Variations On A Theme

If I had jumped up on my desk and mooned the council, that would have been disorderly conduct (and a feat beyond my capability to say nothing of aesthetics
If I had hurled my water jug across the horseshoe at a councillor, that would certainly have been disorderly conduct (I have been tempted).

If I had swooped around the horseshoe like Rambo, whacking willy-nilly with my cane, that would definitely qualify as assault with a weapon and disorderly conduct (some have urged me!).

I never did any of those things. Yet, it is a matter of record that I was ordered from council for disorderly conduct. How could it happen? And how did I earn the distinction of being the only councillor in Aurora's history to suffer the notoriety of being expelled from the chamber?

Prior to the advent of my Blog, I never could have set the record straight. I shall do so forthwith:

Council, fourteen years previously, honoured a sitting Mayor by giving his name to a prominent street. The address of the Town Hall therefore also carried the name.

Several elections went by...the honoured member continued to enjoy the confidence of voters.

Subsequently an individual came to town who ran and lost an election for the office of Mayor. Eventually, he was elected councillor. His first priority was to change the name of the aforementioned street." It was worth a lot of money in advertising for a candidate to have his name on a street", he said.

The move to remove the honour did not succeed.

Fast forward - new council….same effort. It succeeded on a vote of five to four. None of the proponents offered a rationale.

It was the failure to offer any reason that formed my contention the vote was pre-packaged and its supporters were complicit . I have since decided it was also an abuse of process. The Mayor decided my comment should be withdrawn. Instead , I withdrew myself from the council chamber - thereby the illusion was created that I was expelled for cause.

Court precedents have established a municipal council is as much a legislative body as any other level of government. Councillors have the authority and the obligation to put forward their perception of any matter under debate.

The abiding principle of democracy is our right to govern ourselves. and nowhere is it more real than at the muniicipal level of government. We have not always enjoyed that right .

Rules of procedure require that when a councillor is recognized by the chair, thirty-minutes are allowed to present an argument without interruption. The same points cannot be repeated. No personal criticism can be levelled nor can the motives of another councillor be insinuated. Arguments must adhere to the question.

A point of order must be clearly and succinctly stated .

The purpose of the rules is to ensure civility in an atmosphere where strongly held and opposing views may be expressed .

A councillor may be called to order by the chair, or by another councillor when the rules are compromised. The chair must rule.

The rules are clear and unambiguous.

Meetings are frequently long and lugubrious. I often fantasize about how they could be livened up. I picture myself grabbing the microphone, tossing my cane in the air, and breaking into a fantastic song and dance routine. Music exists for every conceivable circumstance.

The right to silently contemplate a preposterous and ridiculous fantasy is undisputed.

The right to shout down another, in the midst of an expression of ideas is not.

In a span of over forty years, I have regularly sought to serve, on my terms . I have been elected. People who vote for me and those who do not, know exactly what to expect.

It is the same thing I expect from a councillor and I'm the only one I know, who does it.

Un Mélange

I watched Jeffrey Simpson participate in a Symposium on Ethics in the Public Service a couple of years ago. It was on CPAC on a Sunday afternoon. It's not that I'm a geek or a nerd or anything, it's just that there's so little to watch these days that's simply entertaining. Mr. Simpson is both informative and entertaining.

I'm not big on boxing or football or car-racing or any of that jock stuff. It has occurred to me to wonder how much the shortage of entertainment has to do with the shortage of ad revenue from all the social sins of the day like tobacco, drinking and big cars.

Jeffrey Simpson is an award winning journalist and author. His subject is government but not much at our level. He is a happy man. He talks with a smile in his voice. He is successful in his calling.

I was delighted to find he was convocation speaker at Queen's University at my grand-daughter's graduation... His subject, of course, was government and politicians - the players.

There were thousands of graduates. The arena was charged with the excitement of parents and graduates alike. And a pompous ceremony it is.

Margaret Somerville was convocation speaker at Waterloo a couple of summers before. She is the lady who caused such a ruckus at Ryerson last year because she dared to suggest that marriage is intended as a legal bond between a man and a woman. She is a highly learned person and a great speaker, but even if she weren’t, is it not outrageous to think that anyone in Canada is not entitled to an opinion without being personally maligned - by university staff and graduates no less.

Anyway, back to Jeffrey Simpson. He told the students that it's okay to be a skeptic. It's not okay to be cynical. He took the blame for cynicism in our society on his own profession. He talked about their self-righteous inclination towards knowing all things and how low are all politicians.

He said politicians are just like the rest of society - well-meaning and doing the best job they know how.


I hoped the kids were listening to him, but I doubt it. Maybe it's just as well. Experience tells me the young form their own opinions. Doesn't much matter what adults have to say. They keep having to learn it themselves the hard way.

It's also just as well because Jeffrey Simpson only knows politicians and public servants as an observer, more than a casual observer, but an observer nevertheless.

He is much better placed to know the players in his own field. If he ever became a player in politics, his authority would be much improved. He might even become a cynic.

He is right about one thing though; in general, politicians are just like everybody else .. no better and no worse ..and not everybody doing the best job possible.

I've read a number of political memoirs and more than one biography of the greatest leader of them all .. not Moses .. Winston Churchill. Actually, I have never finished a biography about Churchill. They are too long and they invariably become tedious. I think authors of massive tomes must be paid by the pounds of paper they use AND the numbers of words.

It was said Churchill never gave interviews. He apparently had the philosophy that if anyone was going to make money out of his life, it was going to be him. I believe I was privileged to have been part of the history that was Churchill's. It doesn't mean I think the man was a paragon of virtue. He wasn't. And although he was a child of privilege, his childhood was anything but nurturing. Leaders don't have to be saints. In fact,considering the nature of the job there is a definite possibility they won't..

No politician ever tells the whole truth about everything he knows. He has to think about his place in history and about how well the book will sell.

One Lump or Two?

It is the morning after and it may not be the time. On the other hand, making a record will undoubtedly help move it along.

Council met in committee last night…..a pattern is beginning to emerge. These are early days in the term, heretofore it has been easy to ignore.

The matter at hand is the repeated energetic efforts of three residents to persuade council that town staff advice is wrong on the matter of Aurora Cable's plans to improve their plant operation on their 11 acre site on Ridge Road.

The residents have been at council several times. Each time they come with new and heavily researched arguments of provincial and federal laws and regulations to prove they are right and everyone else is wrong.

Last night, they indicated they intended to come back again if their views did not prevail.

Council indicated willingness to continue efforts to find a way to resolve the matter.

I made the observation, the residents would clearly never be satisfied unless the town accepts their direction

At that point, the chairperson declared “those comments are not acceptable at this table.”

It is tiresome, not-to-say weird, to have to remind colleagues that I do have the right and the responsibility to offer a perspective.

We hear it and we read it, over and over about the public's right to know, the public's right to have input, the public's right to participate in the decision-making process. All of it valid. None of it new.

Yet this council, last council and it seems several councils before, has lost touch with the fact that they alone can claim authority to represent the public. They alone are accountable for decisions made during their term of office.

In this term, we now have a situation whereby a person speaking to council, on a subject of his own choosing, during an informal public forum, has his comments included in the formal record of proceedings, at his request. Staff are directed to follow-up and comment on the citizen's comments.

A councillor, on the other hand, in order to have an idea considered must file a notice of motion in advance. The motion must be seconded, only then can it become the subject of a debate. And only by a majority vote can staff accept direction to proceed.

No part of the debate appears in the record. Not even the vote becomes a matter of record unless there is a request for it to be recorded.

Much is written of the low public esteem that politicians enjoy. The media bears much of the responsibility but no group is more responsible than those who continually debase their office in the all-or-nothing pursuit of personal popularity versus public responsibility.

The Burning Question

I had a phone call last week. I've been wondering what to do about it. As usual, my inclination is to talk or write.

It seems the Region may have cast their eye upon town-owned property at Highway 404 as a potential site for an incineration plant for garbage. It appears they were told not to even think about it. I find that credible given the fact we were having an election for the entire year of 2006. Just about everything we did was with a view to the upcoming vote.

But it's over now. Time to get back to the town's and the region's real business of dealing squarely with the problems that confront us.

No-one can deny the disposal of garbage is a pressing problem. The Region is on record as favouring incineration. The community does not favour landfill. Over the years, numerous delegations have made trips to Europe to look at various possibilities.

I didn't go. So I know as much as any citizen reading the newspapers about what was learned. I was asked in the recent election, (it may have been a trick) if I favoured incineration. My response was I would need to know everything about it before I would commit one way or another.

I have however avowed the principle that current practice of shipping waste to another country is not only economically and practically inefficient it is also immoral. Further to that, I believe it is completely and utterly insane.

In all modesty, I think most people share my view.

I believe it is incumbent on every resident in the region who produces garbage, to seriously consider the options available to us.

Incineration is an option. Since it is not likely to happen in outer space, it will undoubtedly have to happen here. The Region has a number of municipalities - It has to be one of us. No-one can afford the luxury of ignorance.

First info suggests the process is clean. There are no emissions. By-product is sufficient generation of heat to warm a significant number of buildings - which in turn would reduce demands on hydro generation which contributes to global warming.

Structures apparently are designed to look like any other architect designed industrial building.

Revenue to the municipality that agrees to host the facility are said to be substantial.

Obviously, these factors need to be verified and other aspects need to be addressed.

What happens to all that heat in the summer?

Truck traffic on the highway?

Would David Miller, Mayor of Toronto be allowed to stay in his pure white ivory tower while his city's garbage gets trucked elsewhere anywhere as long as it's not in Toronto?

Would the province still have the authority to order the facility in York Region to accept the garbage of any other municipality?

Would we operate it ourselves to ensure burning temperatures are never accidentally or deliberately reduced to save on costs?

What energy would be used to burn the garbage?

No doubt, there are questions galore.

All I want is a chance to ask them.

One thing I know; we have a moral and social obligation to ourselves and our children to find the answer to this problem

That we produce too much is a given. That we need to reduce the output - that too is true. That we will stop producing garbage altogether - not in my lifetime.

Our Weird Tree Bylaw

We have the weirdest by-law on the books. We apparently lifted it from the City of Mississauga.

It is called A By-Law to Authorize the Injury or Destruction of Trees (Tree Permit By-law). One more degree of hyperbole and it could be called “the rape or murder of trees.”

Bear in mind Mississauga stretches from Toronto in the East to Burlington in the West; from Lake Ontario in the south and Milton in the North. Mississauga is huge. Much of it is criss-crossed with major arterial roads. Most of it resembles a vast tract of concrete jungle.

In November, there were corkscrew shaped small trees, dozens of them lining Hurontario Street, completely wrapped and tied in burlap. They must look like that seven months out of the year.

Weird…..

In Aurora, looking down from Newmarket, all you can see are trees. When you turn the corner on many streets, trees are all you can see. There is an obvious need for more money to be spent on the care and nurture of many trees but there is no shortage and every year thousands more are planted.

On my street, fall and spring, the amount of yard waste piled up for collection means new homeowners of the past have planted too many trees. We have created a hospitable habitat for wildlife. I sometimes feel we are at risk of being swallowed by the forest, invaded by muskrats, crowded by raccoons, harried by squirrels and skunked by skunks as a normal course of events.

When people come to council to bewail the loss of wild-life habitat I think ‘You are obviously not living in my neighbourhood.’

In the forty years I have lived in my house, I have created my own perfect little slice of nature without really knowing it. The variety of birds that live in my yard or near it, grows every year. I have to keep digging out trees that have taken root before they get too big to handle.

If they are growing amongst the shrubs they can be six feet tall before I see them.They grow two feet a year. Then all you can do is keep cutting them off at ground level. I'm talkin' maples and beeches, man

Of course the by-law for The Injury and Destruction of Trees is not intended for urban lots. It is aimed at those residents who own acreage with trees. They are the enemy, the potential doers of dastardly deeds who must be guarded against and held in appropriate disdain. But it is clear the intent of the wording is to make anyone who wants or needs to cut down a tree ashamed and embarrassed.

The by-law permits destruction or injury of up to five trees a year.I think that means four. Anymore must be permitted by the town. But it is no ordinary process.

The definition of destruction or injury means; removal, cutting, girding of the tree or roots, interfering with the water supply, application of chemicals, compaction and regrading within the drip line of the tree, or by other means including irreversible injury which may result from neglect, accident or design but does not include pruning.

The fines for so doing are in the thousands of dollars.

Bear in mind, these are privately owned trees on privately owned land. The obvious question that comes to my mind is what kind of a surveillance force would it take to discover any of the above, even if we do have the right or reason to replace an owners judgment with that of a municipality.

But the story does not end here.

In order to obtain a permit, the owner must submit a plan, an arborist's report on the health of the trees. If the tree straddles the property line, permission of the neighbour must be obtained.

Finally fees must be paid. $415.00 and up.

There have been few applications made under this by-law. No complaints on record. But the weirdest thing of all is that an application can be made, all the requirements met and still the permit may not be granted.

For two weeks before the council meeting, the applicant must display on his property a sign telling the world he has made an application to destroy and injure trees.

His neighbours can object.

And council can refuse the application.

For more information on the town's tree program, please click here.

Feedback on the Weird Tree By-law - The process takes 6 weeks. The sign notifying the public of the application to destroy and injure trees has to be posted, even when the trees are dead and hazardous.

All That From a Conversation with Logan

Moses stretched his rod over the Red Sea, the waters parted and Moses led the Israelites from The Wilderness into The Promised Land or words to that effect.

That Moses dude was a politician of biblical proportions. Not only does he get the credit for major accomplishments, he had one heck of a Communications Director. Ever since, for thousands of years, people have been celebrating Moses’ success. I doubt any politician before or since has enjoyed Moses' fame.

I had a seven-year old named Logan in the back seat of my car a couple of weeks ago. We talked about what he'd been reading lately. His great-grandmother had given him a Book of Bible Stories for Christmas. The first was about Noah. He talked about why people needed to be punished, why Noah needed to build the Ark and the animals that went in two by two.

We wondered if there were lions and tigers and pythons and cobras and such-like predators in The Ark and what would be the effect on the over-all population.

After a bit, not giving it much thought, I asked Logan if he believed that story. My attention was on the road in front of me. All Logan could see was the back of my head. A full twenty seconds went past before he asked, “Do you?”

Well, I surely did not expect that. Neither did his mother. Her first reaction was that Logan was being impolite.

To me, it was just another example of the clear, uninhibited thought process of a very young child's mind. My question made him think and he didn't have an answer. He responded with a question of his own.

I remembered a question I had, when I was Logan's age. I was learning about the Sacrament of Baptism and Limbo. Limbo is for discards - a place for babies who have not been baptised.

In my family, a baby in the house was, and is, a source of wonder and joy. That they became nothing if they died without baptism was a disquieting thought.

When I thought about it again, after talking to Logan, The Right to Life Association came to mind. They argue a fertilized egg is a life that has a right to be born. Yet, once born, the church argued the infant is a discard if not born again in the Sacrament of Baptism

I don't know what the church is teaching these days. Maybe the theory of Limbo has itself been assigned to Limbo. It surely doesn't square with the arguments of The Right to Life Association.

All that from a conversation with Logan.

A Pat on My Back.

HEATHER'S NOTE: Yesterday I posted a positive comment made by a reader. This morning I was advised to remove it from the blog. I have chosen, instead, to add my own comment:

I'm thrilled that you've found such a suitable tool through which to channel your thoughts and share your knowledge. Your posts are always very informative - I learn something new every day! - and your enthusiasm for doing the best for our town is evident in all you do. The positive feedback you are receiving is well deserved - revel in it!! Keep up the good work!

~HEATHER SISMAN

On that same note, here is a direct quote from "Senior Scape", a column by Brian Warburton in the Auroran:

"I note that Evelyn Buck has her own Blog site at EvelynBuck.com and she received instructional training from Tom Yates at the ASA.

After reading through Evelyn's web/blog site, I declare it very good, particularly as this endeavour has been accomplished by a lady who has seen many, many cold winters and hot summers come and go, and who is not yet fully proficient in the operation of computers, although she does have help.

I read the blog through, and found it of interest, which is a deserving testimonial, and I congratulate Evelyn"

It's Like a Personal Diary, only BETTER!

Before I started this new adventure of blogging, I watched everybody who had anything to say about it. A young woman appeared on the Charlie Rose program to talk about her book of Blogs.

Charlie is my favourite and he's on PBS from 1-30 to 2-30 p.m. every weekday. He holds uninterrupted conversation with the best and the brightest in every field of endeavour. It 's my daily dose of intellectual stimulation.

His guest was a professional journalist and she had cottoned on to blogging. She had taken time off to write the book because, she said, blogging is a tyrant. There have to be fresh postings every day, otherwise visitors will stop visiting.

She was making a living out of blogging, I don't know how that works but I guess it would have a connection with the need to have visitors every day. So, she wrote the book to take a break from the tyranny of blogging.

The word blog by the way is an abbreviation for web log.

At this point in time I am taken up with the opportunity simply to share all I know about the town's business. But there's not much point, if there are no readers.

Since my friend Ron put the little blurb in The Auroran , visitors have increased substantially. I keep popping in myself to have another look at it. Then I torment myself trying to remember how often I did that and how many of the recorded visits were my own. Or, on the other hand, not popping in because it will inflate the number of visitors and I will get excited about nothing. A girl could drive herself mad doing that.

Obviously, if my stuff is tedious and boring, the visitors won't come back. Of course, it 's not boring to me but if I want people to visit I have to give thought to how it's being received.

My “assistant” knows how to find which internet service providers have visited the blog, and if someone is reading it at any given moment. This week she was quite excited to note various addresses in the city. I'm more interested in having Aurora readers. Then I remembered; people don't surf the net from home in the evening and on the week-ends. They do it from work.

I discovered that when we were being lobbied to put Kennel Inn out of business and put extra lanes in the new swimming pool.

Anyway, it's a whole new field of interest and communication. I may get up to blogging every day. There's no shortage of stuff to write about. There's just a need to make sure it will be read. I don't expect to have mass readership. I am very well aware of my eccentricity.

In a small way, it's like presenting a play. There is no point whatsoever, if there is no audience. How can the players ever know if they have done it well if they have no audience to respond to their efforts. That's like politics, you can feel when people are not responding.

But I'm not ready to go into that yet.

Elaborations On A Theme

I re-read my last two blogs. A couple of things need to be clarified.

1. The Strategic Plan can be read in full on the Town's website.

2. When I wrote about the hydro building issue, I did not make it clear that although we have instruments in place to guide our decisions and staff to advise us – staff tend only to offer advice when asked, except of course, if the law prohibits the contemplated action.

The Economic Development Officer was not asked to comment on the disposition of the Hydro building from his perspective.

The Parks Manager was not asked to comment on the suitability of the building for his purposes.
I did ask for a report from the Chief Financial Officer. It was presented after council voted to keep the building for municipal purposes.

The property is architect-designed, in excellent condition and in a preferential showcase location for any business. It is not useful for a Parks Yard which definitely does not require visibility and according to the capital forecast does not require more space for another three years.

No estimates were sought for costs to adapt the building to a totally different function.

Haphazard decisions play havoc with planning forecasts, which is not to say there 's no room to change but it surely ought to be based on logic.

In 2005, when the contract was awarded to build the new recreation centre, council rejected the option of building a gymnasium which would have provided youth facilities at a cost of $1.1 million.

It may be true that most people are not interested in the particulars of a council decision - I wonder though - what staff think.

While a council can be changed on a regular basis, even to a dramatic extent, it's the administration that provides continuity.

We live in a highly competitive market for municipal professionals. When a department head leaves, we lose institutional memory. It is not replaced by hiring another body. Everything can’t be recorded in documents. The department takes months to recover and still, some things may be lost forever.

In the last term, Aurora lost three department heads: Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Building Officer... catastrophic for any municipality.

A director has a personal stake in a town department. The team is chosen and trained to accomplish the best outcome. If the best outcome is regularly disallowed...what then? Despite best efforts, a municipality can acquire a toxic reputation.

When Aurora was small, retailers and industries were close. People were in daily contact. The town had a small administration, all local residents. There were no illusions about who was managing day-to-day operations.

Everyone understood council's main function was to provide an overview and represent the community at large. The administration and council were aware that the people were aware who was responsible for what. If somebody screwed up, everybody knew about it.

The Town Office was in the downtown core. The clerk and treasurer were within steps of the sidewalk. People came in to pay taxes. They chatted. They went to the Post Office to stand in line and pick up their mail. They chatted there too.

Stories probably acquired some elaboration as they moved along the pipeline. They had no need of a public forum or the privilege to delegate to inform everyone from the Mayor down and across the street to the newspaper editor. They wrote letters to the editor...some more than others. There was free exchange of information.

I recall occasions, when the Mayor and the Editor, "Bobbie and Dickie", would start a rumour for the express purpose of determining how long it would take to return and what form it would have when it arrived back. It was a harmless exercise in humour that spoke volumes about the community spirit in Aurora.

Seems Like Common Sense, Right?

Already I have received feedback on my blog. A reader has asked for more information on the Strategic Plan. So, here's the skinny...

The Strategic Plan is a statement of goals and objectives so basic you might wonder why they need to be written at all.

For example, we should be doing whatever we can to attract new business. Not only for the revenue but for the jobs. We should be doing what we can to make sure current businesses have everything they need to thrive in Aurora. We should be establishing a reputation as a town that welcomes business .

Seems like common sense, right?

Well, no - hang on a bit - common sense used to be the standard - not any more. There are new kids in town. Different standards.

Aurora Cable has been in business in Aurora forty years. It's a family business, started literally from a one-man operation, now having an annual payroll of $2.5 million. They have grown lockstep with the town. Their contribution to the social fabric of the community is immeasurable. They cover every organization, and every event. They provide financial support to organizations. They have provided generations of young people with the opportunity to gain skills in every aspect of the television business, and go on to have a professional career. Bless their hearts, they even cover our council meetings.

Aurora Cable's plant has always been situated on eleven acres of land at the end of Ridge Road. The property is designated for the function. They need a secure and constant source of energy as brown outs create havoc with the equipment. Some years ago they decided they had to do something to meet their new needs. They researched their options and decided it would be best for their purpose, and the environment, if they used wind turbines. They made plans, came to the town to discover our requirements and took staff advice.

Seems like common sense, right?

The Oak Ridges Moraine Act required they make an application for a variance to the Committee of Adjustment. They did that. The fee was $450. They paid that. There is a wait for a hearing date. They waited. Come the hearing, neighbours objected. The Committee found the proposed use was permissible and set out some conditions.

Neighbours filed an Appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board. Five more months of waiting. Neighbours had legal representation. Aurora Cable had legal representation. The Ontario Municipal Board found the use was permissible (yet again!), and set out some conditions (yet again!).

At the last meeting of the last council, on the eve of the election, neighbours came and read out provincial regulations and stated the town had the responsibility to enforce conditions
immediately.

Seven council members were present. Staff advised the Aurora Cable project is a work in progress. Staff advice was not accepted. Neighbours advice was accepted. Staff were directed by a vote of four to three to enforce the conditions.

Fast forward -- new council -- the neighbours came back to complain that staff failed to follow council's directive. Staff again advised work is underway.

Another vote was cast. This time the results were five to three ... a written report was required from staff...to what end was not immediately apparent.

Almost two years have passed since Aurora Cable first approached the town for direction. They now have all the legal authority needed to proceed with their plans. Council continues to cast doubt.

Where's the sense in that?

So, we publicly endorse fine statements of principle and make a good impression. However, if the will is not there to follow through, the principles are not worth the paper they are printed on, let alone the public funds spent to assemble them. The Hydro Building and Aurora Cable's experience are not isolated incidents. There has been a consistent pattern.

Another statement in the Strategic Plan cites the intention of striving for openness and transparency.

Just think what it could be like if you were really paying attention.

Lights, Music....and Sawdust

This tale is so long it is almost daunting. But, it needs to be told.

We sold our Hydro company to Powerstream in 2005. They continued to use the building on a year’s lease. In May of 2006, they vacated on a months’ notice.

The rent was $9000 a month and taxes were $5000 (give or take a penny). So, there was an immediate drain on the town’s coffers of $14,000 a month. That is not small change.

It was an election year. Up comes the idea we would keep the building and use it for a youth centre. Immediately, Leisure Services staff were directed to report on alternative uses.

As noted, the building was producing revenue. The assessed value was $2.1 million dollars. Land values have been escalating, so, on the market, it is probably worth $3 million.

Twenty-four Aurora jobs left when Powerstream pulled out of town. That was a blow.

We have an Economic Development Officer on our payroll. His function is to encourage business to locate in our community.

We have a Strategic plan which cost money and man-hours to prepare. It’s main focus is to improve our economy and attract jobs to the community.

We have capital forecasts which indicate when a new or increased space will be needed to fulfill the needs of the community within the next five years.

We have a Chief Financial Officer to advise us on the implications of pursuing a particular course of action.

The Hydro Building has been empty for seven months. It will likely be empty for another five. It represents a loss of almost $200,000 from the town’s forecasted revenue for 2006.

$200,000 is about a percentage point in our tax rate. If our tax rate increases by 7% in 2007, 1% of that was because we left the Hydro Building empty for a year. It could have been leased immediatley.

But it was an election year.

The dominant question from voters at election time is ;”O.K., what are you going to do for me?” Even nine year old children learning about the process have learned to ask that question.

Elections are about “bread and circuses” – high-wire acts of balance on a tight-rope far above the heads of the crowd, incredible feats of derring do....and grand illusions that promise magic.

When the circus moves on and the lights and music are gone, the smells of popcorn and spun sugar dissipate and the excitement is over. All that's left is the sawdust and stark cold reality.

'Tis said “Politics is the art of the possible”. If that is true, the first possibiliity has to be about being elected. Everyone who has a vote, those who cast it - and those who don't, all have a hand in creating possibilities, good, bad and indifferent.

One Happenin' Grannie

Good Morning All, and welcome to the

Official Launch of My Blog.

I’m a happenin’ Grannie but I can't pretend I do this blogging thing by myself. I have a good friend who takes great delight in working as my assistant. She sends me links for clip art and stuff. I choose and she arranges it all. I do the writing and create titles, but she makes it look good.

There are a couple of things that need tidying in the intro of the website itself. We didn’t create the errors but we will fix them - eventually.

I haven’t been so excited about anything since I discovered how much satisfaction there is in publicly expounding my views. That wasn't yesterday..

When I needed a chuckle, I used to click on the dancing Christmas Elf that we set up. I practiced all the moves. I couldn't quite keep up, but certainly had fun trying. Sadly, she is now exhausted, and stationary.

If you don’t have a computer, you won't be reading this…unless perhaps you are a member of the Aurora Senior’s Association. They have an amazing computer club.

There are umpteen computers in their workshop and they provide instruction in everything you need to know. Each course costs $10.00. The instructors are seniors…they know their stuff and how to teach it.

You can’t imagine how many doors it opens. It costs $20.00 to join the Senior’s Club and $1.00 for the computer club, so come on down, baby!

There are a hundred other activities and new friends to make, if computers aren't your schtick.

Special thanks to my friend Ron Wallace for providing the link to my website in the Auroran.

Pillow Talk

Regarding a not nice letter in response to my hockey team analogy.

I have been writing letters to one editor or another in Aurora for more than forty years. I cheerfully admit, I always hope to have readers. Why else would one write?

I would not like my letters to have been considered dull, innocuous or mediocre. I want to believe they may have sparked a little interest in whatever idea was being expressed...maybe even a chuckle, or a tear.

Politicians do not usually express themselves in writing. From a political perspective, it is at best unwise and at worst, definitely risky. Generally speaking, I think risk is the spice of life.

Nevertheless, I have been publicly shat upon once too often. I am no longer sure I can accept abuse without succumbing to the overwhelming temptation to hurl a wheelbarrow load of the stuff right back at whatever clumsy oaf may be wielding the shovel.

But doing that runs against the grain. It represents a terrible waste of time and space, to say nothing of the powerful impact of the malodorous emanation.

I shall heretofore confine my efforts to my blogging boudoir. I realise not everyone is wired but if our editor spots something he thinks might be of interest to Auroran readers, it shall be yours.

"A guid New Year to ane an' a'!"

'A good New Year to one and all.'

- traditional Scots toast at Hogmanay

Happy New Year, Aurora!