A For Sure Ringer

Evelyn,
I took a staycation from your blog quite some time ago. You had my support last term, but this term I felt you were being marginalized by your own making. Misinformation passing as opinion does you no credit.
I don't give a rat's arse about last term anymore, or 50 years ago for that matter. Yeah, I was in town 50 years ago, but I'm pretty sure those that haven't been don't give a rat's behind either. Done, dusted, move the hell on already. Times have changed.
I dipped back into your blog today, and wish to hell I hadn't. It's like I fell into some parallel universe. There is a whole other town out there and you don't know about it. You obviously don't have the inside scoop at town hall, and rely far too much on a few cronies handing you a load of old cobblers. Why be their puppet?
Listen to real people for a change and get out in your community and celebrate what works well in the town.
How you can expend so much time and energy on shite?
Having not read your blog for quite some time, I can tell you that your view of town is a whole lot different than the average bloke on the block.
And it seems that Anonymous really is just one guy!
Crikey you let some crazies in your club.

*********************
I publish the comment to make  a  point.
It is severely critical..
Suggests the blog is not factual,
It misinforms .
I am out of the loop.
"anonymous" is only one person.
I rely on " a few cronies handing me a load of old cobblers"

The word "shite" spelled with an "e"  identifies the writer as a Scottish ex-pat  of my generation who  claims to have  lived in the town for as long as myself. 
The term . "old cobblers" could be Irish. Could be English. Not a phrase familiar to this old Scottish ex-pat. 
There are fewer of us  than there were. .
He is literate and articulate but uses slang to pretend otherwise. 
At his age he  cannot be  out and about himself much more than I..  Except  I am a Councillor and it does keep me in touch.
He claims I misinform people but cites no  example.
One could argue therefore, the only evidence of inclination to misinform is his.
He suggests  blog comments  really come from one person. Another unfounded allegation.
I  "marginalize myself." he says.
I should go out into  the community more, to understand, there is a different town out there than fifty years ago.
Like he would have a better reason to know that.
Since those who  read and share the blog know they are real, I do not need to prove that.
I  can comfortably declare this comment to be complete artifice;; a ringer in fact. 
We  are familiar with  the wise old saying
."Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive"
To the commenter. I say;
You are not on, my never- was  erstwhile friend or supporter.
We are not deceived " 

Seek And Ye Shall find.

There are four posts on my personal blog that belong here.
I  thought they were lost. Spent frustrating minutes trying to find them . Turned my mind away from the problem  for a bit .
 Then it occurred to me to look in the personal blog. . There they were Perfectly content. In the wrong space. I'm relieved but  don't feel like switching them over at the moment. Maybe never. 
So, I am letting you know they are there. I haven't been skiving off. 
Now I'm going to get on with the rest of my day.
Have a good one. It will not come again.   

A Letter from S Morton Leonard

Councilor Abel,

It is unclear what you want me to respond to considering the e-mail below is structured more like accusations than queries about Aurora Festival of the Arts (AFA) practices. Further it implies the AFA is guilty of deliberately casting the Town of Aurora in a negative light despite no proven facts provided.

 The AFA retains a policy of not being involved with smear campaigns in print, on websites, blogs or in business e-mails. Nor will the AFA be drawn into answering politicians or others who hide behind the guise of needing to inform anonymous residents. 

If anyone has reasonable questions about the AFA, our practices or the event we produce, we can be reached through www.aurorajazzfest.com website or office phone number.  AFA contact information is also available on our 2012 postcard, FEO website, Ontario Festivals Visited website, YRAC website, York Scene website, Town of Aurora website, Aurora Chamber website and in the recent Aurora Leisure Services Guide, and York Scene Tourism booklet.  I would suggest the residents you have heard from be encouraged to contact us directly and we will be happy to respond. 

I would also suggest facts be verified. The AFA has paid to advertise the Aurora jazz+ Festival (festival) with Ontario Festivals Visited for several years considering it is a website devoted to festivals and events in Ontario.  Other than placing the festival ad, we have had no communication with Gary or Judi McWilliams, the owners of Ontario Festivals Visited website until we received an e-mail from Gary recently. Gary asked if we had comments about an e-mail he received from Councilor Paul Pirri. (Re: ‘What Were They Thinking’ article – May 2012 issue of Ontario Visited Newsletter). I personally spoke with Gary who advised he used information from an article published by The Banner regarding a decision made by Aurora Council to not fully support the 2012 Festival.  If you have further questions about supposed AFA involvement in the article Mr. McWilliams wrote please contact Gary directly. gary@ontariovisited.ca 888-818-0255

Mr. St. Kitts was the 2011 Artistic Director of the festival and the AFA has invited him back as the 2012 Artistic Director. Sher St. Kitts is the AFA's General Manager. Both positions require they be ex-officio members of the AFA Board. Neither speaks for the AFA Board unless the Board gives prior approval. The AFA respects the founding producers of the Aurora jazz+ Festival. Without their vision to birth an arts & music festival as a special event for the 2009 Aurora Farmers Market - to growing the festival into a nonprofit volunteer organization, the AFA would not be able to produce the upcoming 4th annual community event benefitting citizens of Aurora and beyond.

The AFA Board is not interested in personal blogs. We recognize and respect the right of any private citizen to blog their opinions however, the AFA Board will not respond to such blogs.  AFA volunteers have been advised to not generate comments on behalf of the AFA or the festival without prior Board approval.

The AFA has not received congratulations from the Town of Aurora for the festival being recognized in 3 short years as a top 100 festival by Festival & Events Ontario www.festivalandeventsontario.ca The AFA volunteer Board who are all Aurora taxpayers are proud to have this honour bestowed on our town.  This is a first for Aurora and the only community arts & music festival in York Region to achieve this distinction for 2012. 

The AFA would appreciate the same kindness and endorsement that is extended to other nonprofit organizations in the town.  The work our volunteers do to produce an arts and music community event gives our Town of Aurora a cultural identity.  It also generates economic benefit for the creative community of artists (musicians, visual artists, artisans) plus spin offs to food vendors, wellness businesses, sound/light/backline instruments/staging companies plus local charities and York Region High School Music departments. The AFA has recently applied for an economic impact study through the FEO, which will prove the economic benefits the town receives as a direct result of this award winning festival. 

 This is the second year the AFA Board has endured an attitude of mean spiritedness from a handful of people. Continual unsubstantiated comments in the press and elsewhere about the AFA and the community festival we produce unfortunately serves to hurt the Town of Aurora more than they hurt the Festival.  In fairness to the facts, the AFA and its numerous volunteers would appreciate positive support and appropriate recognition from the Town of Aurora for the festival. The AFA requests appropriate assistance from yourself and other Council members to build bridges towards supporting arts and culture in the Town of Aurora.

Respectfully,

Susan Morton-Leonard

AFA Chair/Communications

Cc: AFA Board, AFA Advisory Board

      Town of Aurora Council, Senior Staff

      Gary & Judi McWilliams, Ontario Festivals Visited

      Aurora Cultural Centre - Executive Director

      Aurora Farmers Market  - Chair

A New Plan

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Job Of A Councillor?":

12:33 PM
I have to disagree with your blanket assessment. Could we agree on 'some' staff & 'some' councillors? The rest of your comment is valid.
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If we re-phrase it to say; Not all of the Council and not all of the staff , not all of the time or  at the same time , we might  have   it about right and on a par with the rest of this community  and  ithers like us.
I don't agree we are less  honorable here than elsewhere. What we have  is free and open exchange . Sometimes angry, sometime funny and sometimes  plain outrageous.Hyperbole is not an offense.
We are more aware of our human foibles because we talk about them.We are anonymous and  the freedom is new and heady. 
Perhaps our language goes a bit far as a consequence.When it all comes together at the same time the cacaphony  can be deafening. .
I think I should  do a better job of toning down the volume.
The Jam Lady took more than her share of criticism for the Code of Conduct nonsense. Much as the lady may think of herself as  a mover and shaker, she is not a politician. Obviously. She is just one of us caught up in what can be  a rough game without a sense of  the rules.
Actually there aren't any rules in this new freedom.
That's always when self- discipline must come into play.    
Mr Cuthbert plunged in head first and discovered too late, the lake   bottom has hidden hazards.
He probably won't participate again and  that's not what we want.
Being the one to decide in this blog, I think I have to exercise the judgement. I  receive the volume and must make the assessment. 
If your comment doesn't get published it will be for one of the following reasons:
A reader  took a swing at me and I am not providing the venue..
The deluge of criticism being thrown at the head of a single unwitting  individual is  beyond reasonable.
Politicians  are legitimate targets. 
Non -politicians , not so much.
It may not  be easy.
I will have to find my way.
I may stumble now and then.
We have to keep the best of  it while preventing  the blog  from falling into disrepute and becoming a blunt instrument. 
We should work on it together. 
Feel free to join me. 

Is This A Ringer

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Occupy Aurora Town Park":

If this idea pans out ,perhaps one of the excluded service clubs could get a permit from the Town to sell refreshments? That way, something positive could emerge from a negative.

The Job Of A Councillor?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Occupy Aurora Town Park":

If this idea pans out ,perhaps one of the excluded service clubs could get a permit from the Town to sell refreshments? That way, something positive could emerge from a negative
 **********

As I understand , the service clubs removed themselves from the park during the "jazz" festival when the demand was made to turn over  proceeds of their endeavors to the organizers.

The first beer garden held in the town was during the first July 1sr celebration. It was held in the community centre. Volunteer firefighters provided security. 

Rhe police objected to that because firefighters had no authority to eject anyone who might need to be ejected. It was a riotous affair. 

After some years,like homecoming,  the beer garden  moved out of the building but was still enclosed in a tent in Fleury Park.There was never a suggestion  an entire park needed to be fenced.

I still believe somebody besides myself needs to come to  a meeting and tell Council you don't want your park fenced off  to keep you out unless you  pay $5. admission.
Doesn't matter how much  abuse Council  gets  from the ST Kitts crowd, they still seem inclined o accommodate them.

 If no-one  in the community, whose rights are being trampled, comes out to object, why should you expect your Council to take a stand. How novel.

It's the answer I get all the time. "I don't hear anybody else complaining "

It's the  problem  with having a huge turnover  in several consecutive elections.  It's like completing the job  of escorting the town's institutional history of principals and traditions out of  door of the town hall. 


New Councillors have no idea of their role when first elected. Normally they learn  from past practice as they go.

If they choose to learn it from the administration ,you  don't have a Council. You have   re-enforced administration.

If you have  a media that believes "uninformed" "uneducated" Councillors should just do what "the professionals tell them.   The  electorate that doesn't know any different either.

That's how we slowly but surely get  sucked down into the quicksand.  .

Meandering

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Flotsam And Jetsam Circa 2012":

Fascinating. Like reading Coleridge before his editors cleaned his work up.

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I knew  Coleridge was a poet. I figured since I was familiar with  his name, chances are he was a successful poet. The  comment therefore  is a compliment. To discover  how much of a compliment I had to find out something about the man and his poetry.


 I had to find out  his style to determine why the Flotsam and Jetsam post was a reminder. 

Yes I'm vain. Isn't everyone?

Google makes it simple.  First title told me why I was familiar with Samuel Coleridge.  Ancient Mariner was a poem I learned  in school. I don't remember much about it or what I learned from it. Just that it was a long story told in rhythm and rhyme.


Maybe I learned more than I realized.

 I hear music in language.


When I edit, I re-arrange words for sound.

 I've  never thought of that as poetry. I've  wished I  knew how to  write poetry. Wondered, since I  need to write, why have I no inclination for fantasy, I can only write about what I know.

 Even then I'm only trying to be clear. Another comment last week was that I sometimes tie  readers  up in knots. Does that mean my meaning isn't clear or is it  that I  create  tension.

Well, enough of this lolly-gagging. I have to figure out how to copy and paste the editorial from May 17th  Aurora Banner.


It's a test .

Occupy Aurora Town Park

Serious thought should be given in the community, particularly the neighbourhood, to refuse to allow the town park to be fenced off  during the August long weekend.
There can be no justification for  a chain link security fence to be erected to keep people out. How offensive is that?
No fee has been paid to lease the park. No fee can be paid.

Mosely has been the Town Park for more than a century. Who  has the right to decide the public should be denied access on any day of the year, let alone a long, lazy, hopefully hot, summer week-end?
Authority to ban public access to a park does not belong to Council or the administration ..
No person or organization, other than the town, has authority to rent  space in a park to vendors.  
The idea is nonsensical and  totally repugnant.
You have a Council who should speak for you. I have. So far, my objections have  fallen on deaf ears. 
Residents  have to come to Council, use the public forum, that's what it's for, and say.;
We do not want a fence  keeping  us out  of our park.
The band shell can be rented.
We didn't build it so some outfit could  use it for  commercial concert promotion.
 If the town won't listen , people should just go out on  Friday of the August bank holiday  and push that pesky fence aside. 
You don't have to wear hoodies and masks to hide your identity You don't have to pitch tents to establish ownership.
Sleep in your own beds and come out in the morning and push that pesky fence aside.
It could be a special  event like tossing the caber or putting the shot. Like a mini-Highland Games. 
We could call it "Push Back the Fence Event"
Strike a blow for freedom. Invite the media . 
It could be promoted  all over North America like the "Right to Dry".  Maybe we could get a picture or aheadline in the New York Times.
Think of it." The  Right To Play In Our Own  Park" event.
How original?  How innovative? Why didn't we think of it before?
How slow are we?
Other people  take over a town park, put a fence around it to charge admission for  a week-end  concert promotion. They get fees waived for the asking. Town sponsorships.for "economic development".  Trillium grants  for promotion of"Culture",  Heritage Canada grants, for who knows what  reason, and sponsorships from families and businesses and  then at the end of the event, skip and frolic. laughing, all the way to the bank
All the while. we  never  thought of defending our ownership and right of access  to the very park they utilized to pull in the scheckles.

We witnessed an ugly five foot high chain link fence erected  and  manned with security agents to ensure no entry without payment of a fee and we never uttered a whimper.

What's the matter with us?   Eh? 

Time To Move On

Four more comments wait to be moderated. I kept them overnight for a decision. Figuratively speaking, they are beating the jam lady about the head and shoulders for the foolish Code of Conduct.
I held back for two reasons: There's been enough already maybe too  much, although my conscience is not stricken. People do have to take responsibility for their actions.
The second  reason  is that Code wasn't  written by and distributed by  one person.   Others are responsible. 
Not least are the vendors who are not sufficiently interested in who speaks for them to turn out for an election.
I understand that. . A small  group of people come together for five hours on a Saturday morning for a period of six months to sell product.They  don't feel an urgent need for organised association.
Does that sound familiar.?
If a town that spend sixty-nine million dollars of other people's money, gets forty-nine per cent of the list out to vote , after six weeks of twenty plus candidates, collectively spending thousands of dollars  and endless  hours door-knocking and sign posting to solicit votes,a lack of interest in a market of thirty vendors should surprise no-one. 
 So we know there is little interest in an executive outside of those who like to be in charge of other people.
We also know  a town Bylaw governs the Market.
Two applications need to be made by  each vendor.
One has  "insubordination" as a reason to  be turfed from the Market.
It's not the town's document.
We know talks have been  between town and market  to establish a single application. 
Despite talk,no request has been received to amend the Bylaw to reduce application from two to one. 
So, impetus to change the Bylaw must come elsewhere .
Since it is the Aurora  Farmers Market.
Since the community and the town consider  the Market an asset. Since it is clearly broken .
Council should fix it.
Nip trouble  in the bud
Restore  equilibrium.
Bring harmony back to the market.
Make all things right.
It's not like the  emerald.ash borer. 
A remedy is within our means.
Require one application: provide oversight to the market: use permit revenue to cover  whatever  costs may be incurred
Let market vendors do what they do best. 
Have  the town  assume  obvious responsibility.. 
Five hours on a Saturday morning, six months of the year,should not be beyond our ability to manage.

Flotsam And Jetsam Circa 2012

Several bits and pieces needed this morning to tidy things up.
 The Purchase of Service Agreement with the governing board of the Church Street School was not written by a student or a law clerk. It was written by the former Mayor who  brooked  no interference from anyone including staff.  Sometimes these things have to be repeated  a few times to register. Because it is so far from the norm..
The woman retained lawyers regularly  and consulted with them ad nauseum. It was no accident  the only lawyer involved  with the agreement was former Councillor Damir Vrancic, representing the board's side of the deal. The town  paid those fees as well.
It was not because the town had no lawyer on staff at the time.
The agreement was written  the way the former Mayor intended Why it was done that way only The Shadow knows. .
Councillor Ballard is  convinced the agreement is precisely what it should be. He does not accept the advice of the current town solicitor.
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The  blog post  I reproduced here recently by Gary McWilliams of Cobourg was written with information provided by organizers of the St Kitts Jazz" Festival  here. I don't know if   bad-mouthing of the town came from Snowball or Aurora.
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It seems  six market vendors refused to sign the cockamamie Code of Conduct, flourished in their faces on the day of opening. 

Not four as first reported here. Not two as reported in The Auroran on information from the jam lady  chair of  the  executive.
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Rumour has it there's  a falling out between Past  and  Present President of the  Farmers Market Executive. 
The Present President spoke for the Past President  in the media and said vendors would be turfed if they didn't sign" Da Code" 
Past President was apparently displeased to have those remarks attributed to her. You  would be too if it happened to you.
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There have been a number of meetings between Market representatives  and the Town ,to discuss having a single permit. But no request for an amendment to the bylaw. I guess it suits them the way it is.
 It's the Aurora Farmers Market.  It doesn't suit me I think we need to clean things up
Never know who may be lurking in the bushes  with pen  and pad in hand. 
********************
A morning  comment attacks Tim the Enchanter..Accusing him of attacking  the food  bank.
That was always a  regular tactic of the dreadful duo.
They would perpetrate a deadly deed . When challenged, they would accuse the accuser of the awful perfidy of their  actions.
I think the intended strategy was to  mess with ma mind
*.***************** 
I heard  just yesterday of a gruesome fantasy expressed  of my person  being pierced with multiple stab wounds and stilletto heels piercing my eyes.
************************
I just looked up and saw a handsome beige-orange breasted robin 
hopping purposefully across a long straight branch and disappear into the canopy.
The tree is full and lusciously green with glimpses  of clear blue sky here and there. I rest my eyes there regularly as I write.
******************
 Now we are up to date. You know everything I  do or can tell you.
On your behalf, I want to thank Paul Sesto for the work he did with the C.C financial statements and details about the library.It has been well-received. 
Thank you  also to all the people who comment  regularly in this space and make this blog your own.
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Have a great holiday week-end.  
*********************  

I've Got A Luverly Bunch O' Coconuts

Don't bother looking for  Mr.St Kitts hostile references to myself on his website. 

I  just  received a bulletin  The nastiness  has  been   removed. 

Along with assurance  given that the web site is personal and does not reflect on any association  connected to the St Kitts Music Festival.

It doesn't sound like an apology.   So I won't accept it .

It's a good  thing I didn't read it and get all upset about it.

Right....

They are such a bunch of sweethearts aren't they?  

Paul Sesto's Perspective

Aurora Cultural Centre – 2011 Financial Statement

Thanks very much for helping to get everyone access to the newly posted financial statements.

The web address on your blog had some errors in it so it couldn’t be used as a direct link but it was easy enough to find it now at the Town’s website.

(see http://town.aurora.on.ca/app/wa/mediaEntry?mediaEntryId=60003 – the 2011 audited report are pages 9-18 of the pdf file.)

I am surprised that no one has commented on the financials and on the 2012 budget.

It is interesting to note that in 2011 of the $527,360 of revenue that they brought in only $100,757 is revenue from programs. The remainder is from grants, donations and fundraising with the majority of course from the town at $346,460. (page 2 of Audited 2011 financial statement from MSM+F accountants)

So if the Centre is ever to be self-sufficient they have a long way to go to replace the Town’s grants since in the 2012 budget they show that they’ll run a deficit of $9,224. But that won’t be a problem for them as they have “banked” much of the grant money in 2010 as they have net assets of $363,392. (Of course I assume much of that is the Town’s grant money sitting in their bank account).

I found it interesting to note on page 5 the remark under 2. Significant Accounting Policies section b) Contributed Services it states: “A substantial number of volunteers have made contributions of their time to the Organizations operations. While these services benefit the Organization considerably, these contributed services are not recognized in the financial statements.” This I assume is not unlike many organizations in Aurora and in other towns where volunteers greatly contribute to the success of the venture.

Later in the financial statement on page 8 under 8. Economic Dependence it states: “The Organization’s revenues, substantially derived from grants amounting to $346,460 (2010- $340,000) are received from the Town of Aurora. … In addition, the annual rentals payable under a lease with the Town of Aurora are for $1 per annum.”

Although they mention the volunteers, they do not mention that the Town also provides the maintenance and utilities on the building to the sum of $150K. I mention this because if the Town ever cuts off its funding the Centre will also be responsible for this $150K which will be a further burden on its financials. (Someone reading the statement without prior history may not be aware of this information). And in fact the Centre would also have to pay rent for the facilities. How much would the rent be at market value for this size of complex?

If the Centre is ever to be self sufficient then they have a big job ahead of them replacing the funds that the town is now contributing. If it is not to be self sufficient then everyone should be climbing to get in for all the free programs as we’re paying for it regardless of their program revenue.

I think the Town needs some additional numbers from the Centre in order to make any proper decision such as of the reported 20,000 visitors in 2011 how many were paid visits (i.e. art, music, heritage course program registrants or concert goers) versus non-paid visits like art gallery walk-ins? (something I did myself on a recent Saturday). Of the 20,000 visitors how many are unique visitors? As it still stands if the Town is contributing $500K per year and they have 20,000 visitors then the Town is subsidizing the running of the place at $25 per visit (whether the people are paying or not).

An example of another Aurora organization that is subsidized is the Aurora Library.

The Aurora Library’s 2010 Annual Report (found at their website) states the following on page 9 under: Benchmarks.

On average 100 people visited Aurora Public Library hourly in 2010.

Quick Facts

Visits to the library in person 323,024

Website visits 209,952

Material borrowed 648,075

Programs presented 660

Program attendance 11,497

Number of registered members 31,855

Population of Aurora 55,000

The Aurora Library received $2,852,967 in 2010 from the Town so it could be argued that they it costs $8.83 per person visit. I recognize that the Centre is not as well established as the library but I present these numbers for comparison.

I truly am not for or against the Centre, just that things should be run fairly and equally like other entities supported by the Town. Perhaps it can’t be treated like any other entity but there still has to be value for the money even if it is subsidized. And perhaps that’s the problem of measuring how it is valued when it is so heavily subsidized. On the other side, if it continues in its current model then they need to increase their user base (whether paid or free) so that they can get a greater number of users and thus a lower cost per visitor.

Without measureable parameters and goals and even incremental decreases in funding from the Town, there may be no incentive for the Centre to expand its reach into the community, for it to garner alternative funding and for to grow independent from the Town (if that is its goal). At some point the Town may simply decide enough is enough, cut its funding completely, take back the building and the Centre will close. And then it could be argued that the investment by the Town, the volunteers and the Centre will be lost.

I believe that if the Town wants to continue its support of the Aurora Cultural Centre the Ad Hoc committee can’t just do a tweek of the current agreement but must redefine its value with measureable parameters and goals so that everyone can clearly see the value from the $500K + free rent that the Town is providing to the Centre and ultimately back to its citizens. If it can’t do this then perhaps it is better to use the building and the funds in another manner be it still for culture or another purpose

.

Queries Unanswered

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Sudden Clarity":

I didn't see anything about you on the jazz fest website. Did they take it down? Any links?

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I didn't see it either .I only heard about it. So I can't tell you how to find it. I don't know what was said .
I'm not interested in anything  said by people who have mastered the art of exploiting public  resources for  private advantage while  representing their purpose as charitable fund-raising and community well-being.
I don't expect to be held in high regard when  my opposition is expressed in as forceful a manner as I know, to  the Town allowing public resources  to be exploited that way. 
 I expect, after the public discussion and  revelation that  no fee is paid for use of the park, no right to fence the park off from public  use or to  lease space in the park  may be assumed, the festival organizers will be advised to cease and desist those practices.
Similarly, in response to another query about  negotiations between the town and the governing body of the Church Street School, I cannot provide any answers.to that query either. . 
 I cannot conceive of an  acceptable  arrangement to be arrived at that will allow that board to continue to manage the facility to my satisfaction, on the basis of how it has been managed to date, as well as the  disrespect shown to the town's authority or the  people whose taxes  have been  used to finance the operation without their consent.
So I think  whatever  they are talking about is a waste of everyone's time. I would have withheld the funds from January1st 2011.
I  refuse to accept that  transferring a million and a half  dollars of public resources to a body without accountability on the basis of  a flawed agreement ,could pass the test of  government regulations or municipal auditing. 
 If such free disposition of tax dollars is permissible within all the checks and balances, then as far as I am concerned, there is no fiscal integrity in the system.
If the decision is up to politicians  who believe the only way to electoral success is  massive giveaways of public funds, our affairs are indeed in desperate  shape.  .

Sudden Clarity

The buzz around town is about uncomplimentary comments about me on the St. Kitts Festival web site. Attention will undoubtedly be drawn to the site.
 It already has.
 I have had  a query. The site notes the  Festival has received a substantial grant from Heritage Canada. A list of  other sponsors includes the Humphryes Family.
The question was about Conflict of Interest.
There isn't one.
Strict definition of a Conflict is, if an elected official has knowingly participated in a discussion and a decision that led to financial benefit to the member or any member of his/her  family.
An elected member is not precluded from participating in a bid  for government business. They can absolutely not contribute in any way  to  the discussion or decision.
Councillor Humphryes would in no way derive a benefit from contributing to the Jazz Festival . There is no conflict. 
Interesting to note none-the- less.
At the time of the last election, the candidate's  involvement  with the group was considered  in some quarters. There was unease about the association.  A fear of  bias towards  Mormac.
After I formulated my response to the query , a sudden clarity emerged. . 
A slate of candidates in the previous election was  managed and organised by Susan Walmer, Ken Whitehurst  and others.It resulted initially in  five elected;  a majority of Council.
After Councillor Gallo was appointed, not elected, the number rose to six. Consistent support of  five votes led to activities never seen before in an Aurora Council or administration .or any other that I know of.
For example free access to external legal counsel by the Mayor. and  friends to promote political advantage is unheard of.
There's a saying:  Power corrupts.Absolute power, corrupts absolutely.
The same  six   who formed the gang, were candidates again in 2010.
Ballard, clearly one of them. joined the race. He had received prime appointments in the previous term. 
St Kitts attempted to register, was denied because a condominium agreement had not been registered. Residential status was not obtained in a  timely manner. .

What if Councillor Humphryes,  thought by them, to be one of their own , won because of their support.   
Consider this;  Councillors McRoberts and Collins Mrakas stepped down  Both incumbents, outside the gang of six..
Morris. MacEachern, Granger, Gaertner, Wilson Gallo, were all incumbents in the race. They probably felt safe. Incumbents are hard to beat.
Humphryes,  Ballard  and St  Kitts would have completed a slate of nine. Enough to fill  all  seats.
Humphryes, Gaertner, Gallo, Ballard  were elected. Granger, came within  twenty-one votes . Wilson  only seven  behind.
St Kitts was ineligible as a candidate by fortuitous circumstance. 
NOW  we know why it has been hard  for Mormac to acknowledge defeat. 
Although Morris  and MacEachern suffered clear and transparent repudiation  at the polls. The slate did not.
Four of their number were elected , two came dangerously close and one was ineligible.
That's why the campaign has not ended. Why the former Mayor continues in evidence. Why  Susan Walmer continues to exert influence on her proteges.  The woman  is one formidable organizer. Not to be taken lightly.
It's why the current  Mayor and Councillors, elected despite the organization , continue to waste precious time by  failing to separate  themselves from  Mormac policies. 
Policies,  organization,  staff  were all put in place to follow a naked plan of exploitation of resources and  political aggrandizement.
With  nothing to redeem  it.
Enough committed Aurorans  saw it for what it was and fought hard in the last election to defeat it. Were their efforts pointless?
Will they be there again when  needed ?
Unless things change, my bet would be, not.
Politics are not fought on the surface.People need to believe.
There is blood in the water. The sharks are circling.

We Will Not Forget

Anonymous asks;

Is Wendy now going to lead the charge in demanding that Morris pay back the town ? I doubt it ! Is she going to demand that the “innocent” residents be paid back by the town for the costs they have incurred as a result of a motion that both Wendy and Gallo supported along with the other small block of Morris supporters on council ? I doubt it !

I also wonder how the 2014 election will go and if anyone will remember this nonsense when it comes time to vote.

**************8

It was this Council that  voted to pay the Morris legal bills after asking and receiving advice from yet another solicitor.

The "small block of Morris supporters" on the last Council  formed a  consistent and steadfast majority.

Will the voters remember when it comes time for the next election in 2014.?

Certainly they will. We are  living in changed times . Social media keeps everything alive.


New details keep emerging. Judicial decisions  remain  to be made..


People can still run but they still can't hide

By the way, I do not believe our town is any worse than the next.


We just keep digging and turning this stuff over and putting the pieces to-gether  It's like an archeological dig. 

There's no subtlety to  villainy. It is a  gift that keeps on giving.


I told you  before about  two fellows who were paid to burn down a building .


I was at the  University Ave. Court House in Toronto,  having been called for jury duty. I had to go down every day until they had picked a sufficient number.


After they spun the basket and pulled out names each day, I would wander off into a court room to follow a trial. 


Two bright sparks took a few gallons of gasoline into the basement of a building on Bloor Street. They spent some time going back and forth  making sure the incendiary fuel was well distributed. 


Then they struck a match. 

It was some time before they  were brought to trial.

After they were picked up and placed on stretchers some distance from the building,where the explosion  deposited  them, they spent considerable time in hospital before they were  sufficiently recovered  to stand trial.


It was what you might call a  crime of light and flight.

Never Fear...The Gang's All Here

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "What Price Privacy":

Ii feel badly for the Jam Lady as I feel she is being manipulated and used by the gang from the past.

************
The gang from the past is very much intact and making their presence felt in a dozen different ways. The Jam Lady is no shrinking violet.

The Environmental  Advisory Committee is teetering. Meetings last  twenty minutes. Hardly worth reserving an evening.


Susan Walmer at the last public planning meeting,  urged  Council to refer the Draft  Tree Cutting Bylaw to the committee. for their review  and advice.

It  was after Council had spent upwards of two and a half hours hearing what everyone who chose to attend the meeting had to say  and engaged in debate  ourselves.

Like the Environmental Advisory Committee would  be better qualified to deal with the  tree bylaw  than the body elected to make  decisions. That woman has some nerve.

There is real irony here.

First,  the  first Committee recommended the town hire an environmental engineer. The town did. Added $100,000 to the annual budget for the purpose. 

Asked what might be accomplished;   answer .... "identify environmental initiatives" 

Every year at budget time,I would ask what environmental initiatives had been identified. The question  would be greeted with a look to indicate I might,unbeknownst  to myself, have horns growing out of my head. 

Last year , the last  Environmental Committee  presented  a Master Environmental Plan  which was adopted by Council  


Now we have  plan and an engineer  which  leaves no  further need for intervention from an  advisory committee.

Now the committee is feeling unwanted and unappreciated. . 

It is understandable. 

On their advice , we have totally bureaucratized the  town's environment. 

Abracadabra !!!!!

Town policies are being updated and re-classified. Its a humungous task..Scores of  policies exist. Councillors need to approve  needed changes; like scrapping obsolete or duplicate policies, re-writing of badly written policies, clarifying obscure policies and generally speaking, tidying up  the mess.


Some policies predate changes in the administration. Some  pre-date Methusaleh

In the ordinary way, Councillors might never become aware of  town policies unless  advised of their existence by staff.

Policies are not bylaws. They are a guide to consistency.  They are not  laws that must be observed. They can be interpreted. Buried. Misconstrued. Read differently than intended by the writer.Written badly by the writer.

On one nefarious  occasion,  policy  was deliberately  misconstrued by a solicitor retained by the  former Mayor, for  such a perverse purpose  as to have had  devastating  and degrading  impact against three staff members, one in particular being the target. All done furtively  behind closed doors in a bizarre scenario similar ro the movie "Coma" In the name of confidentiality and privacy of the individual. 


It was accomplished without significant opposition because of   lack of awareness of individual Council members.

 I do not urge  policies should not be changed or updated. 

I do not claim  no need for change.

I do not contend  blankety-blank policies should  clutter  the books.
forever and a day.

I do maintain ,after decades of use, mis-use , neglect and selective attention, Councillors should  at least understand their own authority before  surrendering  it to the administration. 

It is no  less the  serious  responsibility of a Councillor  than any other. 

To that end, at the last meeting, Councillors were persuaded to deal with the task in an educational workshop session. Provincial law gives us that right.

We can  convene  behind closed doors, converse  in a free-wheeling manner, in the language of the streets or whatever is comfortable, on an equal basis,  mano el mano. on n equal basis  with staff without being encumbered by   protocol required  in public  between elected and appointed officials.

At last night's general committee meeting, policy discussions referred  at the previous meeting to a future  educational workshop  were back on the general  committee agenda..

The question of Council's authority to direct was  now added to the debate.

 Council's authority had to be re-establsihed. Again the nature of an educational workshop was discussed. 

A vote to forfeit the opportunity  to educate ourselves in the matter of policies and Council authority versus staff responsibility carried. 

Everything  must be done in public was the clarion cry. Open and transparent like the last lot.
.
Councillor Abel made the astounding declaration:

." We must invite the public in"  he said. " they probably won't come" he said.

The assumption appeared to be  non-attendance by the public  would serve the same purpose as an educational workshop.

So there will be a separate discussion..It will be public.

Hobbled by formality and protocol,  Councillors will be exceedingly careful  which thought to express and which to keep to themselves, for fear of appearing  to be  less than knowledgeable, which they are, understandably so.

The transfer of your authority from Council  to staff will proceed unimpeded.

Before your very eyes. . 
  

What Price Privacy

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Posthumous...Not Quite":

A lot of private individuals are maligned on this web site. I hope Ms Buck (as moderator) has insurance.

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

Au contraire, mon ami

People who project themselves into the political arena are not private.. I am one for example.  Every  comment I make is subject to  critical analysis and  may be commented upon by any other citizen.I was not forced into  the role.

When Catherine Marshall joined the public debate in a letter to the editor,  after  the St Kitts deluge of unsubstantiated allegations and unfounded accusations, permitted in a public, televised meeting by her friend and admirer,the former Mayor about this time three years ago. 

 Ms Marshall  freely entered the  arena. 

One of the more repellent aspects of the situation was  that my grand-daughter was present for  a spectacle that degraded  everyone present.

Ms  Marshall offered later in  said  letter to the editor  that my grand-daughter was not disturbed . 

The experience might very well have been adverse  for Hayley girl
had she witnessed  grand mother participate in the shameful 
display. 

She did not.

On a motion , Council quickly moved beyond the episode  to cheerful presentation of awards for art excellence to the group of  children. They were ten years old . The joyful  occasion was not  tarnished by an action of mine. Or any sign  the attack  had caused personal distress. 

Catherine Marshall,  ironically,probably a judge of the art, had no such compunction .when she wrote the letter to the editor attempting to minimize the impact. 

Privacy is  surrendered when one jumps on all fours, uninvited, into  a mud-wrestling pit  that was Aurora's political arena for the past four years.     

I Grant You, The Election Was Legal.

"The hydro building was never offered publicly for lease. It was simply and quetly transferred to the Rangers. "

QUIETLY? Come on. This was in the papers, it was part of council proceedings.

This is just another decision made by a legally elected council that you feel is wrong (your opinions may not always be right). Another in the list of things to reverse because they were done by the evil empire.

We spend so much time this term revering things that were done last term. What is going to happen in 2 years and few months? Is that council going to spend 4 years reversing what this council has done?

**************** 

Were the public notified the building was available for lease? 


Were there invitations for expressions of interest? 


No, there were not. The building was quietly transferred to the Queen's York Rangers  with  a ten year lease.

Even though the property was being used by the town, no  staff reports were sought  or provided to indicate   town need for the space. Although we knew full well we needed it.

This Council spends not nearly enough time reviewing what was done last term. Political awkwardness of reversing decisions would never have been easy. More difficult still with Mormac Squadrons still  intact and known infiltration within the ranks.

Someone made a comment this morning about rampant corruption 
among municipalities.

Fie upon you   It was never thus in Aurora prior to the  2007 election.

The Province has checks in balances in place to ensure this stuff does not  happen.   Municipalities are required by law to have statutory officers on  the administrations. 

Their job is to  keep the municipality functioning within the law.

When individuals are elected who have no  sense of limits of  power,  no respect for the office they hold or the people who elected them , who routinely dispose of staff who dare to challenge them, then   " you  got trouble in River City" and four years  doth create a mountain not a molehill.

The Town Solicitor advised Council, on more than one occasion , there is no provision for an elected official to take legal action against someone else  and be indemnified for cost.

I heard  the former Mayor obtained external legal advice to
refute  the town solicitor's advice on the day  six members of council  voted  to support a slyly worded resolution giving  authority to the solicitor (Morris) to do what was needed to  resolve the  matter.

I do not believe ,Granger and Gallo lied  on the hustings.when they stated they had no idea the resolution would lead to litigation.

They may be faulted for not being wise enough to know how they had been used, and they may still be unwilling to admit to it but I do not believe  they lied.

I did not have to be in the room to watch the pantomime play out. I had seen it before ...too many times.     

How Could That Happen?

Checking out the Auroran for something this morning, reminded me of something I found in last week's publication when  I wasn't even looking..

Scott Johnson had a column . He usually does  the weekly cartoon. The column was about related funds to the Victoria Street projects.

He referred to proceeds from the sale of our hydro corporation being  $34.5 million . Then he went on to state the nalance in the reserve fund  is now $33 million  after  the funds  being invested for seven years.  

He had some less than complimentary comments about that

I found that interesting. How could he have been so sure of figures that plainly made no sense.  So sure, he felt sufficiently confident to be  critical.

We kno he is not unintelligent. So what's the explanation?

I would call it bias. A closed mind. An exceedingly narrow perspective. Like inborn prejudice.

How could $34.5 million become $33 million after seven years of investment?  How could he be content that he had it right?

Why did he not ask himself the obvious question?

There is something wrong here? Either a significant sum has disappeared? Or these figures are not  accurate.

Which, of course,  they were not .. How could he not have realised that? It is a puzzlement.

Who was doing the proof reading? Why wasn't it caught?  Is the competence of municipal administration in such low esteem  the figures were not immediately seen to be  severely distorted..

Proceeds from the sale of our  Hydro, as I recollect,  were $24.5 million

We used $2.3 million to renovate the Church Street School for a state of the art museum

We had been receiving  revenue of a million dollars a year from hydro when it was  a town-owned corporation. We decided to continue taking the amount, reducing it by one hundred thousand a year, to wean ourselves from dependence. 

We currently have, after six  years  $33 million in the Hydro reserve fund. Municipalities are not free to play the market with public resources.

Richmond Hill sold their hydro to Power Stream before we did. I believe they realised an asset of $125 million. Don't hold me to that. I wasn't paying close attention.

Richmond Hill Arts Centre on Yonge Street  was built with part of the money. I believe  a generous  contribution was made  to York Central Hospital as well. I understand they still have residual being carefully managed. I haven't paid close attention but I know they did some good stuff. Like we should.