Clearly and Succinctly

It's how a point of order is defined in Rules of Order.

Last night, the Mayor provided a perfect illustration of failure to use the rules  to maintain order and demonstrate impartiality.

The question  before  council was a recommendation to authorize a demolition permit for a heritage structure.

The agenda of four items had to be approved by resolution. No objections were raised..The meeting proceeded.

The motion  for demolition was duly moved and seconded. Then  a Councillor moved immediately to   "pull".the item from the agenda.

The Mayor proceeded  with a  motion , re-stated by himself, to defer.  A kerfuffle emerged..The mover of the motion to approve offered to withdraw the motion.

It was pointed out,  a motion duly moved and seconded is on the table. Council is in possession of the motion..It no longer belongs to the mover

Refusal to grant the permit was argued. It morphed into future use and access to the property.

A point of order was raised. The Councillor's argument had strayed from the question. The  chair. ruled  the argument could continue.

A motion was again made to defer the decision. And defeated. The  Mayor voted. in support of the deferral.A subsequent vote on the permit approval was approved. The Mayor voted in support.

Council spent many hours in 2011 reviewing the procedure bylaw. An expert was brought in  for a peer review. He found the instrument to be  satisfactory.

It doesn't matter a hill of beans, if  a  bylaw  was brought down from the mountain, chiseled on tablets of stone, by a man with a long white beard and sandals,  claiming  divine intervention, if there is no understanding of the rules, there can be no fairness in their application. Order inevitably deteriorates.

The flaw in procedure  is not entirely of this Mayor's making.

The late Dick Illingworth and former Aurora Mayor was responsible.

Richard was a man of strong convictions.  And grouchy. He thought by not voting, a Mayor could hide or avoid taking a position. It never stopped him.

Prior practice required the presiding member to  vote only to break a tie.

Richard, in a series of moves which cost him the Mayor's Chair, became assistant to John White,a Minister of Municipal Affairs.  The Honourable Member was something of a dilettante.

The two made the rounds of  municipal conferences.

Richard carried a six quart  basket  covered by a snowy white napkin. Contents were the makings for the Minister's favourite cocktail. It's all I recall about the man.

Richard prevailed upon him to deliver an edict  requiring Ontario Mayors to vote on every question

When a Mayor votes, his position is obvious  but any semblance of impartiality disappears into smoke and mirrors.

The processs was not improved by the new imperative.

Leadership is not about imposing faulty logic.

It's about winning  and maintaining trust.

Clearly, succinctly and simply.



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