Posted by auroracitizen on August 26, 2009
Dissatisfaction continues to grow with the conduct of our Council. This ad was published in the August 25, 2009 edition of The Auroran — as well a number of Letters to the Editor.
Click on visual above for clearer picture
It may be another year until the next election, but the campaign to replace our current Council continues to heat up.
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Posted in Leadership, Town Council | 27 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on August 22, 2009
The controversy in Aurora has now available on Wikipedia.
2009 Council Controversy
In August 2009 a controversy erupted when the Aurora town council fired its integrity commissioner in a special meeting after receiving his first decision on a contentious issue. Three of eight councillors were absent from the special meeting. The mayor and five councillors who were present at the special meeting had filed a complaint with the integrity commissioner against councillor Evelyn Buck for comments made in her blog. Although the integrity commissioner’s report has not been released to the public, it is believed that he dismissed the complaint.[6][7] The council was criticized for the decision to fire the integrity commissioner.[8]Links 6 – 8 refer to;
6. Aurora sacks its ethics czar”. The Toronto Sun. 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
7. Councillor’s blog ignites Aurora firefight”. The Toronto Star. 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
8. Aurora losing its aura?”. The Toronto Star. 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
It will be interesting to see how long before someone tries to remove these factual links from the site.
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Posted in Integrity, Leadership, Media, Town Council | 7 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on August 21, 2009
Recent news articles provide an interesting perspective on the role of media on our opinions.
For example, Debora Kelly of The Banner wrote an editorial Aug 12, in which she takes a fairly supportive position on the antics of our Council and the recent firing of our Integrity Commissioner. Providing lots of room for quotes and spin from former colleague and Banner columnist Mayor Phyllis Morris, Debora declares her opinion with the comment “Fortunately, the experience hasn’t dampened council’s desire to have a watchdog at its side. (Though, may I suggest they get an understanding on the complaints procedure before handing over the retainer fee next time?)”
Compared this to the point of view of the Editorial department of a more disinterested party, the Toronto Star “A war of words on the web and a bruising battle at city council has culminated with the outlandish firing of Aurora’s integrity commissioner.” and “Aurora’s aura of good governance is on the wane.”
Note that both of these pieces are opinions versus news stories. News stories are supposed to be fact based — while in editorials or opinions, the writer is expected to provide their own opinion/spin. Did Ms Kelley’s prior relationship colour her opinion? How was The Stars writer influenced by their prior knowledge of Aurora and Mayor Morris (Right to Dry??). We’ll never know.
Relying only on our media can be dangerous — because all papers (and blogs for that matter) have their own view of the facts. So listen to your friends and neighbours, read the papers, and blogs — but be sure to check out the meetings where you will see this Council in action live. Links are available at the top left if you can’t attend in person.
The next meeting to discuss the issue of the Integrity Commissioner is Tuesday Sept 8. Then draw your own opinion and join in the conversation. We’d love to hear your thoughts.
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Posted in Integrity, Leadership, Media, Town Council | 11 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on August 20, 2009
Councillor Granger has decided to step out from behind Mayor Morris and stand up for his beliefs. However, it seems his beliefs are limited to “Mayor Morris is a fantastic leader and I love working for her”.
The key issue of the day — the firing of the Integrity Commissioner — seems unimportant when compared to trying to repair the damaged reputation of this Council and his leader.
Was this some attempt to get into the good books of the Mayor? Possibly.
Was it done with her approval? We suspect not.
Even she knows that an obvious puff piece that so blatantly praises her would be seen for exactly what it is. Pure rubbish. Give the Mayor her due, she understands the concept of spin. This was so blatant it has backfired. Sorry Councillor, bad move on your part.
Councillor Granger is living in a dream if he thinks Mayor Morris is an open and approachable team leader. He has probably found that out after this attempt to curry favour.
Which Councillor will be next in their letter writing campaign?
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Posted in Leadership, Town Council | 27 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on August 15, 2009
The following post was reprinted from Seth Godin’s Blog.
Willfully ignorant vs. aggressively skeptical
Challenging the status quo is what I do for a living. Either that or encourage other people to do it.
But there are two ways to do it, and one of them is ineffective, short-sighted and threatens the fabric of the tribe. The other seems to work.
I heard someone screaming about death panels and how the government was not only going to kill his grandmother, but would take out Stephen Hawking himself if it had the chance.
The screaming is a key part, because screaming is often a tool used to balance out the lazy ignorance of someone parroting opposition to an idea that they don’t understand. (If you want to write to me about this post, please write to me about the screaming part, not about whether or not you agree with the facts or the science. That’s what the post is about, the screaming.)
If you want to challenge the conventional wisdom of health care reform, please do! It’ll make the final outcome better. But if you choose to do that, it’s essential that you know more about it than everyone else, not less. Certainly not zero. Be skeptical, but be informed (about everything important, not just this issue, of course). Screaming ignorance gets attention, but it distracts us from the work at hand.
It’s easy to fit in by yelling out, and far more difficult to actually read and consider the facts. Anytime you hear, “I don’t have the time to understand this issue, I’m too busy being upset,” you know that something is wrong.
Brands face this as much or more than politicians do. I witnessed a knock-down fight between two teenagers over which operating system was best. There are generations of arguments between Ford and Chevy owners. Motorcycle gangs are often parochial in their choice of bike. And in each case, the less people know, the more they yell.
If you want to change what your boss believes, or the strategy your company is following, the first step is to figure out how to be the best informed person in the room.
We think it applies. Facts are essential. Opinions drawn from facts are worth listening to. Opinions without facts to support them are just yelling. We love your informed opinions — thanks for joining the conversation.
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Posted in Community Input, Leadership, Town Council | 31 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on August 13, 2009
EDITORIAL: Aug 13, 2009 04:30 AM
TheStar.com
Aurora losing its aura?
Aurora rarely gets a second glance, but the bizarre behaviour of town council in recent days merits a double take. A war of words on the web and a bruising battle at city council has culminated with the outlandish firing of Aurora’s integrity commissioner.
The surprise sacking of David Nitkin by city council – he served as ethics watchdog for barely two months – came just one day after he submitted his first formal report. Nitkin had dared to defy council by rejecting a bitter complaint against its most outspoken member, dismissing it as a politically motivated affair.
The target of council’s wrath was maverick councillor Evelyn Buck, 80, who has embraced blogging with a blunt style that gets under the skin of her rivals. A 40-year veteran of politics, her passionate web posts are the talk of the town – one reason why council wants to rein her in.
But when the watchdog refused to muzzle the maverick, he found himself in the doghouse. Aurora council is making a mockery of the integrity process and providing more grist for the blogosphere.
Writing in her blog yesterday, the irrepressible Buck neatly summed up council’s public relations blunder: “All they did was prod me with a pointy stick and create another unholy mess for themselves.”
Aurora’s aura of good governance is on the wane.
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Posted in Code of Ethics, Integrity, Leadership, Town Council | 78 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on August 13, 2009
Another article by the Toronto Star— this time about the “coincidence” of another senior staff retiring.
We also thought the closed door of Mayor Morris when Rogers Cable came for an interview — sans lawyer for Mayor Morris — was a perfect symbol of her open door policy of openness and transparency.
A picture is indeed worth a 1,000 words.
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Posted in Integrity, Leadership, Staff Turnover, Town Council | 10 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on August 13, 2009
We had a number of comments today informing us about articles in the news. Rather than publish all the comments, here are the links.
One interesting quote by Mayor Phyllis Morris that caught our eye was in the Toronto Star.
“Morris said, adding all but two of the town’s eight councillors, including Buck
– who didn’t attend the meeting – supported firing Nitkin“
So let’s do the math together — if Collins-Marakas, Buck and McRoberts didn’t attend — that means only 5 or 8 Councillors attended the meeting. How did they get 6 of eight Councillors to support the firing?
Is this more of the new math Mayor Morris has become famous for?
Then another classic quote from the Banner story.
Mayor Morris stated, “We called the meeting previously, so it’s just a coincidence we got (the report) the day before,” she said of Mr. Nitkin’s firing. “(People) can speculate on things all they like.”
If the meeting was scheduled in advance — how come the agenda was released only 13 minutes before the start time and why didn’t McRoberts, Collins-Marakas or Buck hear about it until the day of the meeting. Hmmmm? What could people speculate from those facts.
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Posted in Integrity, Leadership, Town Council | 5 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on August 12, 2009
Thank you to the many readers who told us about this news in their comments — but until we were able to confirm it as factual, we were not prepared to publish what was still a rumour.
Another senior staff member is no longer in the employ of the Town of Aurora. Lucille King, Director of Corporate Services, has decided to retire — after starting in November 2008. One has to wonder what led to the change in plans.
The revolving door continues. Draw your own conclusion.
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Posted in Leadership, Staff Turnover, Town Council | 7 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on August 11, 2009
In case you missed it, Toronto Sun article Aurora Sacks its Ethics Czar
“Mayor Phyllis Morris said she couldn’t release a copy of the report, but calls the firing and the filing of the report a “huge coincidence.”
The commissioner’s report will be released in September when it goes to council and will be turned over to the next integrity czar, she said.”
We all look forward to seeing the full unedited report.
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Posted in Code of Ethics, Integrity, Leadership, Town Council | 30 Comments »
Aurora Citizen 