Aurora Citizen

News & Views from the Citizens of Aurora Ontario

Granger Shows True Colours

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 »

Bloggers Wanted

Posted by auroracitizen on August 18, 2009

If you are interested in sharing your opinions with other citizens of Aurora, we want to hear from you. Readership continues to grow and we are interested in expanding our base of writers.

You will never be required to publish according to a schedule and you can pick your favourite topic — sports, traffic, environment, youth, culture, politics — we don’t care.

Our only criteria is people who love living in this great town and want to share that passion.

Interested? Let us know. To start the conversation, send an email to communitycorner@auroracitizen.ca

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Posted in Community Corner | 1 Comment »

Willfully ignorant vs. aggressively skeptical

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 »

Toronto Star Editorial Weighs In

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 »

The Press Continues To Ask Questions

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 »

Aurora Continues to Garner Media Coverage

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.

Globe & Mail

Toronto Star

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?

Era Banner

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 »

Another One Bites The Dust

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 »

Mainstream Media Coverage Continued

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 »

What Did Mayor Morris Know When

Posted by auroracitizen on August 11, 2009

Councillor Buck has provided some of the text from the DECISION by the Integrity Commissioner. Her post can be read at Our Town and Its Business.

A couple key quotes;

It is the DECISION of my office that this statement of complaint, as is, is unacceptable and that as is, no investigation or inquiry shall take place.

Query oo8 is INAPPROPRIATE that the way it was crafted, politicized and communicated, may be, and be seen to be, wholly political. Explanation of this last test point can be seen in the many tests or measures of political interference that were raised in my e-mail of July 30th in direct communication to the proponents.

The decision was made on the 5th of August. It was in the hands of the Deputy Clerk, Acting clerk for the previous week and a half, on that date.

We appreciate that this is not the entire text, possibly Mayor Morris will make that available. But from the parts we see, the comments appear pretty clear and damning.

It also appears to directly contradict the comments made publicly by Mayor Phyllis Morris of when the decision was made versus when they fired the Integrity Commissioner.

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Posted in Code of Ethics, Integrity, Leadership, Town Council | 13 Comments »

Keystone Cops Alive and Living In Aurora

Posted by auroracitizen on August 10, 2009

News coverage is finally starting to shine a light on the activities of Council.

Aurora’s Integrity Commissioner Axed
By Sean Pearce – Era Banner
August 10, 2009

Less than two months after formalizing his agreement with the town, Aurora’s integrity commissioner has left the building.

Following last Thursday’s special meeting of council, the six members who attended left closed session after voting to immediately remove the powers of integrity commissioner EthicScan Canada Ltd. president David Nitkin.

Further, it was also resolved the search for a new integrity commissioner begin immediately, the integrity commissioner section on the town’s website be removed and any pending complaints be stayed and reported to Aurora’s director of corporate services and held in abeyance until a new integrity commissioner is appointed.

For her part, Aurora Mayor Phyllis Morris said council’s decision is a result of the inability to reconcile Mr. Nitkin’s procedures with the town’s own code of conduct, despite multiple attempts.

“We have a code of conduct that we have adopted and wish to uphold,” Mrs. Morris said. “We, the council, entered into an agreement for a complaint procedure that we put in place and we agreed to it and it would appear the procedure the integrity commissioner wishes to follow appears not to be in compliance and, in fact, appears to conflict with council’s adopted code.”

In an interview between The Banner and Mrs. Morris Friday afternoon and attended by town solicitor and acting CAO Chris Cooper, the mayor explained council resolved to abide by a section in the agreement between the town and EthicScan, although she said she could not divulge any specifics about the section of the contract nor could she say what, if any, financial implications the decision might have for the town due to concerns about confidentiality. Citing similar reasons, Mrs. Morris said she was unable to comment on how much Mr. Nitkin had been paid for his services so far.

CBC News at Six
(The following link http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/newsatsix/toronto.wmv, will take you directly to the August 10th show.)
We also made the news on CBC News at Six. Check out the report from 17:43 – 20:25. Councillor Buck confirms –after finally getting a copy of the report — that she was completely cleared of the accusations that were made by Council.

A Few Questions That Spring To Mind

  1. Why does Mayor Phyllis Morris need the Town Solicitor sitting in on interviews? What was she afraid she might say?
  2. How did Aurora Council hire someone after months of discussions only to find out “the procedure the integrity commissioner wishes to follow appears not to be in compliance and, in fact, appears to conflict with council’s adopted code.”? What kind of research did they do the first time? Is their latest “spin” credible?
  3. What will the process of hand-picking their next Integrity Commissioner be? Will it require an upfront agreement to follow Council direction since autonomy is clearly not allowed?
  4. Why does our procedure conflict so seriously with an acknowledged expert who has built a reputation based on managing these issue? Maybe the problem is the Code as written by this Council?
  5. Was the reason for Councillor Buck’s vindication because the Integrity Commissioner viewed the basis for the complaint as politically motivated?
  6. Why are citizens of Aurora unable to see the cost to our taxes of this latest (insert your own descriptive here) move by this Council? After all, it’s our money they keep spending.

If it wasn’t our money and our reputation, it might well make a good slapstick comedy. As it is, we are not only the laughing stock of York Region — but now Aurora will become a case study of what not to do when discussing integrity and politics.

First it’s clotheslines — now ethics. Mayor Phyllis Morris is certainly putting Aurora on the map. Too bad it’s for all the wrong reasons.

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Posted in Code of Ethics, Integrity, Leadership, Town Council | 12 Comments »

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