Aurora Citizen

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Archive for the ‘Code of Ethics’ Category

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Code of Ethics?

Posted by auroracitizen on November 3, 2008

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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Posted in Code of Ethics, Conflict of Interest | 4 Comments »

Guest Post: Council needs to lead by example

Posted by auroracitizen on October 5, 2008

Thanks to former Councillor Bill Hogg for the following Guest Post.

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

Have you received your Code of Conduct from town hall telling you how to behave yet? That may be the next step from this Council. Maybe they will start telling us what movie we can watch or books we can read as well.

One must wonder what has been going on in our advisory committees that makes this Council determined to force everyone to sign a Code of Conduct. In the many years I worked with advisory committees in the town, never once did I see or hear of inappropriate behaviour that required a Code of Conduct. But then, under Tim Jones leadership, we also never appointed a prominent member of his campaign team to a paid position either.

At the last Council meeting, Council took the step of publishing the names of every member of every advisory committee and whether they have signed the code or not, plus they have threatened that something (they didn’t indicate what) will happen if they don’t comply before Oct 14.

Of particular interest is the link to the Strategic Plan. Goal 1, Objective D states, “Create a respectful environment that fosters teamwork and open dialogue consistent with a Character Community.”

I couldn’t make this stuff up. Check out the report for yourself on the Town website — Sept 23 Agenda, Item 8, Report CS08-036.

Surely this Council has more important things to do than threaten volunteers who give freely of their time. What is Council going to do if people don’t sign, refuse to allow them to volunteer in the community? The bullies are running amuck.

This Council needs to start leading by example and stop trying to intimidate people through fear of reprisals!

Bill Hogg

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Posted in Code of Ethics, Guest Post, Town Council | 6 Comments »

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