"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

Monday 7 May 2012

Da Code of Conduct for AuroraMarket Vendors Circa, 2012


Hot off  the press. I got  a Copy

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AURORA FARMERS’ MARKET

VENDORS
CODE OF CONDUCT


Effective:       February 11, 2012

Overview

The Aurora Farmers’ Market Vendors are expected to demonstrate proper business practices and appropriate decorum in group and individual behaviour when acting as a Vendor.  All applicants are required to adhere to the conditions of the Code of Conduct upon acceptance of their application by the Aurora Farmers’ Market Executive Committee.


Procedure



1.                  Vendors must demonstrate loyalty to the interests of the diverse community they serve which includes the Aurora Farmers’ Market Executive and the public.

1.1          This accountability supersedes any conflicting loyalty such as that to advocacy
     or interest groups and membership on other boards, organizations or staffs.


2.         Vendors must avoid any conflict of interest with respect to their responsibility by

3.         Vendors’ interaction with the public, press or other entities may not speak on behalf of the Executive Committee or its members.  


4.         Vendors will exercise the necessary self discipline to conduct themselves and their staff with excellence. Such self discipline will apply to:
a)      Attendance on Farmer Market dates that the Vendor has committed to
b)   Being informed on upcoming events and initiatives of the Market
c)   Respecting and adhering to the Aurora Farmers’ Market Constitution, By-laws and Policies
d)   Endorsing the Executive Committee’s decisions


5.         Vendors who have complaints regarding the Executive Committee, its’ decisions, Vendors or other Market matters, may submit their complaint to the Chair, Vice-chair or the Executive Committee as a whole, to be dealt with in a confidential, professional, timely manner

6.         Attendance on Farmer Market dates that the Vendor has applied and been accepted for is mandatory.  If however, the Vendor is unable to attend one or more dates, the Vendor must inform the Chair or Vice-chair a minimum of 3 days prior to the affected Market date(s).
adhering to the regulations of the Aurora Farmers’ Market Constitution, its by-laws and policies.

2.1.      There must be no slanderous or libellous actions against the Aurora Farmers’ Market Executive Committee members, individual Vendors, Applicants and Market as a whole.
2.2       Intimidation and/or bullying behaviour will not be tolerated and provides immediate grounds for removal of the offender for the balance of the Market season, as deemed necessary by the Executive Committee. A refund of Market Vendor fees will be calculated and reimbursed to the offender.


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

WTF !

Anonymous said...

To put this into perspective and see how far we have NOT come, see C. Watt's archived photos from election night of Phyllis, Sher and Jan on the corner of Yonge and Wellington trying to entice voters. Still trying to make rules for Aurora and those who live and work here.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the past few days - they have been a blast!

KA-NON said...

It's Animal Farm at the Farmer's Market!

Anonymous said...

I imagine "mystery shoppers" will be deputized by Sticky and her court, then dispatched to unsuspecting vendors to make sure the tenets of the agreement are stringently adhered to.Perceived troublemakers will be asked to pack up and leave. The vendors deserve more respect than this. Not a good way to open up the season. Maybe a new market can start up elsewhere?

Anonymous said...

OMG... who do these rules remind you of ? Some people never learn.

We would not want anyone to disagree or share their opinion publicly. That would suggest that we live in a free society.

Anonymous said...

Some comments....

1. "Loyalty" like respect is earned. It cannot be mandated. It is also a two-way street. Is the AFM Executuve loyal to their members?

1.1 Think of us first and forget the others? WTF??

2. Who determines conflicts of interest?

2.1 no arguments

3. Don't spout off policy if you are not an executive member.

4. no arguments with this, common sense.

5. no arguments

6. no arguments

IF... these rules were written up by a different group with no linkage to St Kitts, Morris, Kean, etc. would there be the same uproar?

Tim the Enchanter said...

KA-NON

Animal Farm or Animal Crackers?

Now please place your left hand on this pirated copy of An Inconvenient Truth and repeat after me.

"I pledge allegiance to the organic fair trade carrot and to the pesticide-free nutrients for which it stands...."

All kidding aside - it is a relief to shop with confidence knowing that the vendors have confirmed in writing, a tentative verbal agreement not to attack any of the Market patrons with an axe.

kudos.

Resident said...

Who's going to call the executive on it's own bullying behaviour. Giving hte "code" out to vendors when they are working and demanding it back same day is outrageous. What a passive aggressive bunch of idiots.

No more jam will i buy from the mad authors of this document

Anonymous said...

Who elected the executive? The members would be my guess. If they feel that they need to have rules to live by, who are we to be critical?

There are a number of organizations with Codes of Conduct that are patronized every day. We don't don't tee off on them because they have a C of C.

Anonymous said...

These ' members ', as someone referred to them, might very well be tougher than we expect. There is nothing to stop them from forming an alliance of their very own and removing the individuals causing the turmoil. They must have noticed that Jan was not able to keep them in the Park or prevent the invasion of outsider vendors during the Jazz Gang's weekend. She might not be worth having on board.

Anonymous said...

To 1:07pm

I asked this very question when I heard about this code.I decided to do some digging and it was a task, however we may have an answer for you.It seems there was not an actual election and instead a show of hands was used to show who wished to be on the committee.Location of this happening was at the annual general committee that was held in the council chambers and evidently only a half dozen vendors were in attendance.There were more out-going executive than vendors at the meeting I was told.
I was suprised to hear such information and hope the market will stop the pettyness as it leaves egg and other market goodies on their faces.

Anonymous said...

To Anon 3:30PM

Jan was not the Chair last years.I am not sure who it was yet I know it was not the Jam Lady.

Anonymous said...

From reading the C of C, it sounds as though the executive is saying 'be nice to one another and be respectful' - aside from the language being formal, I'm not sure what the big deal is?

At my place of employment, we have a code of conduct & when 2 employees ignored that and created a disrespectful, unsafe environment, they were told that they were no longer welcome.

It ain't rocket surgery - just sounds like they want to remind anyone who forgot the kindergarten rules; "be nice, be considerate & respectful of each other and if you're a bully, you can go play in someone else's sandbox."
Good for them. At the end of the day, I want a safe, happy market to take my family & my kids to.