"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Saturday 15 August 2009

Regrets....I have a few

Thirty years of one's life in a professional career is a substantial investment.It would have been no small thing for the Town's Director of Corporate Services to quit like that.

We should not expect an explanation .

Ontario municipalities are a family.

If a there's a problem in one community, the word goes out. Has anyone else had the problem? . How was it handled. Did it work?

If a member of staff finds him or herself in personality conflict with a politician, the only option is to leave. Public conflict with a politician is not an asset in a resume. It doesn't matter a hill of beans who was at fault.

The same principle applies to the political body. A toxic reputation as an employer quickly spreads. Nobody with qualifications and a secure job will knowingly give it up to join such an organisation
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The four year term of office for municipalities has exacerbated the situation.

Does it make me proud ... absolutely not. Ignorance combined with arrogance is a devastating and destructive combination. In all her history, Aurora has never had that stigma attached.

David Nitkin, as has been noted, has a world -wide reputation in the field he practices. It's not a way of earning a living. He is committed to do what one man can, to make the world a better place.

His mission is to teach people a way to work together to be effective for the community we serve. He made that clear to anyone who was listening in the council meeting he attended.

It took eight months for a contract to be signed.The complainants discovered immediately it was put into effect, it did not suit their purpose.

I doubt the story will end here.

It's not good for the municipality. But other than a total waste of public resources, it has no impact on the lives of residents.

But for the individuals who have been harmed along the way and cannot speak in their own defence, it has been catastrophic.

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