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Thursday's issue of The Banner reported that Mayor Morris admitted that a mistake was made by allowing five of eight votes to carry a two-thirds majority. She also felt that it was merely a tempest in a teapot. However, she has not commented on why this mistake was stricken from the official record.
If a mistake was made -- fine, fix it. But let's not pretend it didn't happen. They rammed through a vote and overrode the advice of staff and are now pretending it was no big deal.
Further, when Cllr Collins-Mrakas requested the Minutes be revised to reflect what actually happened, this Council voted against it -- effectively breaking the trust Citizens should have in the official record of events that are supposed to be captured in Council Minutes. The Minutes are supposed to be an accurate record of what took place in a meeting.
If these Minutes are wrong -- what about previous Minutes? What else have they changed to suit?
Please explain how changing Minutes fits with their much lauded Code of Ethics? Or is this their ethics?
Imagine if a Provincial or Federal government decided to change the official record of the proceeding to appease the ruling party. The media would be all over it.
What of our media? Why do The Banner and The Auroran not make a bigger deal of this mockery of the system?
The Minutes are incorrect and the Council has said that's okay, we like them better this way. They have decided that the public is only owed the information as they see it and what they see fit.
One of the first rules of leadership is accountability. Pretending a mistake didn't happen is not accountable, or transparent.
To belittle an issue of this significance to a simple sound bite underlines their opinion of the citizens of Aurora.
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8 comments:
It's all about perspective.
You can cry wolf so often that if a serious concern arises, people like me will tune you out.
So you agree that it is serious. Good, maybe you will also agree we need to do something about it.
Mayor Morris promised accountability, Transparency and a working council as did many of those who were elected as councillors. What happened? Where did the promises go wrong? Why would you all ( Council ), other than Councillor Collins-Mrakas, not try to correct the minutes of the meeting that you all know are wrong? What is the problem with admitting that you made a mistake and then correct it rather than what you did, cover it up?
Do you really think that this will not come back to haunt you next November?
Do the right thing and ask that the matter be reconsidered? Then vote to correct the mistake. Many people voted for you hoping for an improvement yet you all have made the situation worse by this lack of respect for the truth on this issue.
The curious thing as far as I'm concerned is why Mayor Morris said absolutely nothing when she was copied on less than professional or civil e-mails that Councillor Evelina MacEchern sent to me when
I dared to offer my perspective and some factual input on an issue I have been following closely for five years. The Mayor also seemed to both raise and play the whole phone log issue to her benefit while leaving me out to dry in the end in that case as well. The funny thing with the phone log issue is that Evelina did exactly same thing in that case as she is apparently doing in the current crisis that faces council. By passing on internal council e-mails she fanned the flames of the issue in a manner that some might see as being politically expedient in order to suit her own interests. Don't kid yourself, this is not a new and improved civil discourse we are witnessing in Aurora. This is all about applying the rules and due procedure selectively in order to suit the Mayor's convenience and I'm willing to bet that there is as much going on behind closed doors as there ever has ever been. I guess it is just the way it is... at least for now.
The worst kinds of rules aren’t the ones that make little sense. They are the ones levied willy-nilly, or even worse, enforced with favoritism.
something to think about.......
Richard Johnson was an important factor in getting this mayor elected. He campaigned for her and supported her throughout the campaign.
It is great to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that key people are now second guessing themselves for helping this mayor get elected.
Way to go Richard.
They have now published the May 12th meeting minutes on the town website
The revised, incomplete minutes of the May 12th meeting that were pulled from the Town's website have been re-posted.
What a brazen disregard for the truth.
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