Kind Of ...

Anonymous said...
What exactly is a Visioning Statement?

Is this what happens when one sees an angel or a Saint or some such manifestation and tells about it?
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A description of an elephant. A horse designed by a committee.

Visioning statement is like a bolt of lightening,after numbers of people, led by consultants ,have a variety of meetings and share  thoughts about what they would like the town to look in, usually five years time. We review our Official Plan every five years to ensure it is still current.

The last time  the Strategic Plan was updated,, we took the previous one off the shelf, dusted it off and looked to see if anything needed to be changed.

It didn't. The town's aspirations remained the same. Nobody was surprised. It wasn't a crystal ball. Just a sensible outlook.

Council, staff  and interested citizens  spent some time together
talking . Spent no money at all to speak of. 

Every time a staff  recommendation came to Council the report noted how the recommendation reconciled with the Strategic Plan. It usually did. That was the point of the Strategic Plan. It was a path to follow to achieve the objective. Everybody kept their eye on the ball.

When the new CAO came on board, reference to the Strategic Plan disappeared from staff reports. I asked why. I was informed  Council had not adopted the Strategic Plan and it was a way of making staff reports shorter. 

That was a puzzlement. The Strategic Plan is adopted by Bylaw. We don't re-adopt bylaws every time there's a change in Council.
Reference to the Startegic Plan in staff reports was the only visible sign we had one and it meant anything. 

It was at that point,I stopped trying to make sense at first blush of anything seen or heard .

The Mormac Duo were having meetings in the Mayor's office until two in the morning, planning the town's future between them. NO input was welcome.  It was never immediately obvious what they were up to. Whatever it was ,they could always count on the support of the remainder of the gang of six.   Even if they  had no more  idea of the plan than the rest of us.

Anyway, that brings us to last year and the first year of the current Council. The majority of whom were new.

The Strategic Plan process  was to be even more ambitious. We would plan strategically for  thirty years instead of  five. That  would  show how serious we are about  designing the future.

Never mind that it would be totally unrealistic.

It would require the services of a consultant and it only made sense the  enormity  of the cost would  match the size of the project.

So  we  adopted in the budget an  estimate of $85,000.

It apparently sounded just about right to our widely and vastly experienced members of the new Council.

The Visioning  Statement is what we holler out to the world what we think about our town to encourage business to locate here and nowhere else.

We are innovative and  sustainable.  Neighbors care and business  thrives.

It seems at times the deniznes at the town hall never  leave their offices.

They must drive up or down the 404 , in along  Wellington Street. certainly not on Yonge Street to notice vast empty spaces  with grimy windows and dusty entrances . Or Victoria Street to see the
shabby old public buildings .Or Bayview to see new but vacant
industrial buildings.

They must be hoping a Visioning Statement will do what a drive through  town to recognize  tell-tale signs would not.

The terms Ivory Tower  and  Lilliput  take  on new meaning in  Aurora  to-day.

Advise And Consent

I should have mentioned on my last post, the Draft Strategic Plan
is posted on the town's web site.
Also, there was a 2011 budget allocation of $85,000 for a review of the Strategic Plan. There was a debate before Council approved the contract award.
Staff  advised. Council consented.

Another Opinion.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Here's Something":

okay... I am sure that Council approved the expenditure.

I think there was more deliverables from this than what you indicate - editorial license I guess.

You have to spend money to move forward. People complain that we are not moving forward. Can't have it both ways.

*******************

I thought I would just  post the information and  get some  reaction without  offering my own.

I'm not sure where the Visioning Statement  indicates forward moving action or any action at all.

It is positively turgid

If the purpose of the exercise was to satisfy complaints of not moving forward, of which I am unaware, I would appreciate re-assurance   the visioning statement doesn't actually set us back a century.

Maybe what we did was spend $80,000 for the appearance of moving forward. In my opinion. we  don't  even accomplish that.

Here's Something

Strategic Plan: Consultant study.
Time spent months:
Cost: $80.000: Give or take a thousand:
Outcome: Visioning Statement:

"An  innovative and sustainable community
Where neighbors care
And businesses thrive. "

Response To Ka-Non

KA-NON has left a new comment on your post "Clarification":

Hmmm. I guess there is a contract then, right? When you rent anything else in town, like the ice, or the pool lanes, I believe that there is a contract, which describes what it is the renting party is paying for.

What does the contract say in this case? Will it describe the USE of the park, or will it describe only the SETUP and CLEANUP of the park?

If, as you say, it only describes the latter, then I don't see how they can erect a fence.

Can you get your hands on the contract from last year, or the year before, and share with us what it includes? That must be public information, right?

BTW and FWIW, I am not necessarily offended that the festival performers make money. Many of the private swimming teachers that pay for and use our lanes are earning a living doing so. Same with many of the skating instructors I suspect. Also, it provides something that people are willing to pay for, and adds to the quality of life in the town.
It shouldn't matter whether we like or dislike some of the organizers/performers. The principle should be consistent.

**************

I have had the contract e-mailed to me. I  have tried to transfer it to the blog. I have had no success.

So if anyone wants to see it, they can e-mail Al Downey, Director
of  Leisure and Parsk, now that they took away his responsibility for looking after facilities ,and he will send it to you.

It's a simple document. It spells out  fee for rental of the bandshell plus tax, no fee for use of the park. Back side of the  page outlines   responsibilities the  user is required to agree to.

Signatures and dates are affixed .

I'm not offended  that musicians who ply their trade be paid for their service.

Whether or not I like or dislike any person associated with the event,is neither here nor there.

The town invests in facilities for the benefit of residents .Residents provide the resource for the investment..

The town  do not provide facilities for commercial operator  to operate a business enterprise in our park and close its use off from the residents.

WTF

Claiming  not-for-profit status, in this instance,  means  no profit after everybody gets their cut.

Yesterday the Mayor told me about  "In From The Cold" organisation receiving a Trillium Grant for $250,000.

They are hoping to launch a catering operation which will provide
meals where needed as well as an opportunity for people who need help  to get  back their self-respect. That  to me is the real meaning of   "not-for-profit " enterprise.

The Buck Stops Here

Christopher Watts has leveraged a single criticism to three this morning. I am now childish, petty and patronising by referring on a couple of occasions  to Councillor Pirri as young.

I'm sorry he feels that way.

BTW.Nigel Kean was a three time losing candidate for the office of Mayor.

Things Heard

Someone said, I think it was Councillor Ballard, that if the park or other town facility is not booked by anyone else , waiving user fees doesn't mean a loss of revenue.

That's like saying, if the dentist and his chair hasn't been booked, some lucky patient patient should get free service.

It's like the return of Stephen Granger.

He once somberly announced ;

" I have observed that traffic  tends to travel east and  west It also travels north and south"

The foregoing has  entered into legend as a Granger -ism.

Clarification

KA-NON has left a new comment on your post "Fencing The Park":

The following is not meant to be an argument for or against the Jazz+ festival, or its use of Town Park, per se.

Seems like there are competing ideas at play.

One, we should charge for the use of the park. This, council has affirmed by refusing to waive the user fee for the Jazz+ festival.

Two, we should never fence off the park to the public. I think that you might have intimated that something in our bylaws, or in come covenant to the deed dating back to when the park was bestowed on the town prohibits it.

We can't have it both ways.

IF we charge a group to use it, then we must allow them the sole use of it for the time period that they are paying for it. When someone rents the ice, or the pool lanes, or whatever, they are afforded sole access. Same should apply here. Public skaters cannot just step on the ice during a minor hockey game.


If that is the case, it shouldn't matter whether it is fenced or not. It is for the use of those with the permit, and none other than those permitted by the permit holder shall enter.

We have to choose whether or not we want to rent the park out, or keep it for public use 100% of the time.

***************

The fee charged is not for  use of the park.

It pays for parks staff to prepare an area for the users. Picnic tables,
garbage bins are  brought to the area. The park is tidied up immediately before the  event and  after.

When the Wells Street School  had their last graduation party at the park , there were reports of beer bottles, broken and whole  scattered everywhere.Plenty of clean-up.

They asked for and received  a waiver of the fees.

The town park has the additional amenity of a band shell fully equipped for music and entertainment. If it's rented to one group, it will not be rented to another. 

There are additional costs for the park or part of the park to be used
for a special event. If the fee is not paid, taxpayers absorb the cost. If fees are waived often enough, inevitably an increase if fees
must  be calculated to balance the books.

Some people asked to get it for nothing. People who don't pay their share and  a share for  the cheapskates. 

Soccer associations pay fees. Baseball associations also. It is a commitment and a principle.  The town provides the facility.  Special users pay a fee.

Walking a child or a dog or throwing a ball  or a frisby, or  having  game of tag or hide and go seek ,are not prohibited  nor is lolling  under the shade of  an old oak  tree. 

The fee is for  extra work involved in  preparing the space and cleaning up after its  use.

If several groups wanted to use the same space, on the same day ,
like fun and games  for the last day of school,  that  could be a problem and co-operation is required.

Division of the park with chain link fence is not an option.

The only reason for fencing the park for the jazz festival is revenue
for the organizers.

No-one is allowed in to listen to the music unless they pony up  for $5. admission.

That is not the purpose of a public park.

The town could use that opportunity to make money out of  summer concerts.

We don't.

We ask local business to  sponsor the concerts.

They do.

The concerts in the park started as an idea from the Toronto Musicians Union who offered  service at a minimal cost.

For almost fifty years that I know about , people have been enjoying  music  in the  park while  children played  and enjoyed an ice cream cone or a hot dog or a hamburger or a bunch of sticky candy floss. 

For longer than that, people have enjoyed music at the seaside, on  the pier,  along  with Punch and Judy  shows.

 In Windsor,the band plays down by the riverside with beautiful floral displays and boats passing leisurely up and down the river.

In San Francisco, strolling minstrels entertain the crowds at Pier One.

I could go on and on. Just to make the point.

Fencing off a public space in order to collect an admission charge for listening to ambient music is not the norm.

We have been  providing a free venue with all amenities for a professional  music and entertainment service, to make a living.

That some people volunteer their time on an August bank holiday
does not make it less of a commercial venture.

They Still Amaze Me

At the week-end, a great story was told on T.V. news about heroism of a two year old.

He  received a special award.. He is all of three years old now.

Mum was using a riding mower and ended up underneath it at the bottom of a hill with several broken bones . The child ran up the hill to the house and called 911. He gave all the information needed to bring help and further tragedy was averted.

He came back with a damp cloth and sat by  mother's side and comforted her until help arrived.

I have heard and always believed that a child learns more in the first three years than in all the rest of life .

I have also heard experts declare that young children spend too much time in front of television.

I  have  found  small children to be  miraculous beings.

I believe their intelligence and ability to understand what they are living  through has always been vastly underestimated.

Conversations with my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren  never fail  to delight.

So  how much wider is their experience  with television in their lives.And now computers.

What else would account for a child of twenty-four months ,
knowing exactly what to do in an emergency?

How much the modern child's intelligence  under-rated and under-served by experts who presume to think they watch too much television?

My twin great-grandchildren and I shared a sing-a-long on the phone from Tacoma, Washington last week.

They have skype. They talk to their grandparents every week.

The Code Is No More

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Neither Sense Nor Sensibility":

I suppose evalina could set Councillor Wendy up to introduce a possible Code violation but Wendy has a few apologies of her own to make to staff and Council members.

**********

Once upon a  time, Aurora had  a Code of Righteous Conduct and before that A Code Of Ethics.

Also, two Integrity Commissioners were  appointed to give substance to The  Code
.
The first was stripped of his authority because he did not understand  what was  required of  him by the group of six.

The second one understood  very well what was required.

His contract was terminated by  the new council.

Last week, I heard many municipalities have discovered the shortcomings and ommissions of  provincial legislation as it applies to Codes of Conducts and  their  unintended result.

They have decided to throw off  the rod they created..

Though I doubt  there is a story out there to match our own, it seems  Codes of Conduct  are  going  the way of the dodo bird at the lower level of government.

And so they should.

If anyone ever decides to write it, it will be an ignominious chapter of  our municipal history.

Fencing The Park

I have tried commenting on the Citizen Post. For no reason I can determine, an almost complete comment will vanish before my eyes. I  don't have patience for that.

The thread of commentary has been opposition to the town park being fenced off for four days  and whether the Leisure Services Director has  authority to issue a permit for four days/

There is nothing normal about this situation.

While Councillors have finally decided  the promoters will  not  receive free use of public facilities, their enthusiasm for the "festival" jazz remains unbounded.

From my perspective the Leisure Services Director was informing Council, there may be an application for four days.  If  it was made the next day, he would grant it. The tone was, if council  wants to give  different direction, now is the time because I have no  reason to refuse.

There is  no policy I know of  to limit  or permit the park to be fenced off for a number of days.   The question has never arisen .

Such a policy  would  be struck by Council. I recall nonsuch

I expressed my objection to four days fenced but I was the only one.

The event is advertised as  three days . The calculation likely is if they could make this much money in three days ,they could increase it   with  an extra day.

It's about the money.

There's all that profit from the food vendors,the beer garden and pedlars of various merchandise. All the more  to compensate  the manager and the entertainers . 

It's an odd contradiction for  a municipality whose role it is to be the tax collector.

People who own or rent buildings, operate businesses, pay rent or mortgage,  property taxes, income taxes, water and sewer rates, provide employment and  sponsorships for  sports activities, are our partners in providing service to the community. They  pay and pay and pay for the privilege.

They are also  expected along with other taxpayers,  by their council, to subsidize  an outfit that  pockets  at least $150,00 in three days , using volunteers, government grants  and  free town facilities  for as long as they care to do so.

What's wrong with that  picture?

Neither Sense Nor Sensibility

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I Am Certainly Not Certain":

I approach this subject with caution. Feel free to give it a pass if it is out of line. Do you think that what has just transpired, the swiftness, nastiness and evidence of planning, will serve as an object lesson to Council? Two or three Councillors appeared to be aware of the lurking menace; others carried on blithely which led to the infamous flip-flop over the termination clause. It would be reassuring to hope that such an event would not happen again but that is asking too much.
I guess to put it into general terms,are the three isolated Councillors going to become further cut off or can we expect to see no behavioral changes at the next meeting which I do not think is on TV?

**************

We are in our  seventeenth month of office. The pattern is consistent. Only very occasionally does Councillor Gallo veer from the old alliance and practice of  pre-planning. Councillor Gaertner's
conduct is no more the result of her own thinking now than it ever was.

Even more occasionally, Councillor Humphryes will join the unholy trinity.  To the benefit of the St Kitts family music business or as in the case of the Church Street School governance body.

It's  not enough  to be  fourth leg  of the alliance. But it is there.

I made the mistake of assuming  everyone who was a candidate in the  last election was thoroughly familiar with what had gone before and  that it was, in good part, the reason for their election.

I always make that mistake. It comes from being to so tightly involved myself .  I set myself up for disappointment.

******************
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Check This Out":

Ruby says
I was not offended by Mayor Dawes quick retort. I was, however offended,in my home,with friends, in my living room when the former Mayor and her minions allowed the public flogging of Councillor Buck by Ms.Kitts before the awards ceremony for children that evening many months back. Abuse at its finest...no one stopped it, not even the former Mayor.That in itself spoke volumes.

**********************

With the former Mayor in the chair, there was no stopping whatever plot had been devised beforehand to obtain maximum collateral
damage of someone else's  character.

The episode  was  certainly planned beforehand.

The St Kitts woman made her unsubstantiated  accusations  and unfounded allegations  in the public forum. Had she asked for delegation status and stated her purpose, she would  have undoubtedly been denied the opportunity by staff.

Her comments were in writing. The Mayor requested they be handed to the secretary.  The whole thing is on tape.

The Mayor established  pre-planning by  reference to "an inquiry"
into the matter she had arranged for ten o'clock the next morning with the CAO and the town solicitor.

Nothing came of  that. No doubt the co-operation she sought  on that occasion was not forthcoming. 

Like Councillor Ballard's reference to Council and residents as "rubes", the thinking that permitted them to consider  such conduct  acceptable was beyond credibility.

Councillor Mac Eachern's letter to the editor  clearly indicates they have learned  nothing.

They  never understood what is expected  from their office. They still don't. They never will.

I Am Certainly Not Certain

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Check This Out":

Would the 'rubes' to whom Ballard refers included residents to whom he hoped to sell tickets to his own over-priced, not-for-profit Gala? If so, his letter seems counter-productive if not downright stupid. Are you certain he was ever a working journalist for any length of time? He keeps writing himself into corners.

********************************

I'm not certain of anything about Councillor Ballard. I  never heard of the man until the Mormac Duo finagled his appointment as chairman on a town advisory committee.

He talks about having been a reporter and covering Aurora Council.

He claims to remember when the Aurora Agricultural  Society 's Class A Horse Show  was in  Mosely Park. It was there before I became  Mayor and that was in the early seventies, forty years ago.

I can't see how being reporter and covering Aurora Council at the time of  the  Aurora Horse Show in Mosely Park more than  forty years ago can be reconciled.

I think Councillor Ballard might have  trouble keeping things straight  in his mind. It may be why he is no longer a professional journalist  even if he  got past the learning stage.

I did  hear  he listed the Town of Aurora as  client of his consulting firm while he was serving as chairman of a town committee. 

That was similar to  Ken Whitehurst, being paid as a resource person to the Heritage  and Culture Committee while  a member of the committee.

And Councillor Gaertner applying and receiving a grant of $1,000 for her non-profit enterprise while serving as a Councillor.

At the same time, neither Councillor McRoberts, Collins-Mrakas or myself were  appointed to any  committees that might attract favourable attention.

Councillor McRobert's was denied the opportunity to be on the Wells Street School Accommodation Committee in favour of Councillor Gallo. 

Councillor Collins Mrakas was successful in setting up a committee to deal with the problem of graffitti  and developing a program.

It was  slightly less than amusing to watch the antics to undermine the  success of the program to ensure the Councillor received no  credit for her efforts.

The Story Is Not Yet Over

Comments received recently are clear illustration the people  who  accept this blog as their own, are taking hold of the  town's business.

Independent  research  contributes ever more factual information. It's not just opinion any more. Substantiated  facts  contribute to the discussion.

It was  happening gradually for four years but it has suddenly exploded into the powerful force that was always  the  potential.

No  coincidence led  to  defeated candidate Evalina MacEachern  attack on  the Mayor  last week. Neither was it an accident  the letter appeared in the Aurora Banner.

Weeks of strategic planning  likely went into the timing along  with  ancillary incidents within the Council Chamber.

Councillors Gaertner and Gallo persist in  feebly trying  to stop the tide from turning . Councillor Ballard sees himself  in a heroic role.

The Tree Bylaw had been seized upon by Susan Walmer from  the hands of a Beacon Hall Golf Course neighbour.

Hoped for reactions are  obviously not those  intended.

The activities have not drawn attention from Church Street School's governance situation and the  irrefutable need for change.

More information about how the tangle was  created in the first place will undoubtedly emerge.

MacEachern's letter, the former Mayor's Hussahs and  attempts to draw women's organisations  into the fray are reminiscent of the past.

Councillor Ballard's reference to " the rubes"  who live in Aurora,  and do not deserve the ministering  angel attentions of the organisers of the St. Kitts  Jazz Festival , have  been a startling revelation to many.

But not to those  who shared seats at the table  or watched closely from the sidelines for the past  eighteen  years.. 

The group have now done to themselves, what no-one else could have done, to reveal their mind sets

Had I tried to explain it as I understood it, it  would have simply not have been   believed.

 My own  credibility would have been jeopardized.

When the former Mayor was elected, my comment was:

For a person in that state of  mind to gain a position of authority was the worst thing that could happen to her.

She will dig a hole so deep she will never be able to climb out.

She did that.

To their misfortune, others were  dragged  into the same hole. Still others  mistook it for opportunity and leaped  joyfully over the edge.

The story  continues to unfold.

It is not yet over.  They have made sure of that..

A Sea Change

Yesterday someone complimented me. Said what I had learned since starting the blog was nothing short of miraculous,or along that line.

It was nice. I am pleased to accept . 

Many things have happened since I started the blog in August 2007. The Aurora Citizen also  came into being  and Chris Watts  blasted his way like a comet on to the scene as well.

Bill Hogg is a different generation to myself. He  understands the value  of the internet from  business experience. 

Chris Watts is a different generation to Bill Hogg.  He  learned about computers almost at the time he  learned to walk and talk. They are part of his life experience.

It's small wonder he has little patience with  people of  earlier generations  and how far  back we are  but  he is  linked smoothly with his own and  younger ones to follow.

I  wish there was a way the town could  use the professional skills  of Chris Watts to build our  web site into what it could be
and should be.
   
I believe, politics have changed and in a very short time will change again  beyond recognition.

Mat Maddocks  and George and Rosalyn Gonsalves  and others who attend Council regularly are  the visible part of  the revolution.

They criticise, commend and encourage Council. They participate.
They have undertaken the rightful role of an engaged citizenry.

I think it's great.

I believe the change happening at the grass roots level  is  the way revolutions always have. 

 Aurora is  in the forefront.

 It is not an unfamiliar circumstance. 

We Are Being Ripped Off

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "It's Not Your Place, Christopher":

Sometimes I think Christopher feels left out of the fray but he has designed his own website so that it is not conducive to the rapid to and fro of Evelyn's.
Back to an old subject, please.
Are we finished with dealing with the Jazz Gang? Do they have another kick at the can? In all the confusion and rhetoric, I lost sight of anything except the refusal to cede park rental fees. Is the event now for 4 days with a fully fenced park? Are there extra funds that can be granted by staff members without resorting to Council approval?
Basically, how badly are we getting ripped off?
********************
We are providing promotion for the jazz festival; on our web site, advertising boards around town. material can be placed in the town hall.Probably the library as well.


We are not waiving fees for the use of the  park.

W are permitting  our town park to be fenced off to prevent resident  access.It allows the promoters to collect an admission charge to enter a public park.

Rental  revenue will be derived from  retail sales kiosk operators  in our park;  a  beer garden ; and food vendors of the world. Artists will have sales and exhibition opportunities, not likely to be free.

Council was informed  last Tuesday, free use of  the venue was being requested again  for four days despite being refused.

 The  St Kitts web site advertises the festival for three days.

The Leisure Services Director stated  on Tuesday if the  application  was for four days, he would grant it.

I objected. I think it's outrageous to fence a  park off for one day, let alone four . It's unconscionable.

No-one else appeared to have a problem with the idea. Councillor Abel is a jazz fan.

In summer time, municipalities dress up  and introduce a little gaiety to the street scape. It lifts the spirits.

Lamp standards on Yonge Street and Wellington Street are equipped to fly banners. At a previous meeting, I suggested we might have banners celebrating the jazz festival.

We have done it before. The equipment is there. The cost is not great. It's not so much about  promoting the jazz festival as adding to the gaiety  of the street scape.

The jazz festival  informed us they would agree to that if we paid  for the privilege.

I am not in to that.

 Summer Concerts In The Park would just as easily be a  cheerful theme for a banner.

At the moment,  I know we are being ripped off for the use of the town park for three or perhaps four days,

The Farmer's Market vendors have to pay the town a season's permit to market  their wares on town property.

Vendors in our  park during the jazz festival do not pay  the town.
They pay the commercial concert promoters .

Insofar as we are providing a venue for a commercial operation  for the same user fee we would charge  a community organisation, that and the fact the park is being fenced off from its rightful users,  is as far as we are allowing ourselves to be  ripped off.

It's a damned sight too far, in my estimation.

A Fresh Start Is Needed

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Blogging Business":
"...it is an independent business that seeks financing from the Town..
 Perhaps it is a not-for-profit company but it is not a registered charity.

"Tim, Tim, Tim ... in a word: Wrong!

The Cultural Centre is an incorporated non-profit with the ability to issue charitable donation tax receipts (from their website: "the Centre, a Registered Non-profit Charity").

You're Welcome, Tim.

*****************

The essence  of this argument contains the crux of my reservations about Council's ability to make the  governing body  of Church Street School publicly accountable.

The Board is a hybrid. It is six of one and nothing of the other. 

The original plan was for an arm's length body to manage the facility without political interference and the ability to solicit donations in return for tax receipts.

Seed money was required to begin . It was to be reduced by a fixed amount annually until the  board became self-sufficient.

I was doubtful.  But I had no experience to base my arguments.

A  municipality cannot issue tax receipts for gifts. Donations  are a critical aspect of operating  an arts centre independently of tax support.

A corporation is  required to have articles of incorporation.

I suspect the devil  is  in the details of the articles of incorporation
when it comes to changes in the composition of the board. 

I think  governance  has to be all political  or no political representation. .  

Political  management  would  certainly frustrate the objective of  having a self-sustaining operation, independent of tax support.

Let's say user fees are based on cost of operation, including  rent or amortisation for the facility, cost of maintenance, staffing, paying performers  and program promotions.

If people with friends in the right places can approach  the political body,as we have seen recently, and request  the facility at no cost, that would completely undermine the objective of  financial self-sufficiency.

Unless of course  other users had to pay higher fees to cover the cost of letting the bums have it  free

The demand  by the  commercial concert promotion outfit aka St Kitts Jazz  Festival , under the guise of a not for profit corporation,is a classic example of how politics  interferes with the broad and committed objective of treating people equally.

They got money from a  previous council.  Even this year, after  earnings of at least $150,000 last year,  four Councillors were prepared to provide a free venue  once again for them to rake in the schekels.

An arm's length independent board could theoretically solicit donations and provide  tax receipts to pay for events as well as keep admission rates reasonable for the  greater number to enjoy.

It's a  theory.

The problem with the Church Street School situation is, there is no
requirement to become self-sufficient any  time soon. We increase  funds provided every year instead of reducing them.

We provide a facility in which we have substantial financial investment  for a rent of $1.00 a year.

We pay for all maintenance and utilities.

We see no end to the drain on town resources.

To add insult to injury, the purpose of our investment in the building in the first place,  the  town's museum, was rudely and autocratically excluded from the facility by a bunch of pirates.

It was a Faustian Bargain the town made when we had a rogue council and a facile administration.

This experience with an  arm's length independent body intended to be self-sufficient does give me confidence in the model.

I think we should take the building back, cut off the funding  and start afresh.

It's Not Your Place, Christopher

Chris Watts is being critical of me again this morning..

Chris is half my age . His percentage of life experience considerably less than that.

His complaint against me this morning is that I do not read another Councillor's blog.

I read Chris's  blog. I  respect him by responding rationally  to a  rational argument.

I do not cast aspersions on his  personality or his integrity. 

How  does one  respond  to being called "childish" by a person half one's age?

 Am not....Are so...Am not...Are so. ...Thwhack!

That would be childish. No doubt  infuriating .. Possibly ending up with a  bruise or a black eye or two. Most certainly with a loss of dignity. 

So how does  one  respond?

I was thinking with pleasure of  how well residents responded to  quell  the Mormac Hydra rearing  heads again.

Responses yesterday were fast and furious. I published  as fast as they came in. It feels like a task and a  worthwhile endeavor.

Then suddenly, out of the blue,  someone I respect tells me I'm childish.

I read all of his posts.   I never think of him being childish.

I often think  he  has lessons to learn . I don't say so. It would be condescending, patronising and offensive. Life will teach him. Or not. It's not my place.

I don't tell people what or how to think. Only how I think.

Nor, Young Christopher, is it your place to tell me I am childish

Your erudition  in the field of  new or not so new media technology
does not give you that right.

A Page In History

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Poetic Justice":

Very productive comment 11:01.... I thought Evelyn would have more class than publishing personal attacks. Gallo's hair colour has nothing to do with his performance and this post should not have seen the light of day.

I guess the original poster is a picture perfect human specimen.

Just another cheap shot from those haters.

*******************

I don't think it was from a "hater" . But  normally I publish only political shots. When the comments  are coming  fast and furious, occasionally  something personal will slip through.

Sometimes a comment will combine  personal with  political and that makes the decision more problematic.

Generally speaking  few holds are barred in politics. In the years I have been involved , I am probably in the happy circumstance that everything  negative that could be said about me already has.
 
Former Councillor Mac Eachern's  letter  to the editor is an example of  an egregious personal attack. The letter excoriates  the Town's Mayor  and suggests he  does not share the community's  standard  that abuse of women and children and the elderly is  abhorrent.

How much more harm is created by that suggestion than a comment of the town's Number One Citizen, taken  completely out-of- context

The idea of Morris and MacEachern lying in wait for any   opportunity to abuse the Mayor  and using the unhappy plight of abused women and children to suit their purpose is hardly to their credit.

For several decades Yellow Brick House was the only Women's Shelter in York  Region. It wouldn't be there if  Aurora Council  had not stood firm against strong opposition. 

Council was  firm. Councillor Betty Pedersen and myself  took  a strong stance in support of the shelter.

It's a forgotten page of history, But  that's O.K.. The important thing is,  Aurora was  the first  to do more than pay lip service to an urgent  social need. .

We paved the way. For several decades the house on Wellington Street was the only shelter  in the entire Region.

Aurora can take pride in being in the forefront. Yellow Brick House has always enjoyed positive support in the community.Many new and improved services have quietly stemmed from the  Shelter being there.

More needs to be done. We should never lose sight of the goal

.

  

Check This Out

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The Mayor coined an expression familiar to everyone in response to a jab by Councillor Ballard accusing him of inappropriate behaviour. 

 

It is easy to imagine the former Councillor sitting at home jabbing pins into  a wax figure of the Mayor.

 

There's a litany of families, particularly employees, who suffered at the hands of these two  while occupying  positions of trust  at the Council table. 

 

The former Councillor  is no stranger to  the art of inflicting cruelty on people who cannot defend themselves.  This deviant behaviour is named after the Marquis de Sade.

 

I re-call a treasurer ,whose wife was dying of cancer ,being put through an Inquisition hearing,  set up behind closed doors with the aid of a lawyer paid for  with  tax dollars,  such as had never been seen before anywhere in the  collective municipal experience  of  all present. 

 

The stories attributable to this former pair of elected officials  are legion. 

They are in no position to throw stones. 

 

 

  From: Phyllis Morris [mailto:phyllismorris@me.com]
Sent: April 12, 2012 1:44 PM
To: Evelina MacEachern
Subject: Letter to the Editor - RE: Mayor of Aurora's comments

Thank you Evelina  for  publicly standing up and speaking  for women & children  (and their families and friends )  who are abused

http://www.yorkregion.com/opinion/letters

Aurora mayor’s comment disgusting, not funny

Letters | Apr 12

An open letter to Aurora Mayor Geoffrey Dawe.

During the March 27, 2012 televised council meeting, you stated, “And I’ve also stopped beating my wife”.

If your comment is accurate, I feel terribly sorry for your wife and an assault charge may be appropriate.

If this was an example of your ill humour and/or you were being sexist, 

you should be ashamed of yourself and should issue a public apology to every Aurora resident and every woman and family that has fallen victim to such a despicable crime.

As for your smirk following your comment, only you know what that meant.

Sadly, following your statement, a councillor can be heard laughing in the background. 

Councillor Sandra Humfryes appeared annoyed, not by your declaration/comment, but, rather with Councillor Chris Ballard for asking a tough question. 
It is shocking not one member of council raised an objection to your disgusting statement, reflecting poorly on the entire community. 

Perhaps the others were shocked by your inappropriateness, leaving them speechless or their silence indicates they saw no harm in your disgusting statement. 
Please remember, during a televised council meeting, you are not sitting in your living room with your friends. 

You are sitting in our living rooms with our friends, neighbours and family members.

Evelina MacEachern
Aurora

As someone who finds abuse of any sort unacceptable

If anyone else feels the same way  - I encourage them  to contact the Aurora Mayor and seek a public apology from him 

His Town Hall office  telephone   is   #  905 727 1375 

Emails can be sent to him at  :  mayor@aurora.ca

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT  organizations that help victims of abuse 

http://www.yellowbrickhouse.org/english/about/contact-us/

http://www.whiteribbon.ca/about_us/