What goes around comes around!

I recently re-read this story. I don't know with certainty if it is true, but I thought the story was worth sharing.

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His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."

"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel. “Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly.

"I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of." And he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools, and in time,he graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

Someone once said: What goes around comes around. It is a great lesson we can all benefit from the reminder.

Pass this on, and brighten someones day. Nothing will happen if you do not pass it along. The only thing that will happen, if you DO pass it on, is that someone might smile because of you.

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Community Corner: 2009 Lawn care vs. Town of Aurora Pesticide Ban

A reader sent in the following comment. It is published unchanged.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of the AURORA CITIZEN.

I sent the following email to Mayor Morris on October 16th, 2008 as I am sitting on an invoice from my lawn care company. I have yet to hear a response from her. I have also sent the same email to Councillor Collin-Mrakis and not had a response. What should the public do when we cannot get answers from our elected officials? I have lost the early payment discount that I was eligible for. I thought it would be best to send this to the Mayor as she vets everything from staff anyways.

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Mayor Morris,

I have for a number of years contracted with Weed Man for lawn care. I have received their 2009 schedule and prior to my authorizing payment, I have asked them to assure me that they are compliant with the Town's bylaw. They tell me that they are compliant in that they use a product called Sarritor. The actual bylaw does not speak to actual product brand names. Can you tell me if Sarritor satisfies this bylaw or pass the request to the appropriate person for a determination?

As well, they tell me that they will still have to place a warning sign on my lawn (Federal regulations). Will I have to endure bylaw officers knocking on my door with a summons because this sign is on my lawn? In order for this product to work, I also will have to water the lawn for 15-20 minutes three days in a row. My other concern here is that as you know, the Town operates under a limited outdoor water use bylaw that would place me in a position of violation in order to properly activate this lawn care product. What is the Town's viewpoint on this situation?

Thank you.
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Aurora Citizen: How are other citizens dealing with the issue of our pesticide ban? Share your thoughts.

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Code of Ethics?

So do tell -- under what part of the much vaunted Code of Ethics is it covered that when the public show concern about an action of Council that you just wait until the issue dies down and do what you want anyway?

This exactly what happened with the appointment of Ken Whitehurst to the position of interim Director -- a mere 2 months after the issue was front page news in the local paper and reported in this blog. I guess they hoped everyone would forget about the issue and they would slide it by without anyone noticing. Thanks to Councillor Buck for bringing it to our attention at a recent Council meeting.

We won't "rehash" this item because we know how much this offends the supporters of the Mayor. It just gets in the way of doing what they want without people being aware of their behaviour.

Well we thought it was important to bring it to people's attention.

Judge for yourself -- agree or disagree -- then talk to your neighbours. But make sure you are aware of what your elected representatives are doing without telling you. So much for transparency!

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Traffic Calming in Northeast Quadrant

So what the verdict? Was there not supposed to a study on this initiative and a final decision made?

We are entering the second winter with these measures in place and there has been no report published that reviews the feelings of residents -- both those inside and outside the affected area. It would be interesting to hear what the neighbourhood as whole has to say about these measures.

Plus, what about the safety issues -- particularly in the snow. What was the impact of the calming measures?

Is it working? Is it safe? Was this initiative a success? Is there consensus by the residents that this was good idea, or did it just serve a few?

What are your thoughts?

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Flop-flop or sober reflection?

Council has once again demonstrated their difficultly making a well thought through decision. This time on windrows.

One cannot help but wonder how much consultation was done with the affected folks -- the seniors who are to "benefit" from this service -- before the decision was made to implement the pilot project.

How hard would it have been to have set up a meeting with the seniors to discuss the issue and asked them for their input before making a decision. If they had, they certainly would have heard the feedback recently provided. Or is this just another example of responding to the most recent squeaky wheel?

It does not inspire much confidence in their decision-making process when simple things like clearing windrows requires so much time and reversal of decisions. It's no wonder more critical decisions are such a burden on their collective abilities.

It's time this Council showed some leadership and did their homework before making decisions. I think we would all sleep better.

What do you think? Should the town subsidize the plowing of windrows? Check out the poll!

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