Tuesday ..Decision NIght

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "You Were Asking":

There seem to be quite a # of pendings. The streaming [late], a plan to deal with audit problems, a report on the Cultural agreement [late] etc.
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On Tuesday, Council will debate  a consultant  contract to  design 
 joint parks and works facility, in an amount of $690,980.
It had been recommended at budget .  $50,000 was approved. The larger figure is back.
The treasurer assures Council, not to worry the money is available. 
Now that's a worry. If Council didn't approveit in the budget,, how can it be there? 
Current facilities for parks and works abut at the end of Scanlon Court. 
A study has  been done. The current  buildings are prefab.. Worn out and inadequate.
 We created a  works building and yard  to make room for a joint administration building with the Board of Education when I was Mayor. 
It's a fine office building  on Wellington Street West.
Ross King was the architect.
The works department was the biggest blight in town and  at the  west entrance. 
The Board of Education drove the project. George Ford was their
very efficient  business administrator.
I argued we could do no less that we asked of private business and 
create a fine design.
The  argument was not the same  for a public works building
which  essentially consists of several  bays for servicing trucks and equipments and a storage yard.
Public works are not contained in a building. 
Parks  construct parks furniture in the winter  and operates a greenhouse.A storage yard is also included. Outside storage is not a pretty site. It is functional.
In my judgement, the facilities needed do not  call for an architect design.
There may be  no prefabricated buildings available to serve  the various needs; like offices, separate showers  and change facilities for men and women.
 I can't help wondering how much showering and changing by employees goes on in the town's time in the buildings
When we allocated $50,000 for an  analysis, I  hoped the possibility of  pre-fabricated building  would at least be investigated. 
It wasn't. 
Now mustr vote to spend $690.980. give or take a dollar, for an architect to  design   the   basic structure of public utility buildings. 
I can't do that. 
Space for storage is also a question . 
The town contracts  a substantial amount of  the works function. It 
saves on payroll. Benefits mainly
We had  contract employees. Same  principle Last budget, the treasurer recommended two contract positions  be made permanent. So that theory went out the door. 
Parks still have  contract employees when they are needed, 
Contracts apparently don't save us money in  space.
Space for contractors' equipment and supplies are  described in the needs analysis. 
I don't understand.
If I contract someone to cut my grass, equipment is part of the contract. It is brought and taken away and is part of what I pay for.
Are contractors employee facilities available as well ?
Who pays for their shower and change time?
Is it specified in the contract? 
Storage is also a question.  Do we need to store a winter supply of salt and sand? Could it be delivered as needed?
How much  does it  cost to store heritage materials,like a dismantled barn?  When ,if ever, is it likely to be used? 
Tuesday, the big figure contract is on the agenda to be approved. 
There's no point in bringing up the questionable wisdom  of leasing  the Hydro building to the Secretive  Department of National Defense. 
We leased it  even as  we knew it would be needed to accommodate the  parks department and relieve the pressure on the Scanlon site.  
    
 

You Were Asking

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Recap The Audit Situation":

"I have wondered how the Culture Centre Agreement escaped attention of the auditor. Clearly public interest was not served."

Alternatively, no fault was found. You're putting a lot of credence in this auditor's report, so you clearly have to accept that possible conclusion.

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I said I ""wondered" about the "agreement" and how it escaped the auditor's attention. 
There was an audit of the Centre's financial afairs. No fault was found. The Centre Board were not challenged for   their  financial management. That statement was made several times. .
The agreement was, and is still  the problem.
I do put credence in the auditor;s report. I've seen a number. I've never challenged them when  everything was reported to be  as it should be. 
Why should there be a challenge  now when things are not as they should be?

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.Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Recap The Audit Situation":

A question related to the audit. You say you do not recall specific errors. Will these be included in that promised report? Because if we do not know which items are in trouble, it will be hard to deal with remedies. For all we know, that Cultural Gang's Agreement might be one of the problems. Wouldn't that be a lovely present! 

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The Financial Statement was presented to Council, as the audit committee, last Monday night.
There were questions and answers....in public. 
We  then went into a private meeting and continued the discussion in  greater depth. 
The  full and unvarnished Financial Statement  has been presented and  must  be published in both newspapers and on the town's web site.
That's the law.
When things are not as they should be, a letter is issued to management.
Management being Council.
Council is accountable . .
The community can expect to see a plan to deal with the problems..
They cannot be swept under the rug.
 
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A separate report is pending on how the Culture Centre Agreement might be changed. 
Direction was given  at the beginning of March. 
Meetings have been held  between the Town and Centre Board.. Recommendations  will soon be debated in public. 

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A pilot study on streaming is to start in "Early Fall". 
That's any day  now.

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I'm not sure where  an account of how garbage is handled  can be found. 
I believe re-cyclables are shipped to a plant in Quebec for processing. 
Garbage collection is done by contract with  the Town by a firm called Turtle Island. 
Garbage disposal is a Regional responsibility. 
I have a feeling the deal with a private land fill waste site in Michigan  is coming to an end. 
York and Durham Regions have built an incinerator together.
It shouldn't be more expensive than shipping  out of the country.
We shall see. 

Recap The Audit Situation

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Council Must Act":

It sounds like opportunistic scare-mongering. After all, you do have it in for the senior management team, don't you

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It's always interesting to read varying reactions .
In some people's minds ,the above does not vary.
No matter what;
" Evelyn Buck is at the root of it.  Pay no attention. Simply dismiss"
A politician who takes a  position always takes that risk.
It's natural. It's normal. It's the way the world turns.
The sky does not fall.  
I am diametrically opposed to many positions taken by  senior management.
I recognise no rule that compels me to say I am in favour , if I'm.not.
I have wondered how the Culture Centre Agreement escaped attention of the auditor. Clearly public interest was not served. 
I seldom let opportunity pass to state my position. 
For the sake of the community, I  hope to be  wrong. 
But experience  is sufficient to believe time will permit me to say;
See......
It's more satisfying if I can prevent a decision without merit.
I try.
But mine is one opinion among nine. That is our lot. 
The law requires the annual audit.  It's  purpose is clear.
The  law  requires findings to be publicly stated.
Without fear or favour.
Problems detected must be corrected.
In all my years in town affairs, this is a first, in not receiving a clean audit. 
Potential  for trouble  has been highlighted. Correction has been advised.
To my recollection, specific errors have not been identified.
I may be the only Councillor seriously concerned.
I believe I am not.
The matter is not concluded.

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Council Must Act

The situation is not concluded. 
 Auditors have a  legal responsibility to inform a Council of
unsatisfactory performance in  the town's accounting procedures. 
No evidence was found of wrongdoing. 
Lack of proper of appropriate checks and balances, staff qualifications and training and management oversight , all  provide  an environment ripe with opportunity for wrong doing. 
In previous years Council has been informed of insufficient staff  in the finance department.  Council moved to correct by authorizing more staff.
This situation  also requires a Council  decision.
Council is obliged  to action. . 
Failure to do so  is a failure to govern by those  to whom you delegated  YOUR  AUTHORITY and who are themselves governed by law.
An  Auditor's Report noting serious  deficiencies is not a slap on the wrist. 
It requires correction.
Brace yourselves.    

The Law Requires It.... Auditors must tell

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Wherefore Ombudsman?":

Sorry. I'm playing catch up & the meeting was not streamed. Who found the mistakes? Council members or Staff? 
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The law requires corporations to have annual audits prepared and presented to the shareholders.
A municipality is no different. Taxpayers are the shareholders.
Monday night Council  met as the Audit Committee  to receive in public the annual financial statement from the town's auditors.
Findings were set out in a public meeting.
Council were provided with an agenda for a closed meeting to receive a report from staff following the auditor's presentation. 
Two reasons were given. One was for the security of property; the second to protect individual privacy.
I was able to accept the second reason.

I am not going to post  the financial statement. 
I can state  there is no evidence of wrong-doing . 
The auditors are legally  responsible  to report what they found during the audit.
If everything is as it should be, they say so. 
If  things are  not as they  should be, they say so.
They make observations on their findings.
The audit took longer than usual.Presentation was late 
Information requested from staff took longer to receive.
There appears to be a lack of qualifications and training; a management responsibility. 
I  must  try to keep separate public comments from the closed  session exchange. Public revelations were the reason for  private discussion. 
There is no way to sugar-coat the situation.
Two specific issues may help to clarify:
$2 million  received for naming rights of the rec complex have been
received in annual instalments. At the time of the deal, Council, 
directed, the annual instalment be directed to making the debenture payment on the facility.
 It was built years before it was scheduled and development charges were not on hand  to pay for it.
It seems, $1.2 million dollars of the funds found their way into the development charge reserve fund.  They did not belong there  and  it took time to discover that's where they were.
$1.2 million dollars is not chicken feed. Not being able to find it 
 must have caused tension.

$700,000  lost revenue was a different issue. 
Five golf courses appealed their assessment. In 2011, three appeals were decided and the town lost $700,000 in assessment revenue.
There was a shortfall .

A third problem was  handling of grants  from the Federal government for "shovel-ready" projects.  The grants were  new. No process was  in place to handle receipts and payment from the grant.     

I am not a accountant. A clean audit  has always been of vital importance to myself  as a scrupulous amateur.
From a Councillor's perspective, despite assurances of no evidence of fraud,  this situation is a worry. .
A previous Council directed the  payment for naming rights  to  the annual payment on the debenture debt for the recreation centre. 
If it wasn't used for that purpose, where did the money come from for the annual payment?
The treasurer plans to write a report..
$325,000 represents a point in the tax rate. Did we include the payment in the operating budget? Was the budget increase a point higher than it needed to be? 


$1.2 million went into the Development Charge Reserve fund. It didn't belong there. It swelled the fund by that amount.The fund is currently in deficit. It means we spent money on something  we didn't have money for.
The artificial turf at St Max's High School perhaps. 
The money will have to be repaid.
Funds for a teen centre  will e impacted. .
 . 
A loss of $700,000 revenue in 2011, due to successful  appeals by three golf courses, skews last year's  budget figures by that amount That much revenue lost sends last year's  tax increase up by another two points.
Two more golf courses are likely to  have successful appeals in 2012.  It means total revenue from golf courses  has been  overestimated by a $1 million. 
It means the 2012 budget adopted by Council and the resultant  tax increase imposed were not  accurate. . 
For high rollers, it may seem like small potatoes.
For a scrupulous amateur like myself, I am not sublime. 
  
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Wherefore Ombudsman?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Things You Hear":


Quoting from the Toronto Star - "Ombudsman slams Sudbury council for lack of cooperation in investigation"

Our office will not tolerate municipal officials engaging in legal gamesmanship or political gymnastics in order to evade accounting for their actions when we investigate complaints that they met secretly and illegally to conduct city business."

Does Aurora have an ombudsman? SHOULD WE?
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The auditor's report was received in  an open meeting. 
Errors were disclosed. 
Council is obligated by regulation to protect the privacy of an individual. 
Responsibility for  errors may implicate  an indvidual
For that reason, the closed door meeting is legitimate.
A further report is forthcoming.
Provincial  law provides for  the right to  request  an investigation if  an individual  believes something illegal has happened. 
The town retains  a firm of investigators  should  such a request be received.
Nothing I have written should be taken to mean, Council has done anything illegal.
We are dealing with an unusual situation .
We need to use all the facility provided to do it fairly. . 
.
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That's a harsh statement for  the Ontario Ombudsman to make about the City of Sudbury. Unless he is prepared to back it up with evidence  that  "municipal officials are engaging in legal gamemanship and political gymnastics in order to evade accounting for their actions" 
There are two classes of municipal officials.; elected  and administrative.
Politicians can defend themselves against intemperate language,  whatever its source. .
Public servants can not. 
Whence  accountability of  The  Ontario Ombudsman ?
Who elected him ?
Or is he there by Divine Intercession?  

The Report Will Be Prompt

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Things You Hear":

Ah. But WHEN will there be a report?

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Things You Hear":

Once again Evelyn Buck weaves a story about old vs new and then tempts us all with some sort of wrong doing - but she can't tell us about it.

I ask, if it is worthy enough to skirt around, then tell us the full story. You claim that you use this vehicle to inform.

If you cannot tell all, I suggest that you leave it behind the closed door until you can. All you are doing now is creating innuendo 
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Mais non, Mon Ami
The first part of the Audit Committee meeting was open.
Problems were  revealed. and discussed to a certain point.
There is no innuendo
Things are not as they should be. 
This  morning's post  makes  it  clear.
When I've had breakfast ,I may get back to it. Or I may decide to do it to-morrow.
I am not working to a time clock. There are seven other  Councillors and the Mayor who might fill you in on details in the meantime.   

Things You Hear

"Scrupulosity of an amateur" is a phrase   heard  in my teens.
 A priest used it in a sermon from the altar. the sermon is long gone but the phrase remains.
It may have stayed with me because it is so apt. 
As an elected representative, I need to keep it constant..
It's important not to go off half-cocked ..
 I ask. I probe.I pose contrasts. I seek clarification.
It may well be tedious for colleagues. 
I begin with intuition . I know better than  to  form  a conclusion without having all the facts.
My task  is to inform and persuade . First I must secure my own  understanding. .
Without it, I lose credibility.
It's becoming difficult in council. Colleagues don't  share my understanding of the  responsibility.
We  had a couple of odd meetings this week.
On Monday, Council met  as the audit committee. A second part of the meeting was behind closed doors. 

Not talking about the second part, makes talking about the first part, tricky.
The second part was directly related to the  first part
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The Audit Committee is constituted to receive the annual audited financial statement.
The Statements are published. Seldom do they draw attention.
In my early days, Financial Statements were distributed at annual nomination meetings.
Elections were held every twelve months.It was fitting for the financial accounting to accompany nominations for office.
In  1967, for the first time, Aurora's budget  topped a million. 
Budgets  were always clear and easily understood 
The first principle of taxation  is  they should be clearly and easily understood. 
Operating expenses. Debt. Revenue. 
Costs rise.  Assessment growth  pays.
No growth. Costs increase. Taxes rise.
Continual substantial tax  increases, accompanied by substantial growth, means a complacent Council  not doing its job.
Tax increases are not a given.   
Budgets process is simple; Actual spending from the previous year must be available.  How much more it will take to maintain the same level of service. How much extra  to fund necessary  increases.
How much  left over to improve the level of service. . 
In the past, we  talked about building  reserves to replace worn out equipment. Sometimes we  created one. We almost always had to spend it before the year was out.
We never ended the year in a deficit. Regulations do not permit municipalities to budget for a deficit. 
We had a water reserve. A flat rate of about $7.50 a quarter.paid what it cost to pump water out of the ground and put money in the bank. We  borrowed  from it when we needed to. Paid it back with interest.
The  water bill  came out with the hydro bill.
Sewers were on the tax bill.  Everybody paid.
Call me stupid. Some will I know. 
But I'm inclined to think  how things were done in the past is releavnt to how they are done today. 
Budgets are no longer easily understood.W  create  reserve accounts that tally into  the millions.on the backs of property owners. 
We replace equipment willy-nilly.
We adopt a strategic plan that presents as its goal  " exceptional quality of life for all residents" 
Who do we think we are?.
We cite the goal in every staff report. And  we authorize staff  to budget  to achieve  an exceptional quality of life for all. . 
Imagine that; "And exceptional  quality of life for all.
Did you knowyou were voting for in the last election.?
If a candidate with a straight face promised that, would you have  taken him at his word?
We paid a consultant $80,000. to come up with  that verbiage.    
We tax current  property owners so that  people living here twenty years from now, will be able to enjoy amenities we paid for with higher taxes than were needed to meet our own needs.  .
Budget documents are no longer  decipherable.Even the figures are like spider tracks.
Just weeks ago, Councillor Gallo discovered a six digit figure, twice listed  for the same project in the Capital  Construction forecast. 
It was  a mistake. 
During budget deliberations, we are  assured  the  Capital Construction  forecast does not affect the operating budget or the tax rate.
Yet, once approved, it moves forward like a juggernaut to be used  in  the next year's budget calculation. 
On Monday night ,the Audit Committee (Council) received  a disturbing  report . Things are not as they should be. Certain factors were disclosed.
To protect privacy of the individual, Council went behind closed doors with the auditors to dig deeper into the matter 
There will be a report.      
    

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I am not..what I have not...claimed to be

Sharon Brookes has left a new comment on your post "Cowardy,Cowardy Custard":

Councillor Buck , I hate to agree with this last post, but I had the same thought. Even though you make many important comments or presentations to council meetings, you can drag on or go off topic. Ms. Gaertner is an entirely different issue.
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Sharon...Thank you for your name andexpression of reluctance to agree that I can drag on and go off topic.
 I am not what I do not claim to be.
No doubt you are right. 
Depending on your generation, what I have to say, may seem like  dragging on and going off topic.
You might agree, extent and years of  involvement  might have something to contribute to the situation.
It means I have to exercise more discipline.  I  have to choose  between many points  to make in a debate.
We do tend to be our own worst critics.A debate means being able to think on one's feet, so-to-speak and respond to points made.
Sometimes, as many as five have spoken before my turn .
It  means retaining points made by others so as not to miss the opportunity to refute.The objective is to persuade.
It's  easier to exercise discipline when order is being maintained
by the  presiding member. 
Nothing is more distracting or  exasperating than to  be interrupted by spurious points of order; a member disagree with a point being made, thinks  a point of order.is in order. It is not.   
A  competent chair,maintains order throughout. Seldom should  a point of order be necessary  from the floor. 
A  consistent reminder from the chair  to speak to the question. helps all members to acquire discipline. 
A member  being accused  of not telling the truth, is a breach  of order.
The  chair's failure to call the member to order and require the comment  be withdrawn is an equally egregious. 
A  question  directed  by the chair for the Clerk to answer. The Clerk obliged to observe the obvious ." there is no answer" is a failure of the chair.
The chair alone  has responsibility for maintaining order. 
It takes confidence, experience, knowledge, skill, impartiality and consistency to do the job properly. 
If these skills are missing, there's no advantage for  any member to observe the rules
Council meetings become a free-for-all .
I don't apologise for using past experience to support an argument.
Those who share my experience appreciateit. I am not alone in the community I serve.
At the same time I know Councillors  with no background  in the town's affairs are extremely conscious and threatenedby the fact.
I have been informed  the past has no relevance
.I don't accept that.
While the presiding member flails  hopelessly and helplessly at the job of maintaining order, it's natural to look for people to blame.  .
It's not admirable. 
Things do not improve. 
Next time a ruling is challenged, support needed for a vote of confidence may fail to emerge. .
It's not a good place to be.  
We do the best we can in the circumstances. 
Sometimes we do it right. 
Sometimes we don't.          
   

Hey Ho,,, Away We Go

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "By Their Deeds, Ye Shall Know Them":

Just let them go. It's like when your kids demand to do something that is seriously goofy but safe. Let them go

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I know. I know. 
Politically, it's so much easier to go with the flow.
But when a staff report outlines half a dozen reasons why holding two business meetings of the Corporation  in two  different school  facilities is not feasible and the Mayor  simply waves his arm and  commands,  let's get at it, or words to that effect, and everyone else shouts Yippee i Yo, I really have a hard time overlooking the obvious.
Councillor Pirri offers the suggestion the agenda item for the "meetings" should be something to interest the  students such as a teen centre.
How would it  qualify as  a Council meeting? 
How would it conform to the Procedure Bylaw.
How would it be anything else but the show Councillor Pirri  believes should go on the road.?
Did I take an Oath of Office to be part of  a traveling circus.
 

Cowardy,Cowardy Custard

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "By Their Deeds, Ye Shall Know Them":

... and here was I thinking that the meeting went well, without you and Cllr Gaertner dragging things out.
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Yes. there you are, cowardy cowardy custard with all the courage of your convictions , desperately seeking to prove  that  disorder at Council meetings is not the fault of the presiding member. 
From  your  cloak of anonymity  dumping  blame on two you  name  while failing to reveal your own identity.
A fine example for  youth in the community ?
I think not.   

By Their Deeds, Ye Shall Know Them

I did not attend Council on Tuesday. I watched on television.
Oh my! 
Oh My!
It was a short agenda.
Nothing much to be made of it
Much was made of it. 
It occurred to me, if I were a competent teacher of civics, the meeting could be used  as a classic example of how formal, decision-making can   be effectively screwed up.
Staff have been directed, despite solid  reasons why it shouldn't, to schlepp Council, staff, agendas  and all accoutrements to two high schools, to  encourage  student  interest in government.
The purpose  is to combat citizen apathy.  
Councillor Pirri brought  the notion back from a conference.
The Mayor  supports  it as an example of innovative thinking.
He  discussed it with  an educational official  who also believes it's a wonderful concept.
The majority of Council agree
Which leaves me to disagree. 
I am  left to wonder if they have ever watched  themselves on television.
Or...here's a thought...   being seen and heard on television  is so mind-boggling, it  has literally boggled  minds.
Or.. another ... Collective  understanding of how a meeting should be conducted is so skewed, confidence abounds.
Or...
Ah well, what's the point.
It has been decided.
But then sometimes  when Council  approves a motion , months go by and nothing comes of it. 
Nothing  indicates why some directions are promptly implemented,  some disappear and others  re-appear in a different format.Like an initiative of the Mayor and CAO. 
I am completing twenty-five years of  service as a Councillor and that many again as an observer.
I've served on a variety of Boards; Police,  Public Health, Hospital, Children's Aid Society, Library,  Recreation Commission, Conservation Authority,Children's Aid Society, a quasi-judicial review board, and dozens more committees.  
In the last Council, I saw rules of order regularly twisted to 
suit  exigencies. I saw provincial regulations ignored if they got in the way.I saw staff mercilessly abused in public.
But I have never seen  the disarray and confusion so consistently demonstrated as in  this Council.
It has been two years. Things have not improved.  
With the best will in the world, a  learning instrument for modern  high school students, this Council is  not.

What Are You Implying

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Flags and Such":

"More ripples in the pond. Olivia Chow is seriously considering running for Toronto Mayor." 
No offence to Ms Chow. Is she qualified? Yes she was a councillor. Yes she is an MP, but are people expecting that something from her husband has rubbed off on to her? I do not see her as someone that could handle this job. 
Emotions aside, she could not do it.
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No offense intended to the writer but the comment is offensive to all women. .
 Ms Chow, I believe, was an alderman in Toronto as long ,if not longer than her late husband. She was successful in her own right in Toronto politics and in the federal arena.Nobody gets a free ride. 
Not even Justin Trudeau, I  warrant.
Without a doubt, she was a valuable resource, as her husband  went forward to become leader of the NDP. and achieve success for the party, never known  before.
Her loss must have been devastating. She carried on.She stayed the course.
If she is now thinking about coming home and  how her  skills might be better used, it would surely be a logical  decision.
Campaigning for the office of Mayor of Toronto would be a formidable task to contemplate. 
It would require one or both of  these two.. 
Unlimited financial resources.  The support of a political party.
The NDP  have been successful in Toronto campaigns. People and passion can combat money.
Olivia Chow would be a very attractive candidate.She is small but mighty,
Certainly the equal of any man who might come forward.
Including the current Mayor. 
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The Common Denominator

A common feature of politics is repetition .
 I've been reading a report on recorded votes in the last term.  A motion  and approved by Council, directed action on the surplus buildings on Victoria Street. 
It never happened.
It will soon be twelve months since a similar resolution was approved by this Council ,four years later.
 approved it.  No progress reported almost a year later. 
Provincially, Dalton McGuinty is trying to cope with trillions in  debt, attempting   to save public service jobs by asking the best-paid to accept a freeze on  public service salaries.
 Once again, we have Sid Ryan,spokesperson for  unions affected. 
He stated yesterday:"We should be grateful to Mr. McGuinty for bring every public sector union together  like never before". 
Mr Ryan is no doubt  thinking of his triumph in bringing down  the NDP  in their first opportunity to govern. 
Mr. Ryan has been a candidate for political office himself since then. Without success.
Previous to the last  election, Mr.Mc Guinty boasted of years of labour peace during his tenure. That would  no doubt be due to his generosity. 
Which likely contributed to the provincial debt.
In the last election, Mr.McGuinty showed himself willing to squander one hundred and forty million dollars by cancelling a gas fired  generating plant  under construction in Mississauga.
It was being built to fulfill a promise in a previous election to shut down coal-fired plants at the lake.
The most interesting angle of the dispute between Mr. McGuinty and his erstwhile teacher friends  is the fact neither refers to the particulars of  wages and benefits. 
To-day, a spokesperson for custodial employees said they were being asked to accept"less" pay to help the government  solve financial problems.
I think public service workers in certain categories are the new millionaires in our society. They earn far more than they need to provide for families . So they can invest in businesses, property, stocks and bonds.  Hours of employment are reduced  to the point they can take second jobs to increase their wealth.. 
Collectively,  the wealth of their associations could buy and sell several provincial administrations combined.
Power is money they say.
Well, they have the money.  
With  local boards of education, everybody had an idea how much a teacher earned, how much they thought they should earn and what was  received  in exchange.
Today's Powerful unions have something better  than money.
Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin , near famous Hanover City with  the River Weser deep and wide, washing  its walls on either side, they can lead the children chanting and chiming in support of  themselves against government in a struggle for dominance.
How appropriate is that?
People sit back complacently, having no idea what the arguments is about until such time as schools may close.
And nobody, including the press, has any inclination to dig a little deeper and reveal the details. .    

Flags and Such

newmarketfollower has left a new comment on your post "Mulcair in Macleans":

I haven't read the article. But Mulcair and his caucus silence after the PQ election in Quebec and lack of comment on the removal of the Canadian flag from the Quebec swearing-in ceremony all ironically speak volumes to me.

I want my PM to stand up to separatists. Mulcair is not that man. Broadbent and Lewis would have done it.
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 Mr. Broadbent finished an election in 1989, winning more seats than anyone  had before. He resigned shortly after.
There was a hint of bitterness. 
Likely from the perennial betrayal of the UAW on  election eve.
Separatism was not an issue when Mr. Lewis was party leader.  I'm sure his approach would have been measured and carefully calculated. Mr. Lewis had an incredibly focused and orderly mind 
It was during his time the party accepted financial support from organized labour and  unknowingly exchanged their birthright for a mess of potage.
While Mr. Lewis was across Canada campaigning, his riding was   slipped out from under  him by a woman named Ursula Appoloni. No-one had  heard of her before and she was never heard of after. 
David Lewis exercised independent judgement as a leader of the NDP.  He was thrown under the bus..
I gave up on the NDP as a political party long ago.I concluded they was no interest in forming a government. The party's elite  wanted nothing more than an arm for organised labour.. 
The Canadian Union of Public Service Employees, Sid Ryan at the head, did it to Bob Rae as well. 
Tom Mulcair, with seats in Quebec, young people with fresh, open  minds, has the best chance yet  to make the party more than it has been.
The last epic political struggle  in Canada was when Pierre Trudeau. brought home the  Canadian Constitution and marshaled into law the Canadian Charter of Rights. He was said to have disdain for politics. He stayed focused long enough to accomplish his objective. 
My grandfather  helped  send the first Labour Party member,Keir Hardie, also a coal miner,to the UK Parliament.
My mother, passionate lifetime labour member,voted for Margaret Thatcher when hospital workers went on strike .The dead could not be buried  until the strike ended.
I was  always far more Scottish than I was British. I signed every home rule petition I saw .
They said it couldn't be done. 
Tony Blair, a new breed of politician, did it.
He had the greatest promise. But he made the deadly mistake of joining in the invasion of Iraq. He didn't have the  forefathers knowledge of the Middle East.
He didn't know the  years of struggle and  terrible atrocities it took for  colonial countries to extricate themselves.
Terrorism in Britain, France and Algiers was not a foreign concept.It didn't happen first in New York City.   
I hear of  few complaints  in Scotland about having independence. 
It hasn't brought the UK government to its knees.
I don't profess to  expertise about the aspirations of the people of Quebec.
But I'll tell you what, I think there's a lot to be said for protecting one's culture. Everybody  needs to feel they belong.That they have proprietary rights in their own community.

Mulcair in Macleans

The article was as long as it needed to be.Much to be told. All of it relevant.
Thomas Mulcair is where he needs to be at exactly the right time. 
Canadians are hungry for a leader.Someone they can believe.
 He looks to be serious, intense, determined and totally focused.
They will know him when they see him. 
Organized labour must become part of the fabric  It can not be the whole swatch of cloth.
Linda McQuaig should be recruited as a candidate.

Further To The Last Post

Following up on the last post:
 Staff  in attendance at the  meeting were ; Director of Planning, senior planner assigned to the project, deputy clerk responsible for the record and a secretary.
Also, there's Rick . He prepares the room and audio facilities for the meeting, provides security while the town hall is open, and closes down  audio and  the room after the meeting.
Rick  makes coffee and does other kind stuff as well. 
Former Councillor Nigel Keane had the quaint notion that because staff are on the payroll, their time is free. Doesn't cost the taxpayers anything to duplicate or waste time. 
Last night ,Councillor Gallo  again exploited  the opportunity, to find fault with  the Director of Recreation and Parks . It had been indicated no school sites would be required because of small  numbers, therefore no park would be needed either.  
 Town policy is to combine with school boards and include a park where schools are located, to maximize useable space.
Councillor Gallo was quick to point out   the  David English Park neighbourhood has only sixty-seven homes yet dual tennis courts,which he opposes, are being built.
The Councillor consistently chooses  not to acknowledge the Master Recreation Plan passed by the last Council, calls for additional tennis courts. The David English Park is the only available location..
Further to that, cluster housing proposed are condominiums.  If  family oriented, recreation facilities will be part of the project. 
They will be built by the developer and maintained by the condominium corporation.
And , of course, the huge  natural forest and open space will alsobe part of the neighbourhood.
It has been described as "the last vestige of arboreal forest" .What more could  a neighbourhood want or need ? 
Councillor Gallo has yet to share his idea. 

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

A planning meeting was held last night. A block plan was presented for approval. The  property parcel with separate owners, represented by a Consultant .
The  plan shows blocks that can be developed and those that can't.They are in the Oak Ridges Moraine. 
There's  a lot that can't.
To satisfy density permitted for the entire area, projects of  condominium cluster housing are proposed.
Roads are shown, private and public. A block for school sites and a park  as institutional.
The agenda  was  provided  to Councillors and made public on Friday. That's the norm.
Persons on the   list as interested parties were notified .
The issue is not new. It has been before the Ontario Municipal Board.
Re-zoning accompanied by site plans  is the next step  and  application was filed on August 11th.
The block plan is  a predecessor.
It was a performance. 
First up, the consultant proclaimed  unbounded admiration for  town staff and their work.
He anticipated concerns from neighbours. He felt there had been  mis-communication. He also responded to  concerns he anticipated being expressed by  neighbours. 
Concerned neighbours in the main are the Ratepayers of Aurora Yonge South a neighbourhood  organization created by Susan Walmer, master strategist, who no longer lives in the neighbourhood
Ms. Walmer was not present. 
Complaints were made by neighbours present about not being informed in time to prepare.
A dozen people were on hand. 
Prepared. 
A letter was circulated with several points of concern articulated. 
Access points,two,  from Yonge Street were noted.
Residents of  Gilbert Drive  did not want a signalized intersection on Yonge, linking their neighbourhood in the east with the new in the west. 
They said  Gilbert Drive might become a  short cut to Vandorf  Sideroad.
It wasn't clear why  new residents would want to be on Vandorf Side road .Or why  curving subdivision roads  would present as a shortcut .
A Ridge Road resident worried  about  impact of the development on his private well. He was afraid there would be a draw down of the water. 
It was explained the development will be serviced by town water and sewer services. 
There would be absolutely no impact. 
After residents had their say, we heard from Councillors Gallo. Ballard and Gaertner. They repeated  the residents' concerns.  Including the complaint of staff failure to inform .
Although the residents' presence was writ large and they had had their say.
Councillor Ballard  introduced something new. 
Environmentally sensitive lands that cannot be developed are normally  required to be designated to the town. 
Councillor Ballard  suggested the lands might  be designated to the Oak Ridges Moraine Trust. The owners would then receive market  value for their lands.
Guess how that's funded.  
Susan Walmer is an official of that organization. 
If that happened, the town  is not required but expected to maintain the property.  But at the same time have no authority over how it might be used.
Susan and her crew are in charge of that.  
It's difficult to imagine  why Councillor Ballard  elected to represent  municipal interest, would  suggest something contrary to the municipal interest.   
Finally after endless repetition, the  recommendation was put to a vote. 
Councillor Gallo requested  a recorded vote..
Gallo, Ballard, Gaertner and Humphryes voted to reject the recommendation.
The motion passed with five votes in favour.
I was cold all day yesterday. I thought maybe I should stay home last night and try to get warm.Then I thought, there would be residents in attendance who would want me to hear their concerns.
Good thing I went.
The vote would have been a tie and  town business would have been stalemate once again. 
For no obvious useful purpose.
Just an endless, senseless waste of  staff and Council's time.
Since the strategy was clear from the outset ,we  may assume blocking the block plan was always the  intent  of Susan and her Council allies. 

Policies Are Not Cast In stone

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Riddle Me THis":

Whose Policy? Staff? Aurora? Region? And what are the consequences if Council does not adhere to it?
**********
A policy may be recommended by staff.
Once adopted by Council it becomes a  corporate policy.
A  variance from  the policy is a decision for Council to make.
Everyone is expected to abide by the policies.
But if Councillors don't know the policies , they can easily be led astray.
We have had a workshop on policies pending for months.
Staff asked immediately before the last election, for authorisation under certain policies to be transferred from Council to staff. 
I argued it  would be an excellent project for the new Council and provide  much needed grounding on what is council's responsibility andwhat is staff's
I did a lot of spitting into the wind in the last term. 
This term, not so much.
Other than  the people  choice at election time, there are no obvious consequences for not adhering to policies. 
But that bespeaks everyone being familiar with the policies and the policies themselves making sense. 
At the beginning of  last term, the person in charge of corporate communications presented an annual report .
The Mormac twins grilled her about what  was meant by "corporate communications" When those two didn't like the answer, they just kept asking the question over and over. Until I shouted 'Stop it"
Corporate communications meant communicating decisions made by  the corporation.
The answer didn't suit the  Deadly Duo. 
It wasn't long before  corporate communications  became the publicity arm of the  incumbent Mayor's office. 
Nothing was allowed to appear that didn't show her name.. 
Communications staff were required to attend Council meetings for furtive purpose that didn't sit well.
It wasn't long after it ceased to be Corporate Communications   the  division  changed  hands,  as well as  its purpose. .
That's how it is now. 
Management has changed once more.
The division has four staff. It still functions as  publicity arm  for the incumbent Mayor.
He has no idea why that should not be.
It suits him fine.    

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Riddle Me THis":
Evelyn:A few quick questions about the 'policy' that requires Industrial Parkway to have sidewalks on both sides.
When and how was this policy approved, by whom, and what is the rationale?
Policy can be changed by legislative vote. At one time Canada practiced capital punishment and then, by an act of Parliament, abolished it.
Surely a 'sidewalks policy' can be changed.Is the September 25 Open House going to be all day or only between certain hours? Will there be someone there to explain and answer questions? Someone qualified to do so.
It seems to me that this 'policy' is without merit south of Wellington, and with questionable merit to the north.
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A policy is a  guideline intended to ensure consistency in decision-making. Sometimes it spells out requirements already in government regulations. Like spending policies.
There's a policy for Council/staff relationship.
For example, no Councillor can direct staff to do anything. 
Staff direction must come from a majority decision of Council.
That policy is not being adhered to right now. 
Staff are as much responsible as  Council members. 
The sidewalk policy was updated in the last term. 
Many fifty year old roads  were built to rural standards; no sidewalks, drainage by ditch and culvert. 
Re-construction was to urban standards. With storm drainage, sidewalks on one side and boulevards for snow storage; depending on width. 
It  meant sidewalks abutted  property lines and front lawns were substantially reduced.
Many residents were not enamoured. 
The policy was to allow residents ti indicate  preference at the time plans were being prepared.
Invariably what happened was, people opposed to sidewalks shortening their front lawn and driveway turned up at open houses and said so. 
People who weren't paying attention didn't indicate preference until the plans were ready to proceed. Then there would be a kefuffle.
The obvious  requirement for a sidewalk would become evident and  plans would have to be changed. 
In the last term, we cut down a beautiful street tree and shifted the road  and underground services over a few feet to the west to satisfy the demands of a  single resident on the east, Never found out how much that cost. He spent the winter in Florida  and isn't there at all now. 
Anyway,  the policy was adopted to have sidewalks on both sides of streets during the last term. Theory being, people could still have input but first the designs would be for two sidewalks and Council would have to do the Solomon. 
A policy is not cast in stone.
 In a town  this age, many variables have to be accommodated.The Industrial Parkway is one. .
In my judgement, it  needs imagination. . 
Safety and accessibility are  worthwhile  objectives.
The project must be  realistic. 
Sidewalks on both sides  are not. 
I argued  when the  design contract  was awarded.
.But  Council  has been  reluctant to exercise personal  judgement. It  seems easier just to do as they are told.  And.there's safety in numbers.
But that may be changing.
The community is exerting its influence and that helps an elected representative  to understand and have confidence in his role.
We maybe  looking  at ways and means of accomplishing the objective of accessibility without cutting down hundreds of trees and needlessly spending millions of dollars.
It won't save money already spent on consulting fees.God knows that tap is still turned on full.
But there's still time to prevent the greater boon doggle* 

* Wikipedia
 A boondoggle is a project that is considered a useless waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy motivations