"There's a bigger audience in The Auroran, Buck Says"

Nigel Keane deserves to be promptly pricked by a two-pronged prod in a prominent part of his anatomy. Let all here present note that I am resisting the temptation. It is against my ethics to kick a man when he is down. Even when he is begging for it.

LeeAnn Keller takes the time to count the number of times I used the personal pronoun in my letter to suggest I might have an ego.

Let there be no doubt, LeeAnn.

If you show me a practising politician without an ego, I will show you a consummate actor.

George Hervey, Hugo Kroon and Martin Mol offer convoluted dissertations, the meanings of which entirely escape me. Of them all, not one offers a challenge to my contention that ethics are a personal matter.

If a person seeking public office needs to have a document spellling out desirable conduct in a position of trust, then they are clearly lacking in a singularly important attribute needed for the job and should not be elected.

I did say I would confine my communications to my blogging boudoir.

That was then. This is now.

I post a blog several times a week. I thoroughly enjoy doing it. But I miss the broader stage and the footlights the Auroran provides.

Therefore, I have changed my mind.

I will write to my friend the editor whenever I please.
_________________________________________

HEATHER'S NOTE: This was published as a Letter to the Editor in the week of March 27/07 issue of The Auroran, in response to a multitude of letters published pursuant to the appearance of this post as, you guessed it, a Letter to the Editor.

Bamboozled

I had a conversation with a highly educated nephew (40) during the last municipal election. He told me people are completely turned off from politics. “Politicians lie to get elected,” he said and pointed to Jean Chretien's 1990's promise to cancel the GST.

He is a geologist. Must have taken him more than fifteen years to complete his education. He is now at the point of making a very comfortable living. Travels a lot. Converses regularly with educated professionals. He is married to an intelligent woman.

In my gut I knew it already, still, his glib remarks and shallow understanding of the mix that is politics astounded me. How can a person reach that level of maturity, be exposed to academia all of those years and be so abysmally bloody ignorant?

Jean Chretien 's minions no doubt did what political parties always do. They studied the field. Paid pollsters to discover the public's greatest aggravation and how it could be most effectively used against the opposing
party. At that time, it was the GST.

With complete predictability, they promised to get rid of it. Then they didn't. And that too was predictable.

How then can presumably intelligent and well educated people profess to be disillusioned? What excuse can they have for being so easily bamboozled?

What could they have been talking about at their cocktail parties and during lunch at their conferences? How could they imagine programmes paid for with revenue from a tax that raised 8 cents in every dollar spent on goods and services could so easily be wiped out? Maybe even some of their high priced jobs could be gone. How could they then turn around and heap scorn on politicians for deceiving them when everything indicates they were more than willing to be deceived?

How can politicians be blamed for following the path that is tried and true and thus far fool proof? If the so-called intelligentsia are too lazy to think things through, why do they expect politicians to be more energetic and principled than they are themselves?

Again, we arrive at the point where we ask ourselves, “What, in the name of Heaven, is going on in our universities? Are 53% of students who cheat the only ones not doing what is expected of them?

Visitors from Faraway Places

Nobody from China has visited me today. Already the afternoon is half over. I have regular visitors to my blog from Beijing. They never make any comments but I would love to hear from them.

There are visitors from other places as well but I think they may just be pop-ins. The people from Beijing keep coming back.

A couple of years ago, we hosted a delegation from China. It was a two day event. The mayor and other councillors had lunch and dinner with them and they had a tour of various facilities. My only involvement was in fielding a question and answer session for a couple of hours in the Council Chamber.

They were government officials in the main. In China, until then, the central government controlled all finances. Everyone who provided government services at every level was on the payroll of the central government.

At the time they visited us, the government was contemplating changing their system. They were planning to give people in the communities authority to manage their own affairs. In effect, they were planning to de-centralize government services.

What an enormous project that would be...considering the size of China... the population...the culture. It was very interesting to be the one listening to the questions and providing answers from my own experience. They wanted to know how we did things.

I could tell them about the changes we had experienced. The creation of regional governments - which was the first change in municipal government in over one hundred years. The patriation of our Constitution and the Charter of Rights. Not that I know many details about that. But that certainly was the most significant event in our National History since the country was created.

They wanted to know the most basic things. How we raised the money to pay for services. Different responsibilities at different levels of government. Elections. Who were the bad guys in the scheme of things. Actually, they probably didn't ask that question - I probably volunteered the information without being asked. They had an interpreter. Scott Somerville kept having to slow me down to allow time for interpretation. I was on a roll.

It was a very interesting afternoon and obvious at the end of the allotted time the delegation still had tons of questions they wanted to ask. I told them in these days they would have the opportunity to continue the dialogue from home on the internet. I'm sure they didn't need any help from me on that score.

I am not aware they ever did. But we do have our town web site. My web address is posted. It would be very satisfying to know if any member of the Chinese delegation who visited Aurora that afternoon was still popping in out of interest to find out what they might about bits and pieces going on in Aurora.

When I was in school, students were encouraged to have pen pals in other places. The object I guess would be to acquire some insight in how people lived elsewhere. I would have liked to participate, but I never did have money for stamps or anything else for that matter.

Now, in these amazing times we live in, there are people I do not know visiting my blog on a regular basis. They know me, but I don't know them. Only that they are there and they are reading what I have to say from this little place in Ontario on the other side of the world.

All About Crap

Sometimes I wonder about me. I worry about things that don't seem to disturb anyone else. Soon it will be time for concerned residents with plastic bags and rubber gloves and children to collect the litter that appears in all its ugliness after the winter snow melts.

Everyone will go about the task with great energy and enthusiasm. When the task is finished, they will join the Mayor in the park for a barbecue and celebrate a job well done.

Last year, I tentatively suggested that having children participate in this event might not be such a great idea. The Mayor said, “Their parents bring them.”

I'm pretty sure at that point, he thought I was a total dingbat.

I had phoned the Public Health Department. Nobody up there was much concerned either.

Last year, I read headlines about a swan in the U.K. dead from bird flu. I thought about the geese that appear in spring on the salamander pond on Henderson Drive and the mosquitos said to be carriers of the Asian Flu virus. Much litter gathering happens in that vicinity.

This year, there are headlines about C. Difficile appearing in the local hospital. Soap and water is the antidote. Last year, Councillors Morris and Gaertner referred council to the disgusting stuff they encountered at the back of the War Memorial Garden when they were picking up litter.

In the Town of Aurora's 2006/2007 Recycling and Waste Calendar and Information Guide - on the April Page, it notes that litter is not just unsightly and expensive to clean up, it is UNHEALTHY. Why are we encouraging children to pick it up?

Cigarette butts are toxic. Wrappers from fast food and coffee cups tossed out of car windows and probably turned over by wild-life, Can that be harmless?

We hear a lot these days about the dangers of herbicides and pesticides. Yet listed in our calendar as household hazardous wastes requiring separate disposal are aerosols, bathroom cleaners, drain cleaners, spot removers, toilet cleaners, oven cleaners, household bleach and FLEA COLLARS, for goodness’ sake! How many children are cuddling pets wearing flea collars? Is there a toxic warning on flea collar packaging? Or do young parents just assume that because they are for sale, they must be safe?

I was young once myself and mindless. Maybe I am paranoid now but I don't think so. I think we are all perfectly capable of being completely stupid and doing it collectively. As long as nobody raises the alarm does that mean there is no crisis?

Adults can do what they think is alright. But I don't think we should be encouraging children to pick up litter.

Years ago, when dog droppings in parks and playgrounds was a serious problem and we couldn't get owners to understand how disgusting it was to the rest of us, I hit on the solution. I nagged.

Every time I saw something in the paper about a disease being traced to the presence of an animal in the house, I read the Riot Act. Once I saw a news report connecting blindness to dog feces. I ranted and raved in Council meetings about irresponsible owners who thought it was acceptable for their animals to relieve themselves anywhere and everywhere and to walk away and leave the disgusting mess behind.

We passed the ‘Stoop and Scoop Bylaw’. John West used to call it Poop and Scoop - I had to point out to him regularly that was not the purpose of the bylaw.

Eventually the nagging campaign was effective. Nowadays people walking their pets carry plastic bags conspicuously so that everyone will know they are responsible pet owners. But first somebody had to yell at them repeatedly, in no uncertain terms, that their dogs' toilet habits were just not acceptable.

Maybe it is time for similar extraordinary measures to deal with the problem of litter. And maybe it's time for women to give a thought to how much toxic stuff they are handling in their homes. Maybe they shouldn't worry so much about how clean things are and think about healthy habits instead.

A Tale of Infamy

Until you do it, you can have no idea how intricate it is. You run for office, committing yourself to protecting the taxpayer's interest. But if you apply yourself scrupulously to the task, you may find yourself cast in the role of villain.

Stories abound about the extent of my infamy. "Beer In The Fire Hall" comes to mind:

When I was first elected, we had a Volunteer Fire Brigade. The Volunteers are part of Ontario history. In some small places, they are still the only community organization. As well as fighting fires they organize minor sports, come to the aid of widows and orphans and whatever other needs might emerge.

It's always tricky when the change comes from Volunteer to full-time departments. The jobs are highly-coveted. I was out of office, when it happened in Aurora.

Around 1980, the town built a new fire hall. Gone was the club house attached to the old Fire Hall where the guys hung out played billiards and had a beer when they felt like it.

At that time, the town provided accommodation, equipment and a full-time Chief. The volunteers ran their own show. They took pride in being one of the best departments around. They were our local heroes.

Politicians didn't mess with the Volunteers. In fact, being a Volunteer was a natural step to being elected.
When the first full-time officers were hired, the Volunteers abandoned their traditional title and called themselves “part-time firefighters”. The club-house status of the fire hall had to change. But it didn't.

I brought the matter to the attention of the Clerk-Administrator andHuman Resources Officer. Nothing happened.

Firefighters who won the coveted jobs were former volunteers. Some were employees in other town departments. They went from a job in one department into another with three times the wages and the enjoyment of club house facilities during their work day. They worked office hours. Some of them went from very humble status in the heirarchy.

The works superintendent brought a request : “Could the works people keep a beer in the fridge and have it with lunch?” No. They couldn't.

Again I spoke to the Clerk-Administrator and the Human Resource Officer. Still no action. At that time, I had no idea the fire hall was a hang-out for more than the fire-fighters.

Finally, the issue came to a head. The department was receiving donations for the food bank on a Saturday. I received two phone calls complaining that two firefighters accepting the donations, in uniform, were the worse for wear and cheerfully chug-a-lugging in full view of the public.

My caller would not give his name. I figured it was a disgruntled employee of the works department.

At the next council meeting, in new business, I quietly mentioned the call and asked the fire chief for a report on the matter.

That's when the proverbial matter hit the fan.

At the very next meeting, the audience seats were filled with wives of part-time firefighters to watch me get my come-uppance. Husbands came along too, but I got the feeling they were not quite so gleeful.

One by one, council colleagues, figuratively speaking, pushed my face into the dirt and jumped on my head. How could I cast such aspersions on the noble firefighters? What a dastardly deed indeed!

Three councillors held out from the fray - one was a Captain in the North York Fire Department. He said if a member of his crew came to work with the slightest smell of beer, he would be sent home and lose his shift. He did not however contribute that information to “the debate”. The second councillor who refrained was a former volunteer. The third had lived behind the old fire hall for years.

It was only after the outrage had exhausted itself, I learned the beer had been dispensed from a Coke machine in the fire hall. The place was a hangout for all kinds of public officials, appointed and elected, including a postman who wrote a letter to the Auroran years later with fond memories of enjoying a cold one with the boys after the mail was delivered.

The Coke machine eventually appeared in the front porch of the deputy-chief's home. There were no more requests from the works department to keep beer in their fridge. I weathered the storm. The change that needed to happen – happened.

I still bear the scars and firefighters are still the local heroes.

HEATHER'S NOTE: A similar issue is currently brewing in Point Leamington, Newfoundland. Here is the link.

A Modern Credo in a Letter to the Editor

It's interesting how different meanings can be taken from what seems to be a perfectly straightforward comment.

I have said, I need no-one to tell me what my ethics should be. I make no bones about that.



Since before I was five years old, the first lesson of every day was about ethics. I learned the Ten Commandments and The Articles of my Faith.

I learned the Sacraments, Parables, Psalms, the Sermon on the Mount, Cardinal Virtues, Vices, The Beatitudes, Gospels and that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

I learned about Original Sin, Mortal Sin, Venial Sin, Limbo and Purgatory, hell and heaven. I learned who has been sitting at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, for the last two thousand and seven years and that the seat is not likely to be vacant any time soon.

I learned His Ministry on earth lasted only three years but in that short time he taught everything we need to know about how we should live.

I learned it is wrong to malign my neighbour's character, and that if you steal a person's purse, that's not nearly as bad as damaging her reputation.

I do not pretend to be as virtuous as He would like me to be.and since it is Lent and the time for penance, I confess I am not as virtuous as I should be.

I do not care for overtly virtuous individuals -but I'll tell you what - Briggitta Gamm, I don't believe any secular code of ethics or Character Community jargon can improve on the one I learned every day in the formative years of my life.

I doubt there's a workshop leader anywhere who could come anywhere close to The Master Himself.

Home Improvements

My grandson is going on a school music expedition to Chicago. He plays saxophone in the high school band. He taught himself to play guitar with the computer. He plays jazz. He is sixteen. The trip to Chicago costs several hundred dollars. Not easy to come by for an extra in a family of six with a stay-at-home mother.

So - my kitchen is getting a new floor. My daughter and her brother (Number five son)are the installers. My daughter has never seen a job she doesn't think she can do as well as anybody. The musician going to Chicago belongs to her..

Presently the kitchen floor is parquet. It absorbs light which I didn't notice when the kitchen had a window. When the addition was built just off the kitchen, the window and door openings became its access. There's lots of light in the addition but the kitchen lost some. I didn't expect that.

I didn't need the addition but I always imagined the house would be better served with direct access to the basement and it would have to be enclosed. . Number Three Son's affairs ran afoul of a plunging real estate market in 1991. He built the the extension.

The porch at the front door was built when he decided earlier in life that going to university would be a good idea after all. He changed his mind in the second year, when he encountered a Professor whose English was difficult to comprehend. He was teaching a higher math course. Martin weighed substantial debt on one hand and a substantial negative on the other and decided to remove himself from that equation,

I continue to enjoy my porch. He built it well. He was twenty-two. The roof had been raised a few years earlier by Number Two Son when he was starting post-secondary education at Seneca College. It covered the patio at the front door. Before that, when it was hot and humid, we used to huddle under the patio umbrella in the rain, our heads and the playing cards sheltered and raincoats draped around our shoulders. Rain and laughter, when the drips ran down our necks, were the perfect antidote.

In early summer, Adam of the same mother mentioned above, is going to Virginia to participate in a special hockey tournament. Mum, Dad and Sister are going too. I will have another window installed in the addition I think. That should add more light to the kitchen. It's probably better than putting in a skylight. I'm leary about cutting a hole in the roof. Rain is best kept outside the house and the pesky racoons are not the only ones on the look-out for a space to get their claws into.

The house is forty-five years old. When it was still two months from completion, I was in the last weeks of a pregnancy. We were renting a house in the city. The landlord gave us notice on the 1st day of the month the child was due - he was selling the house. He was a specialist of something.

We had three other children and no place to go. We were not long in Canada. There was no extended family. When we finally moved into our new house, I vowed my family would never again be in that situation.

We have not.

The baby girl who arrived at the same time as the house is now grandmother of Cheyenne and Abigail. Cheyenne is four and came to visit last week. She has been here before but only with the whole clan. She scowls and visibly braces against the unfailing attention due to the second youngest of them all. Last week, she looked about her in bemusement and asked “Where is everybody?”

How could she know ..... they are all still here - in the porch, in the addition ,on the deck in the back yard, the tree that shades it, the view of the town from its topmost branches and the laughter and tears that echo still in this place we made our own.

A Scam and a Sham

There will likely be a big to-do in the Toronto papers about billions the federal government is planning to pony up for transit in the GTA. I received an invitation, complete with Federal Government Crest, by e-mail yesterday afternoon to join the Prime Minister and the Premier at Downsview at ten o'clock this morning for “Good News” for the GTA.

York Region has been waiting for months for the Federal Government to fulfill its commitment for its share in the VIVA project. Viva was undertaken as a three-party agreement - the Feds, the Provos and the Municipality.

The Region has been waiting and inquiring with considerable anxiety about when the money will come through. It has already been spent. Viva is up and running.

So now, the current government has invited all the little minions in the boonies to come down and applaud them for something that was an initiative of the previous government - that they have been withholding .

There is nothing about this bunch on the government benches in Ottawa that appeals to me. With the exception of Monty Solberg. He is the Minister of Something or Other.

Harper was not elected on the basis of popularity.. The Liberals were defeated. They have to accept responsibility for that. But there will be nothing done on this slate that will help Harper's Harriers take back the power of the people for another term. In my book, they bear no resemblance to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

By the way, did I ever write anything in this space to suggest impartiality in any matters political?

Good... that was never my intention.

Waking the Sleeping Giant?

The Town's Strategic Plan states we will recover costs by user fees. Private business can be sued for false advertising.

We have a strange way of calculating user fees for recreation facilities. An advisory group of citizens work from a matrix which provides points for various aspects of a sports program.

I do not pretend to understand the formula. I do know that user fees are tricky territory for politicians. Any time you give something away for nothing or less than cost, there's a possibility for popularity - especially if you can do it with only the recipients noticing.

That is the key - you must do it without disturbing the sleeping giant,....the public at large. In general, politicians don't like disturbances. There's no telling what might shake out in an uproar.

But some people just can't let sleeping giants lie. Last term, I moved a motion that a record be prepared to show subsidies provided to all community groups The camera couldn't catch it but I felt the electric thrill of danger that shot around the table. There was no seconder for the motion.

I have this eccentric notion that people who pay for subsidies should at least have the satisfaction of knowing they are doing it and why. People who receive subsidies should be aware of the extent of community support. Everybody needs to understand what's going on, and the logic of it all.

At the moment, user fees are calculated by a citizens' advisory committee with the support of the Leisure Services Director, whose job is not sound management of business affairs. Fiscal management belongs with the Financial Services department.

I am not suggesting we are cooking the books, but in my judgement, the calculation of user fees is bit of hocus pocus.

Accounting is a field in which I’ve not been educated, but I don't have a problem making the connection between the cost of producing something and the price.

The first part of calculating a user fee must be the cost to provide the service. Considering the various uses of the various facilities, I don't believe that's a simple matter.

I certainly don't believe it can be done by a group of citizens, however well-meaning, sitting around a table picking numbers between five and ten, adding up the score and coming up with an average.

If we are not charging what it costs, we shouldn't say we are. If we are charging what it costs, we should be able to prove it.

We are not.

Making a Budget....

The town is a substantial organization.

Corporate Services includes Bylaws, Human Resources, Information, record keeping, miles of minutes, agendas, public notices, Elections, Licences and Permits. They produce most of the paper.

Leisure Services have town buildings, leisure facilities and parks within their domain. Planning has fourteen people toiling mightily to make sure the town's growth meets our standards. They too produce tons of paper.

The Chief Administrator has Communications and Economic Development under his wings. Financial Services look after purchasing, accounting, payroll, financial analysis, budgeting, tax billings and collections. The Director presides over all, looks after investments and provides advice to council.

Fire Protection is a joint service with Newmarket.

Legal Services looks after litigation, subdivision agreements, contracts, litigation, property acquisitions and sales, and more litigation, as well as legal opinions to council. Sometimes they mix up in the political.

The Building Department processes permits, does inspections and stuff like compliance with zoning, the Ontario Building Code and the sign bylaw.

The Works department looks after the down and dirty.

The Library is a separate authority. In recent years, the Librarian is a member of the town's management team and of course the board's budget is included in the town's.

We have 206 part-time and 150 full-time employees. The library has 43 full-time staff.

Each department head prepares a budget which they submit to the CAO and the Chief Financial Advisor. They get worked over pretty well at that point. They have to be justified.

Operating budgets are based on previous years’ expenditures, increases to maintain existing level of service, desirable improvements for the upcoming year, capital forecast items, stuff referred by council with requests from various community organizations.

Capital Projects as a result of growth are 90% paid for by development charges from home, industrial, and commercial builders. Nobody escapes DC levies. In a year of high development, millions of dollars come in to the town coffers.

Revenue from cash in lieu of parks flows mainly from commercial and industrial development.

In 2005 we issued 5 residential permits. In 2006 over 1100 were issued. Cash infusions can vary substantially from year to year.

Development charges are not free money. The town has to specify why they are needed. They can only be spent for that purpose.

The town must calculate the development charge on the basis of community needs for five year period.

If we fail to use funds collected for the purpose, that need cannot be used in the next round of calculations. It is by using the funds, the need is established. If we didn't use them we cannot again claim they are needed in the next round of calculations.

The foregoing is a bird's eye view, me being the bird, of the making of a budget It is an expert process. Except for political input, there is nothing haphazard about it.

In 2005, the town aimed for completion of the 2006 budget by December 31st. With the objective of an early start on tenders. Early calls mean better prices. In 2006, we had the election but staff were ready with a schedule of dates to start in December for our part in the process. Councillors were not ready. The dates were changed. It's not enough to try to accommodate eight councillors and the Mayor, they want to accommodate the entire community.

Here is where I part company with my colleagues. It's hard enough to get eight councillors and the Mayor together at one time. The priority has to be to get the job done. The entire community is not much interested in the process. They elect and pay a council to do it.

So far - two Saturdays and several evenings have been spent in budget discussions. Not decisions per se, just chat. Meetings have been scheduled for three more evenings and a full Saturday.

We have yet to tackle the operating budget. We will not finish before April. At this rate, for the 2008 budget to be completed by December 31st 2007, we will have to start again in August .

We do not sit alone chewing the ends of our pencils going over all the figures. Staff have to do their due diligence prepare a responsible budget, manage the town's day to day operations, watch over us and hold our hands while we examine it minutely to make sure they did it right.

It doesn't have to be like that.

Council is earnest and committed. Their intentions are to do the best job possible.

Hands-on management of the municipal operation is not our job. We receive a budget which has been carefully and professionally prepared. with stuff added by the council. This year, the proposed increase was an untenable 12%.

What we have to examine are the projects that are foolish, self-indulgent and extravagant. Projects that were promoted for the sake of the election. Extravagant projects that benefit one neighborhood at the expense of everyone else and cannot possibly be repeated throughout the town. Projects that are just plain silly. Projects because they are part of the five year forecasts but not necessarily needed or because the last Council didn't want to say no and referred them to budget instead.

Our job is not difficult. It is not time consuming. It is just doing what needs to be done to fulfill our commitment to control taxes.



The budget is a time of reckoning.

Questions Galore! Answers? Not So Much

I just can't get my head wrapped around the MacLean's article suggesting 53% of Canadian students cheat. The implications boggle the mind.

Does it mean more than half the credentials certified by various universities may not be valid? That people practicing in various professions may not be competent? That certificates displayed in many professional offices may not be worth the vellum upon which they are printed?

If it is true, why is that not a national scandal?

I took a university course once in an outreach program. It was utterly useless. The professor teaching it took credit for its creation. That made sense because he was a complete jackass. Someone else who does some university teaching himself advised me “If the object is to get the credit, just give him what he wants, Mother. He's the one with the power.”

I’ve often found myself amazed at what's offered on T.V. as professional journalism. On one news program, a police officer unrolled a tool kit. Each item was held for a close-up and its function explained. It was a kit for the procurement of an abortion.

What useful purpose could that have served? Who authorized it? Policing is a public service.

Would tax-payers be responsible for the dissemination of this particular information?

Just recently, Evan Solomon did something similar on CBC with a police demonstration on how simple it is to break into a locked vehicle. The tool was produced, inserted between a car door and window and Bingo! the deed was done.

If the criminal class was the target audience, the ratings could feasibly have increased. I can't imagine how any other part of the community would benefit.


Recently, the head honcho of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has had to resign. A Canadian citizen found himself in a Syrian jail and subjected to torture. The RCMP may not have been without blame.

On another matter, the RCMP launched an investigation of a so-called leak in the midst of an election. We have learned it was unwarranted. It probably caused the defeat of a government and the election of another which does not enjoy the confidence of a majority.

Within the last decade, a letter from the RCMP mailed to a Swiss Bank asked for evidence against a former Prime Minister. That bungle resulted in millions of dollars of tax-payers money being paid in a damage settlement out of court.

On television, the day after his resignation, RCMP Commissioner Zaccardelli give a spirited and
emotional defense of his reputation, in a press conference, in a public facility.

He referred to himself as a poor little immigrant kid who made good.

The press applauded.

Does that not make you wonder - who is watching the store?

An Explanation of Sorts

The foregoing blog post was the result of my own efforts. Me, myself, alone. My friend Heather is not available.

I have to tell you, I never learned to type. Hunt and peck is all I possess. That one space follows a comma and two follow a period is something Heather has been trying to impress upon me. Most often, I have to go back and insert the spaces. It doesn't always work.

Weird line spacings appears in the completed blog which are a total mystery to me. I have no idea how they got there.

I re-write stuff repeatedly before it sounds right. It's not a problem if I am just typing. But add it to the business of navigating the blog and there are still things that mystify me. If I publish instead of saving as a draft things get so quickly convoluted,I have no idea what to do next.

That's where Heather comes in. She tidies the stuff and makes it look right. She finds clip art and pictures and sometimes creates the illustrations. Putting it together is truly a co-operative effort and highly satisfying. When I see it after Heather finishes with it, it is something quite different and delightful. Doing it myself doesn't have the same sense of accomplishment. But it doesn't seem to deter me.

Heather's not available right now. That's why that last blog took shape before your very eyes. She will probably do some fixing when she is again available. I look forward to seeing the pictures she will come up with to illustrate the point.

In the meantime, I am all you've got.

The Dance of the Seven Veils

The town has a web site. The link is on this page. Everything about the town's goings on that anyone can think of, is on the web.

In 2006, it was re-designed at a cost of $70,000. The monthly maintenance fee is $5000 and the licensing fee is $8000. Staff time for posting is 14 hours a week at an annual cost of $19000. We have barely discovered the many uses to be made of this exciting new communication tool.

We spend between $48 and $52 thousand dollars a year on the Notice Board which appears in the Era Banner weekly. Our staff do all the layout. So there is an additional man hour factor. The circulation is upwards of 70,000 but not all in our area. So the payback is not all benefit.

We put town documents in the library for public viewing. They are at the desk of the Corporate Services department in the Town Hall for anyone needing access. The benefit there is people can ask for help in interpreting the jargon.

People can buy town documents at a cost of production. Depending on the size, the fee can range from a couple of dollars to three hundred dollars.

A couple of weeks ago, council passed a resolution to allow people to sign out documents free of charge for a period of two weeks.

There was no input from staff about how to implement the new plan. Would the documents be loose leaf ? Would they need to be bound? Would there be a penalty if the documents were not returned? Would the cost of the documents be charged if they were not returned? If not, why not? And how would that be accomplished? Would staff have to go out and track down the documents to recover them?

The resolution was strangely silent in that regard although quite verbose in others. It can be read on the Town's web site, in the minutes.

Part of the resolution, directed staff to provide free copies of budget documents to an individual who regularly attends budget meetings. It had been done informally and unofficially, now it is part of official policy to give preferential treatment to one citizen.

Other than the person referred to above, there is no demand from citizens for free copies of town documents. Most taxpayers probably recognize that everything has a cost. If not paid for with a fee from the person who wants it, it will certainly be paid for by a tax on everyone else.

So, readers can see, all kinds of things are happening in the interest of openness and transparency.

I wrote a letter to the editor last week giving a synopsis of events leading to a closed door discussion on Aurora Cable's intention to erect three small wind turbines for a back-up supply of power. I offered no criticism. I set out the sequence of events and allowed readers to form their own conclusions.

That is apparently not the openness and transparency some council members have in mind for the dissemination of public information.

Their Cheatin' Hearts

I am not easily horrified. I am not cynical but I am skeptical. I have just finished reading an incredible article in the February 9th edition of Maclean's. It purports to prove that 53% of university students cheat to obtain their degrees.

So far, it has not hit the newspaper headlines or the television media.Why is that, I wonder?

My mind goes back to that day in Kingston, when Jeffrey Simpson told thousands of graduating students that it's alright to be skeptical but not cynical.

There they all were, in their robes and mortars, filing in with their professors, all of them in their coloured silks. Students kneeling before the Rector on his throne receiving their diplomas and silks as a symbol of their higher learning achievement. Parents in tears of pride bursting into cheers as the name of an offspring is called.

Was everyone there aware that more than half of the graduates had cheated their way to that day? My goodness that's a hard one to accept.

What an irony. The subject of Jeffery Simpson's speech was the ethics of politicians and public servants. He was urging the students not to judge too harshly. What were they thinking as they listened?

What did they see on the faculty side of things that might have encouraged them to think cheating was acceptable

Apparently the statistics are even worse in the U.S.

I remember thinking when the current American President's academic credentials were the subject of public discussion. It was pointed out he had attended his father's Alma Mater. Reference was made to annual generous donations to the university from the President's father.

I wondered at the time - what are the chances of the son of a generous benefactor to a university coming out of that university without a degree?If a person has enough money to buy a place in a university and subsquently a degree , why would that circumstance be more acceptable to society than cheating?

Another thought occurs- how much does the $30.thousand plus debt a student faces at the end of his studies influence what he is prepared to do to get that degree .

Apart from the inevitable harm to the community of having people who are not what they profess to be - what does it do to the individual's self-image to know he is a fraud? How corrosive is that? Or does that just prove to them how clever they are?

What about all the people who come from other countries, who cannot work in their professions here because their credentials might not meet our “standards”?

And what about all the people who don't cheat? The ones who earned their degrees with hard work and ability.... How should we know how to tell the difference ?

Mind you, over the years, I have encountered individuals who made me wonder, just how hard can it be to collect this degree or that?Of course, they may have been the cheaters and it wasn't that hard to tell.

I guess I just didn't know what I was seeing.

A Letter to the Editor

The last meeting of council prior to an election is a favourite venue for lobbyists to pressure councillors to accede to their demands.

Sadly, their efforts are usually successful.

It was no different last year. Three residents from Ridge Road demanded council enforce conditions of an OMB decision on Aurora Cable.

The trio had objected to the application before a Committee of Adjustment hearing. The application was granted. They filed an Appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board. They had legal representation as did Aurora Cable.

The O.M.B. approved the application. Now they were at council to insist conditions be immediately complied. Seven councillors were present. Despite staff advice there were no time limits for conditions to be met, four members directed staff to meet with Aurora Cable and direct them to comply.

The Ridge Road Trio had been to council before with their arguments. They have been several times since, during the new term. They bring sheafs of papers citing federal and provincial laws and regulations. They persist in their dispute with town staff as to definitions of town zoning and the provincial building code. They bring pictures.

Holding the door open for the ongoing onslaught is the support of four councillors and the Mayor. The last motion from Councillor Evelina MacEachern directed staff to submit a written definition of the word "storage".

ACI have sent their envoy to council again and again to outline their intentions and good faith.Their plans are to secure a back-up of energy by the use of three small wind turbines, a conservation measure ...and green technology.

Finally, Jim Irvine, owner of ACI sent a letter outlining a two year history of following advice of Aurora staff at every step of the way in their endeavour.

Still, the Mayor declared to council her willingness to meet with the Ridge Road Trio, town staff and ACI representatives on their property to find a "solution".

Walter Mestrinaro, of the Ridge Road Trio issued a challenge. Let ACI, the residents and the town go to court and seek a decision.

Councillor McEachern declared herself willing.

Subsequently, a letter was received from Mr. Irvine declaring the door is closed to further discussion.

The latest development has seen the issue retreat behind closed doors. Councillor McEachern indicated the object was to determine the town's legal liability should there be a catastrophe on the site.

The town's interest is never harmed by an open discussion of insurance liability in any matter. This was no reason for a secret meeting.

In fact, there is no reason, nor has there been since the OMB decision, for any further discussion.

ACI's experience at the hands of four councillors and the Mayor, is a classic example of why the Ontario Municipal Board was created in the first place. There are matters of citizen's rights, which simply cannot be left to the vagaries of the political arena.

At last week's meeting, Walter Mestrinaro was appointed to the Committee of Adjustment by a vote of the same four councillors and the Mayor.