privately with a group of three to discuss the scheme. 
A real estate operator was one of the trio.  He owns a property for sale for the past seven years.  Obviously not priced right.
A recent new member of the  Historical Society executive was the third entrepreneur.
The Historical Society appoints its executive. Like the Culture Centre Board.
Applications are invited, candidates are interviewed  and a selection is made.Membership it seems, has little to say.
Apparently all but three Councillors have met with the real estate dynamo, the Society President and the unelected  Executive Member. 
 It was reported the scheme received support from Mayor and Councillors. 
A five page outline,entitled The Hillary-McIntyre Park has been issued complete with pictures 
Presented  last Wednesday to the Historical Society Executive as "A Vision and Opportunity" .
No authors  identified.
Five  pages are filled with glowing descriptions of the two properties for sale ,Hillary House  and their "national " status..
The last part of the document identifies " Next Steps". 
Number two is " to approach town officials to float the concept starting with heritage friendly Councillors and the Mayor.
A meeting  for the following morning had already been scheduled . with the  Mayor, the CAO  and the Director of Parks and Recreation. 
It is understood Councillors Gallo, Ballard and myself were  Councillors  who did not meet with  the schemes promoters. 
It may be assumed ,we three have not been deemed 
"heritage friendly".
It might also  be  presumed  "heritage friendly" Councillors are  a party to  goings on thus far. 
Open and transparent ? I don't think so.
As a matter of fact, no member of Council , including the Mayor, has authority to direct staff to undertake any action.
That would include holding meetings and discussions not directed by a resolution of Council. 
Such action can only be directed  by resolution of Council. 
Policies are written to that effect. 
Similarities between this and  the last Council are becoming  increasingly uncanny. 
Rules mattered not a whit, so long as there was  a gelatinous blob willing to support whatever happens with a vote after the fact. 
We shall see. 

New Information

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Conversation Continues":

I am struggling valiantly to keep up with all this verbiage about IT technology. What does seem increasingly obvious is that everyone agrees that the system is not working, may never work and might not be the right product. Can we leave it at that and try to clean up the resultant waste so as to stop spending more money stupidly? That was, after all, a large part of why the current Council was elected. Otherwise we are simply replacing excessive legal bills with over-the-top tech bills.

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Many of us are struggling with IT language. But needs must and I commend you.
While I am not sufficiently conversant with the lingo myself,I can help you understand that  what you read here is my perspective.
It does not reflect opinions  of other members of Council.
Mine was the only vote against purchasing the Machimo program.
Here be the result of my efforts to determine facts about the success or otherwise of the program elsewhere, And my knowledge of the town's daily operations.
Yesterday I spoke to the  manager of the program at the Region. He was  positive and helpful.
While acknowledging  implementation has taken a long time, it is beginning to show benefits.The Province likes it. The annual audits
are well received.
Implementation has been underway since  2004. There has been an increase in staff  to assist in getting the information from the field into the computer.

"The initial implementation costs for Maximo was $800,000 which did not include consulting costs for business process development and improvement for work order and inventory management.
Initially when we implemented Maximo, annual licensing was $56,000. With the purchase of new modules and add ons, and almost double the staff licensed to use it now, we are at an annual licensing cost of approximately $100,000"

What I take from that is, initial cost of buying the software 
was not the end.
Additional consultant services, new modules and add-ons have been required for the system to work. 
Annual cost for licensing fees at the Region has gone from $56,000, to $100,000. More staff are using the system.
Considering  a higher  number of people in the field at the Region,our licensing fees will not be so high.
They will however be a new  annual operating cost in addition to the payroll for new  staff needed to make the system work.
The  Region's operation is not like ours Field operations at the Region are mainly in transportation.
The Region is responsible for supply of water and treatment of sewage. 
We  treat the water, distribute and market it. We collect sewage.
Infrastructure to do both is our responsibility.
We make contracts for garbage collection.
The Region signs  contracts for its disposal.
They sign three different contracts for bus service.
They don't participate in contract negotiations so it's unlikely  daily operation is their concern.
A software program functioning at the Region, after eight years requiring ongoing consultant service  and  adaptation with new modules and add-ons and a dissimilar field operations, is no more likely to be  functional in Aurora than it was in the beginning at the Region. 
That it is likely to be adaptable to our function,even after considerable additional  expenditures. is not realistic in my view. 
I am mindful of placing town staff in compromising situations.
I believe  the  person who recommended  purchase of Machimo for the Region also advised the purchase for Aurora.
I stress.The view put forward here is mine. It is not shared 
by any other member of Council
I believe it must be shared by some staff at the town hall who are involved in the process.
They are not likely to be asked for input. Nor would they be encouraged to offer.
They are under orders to provide no information requested  by a Councillor.
All information must first be vetted by the relevant Director. 
It's the times we live in.      
. 


 

The Conversation Continues

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Lesson Continue":

"I think perhaps an impediment to staff buying in , might be the process makes no effing sense."

I wrote the original comment, thanks for publishing it.

Your comment above however is one that I also hear every day. It is usually heard from staff who are supposed to be using a software package. They typically do not like change. They do not understand the need for the software. This is where management has failed. Management has to explain from top to bottom what the software will do. How it will do it and why you have to do what you have to do.

If you never understood how a car works, it may make no effing sense that you need to pour a liquid into a hole in the car.
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Thank you for giving us the benefit of your experience.
I think your last sentence is completely pertinent to the situation.
I am of course not an employee. But I think, if I found a simple task taking longer and  less work being completed in a day because  useless information that has to be fed into a computer. I might not be persuaded to understand the merits. 
As a Councillor. I would view it  no  more sympathetically.
It's good to be able to talk when the only objective is  exchange of information.
We need to be able to connect the dots.
Before management can educate employees  of the benefit of change  they need to understand  what  the employees  is doing in the first place. 
The  region manager is positive about the program. I tend to think it might  be a better fit for the regional operation. Tasks undertaken  in a particular operation are I imagine repetitious in nature.
Work orders in a small urban operation are likely to be myriad  and anything but repetitious.From collecting beer bottles or broken glass in a park, to expunging graffiti from a cut stone wall supporting the railway bridge at the south end of town.
Which I brought to the town's notice weeks ago and it's still there. 
Neither task has anything to do with maintenance or condition of infrastructure.  But very much to do with  service  expected by the community. .
From my conversation with  the Region, it seems adaptations have had to be made in terms of extra staff to make the system work.There is acknowledgement, it has been a long time .
The time schedule provided to AUrora Council  does not seem realistic. Three months after the original purchase was approved,  Council was asked to approve an additional $38,000. that had been overlooked in the original  purchase package. 
The system couldn't be set up without it.
How many more  unexpected demands are likely to be made.
When can we expect the sytem to be operational?
A car without fuel  has no useful purpose. It ain't goin' nowhere.
A computer program without useful data is equally without purpose 
 

Contrast

I wrote a paragraph in the last post about all the staff  names I was given who might be able to provide the information I was  seeking at the Region. 
Yesterday, I was able to speak to someone who answered my questions freely about  progress of Machimo. Every person I spoke to was helpful and congenial. Information was provided without fear or favour. 
It has always been that way at the Region.
Contrast that with Aurora;  Councillors are instructed to address questions only to  the Department Director in charge of the project. Lesser staff are not permitted  to  provide answers to Councillors.
Of course, like the Machimo software package, it doesn't work precisely  if there' s not a firm  "buy-in'"  by employees.

The Lesson Continue

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "So I asked And GOt The Answer":

"The Province had directed municipalities to make an inventory of all assets and maintain records. " ... "The assets took years to inventorise. It was done on Excel spread sheets."

If you could provide the Provincial direction, could it possible detail specific requirements about the records?

Excel should NEVER be used to maintain records. That's like using 3 x 5 index cards wrapped in elastic bands in your drawer. It does not provide for proper search facilities nor does it ensure data integrity.

This is a situation where staff have done their homework to find the software that addresses the need. Where they have fallen down is in the education of the council and the users. There must be complete 100% buy in that this is the thing to do.

As far as the comment about Mr Watts calling it right.... I think his expertise is not on large-scale software projects. He is at the same level as Councillors. This is bigger than a server and a PC.

I deal with stuff of this magnitude every day. This is NORMAL - unfortunate, but normal.

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The provincial edict was that municipalities must create an inventory of all  assets; every piece of land,equipment,vehicle and building. From thenceforth the inventory must be maintained. 
It is my understanding the inventory was completed on excel 
spread sheets
The correct software package  for  maintenance  would have cost $50,000.
It was not recommended. The inventory is still being maintained on spread sheets.
I take the writer's point;  " it does not provide for proper search facilities nor does it ensure data integrity"
Nevertheless,that's what  we're doing .
Instead of the $50,000 software package to allow Provincial  requirements to be satisfied, Maximo was  recommended by staff  and approved by Council at a cost of $788.611.
The  same  program that after seven years, is only now producing some benefit at the Region. 
Still not doing what was expected.
Even after changes in personnel and equipment.
It occurred to me  half an hour ago, the financial outlay  at the Region and how it has grown since the outset might be useful to know. .
I sought to obtain that answer.
Connie in Financial Services  is not picking up her phone. Kelly is on vacation. Rachel is not picking up her phone but provided a cell number. Debby is not picking up. Neither is Tom or Amelia.I did speak to Michelle who referred me to Brett, Manager of  Operations, Maintenance and Monitoring, which department is using Maximo. Brett is not picking up his phone. 
Debby just called me back to let me know she will  find the information for me. .. 
Now to go back to this morning's published comment " staff have not done their  homework to educate Council "
I am the only Councillor who did not buy into the program.
The usual patronizing comments  about moving with the times were shot across my bow.
Insufferable condescension from people who have no other reason  to feel superior than not having lived as long,  is a small irritation in the lives of people fortunate enough to have lived longer.
So far as I know, mine are the only questions about the status of the program, Answers  provided do not assure me.
My questions have been circulated  as have the answers. No  concern  emanates from among my colleagues.
Which is why I am so glad to have you to talk to.
Until I wrote the  first blog, I wasn't even referring to the software  by its name; Maximo. Now look how we have all learned.
One contention  keeps repeating,  is the need for buy-in to the program. "If  employees  don't "buy-in", the program will not be function."
It  appears to be a known  impediment to success of  the Machimo program. 
I think perhaps an impediment to staff buying in , might be the process makes no  effing sense.
Job satisfaction is a known component of a happy work force. 
I went  to a Public Works Conference once.  I heard a comment  ring clear and true. 
"Management invites employees to hang up their brains with  their  hats when they punch  the time clock.They wonder why  they have labour problems. They cause labour problems with such disrespect." 
Debby has not yet called me back. When she does, I will let  you know what else  I have discovered.    

So I asked And GOt The Answer

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "My Secret Anxiety": 
Can't you just ask someone at the region whether or not they have been through a failed attempt at implementing Maximo, and what it cost? If they do not answer, is this the type of information that can be gotten through the freedom of information act?
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So I asked. The Region has been working with the system for
six and a half years  The first year and a half prior to implementation. .Five  years  of  implementation without complete success. 
Some benefit has been achieved. Not what was expected, There have been changes in equipment and personnel in the process.
The system has not been abandoned
Neither has it accomplished its aims.
I did not obtain a figure for amount expended. 
The program is used in Regional Environmental Services. A different progrem is used in for  Regional  fleet assets. 
I suspect  the region's cost would not be relevant to the Town's.
According to town records, the first step was taken in August 2010.  A call for expressions of interest was  recommended and approved.
Recommendation to approve purchase of software in an amount of $444.611 was accepted in November2011.
A further sum of $38,000  was approved in February 2012.
The total budget to date is $788.000 plus. Almost all expended .
I have not full  confidence in my own ability to assess such contracts and programs. 
Staff expertise is an essential component of  my judgement. 
But intuition intervenes. I have learned to be sure of my ability to discern.
I had received a communication which caused me concern. 
The Province had directed municipalities to make an inventory of all assets and maintain  records.
The assets  took  years to inventorise.  It was  done on Excel spread sheets.
A  program to meet  Provincial requirements would have cost $50,000.
That was  not the program  recommended to Council. 
Even after  and if the Maxima program is fully implemented, the asset  inventory will still be done on Excel spread sheets. As it is now.
The Maxim program is far more far-reaching in its objective and as can be seen , costs twelve times more. 
It calls for workers in the field to file details by computer after every work order is completed.. 
Garbage in,garbage out. Computers have created mountains of useless information.
An example;
Two weeks ago all the painted picnic tables were assembled  in the courtyard outside the town hall for judging. 
This week,there are two.
The rest have presumably, by work order, been distributed among the various parks.. 
What purpose is served by a member of the work crew sitting  down with a computer to file  details of that job, while  everyone else on the crew waits for  that task to be fullfilled before proceeding to the next work order.
It may or may not be as simple. But whatever it is ,it will not be the same.
A second work order might be forming a foundation pad for the Petch House in Lambert Wilson Park behind the senior's centre.
A project not likely to be repeated any time soon. 
What use could possibly be made of a computer file on that.project?.
These are the things I understood about the Maximo software program .We paid $444,611. for it  in November 2011 and another $38,000. for in February 12th 2012. With previous expenditures ,a total of almost $788.000 plus.
Even before  I was aware of the Region's experience with the same program. I could not support it.
Now that I know about the Region ,frankly my friends, my heart sinks. 
It's not a good thing to know you were right when being right means
 a bad,very bad outlook for the  town's taxpayers. 
The Region is five yeasr into trying to make this program work. 
In their fifth year, we launched ourselves into the same predicament
The Region is obviously too far in to extricate itself.
I fear  we are too. 
It isn't as if we could not have made ourselves aware of the problems.
 
 
 

My Secret Anxiety

Recently I asked for a report on  cost of a repair  on my street.An observer had observed manpower and equipment  which appeared  excessive for  what seemed to be a relatively small project. I recalled a purchase of $444,000 software approved by Council  in November 2011. From the purpose explained,  I thought it should provide all  details necessary to explain to my watchful neighbour what she had observed.
Ah pauvre moi.
Turned out it didn't. The program is not yet up and running. 
Even more recently I sought from various venues an update on the status of the program .
The table below is a memorandum circulated ,to be on Council's agenda on  July 17th '
Readers will note total cost of the project is $758,000.
It first appeared as a budget item in January 2007.
A staff report  was  received  in  August 2010. 
As can be seen from the table the project is not expected to be completed until 2014.
Now I must confess the source of my anxiety.
I have heard  the same program was implemented  by the Region of York. 
I have heard it has been abandoned. 
The program  requires employees in the field to provide feed back with  computer hardware all  details of  work orders when completed.
Computer operator functions added to the physical labour of  work orders in the field have  proven to be neither practical nor feasible.
I am not sure, under the circumstances, if anyone would be  willing to  confirm  the rumour ..
The cost thus far in Aurora is $758,000. 
The Region's cost would have to be multiplied many times .It would undoubtedly be in the millions.
A  waste of public resources in  horrendous proportions.
Not something the Region would be happy to proclaim.
Nor Aurora either.   

Summer School

Assignment for lazy bones ....not. 

RE: Work and Asset Management System (WAMS) Update

Memo 05-12

This memo is provided as an update report on the above project to address some recent questions.

Schedule

The WAMS project is proceeding on budget. There has been a schedule delay primarily related to hardware delivery caused by production issues in Asia. This has only resulted in a minor overall project delay as other activities where advanced where possible. The following is a summary of key milestone end dates:

Task	Milestone	Status
Phase 1- Vendor Selection
Review current practice and asset requirements	Dec 2010	Complete
Vender RFP Process and selection	Oct 2011	Complete
Council Approval for Software Vendor	Nov 11, 2011	Complete
Phase 2- Work Flow Mapping
Practices and Process Design	April 2012	Complete
Data structure development	June 2012	Complete
Phase 3- Software Implementation
Maximo Software Purchase	Dec 2011	Complete
Order Hardware	Feb 2012	Complete
Hardware Install and configuration	May 2012	Complete
Maximo software Installation	May 2012	Complete
Core team overview training	June 2012	Complete
Software requirements review workshop	June 2012	Complete
Maximo configuration to design requirements	Sept 2012	In progress
Data load and testing	Oct 2012	Not Started
Development of interfaces with other software systems	Oct 2012	Not Started
Acceptance testing	Dec 2012	Not Started
End-user training	Dec 2012	Not Started
Go-Live	Jan 2012	Not Started
Go-Live support	Feb 2012	Not Started
Follow-up training, support and skills development	Jan 2014	Not Started

Financial Summary

The following table outlines the approved budget and confirmed commitments. There is $16,551 remaining uncommitted and is available should unforeseen issues arise as part of the contingency allowance.

Budget Item	Approval Date	Funding Commitment	Balance
Approved Budget (31047)	2009, 2010, 2011		$750,000
2012 budget increase for hardware	Feb 14, 2012		$38,000
Total Budget			$788,000
GHD- Requirements and Vendor Selection	Aug 17, 2010	$78,620	$709,380
GHD- Business mapping and data standards	Jan 18, 2011	$152,825	$556,555
Createch- Maximo software and implementation	Nov 1, 2011	$444,611	$111,944
City Wide- Sub-ledger and forecasting system	Dec, 2011	$49,585	$62,359
IT Department- Server Requirements	Mar 2012	$32,465	$29,894
Total Project Commitments		$758,106
Net taxes (1.76%)13,555		$13,343	$16,551

The following table provides an earned value summary. GHD has completed their assignment and we are waiting receipt of the final invoice. The server hardware has been installed and paid. The remaining work is related to Createch and City Wide, being the two primary software venders. Createch is responsible for the overall implementation and integration activities and will be completing the bulk of their work between June and December. City Wide is a minor component to the system but integral to the financial reporting requirements that will be supported by the asset databases developed through Maximo.

Vendor	Commitment	Approved Payments	Percent Complete
GHD	$231,445	$216,925	94%
Createch (Maximo)	$444,611	$149,034	34%
City Wide	$49,585	$43,622	88%
Server Hardware	$32,465	$32,465	100%

Council Approvals (Reports attached)

Staff Report IES10-037- Aug 17, 2010

Award of initial RFP to GHD for $78,620

Staff Report IES11-005- January 18, 2011

Increase GHD Assignment by $152,825

Staff Report IES11-058- November 1, 2011

Award Software Supply and Implementation to Createch for $444,611

Memo to Budget Committee Jan 11, 2012

IT Department Server Requirements $38,000

Please contact me if you have any questions on the activities to date.

Logic or LackThereoff

Richmond Hill councillor Carmine Perrelli sues town over bylawPublished on Monday July 09, 2012

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Noor Javed

Staff Reporter

A Richmond Hill councillor is taking legal action against the town for a bylaw that requires councillors to invite fellow councillors and staff to any councillor-held residents’ meetings regarding new developments.
Carmine Perrelli — the same councillor who charged taxpayers for $1,181 in golf equipment last year (and has paid back the town since) — says he believes the bylaw is illegal and won’t hold up to a court challenge.
“I have brought legal action against the town to have the bylaw quashed,” said Perrelli, who filed the suit last Friday “I am not suing for money,” he said, although he will be seeking costs.
“I’m so convinced the bylaw is illegal, that I am willing to put my money up to fight this.”
Councillors voted 6-2 against discussing the suit in private session at Monday’s council meeting.
“If in fact I don’t get all my costs the question I need to ask my attorneys is can I make a claim against the councillors personally because they’ve breached their fiduciary duty to not only pay me for my costs but to possibly refund the town for spending taxpayers’ dollars,” said Perrelli after the meeting.
“I’m putting my money where my mouth is. Are the councillors prepared to put their money where their mouth is? It’s easy to put their mouth where the taxpayers’ money is,” he said.
His concern is with a bylaw which narrowly passed in April that would require councillors to invite all other council members and appropriate town staff to any resident meetings they hold regarding development projects that have regional infrastructure of transit implications.
Perrelli believes the bylaw is too vague, and that it will interfere with his ability to do his job.
“These are not public meetings. These are by invitation only meetings,” said Perrelli. “I don’t understand what the bylaw requires me to do: Do I have to invite other councillors a minute before the meeting? Do I charge them a fee to come?
He said the bylaw is illegal because it imposes rules on how “private meetings” should be run, and fall outside the jurisdiction of what the municipality can govern under the Municipal Act.
Perrelli said he made many attempts to get council to rescind the bylaw, but his motions were not supported.
The bylaw motion was brought forth by Councillor Brenda Hogg, who felt the council-wide invitations would be in the best interest of the town.
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I've been asked for my thoughts.
I read the story twice . 
Richmond Hill has wards.
Property owners  are entitled to invite residents to a meeting to explain  a development proposal  and answer any questions that arise.
Developers are often advised to do so before a public planning meeting is held. .
They can hear concerns.They can make changes to a  proposal to meet the concerns. 
They may  overcome residents' objections. They may not.
They don't have to  make the effort.But they would be wise to do so.
A property owner  in the municipality, has a right to ask any Councillor to meet and hear what is being proposed. .
It is for the  Councillor to decide what is wise.
In Aurora,  Councillors may request the use of  the Council chamber to hold  a meeting of residents to discuss  issues.
The tree bylaw ,Wells Street School closing, Williams High School relocation, Hydro One's plans to increase loads on overhead wires
have all been the subject of  such meetings.
No such  meeting in a town facility can be closed to the public or the press. 
If a meeting is held in a private facility, like a resident's home, it's hard to  see how a town bylaw could  compel an invitation to any
person,whether or not a regional issue was being discussed .
The argument is as much about Council's right to pass a bylaw, as it is about the right to hold a meeting in a private setting without being compelled to include Councillors and town staff on the invitation list.
A Council can pass whatever bylaw they choose,as long as it doesn't contravene Provincial or Federal legislation. 
But a bylaw is only as good as it stands up to a legal challenge. .
The court of public opinion. needs also to be considered.
The news story does not include the purpose of the bylaw. How it will  be enforced?  What  penalties are to be imposed?
Proceeding to  litigation  to uphold  a Councillor's right to hold private meetings with developers is  definitely a dodgy  principle   It poses obvious questions.
In politics, things don't just have to be right.  They must also appear to be right.
The news story has obvious gaps. 
Neither side takes a grip on logic.

 

Hope Springs Eternal

Posts are likely to be erratic for the next little while.
Family matters take precedence.
Sometimes I feel a steady stream of controversy  is likely to be tedious and  regular readers will lose interest.in reading.
Certainly there are those who would like  to convinced  me of that.
Then I think...I don't control the items of concern. I can't  make a  choice of what I will write  and what I won't. 
If  readers were not interested in getting the whole schpiel,
readership would have dwindled  a long time ago.
There are things happening you need to know about .But they can wait. Council will not meet again until July 17th at 6.00p.m.
The picture may have improved by then.
I'm an optimist

Confidence Lost Is Not Easily Regained

I wasn't slacking off yesterday. I had inquiries to make involving  lengthy communications.
The last one related to the half million dollar software program the town purchased  about eight months ago. 
It was an expenditure of $440,000 or thereabouts,  before year's end. 
A consultant was involved so a fee there also.
I argued  against it the project. To no avail.
A couple of months later $38,000  additional funds were  requested. Something had been overlooked in the previous purchase.
You may recall the software package was for the purpose of asset management. 
A record would be kept of  daily work orders. What repairs were required. How much manpower, equipment, time and other details would be funneled into the system.
I must confess the need for that level of detail completely escaped me.
Then I received a query  from an observant resident about  manpower and  various equipment on site  to repair what appeared to be a relatively small task.
AHA!! I thought.
The perfect opportunity  to illustrate the benefit of the expensive software . 
I  addressed the question to the Mayor at a Council meeting. 
"Certainly, Councillor"  the Mayor assured me  "Just send your question to the Director.  he will be able to provide the information."
So I did. 
But I didn't... get the information.
The system is not yet up and running, the director informed me.
Weeks went by. Yesterday I forwarded an inquiry to the  manager of the I.T. department.
Is the new system up and running?
Received a response instead  from the Chief Financial Officer  advising  only Directors  provide Councillors with information. To ensure the information  is correct.
You may recall in 2010,  Directors advised Council  water rates were to increase 12% ,if I re-call correctly.
Estimates of water loss,  increased from 8% to 12%   partly  justified the increase. 
The Directors  insisted  all parks, works and fire department use of  unmetered water  was accounted for in department budgets and  not part of water loss estimates.
That year , I asked for a record of water breaks in the municipality to understand a 50% increase in water loss. 
The information was refused.
Directors  could do that in the last Council. 
It was like when I asked for  legal costs incurred  by the Mayor's practice of retaining legal counsel on her own initiative. 
Those figures were also refused. .
Despite the law that entitles all of us  access to  information on public spending.
Another substantial increase in water rates  was imposed in 2011 with  the same insistence  all  unmetered water use by works, parks and fire was charged to the various department budgets.It was not included in water loss estimates.
Which were included in calculating rates for meter users.
Finally, in 2012, it was  acknowledged  unmetered water used by parks,works and fire had not been previously charged to the various departments .
Meter users had been overcharged  in previous years by an amount 
of $470.000 or thereabouts.
Details were not provided.
Just the statement the directors could no longer justify  charging non-metered water use by town departments  to  residential and business  metered users.
It took the second year of  a  new Council. 
It took  persistence  of a handful of  residents  to wring that admission from the Directors. 
It will take more, much more, than that to restore  my confidence in information provided to me by some Town Directors.
That is a serious state of affairs.   

. 
    

Do The Sensible

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Eenie Meenie Miny Mo":

Catch a ___________ by the toe.

What do you fill that blank with?
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Eenie Meenie Miny Mo
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he roars let him go
It would certainly be sensible  to do so 

There Are Parades

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Who's Up For A Celebration":

Sunday was a day for us to visit family in a small town on the south shore of Georgian Bay.

The day began with the need to get gas for the car. As I tend to patronize Esso, I had to get to the station on Yonge across from Greystones. Of course Yonge was closed for the parade. As I made my way through the back streets to the Esso we noticed the parade was just reaching that point. We watched for a few minutes, the "crowds" when scarce.

90 Minutes later driving into Thornbury, the traffic stopped. In the distance, you could see their parade had reached the corner of Bruce St. and Hwy 26. We had to wait the better part of 30 minutes.

One thing I noticed was the differnces of the two. The Thornbury parade was very community oriented. Decorated bikes, people with flags.

Who decided that the parade should take place at 10am?
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The parade was the second event of the celebration..
There was a dance at the  town park the night before. 
The main event  of the day was at Lambert Wilson Park where all the fun and games took place.
There were fireworks in the evening.
Families flock to the park.
But some still love a Parade.
So we try to do it all.

The Law Needs To Be Upheld

The Municipal Act requires  adoption of the procedure bylaw immediately after Council is sworn into office . .
The Bylaw, in accordance with The Act,  requires at least one formal  meeting a month to decide  town business .
Publication of a calender to inform residents when  meetings will be held is required.  An agenda must be posted noting business to be discussed.  is legally required.
Start time and end must be made known.
The object is the public must have opportunity to attend meetings,  watch them on television, or use whatever other means to keep themselves informed and be aware when any particular item is to be decided. 
Using  time set aside for business for public forum...,presentations of awards... delegations... and  generally  leaving less  time for town business is not  not conforming tolaw.
Indeed, it could be argued  the practice  is intended to foil the purpose of the law. 
Cramming an agenda, over-running time allocated is not conducive to wise decisions.  
It does not fulfill the need for particular business to be conducted within a specific time and for all to be clear and transparent.
Talking in cirles and arguing back and forth across the table  between the hours of ten-thirty and midnight  is fraught with potential for harm , mischief or  mayhem.
It was after 1.00 a.m. when the previous  Council made a decision to sue three residents with their own tax dollars for nasty remarks made about the sitting Mayor.
This Council has authorised  a cheque for $65,000 to pay for that nefarious act. Even with an intervening election, the last chapter has not yet been written on that affair.
Town Hall has several reception areas admirably suited for presentations, awards and receptions. It was built for the purpose.
Business meetings are not the optimum for social events.
Delegations should  be made in Committee..
I have made these points before to deaf ears,
I do not believe the town's best interest is served with disorganized agendas and chaotic meetings that extend  almost  into  the following day..
Customer Service is distinctly lacking 

Who's Up For A Celebration

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a parade . Bright blue skies and a perfect cooling breeze. 
Crowds,  decked out in red , tended to cluster on the shady side of the street.But a fraction of the crowd out for  Santa .
Sharing notes and memories,, it seems the parade is but  a shadow of  former glory. 
Missing was community participation.
Were it not for outside participation it would have been a small show.
Six years ago, staff reported to Council insufficient interest to  bring a parade to-gether.
You can't buy excitement, enthusiasm and willingness to work until the wee small hours to create magic from imagination. 
I thought of the children years ago. 
Decorated bicycles. doll prams and strollers. 
Theme costumes Funny, dramatic.on wide-eyed toddlers.
Baton twirlers. Dancers,  Acrobats. Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.
Float competitions  in umpteen categories.
They were spectacular.
The work  represented  many hands. Finished scant hours before . 
It had to be that way.
At the heart of it, a handful who knew how to generate fun and excitement. 
It was so  successful a  Santa Claus Parade was launched.. 
It was hoped town  commerce would take that over.
I feared  two parades a year were too many.
It's too much to expect. Town employees,who were also residents, were the vanguard of the volunteers.
Enthusiasm and  eagerness to excel are not  commodities..
Council  is planning to celebrate   sesquicentennial next year.
People should be talking about it in neighborhoods now.
Sponsors need to be solicited.. Budgets set. 
Don't be waiting for plans to get through the bureacracy.
Do it now. 
There should be skateboard gladiators.
Field bike warriors.
Singers,  dancers who spin on  hands or heads, cartwheel turners and children by the score. 
In costume, riding decorated bicycles, tricycles,carriages and carts 
Maybe the route should be around the town park instead of Yonge Street. 
Exhibitions held  in front of the band stand and prizes awarded with fanfare.and price of admission,  wearing  a costume or a beard grown to significance. 
Maybe at some point in the celebration a  doubledecker train filled with Aurora Revellers could take us  to Toronto and back  Colored paper streamers floating from the  windows and the whistle blowing all the way. 
This post is not intended as a criticism of  Sunday's parade.I'm sure everyone  there enjoyed it
It's more like reminiscing about how things used to be and how they need to be again to make the sesquicentennial a meaningful event. 
   

Eenie Meenie Miny Mo

On Tuesday the contract was awarded to service the Leslie Street Lands. 
The estimate was $6 million dollars. 
The bids were in,Including  contingency, the award was $7,1 million.
I had understood the land sale netted $6million. I asked where we would borrow the extra $1.1 million for the servicing.
Bulk Barn will be paying a proportionate share. 
The Chief Financial Officer informed Council when the funds came in from the sale of  the land. the land sale fund would be sufficiently  replenished.
On Friday, Council received an e-mail from the town solicitor informing us the deal had closed as expected and $5,452.million had been deposited in the land sale account.
It's not $7.1 million but I will have to wait until July 4th to discover where we will be borrowing the cash to pay for the  servicing contract.

One potato,two potato.three potato.four.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Hey Ho ..The Merry O...No":

Sorry to be so slow. Are you saying that the soccer field has been ok'ed but that there has been no decision made on the Bulk Barn deal? I thought only Councillor Gaertner disliked that one. No one is driving the Aurora bus. Soon there won't be any passengers either.

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The Bulk Barn deal closed on Friday.There's another story to tell there. 
Councillor Gaertner did not vote  for the Bulk Barn Deal. The jobs were not good enough. They are a mix. The  majority are head office with a number of warehousing jobs . There is room for  expansion.
The company is coming from Richmond Hill. Most employees are expected to come with them so they are not new job opportunities but that does not rule out  future opportunities  for Aurora residents.
The  application not decided on Tuesday is a new development on the south side of Wellington opposite Smart Centre between Leslie and the 404.
It is a mix of office and retail. and will be new jobs. Councillor Gaertner doesn't like the ratio I guess office jobs in that proposal aren't good enough  either.. On Tuesday, the Mayor and Councillors Gallo and Ballard  joined the Councillor and  tied the vote. Up to that point, there was no indication the vote was even close .
So,The Town still needs to make make a decision.
I'm not sure what jobs would fill the bill with Councillor Gaertner and  her supporters. Nor can I guess why the other three voted as they did. 
Teaching jobs in the proposed separate high school didn't make the grade for the Councillor either   Regional Police headquarters was voted down as well during recent history but not by this group.
But there was great enthusiasm for the Strategic Plan on Tuesday.
Councillor Gallo stated it raises Council's decision- making process to a higher level. We  no longer need to concern ourselves with  "minutaea " of  the town's operation.
It was just an hour later he voted in a tie against a recommendation to approve a development application worth $65million involving hundreds of hours of staff time, several discussions by Council and no doubt hundreds of thousands of dollars of private resources.
If the question at the next Council session is to refuse the application and it passes, we will be staring into the maw of an Ontario Municipal Board Hearing we can't hope to win but will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs to defend.the indefensible .
We have been there before.
Council authorised tenders be called for the artificial turf  field. 
The estimate is $1.4 million. We will not know the full cost until 
the bids are in.     

Hey Ho ..The Merry O...No

There's lots of time during Council meetings to do random figuring. 
Presentations and delegations last Tuesday took  one hour and twenty minutes.
Council did not complete the agenda until almost midnight. 
Overtime to complete the agenda  equaled time spent making presentations and  listening to delegations.

As the clock moved closer to midnight,  recommended   for approval , was  a development application which had taken months, several debates, hundreds of  staff hours and a mint to process.
It's a sixty-five million dollar development project.It will undoubtedly increase the assessment base by that amount. 
The previous Tuesday the vote to approve  staff's  recommendation  was seven to one.
The Mayor was absent.
Councillor Gaertner was consistent in  her argument that retail jobs are not as good as  office jobs andshe voted against.
As the clock came closer to midnight a recorded vote was taken
The Mayor and the Three Caballeros, Gallo, Gaertner and Ballard voted against the staff recommendation.
Councillors Abel,Thompson,Humphryes and Pirri voted in favour. 
I had left the chamber at 11.15p.m.
The vote tied. A tie vote is stalemate.
It is a non decision .. 
The Planning Act requires Council to make a decision.
The recommendation  must return to the Council table once more for a decision to be made. 
It will not happen until mid- July. 
Three more weeks of the construction season.  Without certainty.
The option is an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board which the Town  cannot possibly win.
Shades of the near-distant past. 
  

Robbing Paul To Pay Peter

When I left the Council Chamber at 11.15p.m. on Tuesday,,several weighty items remained to be decided.
One was $450,000 for an exteded  contract with a company   because the unit price was favourable.
It was discovered this year,the company had been  providing the same service to the Town of Newmarket for ten per cents less. 
Doesn't that make you feel  warm and protected all over ?
The service is cutting open perfectly fine sewer pipes to insert fibre glass lining which, in theory, is supposed to prevent  ground water from seeping into the pipes.
The purpose is to reduce sewage flow to the York Durham  trunk sewer and allow  more capacity  for development.
We have just now learned is there's no way to prove the practice is effective. We have been doing it for ten years.
No way to measure  ground water in the first place let alone that it actually enters  sanitary sewers.
We installed  storm sewers throughout the town to take away ground water. 
Regional  municipalities have been doing  the relining stunt for years. They are probably doing it in Durham Region as well.
Millions  have been spent already.
Yet when I asked the previous Tuesday how much ground water was being prevented from entering the pipes, the answer was, they have no way of knowing.
The Region is planning to spend more millions to find out,
 I called the item from the  agenda on Tuesday  to ask for a recorded vote.
I didn't expect  support to reject the recommendation.

$325,000 is a full point on the tax rate. Taxes were increased 4.5 per cent  or thereabouts in 2012
.
Another item on the agenda was a recommendation on what to do with the surplus from 2011.
Supplementary assessment in 2011, was twice as much as forecast.
Revenues from planning application fees were higher than anticipated. Combined,. the surplus was in excess of a million.
The Chief Financial Officer recommended it be tucked away in a reserve fund for a rainy day. 
Regulations used to be, a municipality can not budget for a deficit or a surplus.  We could not ake more in taxes that th cost of providing  services.
If a surplus happened,.it had to be applied to the next year's budget in order to ensure it was returned to those who had overpaid.
.Taxes were increased again this year by a rate that surplus would have wiped out. 
I think last year's contract for the cockamamie scheme to re-line sewer pipes to prevent ground water seepage was about $900,000. If it hadn't been spent, there might have been no increase in the taxes last year either.
It's one of the changes I notice between now and times past. 
No Council  or administration would have given a minute's thought to tucking away millions of dollars in surpluses into a reserve fund
to maintain  high annual tax increases 
It would  have meant certain defeat in the next election.   

What Decision Was Made.

The  question has been asked. 
As noted  the  meeting was a  marathon. The agenda was already heavy with weighty  items. 
The Mayor presented  a couple of dozen certificates separately to young people who painted  picnic tables Each group posed  from  two directions.
Council and staff were an appreciative audience for a large part of the time allotted to deal with  town  business. 
I have suggested  presentations requiring only the Mayor's presence would be better held at another time. They could be  accompanied by a reception. 
Directors are entitled to time off- in- lieu, or pay for time spent at Council meetings. I suspect time spent  at Council meetings contributes  to many a four day week.
We  also had six delegations on Tuesday .We listened to rugby and soccer enthusiasts lecture about how far behind we are in providing facilities for ever growing numbers and inform us once again how much advantage  there  is to artificial turf.
One and a half  hours of three  and a half allotted time to deal with town business was taken up before we  started.
The decision was made to call tenders for the $1.4 million project to install the artificial turf at the community park.
It includes  additional cost of work to shore up an existing pond and exporting a mountain of  soil  from the site at $278,000.
We learned   it is not possible to forecast when the new storm water pond will be in place.
On Wednesday night, at the public planning meeting.the Consultant the 2.C. planning area, in answer to a question, said it would be possible for the storm water pond  in the new development to be built ahead of time.
The Conservation authority  must be  involved in the decision
 How much engineering is required to determine the appropriate location, I do not know. 
But the question was asked. Nothing hung on the answer . So I  take it at face value. 
A quarter of a million dollars is worth saving with nothing but  time involved.
It's a quarter of a million dollars the project doesn't have to cost.
It's development charges that can be used for a project of equally high priority.
I don't know what a skate board park costs.
 I've seen one in Georgina.
 It doesn't look cheap.
 But $278,000. would surely buy a lot of concrete. Space from the erstwhile storm water pond is also valuable in the scheme of things.
There is still time,under the circumstances, for  a change to be made. 


 

This Is Not A Complaint Bureau

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Myth or a Legend":

As you said yesterday....

"Poltics...How She Is Played"

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"A commitment had been made by the Mayor behind the scenes, with perhaps a few close associates in the know.
Enough to ensure the vote."

Is this not how politics is played? Seems to me that SIGs know how to play the game better than those on your side of the equation do.

Good for them to making sure they got what they wanted. If those that oppose stuff like the fencing of a park, or sidewalks on an unused street or agreements with historical buildings took a page out the AYSC's playbook they may be able to affect the changes that they want. Instead they try to complain through social media which in the majority of cases is preaching to the choir

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I shall take the last part first.
Complaining is not what  happens here.
Here is where the story is told. 
We well  recall what happened in the last election because  people had been  kept informed. 
The last Council  did everything you recommend. to be  re-elected. They  used town staff to alert  special interest groups when Council looked like it may make a decision not in their favour.
The specific instance I refer to  is the traffic calming plan in the norh-west quadrant
Councillors allowed themselves to be persuaded in the face of the onslaught. Almost $250,.000. of town resources were spent.
The responsible parties  are  no longer playing a part in our political affairs.  Now we are contemplating undoing the horrendous mess  perpetrated upon the neighbourhood
The point is, there were no rewards at the polls when the term ended.The former Mayor we learn from recenyt e-mails had an excellent realtionship with AYSC.
It was no protection from  repudiation and humiliation. 
Social media was  with us then too. I do not recommend the old style of politics of using town resources to pander to this group and that to ensure re-election.
It can't be dressed up the way it used to. 
Four years is but a blink of the eye.
The case builds.
A new election will be upon us soon. 
I  shall  drum my fingers if I like. You are not the boss of me.
But I may look for a pad so as not to distract Councillor Abel from the pattern of his thoughts.