A MEETING GETS CANCELLED. OR POSTPONED.

Some might characterize it as being taken to task.  Others might say it was more like being taken to the woodshed.

Whatever your choice, it amounts to pretty much the same thing, as the mayor (Tom Sidney) and the CAQ (Gloria Raybone) were both on the hot seat at the beginning of last Tuesday’s meeting of Renfrew Town Council. 

The accountability piece in question had to do with the mayor cancelling the scheduled Council Meeting for September 9, the reasons given at the time being there were too many questions expected to come forward, and the staff needed additional time to prepare responses for those anticipated questions.

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INDISPENSABLE? INDEFENSIBLE?

The first thing I noticed was the seating plan. 

As a former teacher, changes to seating plans were almost traumatic events for students since they had no idea what neighbourhood of the classroom they may be calling their new home, and, of course, had no idea of who their new neighbours might be.  No matter the intent behind the seating shift, it was inevitable that some students would be delighted by the change, with others less so.  And the major determining factor as to whether you were a “winner” or a “loser” was entirely social, and having to do with friends, or possibly a lack thereof.

I tuned in to the Renfrew Town Council live-feed after-the-fact, viewing it this morning rather than putting myself through the whole death by a thousand cuts experience you get when you attend in person.  And the first thing I noticed was what I call the head table, the one where the big cheeses sit, the mayor — Head of Council — the CAO, and the Clerk.

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JOHN EXPLAINS STRONG MAYOR POWERS

To me, John has the appearance of being a very nice man, one with an impressive resume and one who happens to be an “expert” on Strong Mayor Powers.

John appeared via video link at the last meeting of Renfrew Clown Council, where he was tasked with walking everyone through the democratic abomination of small mayor powers as handed over to any municipality with a McDonalds and a set of street lights.  So Renfrew gets included, because we have those traffic lights, and even a Wendy’s, so game on.

One minor, yet annoying thing about John, though, is that neither God nor his parents apparently gave him a last name, which I’m absolutely cool with in theory, it’s just that I thought that practice was limited to Brazilian soccer stars and Indonesian dictators.

But I don’t make the rules.  Small town strong mayors do.  If a guy doesn’t want a last name, then he doesn’t have to have one.  Unless a strong mayor comes along and makes him.

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THE KEYBOARD WARRIORS

Am I a keyboard warrior?

The term was used by Mayor Tom Sidney to describe somebody, or somebodies, who level commentary and/or criticism of Council decisions, actions, inactions, and procedures.

It would seem that, by this comment, the mayor is demonstrating the possibility that such commentary, from whatever source or sources, is starting to strike a bit of a nerve, if that nerve hasn’t been tweaked before.

The comment came as Council was discussing debt load, debentures, and possible impact on rate levies, which is municipal-speak for the amount of money you pay in property taxes.

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