Our Town and Its Business

It's Just A Few

2012-01-31T19:44:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "In The Beginning":

To: Anonymous 31 January, 2012 7:51AM

Quote: "...so far you have seen one [side of the story] and are fabricating a second."

How do you know what I've read ? What have i fabricated ? The facts are rather obvious for those of us that have actualy done some homework on this issue.

You're lucky that some of people are prepared to defend your right to stick your head in the ground and say what-ever the heck you want in a political discussion without the fear of legal retribution.

It’s amazing to me how the comments on the blogs in Georgina are 100% against Grossi on this issue (to date) and yet in Aurora we see at least a couple of people who seem so willing to defend the absurd.

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

That's because we have a small cult in Aurora that believes only they should have rights .

.

The Right Decision Can Still Be Made.

2012-01-31T19:23:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Some Things Bear Repeating":

Petition is ' to revoke By-law to indemnify a member of council against damages and legal procedures

******

The petition should read;

A request to Rescind the Bylaw.

The Number of the Bylaw must be cited.

It should be understood every municipality protects, with insurance. elected officials against legal action for making decisions within their duty and responsibility.

What isn't provided is funding for them to undertake litigation.

There's no law to prevent them from doing it. They just have to pay for it themselves.

That's why Council had to pass a Bylaw to allow town funds to be used for the Mayor to launch an action against John Maclean

A Bylaw is a separate piece of municipal legislation.

That's what needs to be rescinded.

Nobody with any sense of balance or fairness needs a lawyer to tell them it's not right.

Canadians have rights,guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, signed into law by the Late, Honorable Pierre Elliott Trudeau in the Year of Our Lord,1981

Every home should have a framed copy hanging on the living room wall.

Municipalities can not pass Bylaws that contravene laws of senior levels of government. Dammit..you'd think they'd know that.

The petition is to reverse the previous decision which Council was probably advised, possibly by a lawyer, was appropriate.

Give them the chance to make the right decision.

If they haven't already done that after the Special Meeting on Thursday.

Public Notice of a Special Meeting

2012-01-31T18:27:00.001-05:00

On Thursday at 12.30 p.m. there's a Special Meeting of Georgina Council with an Agenda posted

So far as that goes. it is in order.

There's a call for declarations of pecuniary interest.

Council will open the meeting and recess to go into closed session.

The purpose is stated. To obtain advice subject to solicitor/client privilege.

That might be perfectly in order depending on whose solicitor and which client.

If the solicitor is retained by Council to provide advice on town business, it is exactly as it should be.

If on the other hand, the solicitor retained by the Mayor is advising on the personal law suit by the Mayor against John Maclean , funded by the Municipality.... propriety of the item being on a Council Agenda is not apparent.

A legitimate reason for a matter to be considered behind closed doors is the right to privacy of an individual .

What politician would argue a law suit against a resident, already made public by passage of a Bylaw, would entitle the politicians who passed the Bylaw, to privacy not afforded the resident being sued with the help of his own tax dollars.

On the other hand, councillors may be seeking legal advice about what to do...what to do.

Anyway you slice it, public resources are being expended for a purpose not clear under current circumstances.

Our Own Stuff

2012-01-31T17:58:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Keswick Pinhead said....":

Evelyn wrote "It is used asphalt from road re-construction projects, dumped in that location to save paying for disposal elsewhere."

Does anyone know where this stuff comes from.One of the new problems faced by municipal governments in these parts is the disposal of contaminated soils be it from closed gas stations or Toronto;s gift to other municipalities the development of what was once deemed the most polluted area of Ontario...Toronto's Portlands.
Either way nasty stuff.

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

The used asphalt was from our own road re-construction projects. I found out what it was when I was talking to somebody about the possibility of the road being straightened and better use of the space .

It would cost thousands to remove it now.

They won an election on the promise the road would not be built.

It had to be built. Instead of a short straight stretch, they curved it around alongside the railway, several times more pavement and infrastructure than necessary with no publicity for the
promise broken. They dumped hundreds of tons of used asphalt in the field they promised not to
cross to garner votes.

The more things change the more they remain the same.

Some Things Bear Repeating

2012-01-31T14:56:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Brief Summary And Tally":

And........ ??

We know all this already.

Time to re-focus on Evelyn I guess - Grossi has had enough of this blog for now.

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

The Blog has a new audience. Georgina residents have had a rude awakening to events. Aurora has already been through this experience. We can share.

Residents need to approach their Council to protect their interest. They need to convince them to reverse the decision to fund Mayor Grossi's personal legal costs.

In Aurora , an election intervened. The new Council reversed the decision but not before $65,000 had already been spent. As it turned out for no purpose, useful or otherwise.

It was not a solitary event. It was the culmination of a succession of events throughout a term that went from bad to worse.

Georgina Council has three more years to serve. People need to act. They should not accept financial responsibility for personal litigation undertaken by the Mayor.

When Aurora Council voted for the weasel worded motion, they had no idea what was intended
.
Georgina doesn't have an election in the offing to allow voters to decide the matter..

If it continues for three years, God knows what legal costs will be on both sides.

What I saw of the R.O.C facility on television, it looks spectacular. . If it's going to cost to iron out problems, that's where money needs to be spent.

I don't know any municipality that can afford to spend taxpayers' money to compensate for what it would cost every time a fragile political ego is assailed.

Four year terms for municipal government has reduced voters rights substantially.

Just appealing to the Mayor to think again would not be out of place. Georgina should not be tearing themselves apart. They need to be working together to get over this hump...pardon the pun

A Brief Summary And Tally

2012-01-31T13:45:00.001-05:00

Before gale force winds blew down from Georgina carrying all kinds of familiar flotsam and jetsam the Heritage Act was being referenced in our political circle. I will get back to it.

First it should be said, a Mayor doesn't have to defend him/herself for having big ideas.

They just have to turn out well. Full credit is accorded if it does. A different result, if not.

Putting the Blame on Mame doesn't cut it. No politician worth his salt blames .They bite the bullet.

Standing at the corner of Wellington and Yonge years ago, looking west at the chaos of re-construction,a municipal solicitor told me once, "If you want a career in politics Evelyn, you won't do anything. If you want to get things done, you won't have a career in politics"

He was partly right.

Stuff happened during the last term of Aurora Council to ensure a negative outcome.

An e-mail was forwarded by a councillor to the solicitor for a client appealing a town decision.

Councillors are bound by Oath of Office to protect the municipality.Under Federal law, Breach of Trust is a criminal offence. The Councillor had difficulty accepting the stricture. The town solicitor, obliged to advise found other employment.

A Code of Conduct was custom designed to serve a purpose other than integrity.

Complaint costing $70,000 legal fees filed,trumpets blaring. A negative decision, Number One Commissioner fired the day following.

New Commissioner after a private meeting with the Mayor, second complaint filed, same target. Half- assed decision never to be referred to again.Cost $40,000.

Still another complaint filed and withdrawn

The same probationary employee coerced to file additional complaint of harassment in the work place. Cost unknown.

Finally..... litigation....and a town insurance provided defence.

Following that, failed litigation against three families costing to date, $65000 of public resources. Cost to families unknown at this time.

Mountain of a Molehill Of Blame

2012-01-31T10:59:00.004-05:00

Letter To The Editor:

Finger of blame should point to mayor
Re: Residents deserve explanation about ROC mistakes, delays, editorial, Sept. 8.
It behooves me to respond to the Advocate’s editorial last week, which pointed the finger and laid much of the blame for cost and delays for “Mount Grossi” on leisure services staff.
Blame should be laid, but in my opinion, not necessarily on them.
From the beginning, staff in leisure were “required” to support the project (whether they personally agreed or not) because this was Mayor Rob Grossi’s pet project.
Therefore, all public reports written had to reflect that direction.
The mayor now wants to sue the town’s consultant for a measurement error, which made a huge difference in the tender prices submitted.
What is being ignored in the discussion is that to complete the project properly, the town would have had to spend the money anyway.
I find it strange the contractors who bid on the project would not have discovered this error as part of their on-site visits.
Perhaps they saw it as a project extra?
Suing the consultant would be a total waste of additional dollars and is merely a CYA activity.
Don’t blame staff for doing what they were told to do.
This has been a political football from the start driven by unrealistic construction deadlines and ridiculous revenue assumptions as part of a scheme, which has grown from the mayor’s “no cost to the taxpayer” project into a long-term financial burden.
In short, staff has been “guided” to move forward no matter what. Our dedicated leisure staff have done the best job they could given the politics of the project.
The finger of blame should be pointed directly where it belongs; at Mayor Grossi, who has steered the ship from the beginning.
If it becomes the financial white elephant predicted, then it is he who deserves the blame and if it ends up financially successful we will owe it to the mayor’s vision, which does not appear to be 20/20 at this point.
John McLean
former director of leisure services, town of Georgina
Town of Georgina

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

The letter is but one of a deluge published in the local press.

Councillor Danny Wheeler signed the Bylaw as Acting Mayor.

Still no evidence the Mayor declared a pecuniary interest or absented himself from the meeting when the question was debated and the vote taken.Legality of the meeting itself is not established.

Fury over criticism is a peculiarity of the modern- day breed. After battling their way into the boiling roiling pot of politics, they huff and puff in the heat and beat constituents about the head and shoulders with public resources for daring to criticize.

I think it's the fault of the baby-boomer generation .They spoiled their kids rotten ,created unreal expectations and fostered grandiose delusions.

That said, there is nothing extraordinary about staff being directed by Council. Council is the authority.

The Mayor is not unless delegated by Council. Even then, staff ignore a Mayor at their peril unless he is a de-clawed pussy cat.

If no record exists of direction from Council, staff are left with posteriors uncovered and exposed to the elements which are the vagaries of politics. Teflon hides are de rigeur.

The current over-run of the project is $1.6million. Add various potential costs of litigation and it's big money.

Residents have a right to be infuriated and concerned about source of payment for over-run and litigation.

Development charges and grants, would cover expected costs.

Contingency allowed for change orders,will not likely stretch to cover the overage.

That the municipality may sue the project consultant for a mistake in measurement as reported, is extraordinary.

Normal advice issued to all and sundry, in the matter of litigation is as follows;

Button up....Zip your lip....Hush yo mouth,baby...Let the lawyer do his job.

Letters to the editor can be ignored. Litigation can be an excuse not to talk.

But Grossi's Mountain cannot be obscured.

Save maybe in a white out of man made precipitation.

In The Beginning

2012-01-30T12:17:00.001-05:00

When I started writing the blog, I was naturally interested in how blogs progress.

I remember reading about one with thousands of visitors every day. The Blogger had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was keeping a daily journal of how of his life leading up to his death.

It was not something that held any appeal for me.

My readers were few but I was delighted to have any and I always wondered if my own logging in accounted for most of the numbers. But the numbers slowly grew and I stopped being phobic.

Considering the subject was relatively narrow, I didn't really know what to think of the numbers.

My sole purpose was to inform Aurora residents. I wasn't looking for a wider audience . Just being able to tell what I knew and thought about things was satisfaction enough.

In the last few days, since the situation in Georgina hit the fan,the numbers have taken a flying leap upward.It's exciting.

I also think it's a good thing to know what's going on in neighbouring commuuities. We know through national and local media of catastrophes happening in far-flung areas of the world. But we don't know what's going on twenty miles up the road or down for that matter.

It wasn't always like that. In the days when local weekly newspapers were in competition with each other for advertising,they did a fair job of keeping us informed of issues within the County which became the Region and in the various Boroughs that made up Metro.

The Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and the Telegram all paid attention as well. The Telegram is long gone.The Toronto Sun took it's place and we get less local news than ever before.

It's another one of those changes people keep reminding me of,while they themselves have no idea of what they are missing.

Maybe the Blogs can fill the gap.

I am not proposing to become a roving reporter. But I will welcome news from neighbours. We can share some of our experience. I don't think it can hurt. Maybe it will help.

What say you?

I know What I Know

2012-01-30T09:05:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Trail Continues":

Evelyn,
I have no idea who you might be 'talking' to but it appears that we need a human body to go to Georgina's Town Hall with a FOI Request early in the week to determine how long the law firm representing Grossi has been working for the town. There may be other requests that someone like Paul Sesto could suggest.

********
Just phone the Clerk and ask if the law firm representing Grossi is retained by the town. If you need to file a request under Freedom of Information, the clerk will tell you. It's your Town Hall. In your service. You have a right to know just about everything they know.

Council didn't make this decision in secret. There's a public record of their culpability.I don't pretend to understand why they did it but there's no denying they did.

I have no idea who you think I might have been talking to or needed to talk to but after a person has served as Councillor,Reeve , County Councillor , Mayor and Regional Councillor and back again as Councillor, actually in office for twenty five years over a span of forty five of political involvement in Aurora and York Region's affairs, a person with any common sense, acquires an understanding of the rules. Sometimes rules change but basic rules remain the same.

Then there are recorded minutes of the committee of the whole that morphed into a closed door meeting that rolled right into a Special Meeting without proper notice of an agenda circulated to inform the public of matters being contemplated and decided by their council, that somebody sent me from Georgina last week.

The agenda for the special meeting like all Council agendas, called for declarations of pecuniary interest.

It's the first thing on any agenda. What could be more of a blatant pecuniary interest than a decision for the municipality to pay legal costs for a personal matter involving the Mayor.

Yet ,the minutes do not record the Mayor declared a pecuniary interest . No indication he absented himself from the in camera meeting, debate in the Special meeting, or the final vote

Unless the person who forwarded a copy of those minutes, forged the document, then those are the facts we have to go with.

There is no rule anywhere to stop Georgina residents from requesting delegate status at Council and making their opposition to Council's decision clear and succinct. Nothing to stop anyone from calling Councillors and demanding the decision be re-considered and rescinded.

There may have to be a vote to waive the procedure bylaw to allow the question to be re-considered within six months. But there is nothing to stop the request from being made.

If there is sufficient opposition to the Mayor's legal bills being paid by the municipality, it had better be heard. The Mayor has every right to pursue whatever legal action he chooses. He just doesn't have the right to have his bills paid by the taxpayer, In particular by the taxpayer he is suing.

I know that from reading the news from Toronto. They tried it down there ,in the face of contrary advice from the city solicitor. That decision had to be reversed.

One bill was paid .but if I re-call correctly ,the Councillor involved was serving as Speaker of the Council.The role placed her in a different category.

The City of Toronto Act allows Council to appoint a Speaker. The Mayor is free participate in debates and votes without have to pretend to be or in fact be impartial.

There's another thing I just thought of. Normally , when everything is kosher, direction from Council is to prepare a Bylaw. Bylaws are not normally prepared ready for a resolution for the Mayor and Clerk to sign.

A Bylaw has to be given three readings. It used to be first two reading would be read or taken as read. Third reading would be given at a future meeting.

Those were the days when the public's right to know what Council was proposing to sign into law was a given.

I don't know when that changed or why. But I can guess.

Probably some aggressive Councillor or Councillors with private business experience, thought the idea people should or would want to have a say, was just a silly waste of time and the legislative imperative should be junked.

Oddly enough the process at the senior levels, government bills still require separate readings.

Anyway, there's always some jackass ready to suggest that I don't really write this blog. That I can't possibly know all I know and write about.

Most of the time I pay no attention. But now and then it p-s me off.

Saints Preserve Us

2012-01-29T17:26:00.002-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Trail Continues":

But should a Georgina resident sue any of them over the breach in the Act, wouldn't it still be our taxes footing their defence through their insurance policies? Isn't that what passing the by-law was about anyway (given that Mayor and council were already financially protected should someone sue them but not the other way around)?

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

The Conflict of Interest charges against Aurora's ex-Mayor have been filed by a resident. The ex-Mayor will not be indemnified   since she is no longer a member of Council.

It does have to be a citizen who takes the action at his/her own expense. That's how serious the Province is about enforcing Conflict of Interest prohibitions.

They stick us with four year terms of office and responsibility of private citizens having to enforce their laws.

Aurora's gang of six continue to be indemnified under another suit, apparently because they were councillors when the action began and even though they started the legal process with their phoney baloney Code of Conduct and a lawyer to contrive a complaint who was paid a fee of $70,000.

I have been informed the insurance company initially refused to indemnify. But yet another legal opinion was obtained at taxpayer's expense to convince them they should.

I have tried to discover the total amount spent on legal fees from the start of the four year term . Except at the beginning , before the wholesale turnover of staff ,I was stonewalled by staff and politicians. I haven't finished with it yet.

In Aurora, legal costs for the ex-Mayor's last Hurrah of suing three residents, had not been paid by the time of the election. . The new council retained another lawyer at another fee of $8,000. to tell them what to do. Of course he advised the lawyer's bill should be paid. So they did. They paid the $65,000
tab run up by the defeated Mayor up to December 1st..

It seems to be a generational thing. Modern Councillors tend to believe they are not obliged to exercise any judgement. They need to be advised every step of the way by their professional superiors.
If the professional says it, it must be right.

It must have something to do with the educational system.

Councillors also willingly make themselves available to lobbyists and let themselves be persuaded to hand over the keys of the kingdom willy nilly .

It fairly makes a mockery of everything I understand about accountability.

But...what do I know ?

From the extreme of getting rid of all staff who offered a hint of resistance to the harridans, to the other extreme of presenting a soft plushy body to plunder with ultimately the same result:

The taxpayers get hosed.

But I digress.

Municipalities purchase indemnification policies to hedge against insurance claims. Premiums are paid.
If claim are valid, the insurance company pays.

Indemnification does not provide for politicians or staff to sue people.

Mayor Grossi's litigation could not be paid by the insurance company. They should not have been paid with public funds either. Except for Council taking the extraordinary step of passing a bylaw.

The community needs to see the bylaw. Who signed it ?. Is the Mayor's signature on the dotted line ?   Is the Clerk's?

The clerk, who allowed Council to roll right on from a Council- in -Committee meeting into a Special Meeting of Council without public notice or circulation of an agenda to notify the community of what their Council is about.

Oh My Gawd!!

The Trail Continues

2012-01-29T13:44:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Georgina.....There Is A Solution": The by-law was without any doubt passed behind closed doors-- this is taken from the Committee of the Whole Minutes from Monday November 21st, page 16:23. RECESS COUNCIL AND RESOLVE INTO CLOSED MEETING:
Moved by Councillor Smockum
Seconded by Councillor Craig That the Council Meeting recess at this time and move into a closed meeting pursuant to Section 239 of The Municipal Act, 2001, as amended, to consider:
i) Personal matter about an identifiable individual; Section 239(2)(b), MA
*24. RISE AND REPORT FROM CLOSED MEETING:
Moved by Councillor Smockum
Seconded by Councillor Davison
RESOLUTION NO. CW-2011-0278
THAT THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER BE REQUESTED TO FOLLOW LEGAL ADVICE ON A PERSONAL MATTER.

(unrelated topic between what I'm pasting here)

25. ADJOURNMENT:
Moved by Councillor Smockum
Seconded by Councillor Davison
That the Committee of the Whole meeting resolve into a Special Council meeting at 11:40
a.m., immediately following the Committee of the Whole meeting to deal with the following
matters:
i) Roll Call
ii) Declarations of Pecuniary Interest
iii) Memorandum concerning appointment of members of the public to the Former
Sutton Public School Steering Committee
iv) A By-law to indemnify a Member of Council against damages and the costs of legal
proceedings
v) Confirming By-law
vi) Adjournment
If you were to dig up the actual Agenda as a whole, you'd find
that nothing was recorded (at least publicly) after item iii) Memorandum concerning appointment of members of the public to the Former Sutton Public School Steering Committee

Hunting for RESOLUTION NO. CW-2011-0278 mentioned above through the Town's Electronic Records management yields nothing.
Fortunately, The Pefferlaw Post has identified the relevant By-law as No. 2011-0121
However, having searched this in town records online I can find the Bylaw, but for the past two days the webpage that it is supposed to open in refused to load (having taken too long to respond according to google) -- either their system has been down for the last two days or they are attempting to hide this by-law from the people like me following the trail of slime through the mazes of bureaucracy. Hope that clarifies a few specifics.

********************
Anything but. It raises far more serious questions.

Item 24. The resolution contains similar weasel words used in Aurora when staff were directed to take whatever action was necessary to resolve the situation.The election was underway. Council had no further meetings. Councillors heard about the suit at the doors while they campaigned . The decision to litigate against three local residents was made without council authority.

Item Number 25.

"Adjournment was moved and seconded".

Presumably there was a vote. No further business can take place following adjournment.Special Meetings require public notice of forty-eight hours and circulation of an agenda stating its purpose.

Committee of the whole cannot resolve into a Special Council Meeting.

Did the Mayor attend the closed meeting. Did he participate in the vote to "request staff to follow legal advice on a personal matter. Did he vote on the resolution in the so-called "special meeting of council?
Did he declare a pecuniary interest when asked and abstain from voting on the resolution to " request the C.A.O.to obtain legal advice to be sought on a personal matter"

Was the Clerk present? The Clerk is the statutory officer responsible to ensure municipal business is conducted in accordance with the statutes?

Aurora's former Mayor is currently facing a charge of Conflict of Interest because of the issue. It has been filed by a citizen of Aurora. It was to be heard in February. It has been delayed until August.

The charge followed an investigation by a solicitor retained for the purpose of determining how things evolved and publication of his findings. Which included the statement the Mayor appeared to be in conflict.

The Town Solicitor employed by the town during the period no longer is.

Aurora paid legal fees of $65,000 on behalf of the former Mayor for a case that failed miserably and caused tremendous stress and horrendous expense to three families in the community.

Too damned right...I did not vote to pay that bill.

The families were served on the eve of Thanksgiving... for God's Sake.

Georgina residents can stop this now if they have the will. Your Council answers to you and not just at election time.

There is no weaselling out of it. The town is not involved in litigation. The Mayor is. His is the personal matter referred to in the "request to the CAO to obtain legal advice to be sought on a personal matter " as stated in the recorded minutes. .

Like a cab, the meter keeps on clicking.

Georgina.....There Is A Solution

2012-01-29T11:17:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Tobaggon Ride May Not Be The Only Slippery Slo...":

Judging only from the surface, it would appear that the Mayor expected McLean to roll-over and was not prepared to follow through with his threat. Much will depend upon who and what McLean is, if he is comfortable in his own skin. It is a big risk to bully someone who knows where all the bodies are buried. But bullies seldom consider that they might not be the victors.

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

I read all the links sent to me. It sounds as though Georgina Council had their discussion about financing the Mayor's personal law suit behind closed doors.

But that can't be. A municipality can't pass a bylaw behind closed doors. The town's web site will provide information on agendas and meeting minutes.

A closed meeting requires a purpose to be stated. The right to privacy requires no names to be disclosed.

But what politician in his or her right mind, believes spending public money on a personal objective qualifies for closed door secret discussion.

Of course I don't know that happened .

A steady stream of letter to the editor expressing outrage over Council's action seem to think it happened that way.

Few dispute the Mayor's right to sue if he thinks he should, as long as he spends his own money.

I personally think any politician worth his salt should be able to defend him or herself against criticism without the help of lawyers. My goodness, yes. If you can't stand the heat, the obvious solution is to remove oneself from the kitchen.

But when lawyers are hired with public money to mount an attack on the freedom to lambaste a politician , no self-respecting Canadian who values the Charter of Rights and Freedoms can submit.

The fight for rights has been too long and hard and bitter to surrender so easily.

Georgina residents ,with opportunity to vote so far distant, should not content themselves with letters to the editor and comments to blogs.

They should delegate and take the issue directly to Council.

The people of East Gwillimbury took the matter in hand.

The people of Aurora tossed the bastards. Most of them.

When people see something repugnant being done in their name, they have a right to call a halt to it.

Georgina Council can change that decision.

Aurora did.

The Tobaggon Ride May Not Be The Only Slippery Slope

2012-01-28T20:57:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Keswick Pinhead said....":

It would appear that Bloggers communicate with Bloggers from other towns and we know Town Staff have a support network of staff from other towns. You would think the lawyers for Mayor Grossi would have been in touch with the lawyers for former Mayor Morris to head off this freight train.

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

I think it's entirely possible lawyers for Mayor Grossi might have been in touch with lawyers for Aurora's former Mayor.

Lessons were obviously learned. Like having Georgina Council pass a Bylaw to approve financing for the Mayors personal law suit.

It's not a freight train you have to worry about.

Out of interest, when was Mr.. Maclean a Regional Councillor ? When did he become Director of Leisure Services ? When did he stop acting?

Does Georgina have a ward system? How many wards? D'you think ward councillors might be dependent on the Mayor's good will? Would each be more concerned about their own bailliewick than about the rest of the Municipality?

Did the Bylaw to approve financing the Mayor's personal law suit pass with a unanimous vote or a simple majority? A Bylaw can't be passed in secret.

Ours was a resolution passed behind closed doors delegating authority to decide on a process to a staff person. Some Councillors learned about the court action when campaigning at the doors during the election.

Why would Georgina Councillors be willing to carry that can for the Mayor?

Keswick Pinhead said....

2012-01-28T17:36:00.000-05:00

Instead of wasting taxes on this frivolous lawsuit, Mayor Rob Grossi could have saved us ALL a boatload of money, and saved HIMSELF from the disdain of an angry public by saying this:

"A disgruntled former employee has spoken his piece in this newspaper, as is his right.
Here is my rebuttal...."

I was unaware that he was using our money to sue the newspaper too...very interesting post.
Keep up the Wood Gork.

28 January, 2012 3:30 PM

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

Welcome Keswick...

I didn't say the newspaper is being sued. I said there was no indication the newspaper is being sued. Have you heard something different?

We have heard Mr. Maclean is still a Georgina employee.

Somewhere else we saw he is a former Regional Councillor...that's interesting.

We have something like Grossi's mountain down here although we didn't spend millions on it.

There's a berm along the length of the soccer fields at Sheppard's Bush. It follows the serpentine alignment of the Industrial Parkway. A rusty five or six foot high chain link fence and a boulevard separate it from the road.

It looks like it's screening the soccer field from the view of drivers using the road. But even if that was a useful purpose that's not its purpose. It is used asphalt from road re-construction projects, dumped in that location to save paying for disposal elsewhere.

It probably takes up ten or fifteen per cent of the field.

If anyone is interested ,there's another story of political chicanery .

Grossi's Mountain ...2

2012-01-28T14:16:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Grossi's Mountain":

As of Jan 26th, calls to Georgina's Town Hall were told that Mr. McLean was still an employee.

******************
An even more intriguing situation presents.
I read the links. I saw reference to disability. Also to Mr. Mclean defending his staff from blame by Mayor Grossi and Councillors for cost over-runs and design flaws in Grossi's Mountain.

The "mountain" is man-made. Created by fill placed in a corner of the property by invitation of the Mayor. I am not a reporter. I am going by what I have read. I don't have to check my sources. While the story might seem crazy to any reasonable person, it's entirely plausible to me on the basis of my personal experience

Georgina is part of the northern-six municipal pact. We jointly obtained an indemnification policy at a favourable price together.
Staff and Councillors in Aurora are indemnified against legal action for decisions undertaken in the course of their duties. .

Mr. Mclean could be eligible for a legal defense from the town's policy against suit by the Town's Mayor.

I wonder if he knows.

I didn't a few years ago when the deadly duo brought George Rust D'Eye in to advise what could be done about moi. They identified a leak of information from a closed meeting which should have been reported out three months previously and to this day, never was.

A resident informed me the town would have indemnification in place, if legal action was taken against me for fulfilling my elected responsibilities.

So, I asked about that. In all the years I had been a councillor the question had never been raised.

But those who must have known , denied all knowledge of indemnification

Some time later I inquired again. Council learned they would indeed be indemnified if sued while performing their duties as elected representatives.

At the same time, we were informed no indemnification exists to allow staff or council to litigate against another. We received a written report to that effect.

Now we know, Georgina Council had to pass a bylaw to allow the Mayor's legal costs to be paid straight out of taxpayers' pocket.

Wouldn't that just take the cake if Mr. Mclean's defence was covered by town insurance while the Mayor's is being paid straight out of the treasury.

A couple of posts back, I told you how the community in East Gwillimbury filled the Council chamber at a meeting and said;

Enough of this damned nonsense, Mayor Young and Councillor Johnstone, get back into your seats and get on with the job.

I'm paraphrasing but I was there and that essentially is what happened. The issue was a Code of Conduct complaint against the Mayor and Councillor Johnstone, filed by the Chief Administrative Officer with Mr. George Rust D'Eye , on hand to advise Council.

It remains to be seen if the people of Georgina will be more docile than the people of East Gwillimbury
in the face of nincompoopery in the first order and gross abuse of public resources.

The Meaning Of Integrity

2012-01-28T12:19:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mardi Gras In Aurora Is Spectacular ..Kudos To The...":

1:08 PM
Christopher, I think that comment was about You earning trust. And you have not done so. The fury over being asked not to meddle on Evelyn's Blog and losing the battle over the condemned house shows why people might be reluctant to sign in.
And you only know what you read and infer about what stands Anonymous Bloggers might take. There is a world of inter-action beyond the Blog. You have not been asked to participate as you are judged to be a 'wild cannon'.

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

Whoa!

I am happy to be the conduit between Christopher and the people he dismays. I am confident of his ability to speak for himself.

But I need to clarify a couple of things. I appreciate advice from Christopher on how to improve this great opportunity we have for carrying on a robust conversation about this and that but mainly town affairs.

I sense the world of interaction beyond the Blog . I am also not asked to participate.I notice that.

I have an affinity for Christopher. He does what I did when I first became involved .

For me, the next step was politics. No point firing off salvos if I didn't believe they were shared by others and should make a difference.

Aurora may be the only place to elect someone like myself. They've certainly done it often enough to prove a straightforward position delivered with force of conviction is appreciated in this town.

I have never felt pressure to "play nicely". It's a good thing.

Politics is not kindergarten, a Sunday school picnic, a service club dinner or the lady's auxiliary.

Criticism is a sign of good health and vigour.

Politics is the one arena where the battle should be enjoined. People should put forward positions with all the force they can muster without malice aforethought.

It takes courage and confidence, a willingness to risk and it keeps you knowing you are alive.

It calls for sticking your head above the crowd and inviting dolly molly shots. There are plenty of those.

In my judgment, an unwilling,ill-equipped council member,who aspires to popularity at the expense of integrity, is mainly taking up space.

Pig ..sticking

2012-01-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

I've been watching debates between American Republican candidates for the presidential nomination.
Without knowing pig-sticking , the word came to mind as I watched the process.

I thought it was in the category of cock-fighting and dog fighting; Unspeakably cruel, appealing only to sub-intellects and prohibited in civilized societies

One reason only could compel a person to submit to such indignity..... overwhelming lust for power and total lack of self-respect.

Grossi's Mountain

2012-01-27T13:54:00.005-05:00

I've been asked to comment on the Mayor of Georgina suit against a former municipal employee for defamation and the rig-a-ma-role undertaken by Council to legitimize spending public resources to defend the Mayor's political reputation .

Since I am currently engaged in litigation against the ex-Mayor of Aurora and five Councillors , which is in small part about defamation of my character, my solicitor would probably advise me to steer clear

But there may be a couple of observations I am free to make.

I have a satellite in Keswick. I called my son with birthday wishes on Wednesday.

He asked if I'd heard about Grossi's Mountain. I said I had seen some video on Roger's Cable about the complex but I didn't know that was the official name.

He said it isn't. That's how it's known locally.

He told of a friend who had been on the toboggan run with his children. It was so fast it was terrifying.

Well, I thought, that's not good news.

Seems the snow-making machinery is situated so it creates blizzard conditions on a public highway. White-outs and icy conditions on the pavement.

My word, I thought.

Seems the former Director of Leisure Services Director said that would happen but they didn't pay any attention.

The facility ran substantially over budget. In the millions.

Hmmmm .....That's not good.

What is really odd about the situation is the former director speaking out.. He apparently wrote a Letter to the Editor in the local newspaper.

Two things about that.

First ....no mention of the newspaper being sued

Second .....public servants generally accept settlements and go away quietly. To do otherwise is to pretty well blow away your chance of being hired by another municipality. It's not professionally advantageous to take on a fight with politicians, except at the ballot box maybe.

It's not exactly a conspiracy of silence but it's close.

Keswick is a community of young families. The price of housing goes down the farther out from Toronto. The new facility would ordinarily be well received in a young community.

The municipality bought the seminary and farm years ago for a town administration centre.

I held a Social Assistance Review Board Hearing there in the eighties. The Council Chamber was a former chapel complete with light streaming from the windows on our heads. Like the Holy Ghost. A Catholic altar is generally designed that way.

The reception area had a furry fish that looked like rabbit in a glass trophy case

It was quite odd, presiding at a hearing seated on an altar.It seemed almost sacrilegious

Maybe it influenced Mayor Grossi's decision to sue a former employee for $100,000.

The Divine Rights of Kings and all that jazz.

Maybe $100,000 was the amount of the settlement

Litigation may be a way of trying to get it back now the beans were spilled about what caused the split between himself and the leisure services director.

A number of links has been provided to stories on the issue.

I haven't read them yet.

I didn't want to spoil my initial reaction.

What's Shocking Is It's Not Shocking......It's Commonplace

2012-01-27T12:21:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mardi Gras In Aurora Is Spectacular ..Kudos To The...":

"Christopher has earned our respect and admiration."

For "our" read "my" - please don't profess to speak for anyone but yourself.

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

Responses to my posts are important to what I do here. They provide opportunity to explain and provide background to issues that isn't possible in any venue available.including council meetings.

But sometimes a comment stands out.

Like the one above.

I deleted it first. Then decided it deserved an observation.

I am an elected representative. Despite everything that could be done during the last term of council, was done at horrendous public expense, to destroy my reputation,I was re-elected and four of six of the culprits were not.

Despite being chosen once again and in my twenty-fifth year in office, as a spokesperson for the community, there it is; a statement revealing a level of ignorance and disrespect impossible to fathom.

"Please don't profess to speak for anyone but yourself"

In the last Council, a majority determined my right to speak had to be circumscribed by a Code of Conduct.

Canada may be the only country in the civilized world with a Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Freedom of speech was entrenched in common law long before the Charter became law.

In terms of history,the fight for equal representation in government is a recent victory.

The right is not as old as the country. Education is.

So how does such abysmal ignorance flourish in Aurora in the year of Our Lord 2012?

That it does is undeniable. The comment could easily have been spoken by Councillor Wendy Gaertner. As I read it,I could her voice.

The Councillor regularly objects, on points of order to something she heard which hasn't been said, such is her sensitivity to the need to silence anything she does not wish to hear.

How Many Is Many

2012-01-26T17:36:00.002-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Those Who Mind Do Matter":

You have mentioned the library and the demolished house many times.Now could you please have the integrity to post who owned the property the library was erected on.

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

Properties from Church Street School to and including the corner at Yonge and points north, were acquired by the town for the library site. There were at least seven or eight. I have no idea who owned them . The house I mentioned in debate had been acquired previously by the town.

At one time, when I was Mayor, the entire square was envisioned as a Civic Square.and in fact was an addendum to the Official Plan. We owned half of the block. We acquired the house on Yonge with a view to making the vision a reality.

Councils change. new visions take the place of old and it became Library. Square. Now the town owns about two thirds of the square. Two library buildings are surplus. The old firehall under-utilizes the ground it sits on. The same can be said for Victoria Hall. Also once used as a library

A decision about the fate of the surplus buildings, has been pending since the new library was constructed. Thirteen or fourteen years since.

Studies have shown exorbitant cost required to keep the old library as it is and accessible

.Adapting it for re- use is impossible because of thickness of the concrete floor needed to support the weight of books.

Neither this council nor the last nor the one before, ever got around to tackling the decision waiting to be made

Instead we occupy our time spending money on never-ending studies on the down- town, $84,thousand on a Strategic plan, A strategy for business retention and expansion. A data bank, for God's Sake.

Files full of airy-fairy pages of pretty coloured pictures, hours and hours of meetings and public input, turtle ponds and snake hibernaculums, and now $214. thousand for a consultant to design a wildlife park on land we do not own which will not get SLSCA approval.Oh yes and endless media releases about our exciting accomplishments. .

On and on we go, spending millions to stack binders of verbiage of little substance while major issues languish on the shelf.

We spend money on bafflegab schemes about how to attract "investors" to our town and improve "customer service" for " Clients and stakeholders" while we take three years to permit a would-be investor to invest . And by the way, while they persist, we treat them like pirates trying to rob us of our heritage.

We raise taxes every year and complacently watch shop doors close and businesses leave town. while we contrive every which way to put obstacles in the way of re-development and desperately needed new assessment.

We give away millions of hard-earned taxes, hand over fist, to self-acclaimed grandiose saviours of the community's well-being who have never been elected to any position of accountability or given authority from anybody we know.

We seem to know best, cosily advised by our experts, how to spend money with no visible sign of return. Only in government you say? .Aye, ye're right ,we do say..

I have watched from a seat on council, powerless to stop it, the town going the way of an atypical institution, swelling like a bloated carcase, existing only to serve itself.

Are there any more questions for me to answer with integrity?

In The Eye Of The Beholder

2012-01-26T16:28:00.002-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mardi Gras In Aurora Is Spectacular ..Kudos To The...":

"It was only elite as far as people who supported the cause, were willing to contribute and have a wonderful evening of fun and entertainment while they were at it."

How is this any different than any of the events with Councillor Ballard's involvement that have been slagged here as being elistist? I see a double standard.

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

You see what you want to see.

I know nothing of Ballard's activities before he became a Councillor.

I know nothing of his current extracouncilcurricular affairs.Whatever they are is his business not mine. I have no interest in what the Councillor is up to.They have hereto not been slagged on this blog.

Yesterday I had an e-mail telling me he was tweeting from the Council table after the decision to grant the demolition permit. The inquiry was whether or not tweeting is permitted.

Councillors are not students in a classroom subject to teacher discipline though I grant that seems to have become a common concept.

People elected to the authority of public office should be capable of exercising judgement. But different people have a different understanding of judgement and ethics.

That's why a Code for either is a ridiculous concept.

Shameless pandering in my opinion is utterly degrading to everyone involved and completely lacking in decorum,judgement and ethics

Councillor Gaertner thinks it's exactly a councillor's duty to do what "the people " want. The Councillor is a strong proponent of ethics and good conduct. She always recognizes when either have been contravened.

And My Goodness," the Code" cannot be dismissed for fear of being accused of not being in favour of proper conduct or ethics or both

And put at risk of running afoul of the judgement of someone like David Tsubuchi., an erstwhile Minister of Social Services who thought impoverished mothers should negotiate with supermarket managers for a lower price on a can of tuna in order to keep their children nourished.

For all I know, Councillor Ballard could have been tweeting for advice about what to do once the vote was cast. He tried to get the item pulled after the agenda was approved. He called twice for recorded votes after a majority had raised hands in support of the motion. Like councillors might change their vote when they realised their votes would form part of the record.

He tried everything he could think of to win the argument. He even plagiarised some of Christopher Watts comments. No wonder Christopher was pleased with the Councillor comments . They were an echo of his own.

When all else failed the Councillor tweeted.

I didn't see it.

Maybe we need to consider an amendment to the procedure bylaw.

Credit Where Due

2012-01-26T14:54:00.000-05:00

The post I printed on Sunday with research on Bullfrog Power turned out to have been from Councillor John Abel. He did the work, put the results into writing and forwarded it to me for my information.

I misunderstood and published it without attribution

Kudos to Councillor John Abel.

Those Who Mind Do Matter

2012-01-26T13:46:00.003-05:00

I just read how my opinion on the George Browning House made Christopher cringe and infuriated him more than any other..

I have to correct a statement I made .I said the house the town demolished to make way for the library was a Browning house. That may be an error of memory. It was a dark and sombre house with little elegance. I do not regret it's disappearance.There were other, more interesting houses on Church Street but not a whisper of an outcry.

I'm not concerned that I infuriated Christopher or made hm cringe because our views differ..

Je n'accuse pas.

He has his opinion. I have mine, the twain do not meet.

What's to be done? What's to be done?

Nothing at all. Why should anything need to be done.? We do not agree. Like it or lump it.

I had a vote. Christopher did not. Christopher declares he has no inclination towards politics.

You can rail all you like but if you're not prepared to take responsibility, you are hardly in a position to criticize those who do and risk offending fiery and articulate people like Christopher.

As a politician, I am prepared to be myself but I do not accept Doctor Seuss's philosophy that those who mind don't matter. They most certainly do.
.
I've been doing it a long time .I have scars to prove it. I've taken the heat. I've stayed in the kitchen.

I don't run for office to be told what to think by someone half my age and none of my experience, who has the luxury of contemplating only one aspect of a particular decision and doesn't even recognize pandering when he himself is the object.

It's So Silly

2012-01-26T12:59:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Bric-A-Brac":

OH MY GOD....

"Chris Watts expertise is the way of the future."

Not really. The future requires people with similar skills to be able to execute them without making an enemy of everyone. Believe it or not, you can't be right every time. He feels that his opinion is the only valid opinion. Personally his expertise is of today. The future will be different as technology evolves.

"Chris needs to think seriously at taking a seat at the table next term..."

I hope not. The last thing we need at the table is another diva that is not willing to work with others.

I think Watts' grade 4 report card probably said "Does not play well with others".

*************
There's a common perception a person who chooses to express an opinion in unvarnished terms, is a person who believes there's is only one opinion and of course, it's theirs.
How does one arrive at such conclusion?

Where is the evidence that a person driven to express an opinion would deny anyone else[s right to do the same and the possibility there might be different opinions?

Why does the critic not choose to refute the opinion rather than simply dismiss it with haughty rigeur?

Why does the idea everyone should share the same opinion and "play well together"deserve to be considered seriously?

Why am I even responding to such nincompoopery?

Mardi Gras In Aurora Is Spectacular ..Kudos To The Ladies Who Organise It And The Contributors Who Make It Happen.

2012-01-26T12:40:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Bric-A-Brac":

I saw the recent Mardi Gras articles in the paper. I wonder where Evelyn and particularly Christopher Watts stand on this event? I would ask Mr Watts on his blog but you need to sign up in order to post anything, I am not prepared to do that.

It seems to me that this event is as elitist as some of the other events that Mr Watts has issues with

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

Mardi Gras at the Mansion (Di Nardos) is a spectacular event. I went as a guest to the one before last.
I sat at the table of the ladies who organised the affair. It was a magical evening. The decor was magical. The ambiance is breathtaking. People wore costumes and masks.

Everything was donated. Funds raised were for the cancer centre at the hospital.

It was only elite as far as people who supported the cause, were willing to contribute and have a wonderful evening of fun and entertainment while they were at it.

Everyone involved should be commended. They dun good.

I've tried to comment to Christopher's posts. I was willing to sign in. I have never figured out how to do that. Not sufficiently computer literate I guess but not inclined to blame Christopher for that.