"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

Thursday 17 June 2010

Hope You Sorted It Out

I did the cut and paste thing. I don't know why the e-mails from the resident came out in large blue letters. It wasn't intentional. When Theresa comes home, she will probably be able to show me how to change that.

Slowly and steadily, being dragged through the bushes backwards, I will acquire more computer literacy.

The story would have unwound from start to finish, had I started with my e-mail, then the Mayor's and then the residents two e-mails of complaints. Now I'm afraid to change it in case I mess it up.

So I am depending on readers to sort it out for themselves.

I am currently being accused by a loyal supporter of Councillor MacEachern of making things up, carrying on a vendetta and losing sight of the town's interest

It's been interesting to observe the various strategies to Put The Blame On Mame.

First, I was the source of Council's dysfunction in the last term.

Then, I wasn't right in my head.

Then, "No-one pays any attention to Evelyn Buck"

Then I "vote against things just to draw attention to myself"

Now , "she makes things up" And "she has a vendetta against the Mayor and Councillor MacEachern and doesn't care about the Town"

The real truth is I can't resist telling the story. I know the wise political strategy is not to say anyhting that will make enemies of the other guys friends. But that was before the advent of social media. It may be a while before current conventional wisdom sorts itself out.

I think people have a right to know all the juicy details of what's going on behind the scenes and form a picture in their own minds.I do not refer to legitimate in-camera sessions.

The Mormac Twins are just the gift that keeps on giving.

The Mayor copied her e-mail to the resident, to the rest of Council and parks staff.

I had responded to the resident's first e-mail and was copied the next two.

The information on staff's recommendation on 15 portable toilets at a cost of $4,800, Councillor MacEachern's motion to refer it to the Leisure Services Advisory Committee and that committee's subsequent decision to reject staff''s recommendation, is a matter of public record.

It happened in July 2008. I had hip joint surgery that month.

I believe the Mayor knew all that when she responded to the resident's e-mail.

On the heels of the recommendation, supported by the Mayor, Councillors MacEachern, Gaertner and Grainger, to plant four trees at a cost of $8,000. to obscure a light pole barely visible through a forest, for a person who openly claims the Mayor and Councillor MacEachern as friends, the similarities between the two situations and difference in response by the same actors, is simply too precious not to share.

The real difference between myself and Mormac Twins and their followers , is I believe all politics should be done as if the entire town is watching. If it won't stand up to the light of day, it shouldn't be happening.

It's another reason why having nine people on a Council is not a bad thing. The chances nine will see things the same way and be willing to stay quiet and take the rap for the things they think are wrong are distinctly remote.

There's no vendetta here.

There's just a feast.

In another life, I may well have been a Wandering Minstrel.

1 comment:

Goodie Two Shoes said...

It would seem that the article in Thursday's Banner talking about the Trail system on the Mackenzie Marsh also tells us SHE JUST DOESN'T GET IT! You collect taxes to pay for necessary things NOT TO SHELL IT OUT ON CONSULTANTS. Why because the Mormac gang REFUSE to make any decisions on their own!!! So spend money on paper instead of the job needing to be done and be "PROUD TO PUT HER NAME ON IT"