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Aurora will welcome a new CAO in January. Neil Garbe is currently at the Region, so he should be fully aware of the situation here in Aurora.
His first job should be to start rebuilding trust in the ranks of the Town staff. In the current economic climate, hardly a day passes without the newspapers commenting about the importance of motivated staff to achieve the best results. Countless research studies have shown that unless staff is positive about their jobs they do not perform effectively.
Why is that important? Until that is achieved, the residents will never receive their full value of their tax dollars. In other words, our taxes are higher because the town does not operate as efficiently as possible.
One example is the amount of time and money that gets spent by Council's inability to make a decision about issues and continually revisit them. The waste in staff hours and impact on moral must be staggering.
The current Council needs to ensure that our scarce dollars derive the most benefit and the first steps is to rebuild relationships with staff.
We will all be watching with great interest to see how he manages the situation he has inherited.
Let's wish him best wishes and good luck
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30 comments:
Let's hope he has a backbone
and a strong stomach...
Word from insiders at the Region is that Mr. Garbe served under a CAO who has a lot of Phyllis's traits (ie staff detest him, over his head).This should serve him well.
Hogg-wash
I don't know a thing about the man, but one thing is for sure, he better spend his holiday season studying the Morris/Macheran agenda or he won't be there for long!
Mr Garbe hopefully will be a free thinker and not get fooled by these Mayors Morris/Macheran. They have the support of "no decision" Grainger, "let's fix the garbage problem" Wilson, and of course the "non elected" Gallo who all continue to stay real close behind the twosome. Mr Garbe needs to know that this tag team rule the roost so do not ever think of being creative in any way. Do not ever cross this tag team or the ever revovling town hall doors will once again be turning with yet another ex-employee.
I agree with anonymous December 14, Morris/Macheran (sic) have high standards, so anyone wanting to be successful has to keep on his toes, not like the casual, sloppy times of Tim Jones...
by "high standards" I guess you mean demoralizing staff, bankrupting the town,cockamamie schemes for this that and the other and generally running amok...
and keeping staff "on their toes"?? What the heck does that mean? Spying on staff, upbraiding them when they don't do what you want? publicly humiliating them? so that's what the Mayor - sorry - co-mayor's are doing? that would explain why nothing gets done around here...They're too busy being busybodies...
what a joke
Morris doesn't have an original idea in her head. The only one she has had - the clothesline rights issue she has flogged to death - wasn't even hers!! she stole it from a resident!!
She has done nothing for this Town but bring it down...
Maceachern seems intelligent but is clearly carrying a boulder of a chip on her shoulder about something - still, given her obvious abilities - not sure why she continues to pitch her tent in that circus side show of Morris/Granger et al. She must be getting something out of it.
What a relief to know that the mayor works well with the majority of our council, and that she won't let the hired guns get all creative like they did with banking in the U.S.
The government allowed so much "creativity" that globally everyone is suffering.
Thank goodness we can rest assured that won't happen in Aurora!
Good points Anonymous December 16 ( even though I notice they didn't publish you until today).
They probably didn't understand the humor you used to make your points.
I understood and I loved it.
Tim Jones has not been mayor of this town for over two years now. Why does his name keep coming up...is it because current anonymous bloggers (EM) are so insecure and fearful that he will return to this community in the next election in landslide fashion? It's all you hear around town these days, people referring to the Jones era as "the good old days" when trust, respect and an unbiased approach was the norm. Not the special interest voices who continue to waste our tax dollars coupled with the incredible amount of money spent on needless legal fees prompted by paranoia and distrust.
Why did Jones lose when he ran for mayor?
Why did he lose when he ran federally?
One person's ideas of "good old days" is not the same as another's.
What one person hears in town is not the same as what another hears.
On this site there seemingly is ONLY one point of view, one that keeps smelling like sour grapes, like when someone doesn't get her way.
There is no real discussion possible, under those conditions, so I'm out of here.
"Don't let the door..."
Wow this is the nastiest site of encountered.
Gives me pause when I consider this town ... or as some say I have the Grace to just say no.
My friend told me to look at this site while we waited for the storm to abate
I guess I have to agree with him that adults are not really adults.
The maturity level of the put-downs make my peers look brilliant.
I understand that one member of council is someone who has been NDP, Liberal, Progressive Conservative,
and is now 80 years old and given a free pass because of her age and mental deterioration ( my comrades -in-arms she says in her blog referring to some interesting individuals).
It is to bad that certain folks have taken to attacking the writers of the letters rather than really looking into the problem. The problem is that we have a council that only has one or two ideas and as long as those ideas fit with the mayors then we are OK.
Now they are attacking Councillor Buck since she does not fit into the Mayors mould of one of her followers. It is actually great to have at least one or two councillors who do not follow the mayors philosophy of micro management. She must OK everything that the staff does or she will whip them into shape.
So for those who will criticize the writers please sit through one of these inspiring meetings where the mayor will explain to everyone who will listen how smart she is.
The problem is some of us think the mayor is doing a fine job and that we live in a great community.
It seems that a handful of folks with axes to grind, (some even resentful that they are NOT put on the pedestals they have hammered out for themselves) have chosen to use whatever public means available to them to stir up, contaminate anything having to do with those whom they oppose.
It is an example of using current technology to promote the old "politics as a blood sport " mentality.
From where I sit that handful of "comrades in arms" isn't too successful. Could be that some folks are looking for less nasty politicking and more putting our heads together to deal with the complex world in which we live.
There are no simple, easy answers, and those who would like us to view all ideas as good or bad are doing us all a disservice.
Aurora and the mayor look pretty good from where I sit... the whiners not so good.
Anonymous Dec. 21 hit the nail on the head. More and more, this blog is a vehicle for those who view the world in simplistic, black and white terms. The critics persistently pummel the mayor and her seven black sheep for their alleged lack of progressive solutions, but the critics offer no new ideas of their own. All they do is attack, because it is simpler (and undoubtedly more fun) to go that route. It is a perverse approach to problem-solving, although it seems doubtful these critics, in their narcissism, truly care much about solving problems that affect the rest of us.
As we see at every level of government these days, the problems facing elected representatives are more complicated and overwhelming than ever before. Solutions do not come easily; answers are not clear-cut. If ever there was a time to put aside bickering and personal agendas, and to embrace the notion that benevolence must drive healthy debate, that time is now.
If there is indeed a crisis in Aurora’s municipal affairs, it is a crisis of imagination and generosity – on all sides.
I would hardly agree that the mayor has 7 black sheep as followers. Far from it.I look at Allison, Bob, Wendy and Evelyn as people who have an opinion. The others Wilson,Grainger,Macheran and Gallo have an opinion if they clear it with the mayor first. They are far from free thinkers or leaders.
There are still supporters of this mayor but they are falling fast as this council continues to send issues back to staff for more information. If they read their agendas they would find that information rather than wasting the Town staff time. I guess it is better for them and the Town that they do not make any decisions.
Oh well another two years of nothing accomplished.
Anonymous December 27 9:34AM, you lack credibility when you profess to know what goes on in the minds of others. Some people call that notion narcissism.
I know that when one person assumes to make judgements about the independent thinking (or not) of others that person's ideas are easy to dismiss.
I think everyone on council has something to contribute... some more often, some in greater depth and one who sees politics as a blood sport and can't bring herself to think of issues in the context of a changing society. She makes an important contribution by showing us past approaches, in which people , not ideas are attacked, in which " if they are not for you they are against you", in which effort is made to twist and tear down, instead of working as a team member.
To Anonymous Dec 27th 6:47 PM.
You talk of credibility then ramble on about blood sports and working together. You say "She" and I guess you mean the mayor is contributing by showing that the past did not work.You try to sound like an intellect yet you lack substance in everything you say. The working together line really is funny, as this is the first council that I know of, where a councillor quit. This is the highest turnover of staff of any past mayor in Aurora's history. I do not see that as working together.
You can keep those coloured glasses on and see only what you want to see.
Let the deadwood go. The Town staff needed a cleaning out... if that was as a result of the mayor good on her.
The fact that one member of council left on the flimsiest of excuses good for us. I don't miss her in the least.
Hey Dec, 8 2008,
good on you not trying to sound like an intellect: definitely not hot.
you were great... making no points at all which is what this site is about
put downs, recycle same old stuff, pretend it's different... no proof... just spin spin spin.
a lame site that is doomed to die from boredom.
Happy New Year to those who put up this site and try their best to keep it going.
You have great focus but not much content or appeal.
I love democracy and freedom of speech. Yikes!
Resolution for 2009: Never try to “sound like an intellect.” (Or an intellectual, either.)
God forbid that anyone aspire to raise the level of discourse above the barroom standard that the Aurora Citizen has come to represent.
The rules: Keep everything simple, and your arguments simplistic. Conveniently omit any facts that happen to undermine your argument. Offer judgments without proof. Keep everything personal (first names for the white hats, last names for the evil-doers – it makes it easier for us simpletons to follow along).
If monotonous, one-dimensional ranting is your cup of tea, the Aurora Citizen is certainly the place for you. Me, I visit a couple of times a month just to see whether anything has changed, or whether anyone has come up with any original ideas. So far, no surprises.
Actually, there was one: Robert the Bruce. Not being an intellectual, I had to look him up. Great story. Too bad about what happened to his heart. Revealing, too, about the person who used his name as a pseudonym. (Thanks for the clue.)
Hey December 29 6:50 PM,
Mentioning Robert the Bruce made me think about others who are also missing in action (or AWOL) : Goodie two shoes, Walt, Someone Else, Not Walt, I'm not Walt either, Razie.
Please don't tell me they don't care any more.
Even Heather Sisman and Bill Hogg and Grace Marsh and Evelyn Buck and the undercover Aurora Citizen, the foundation of this site, where are they?
Are they calling the police, as was suggested as a way to deal with their own Darth Vader Mayor?
If they did where are the results?
I'm just one among many waiting to hear the latest plan.
I am not AWOL nor missing. I am still here, checking in once in a while however, the time of year has left me with more immediate things on my plate. I care about what is happening and what is to happen in Aurora. Things are a little quiet on the home front. I will eagerly await new "goings on" and feel somewhat glad we don't live in Vaughan!
I find it interesting that somehow research has shown who is really behind the name. If nothing else, the anonymous poster has perhaps learned a thing or two about ancient Scottish history and one of the more loved ancient Scots. As we approach the Robert Burns Day in January, it is fitting that King Robert is remembered.
I was once in an organization that used the Bruce clan's current head as their Patron and January 25th was always a popular event.
Interestingly, the Bruce clan's Latin motto is "Fuimus". This translates to "We have been". Perhaps Aurora needs this motto as it weathers it's many political storms.
As it approaches the New Year, to everyone here at Aurora Citizen - have a happy New New Year - I am going to have a wee dram of single malt and go to sleep.
I'm still here too! Happy New Year!
I'm also still here. Happy New Year everyone. I've been away for two weeks. I will continue to comment as issues are raised.
I am always close by. I do keep tabs on the comments.I notice how often my name comes up though I haven't said a word. Or how former town officials have to have their faces ground into the mud in order to promote the "valiant" efforts of the Mayor and her cohorts. The comments are an excellent measure of the level of thinking of the Mayor's supporters and defenders.The same thoughts expressed repeatedly do not necessarily indicate popular thinking but they do indicate the logic or lack of it. however a reader wishes to perceive it.In that sense,The Citizen provides a window into our collective intelligence. If there is such a commodity.
well the new CAO has been in place for almost 4 full weeks
not impressed yet
so far he's introduced some cosmetic changes to procedures (for heaven's sake - he thinks his biggest, most important first task is to move around where people sit????)
Worst yet, despite many many opportunities he has failed to bring the, frankly, insane procedural nonesense of the current mayor, to heel.
it is disappointing that it looks like, just like some previous senior staff, he will continue to support the antics of a one term mayor irrespective of the fact that she has no idea what she's doing
Given that he's here for at least five years (may be more, we mere residents don't know the term of his contract) you'd think that he'd clue in that it's the Town that matters, not a soon to be defeated one term mayor. He should refrain from further enabling the delusional fantasies of the self agrandizing mayor. She's going down in flames, he should at least try to avoid getting burned...
Unfortunately, it's sad to say but I think he'll just be another acolyte happy to ride on the crazy train that is phyllis morris, unawares of the dangers until the unstoppable force of her opportunism hits the immovable object that is the electorate's will ...
21 months and counting...
One bright spot on the new roster of staff is definitely the new Clerk. She seems smart, together, organized, knowledgeable and - most important - does not seem fazed by the mayor and her cohorts' antics.
Time will tell if she will be able to hold her ground
but so far
I for one am impressed
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