"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

Sunday 6 February 2011

What To Make Of It

Tired of a few, hopeful of the many has left a new comment on your post "About Ratepayer's Associations and Such":

To Anonymous 3:08 - But who is it that is saddling Dawe's administration with "undoing" all "of the perceived bad decisions of the past council."? What about the ones of the council before that, and the council before that, and so on and so on.
I don't hear a great hue and cry from anyone other than a small group of self-appointed windbags, so let's hope the Mayor and council don't fall into the squeaky wheel politics of yore. Consider the source, and if it is a handful of the usual suspects, then you ain't got a real cross-section to go by, do you? Nope, it's just the same few names yapping about their pet peeves and expecting the rest of us to give them what they want whether its what the majority wants or not.
For example, in my opinion, I put Susan Walmer, Susan Leonard, Christopher Watts, Matt Maddocks all in the same boat. Self-declared know-it-alls who think their opinion is the be all and end all.
So I hope that council listens to other people's opinions - or maybe if they don't have one it's because it ain't a real issue for the average citizen so don't waste our council's time trying to make it one. Thank you, and good night.

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What to make of that comment?

Of course more people who do not express an opinion than do.Of course an elected representative quite literallly must keep an ear to the ground. In the end though, a person elected must exercies personal judgment.I didn't run for office with the idea my mind should be kept blank waitimg to be filled up by other people's ideas.

Like Yvonne Catrall's idea that people who were waiting for the pool to be completed and signed the first leases, should be shoved aside to accommodate someone who appears on the scene two years later.Or Wackier still, of six lanes,half should be kept empty, in case somebody might show up later to lease them. But some people thought that's how it should be.

It would be like a movie house, turning customers away to keep a certain number pf seats empty for cuatomers who might show up after the movie has begun.

Or a bowling alley, or a restaurant, or a school.

I had a phone call on Friday . A resident called to say she had put a cheque for taxes in an envelope and wrote the address with a flourish. 100 John West Way.
The resident wanted me to know how good that made her feel and to thank me for helping to undo something she considered to be shameful.

At the time John's name was taken off the address, we heard from many people. But not all of them. I believe most people have a sense of fairness. It's one think not to be in favour of naming public buildings for people currently holding office. It's quite another to publicly degrade the person by taking the honour away.

It's one thing if you don't know the person and have no feelings one way or another. It's another when you do and you are watching the hurt and humiliation and can't do a damn thing to stop it.

The clock cant be turned back. The hurt cant be undone.But if anybody expects me to be embarrassed by doing what I could,they can kiss my proverbial posterior.

I spent the last four years in a twilight zone. I kept the faith. If I think certain wrongs need to be righted and have been given the opportunity to try, that's exactly what I am about. I have one vote among nine.

I cannot move mountains.

But I can chip away, one stone at a time.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

and you should keep chipping away , but get a bigger hammer becuse this budget your working on could use some chipping away at, Its time to tell the rate payers just what's in store for us , Perhaps a nice long list of the intended waste would be a good place to start, We are waiting !