DIPLOMACY, GENTLE NEGOTIATION, AND BEING THANKFUL FOR SMALL GAINS?
SO WHERE HAS THIS GOT US SO FAR?
I THREW OUT A CHALLENGE TO GRAVENHURST COUNCIL MORE THAN A MONTH AGO, TO MEET THE PUBLIC FOR A TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY "Q. AND A." I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A SHOW OF TRANSPARENCY, AND RESPECT FOR DEMOCRACY, IF COUNCILLORS WOULD AGREE TO A BEAR-PIT KIND OF EVENT, AT THE OPERA HOUSE (WINTER'S COMING WITH AN UNFINISHED ROOF), WHERE THEY COULD ENTERTAIN ALL KINDS OF PUBLIC COMMENT. MAYBE SOME TESTIMONIALS ON THEIR BEHALF. POSSIBLY AN OVATION OR TWO FOR A JOB WELL DOWN, FOR HALF THE MUNICIPAL TERM OF OFFICE. AND, OF COURSE, I IMAGINE THERE ARE A FEW CONSTITUENTS OUT THERE, WHO WOULD LIKE TO VENT A LITTLE FRUSTRATION AS WELL. THERE MAY BE SOME TOUGH QUESTIONS, AND IT COULD GET UNCOMFORTABLE FOR A FEW COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES, WHO AREN'T BIG ON ANSWERING PUBLIC CONCERNS, UNLESS THERE'S A VOTE IN IT FOR THEM. I DO KNOW OF TWO COUNCILLORS WHO WOULD ATTEND. BUT IT REALLY DOES DEPEND ON A COUNCIL AGREEMENT, TO HOST SUCH AN EVENT, WITH ALL COUNCILLORS ASKED TO PARTICIPATE. OF COURSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO. IT WOULD CLEAR THE AIR. ALLOW AT LEAST ONE COUNCILLOR, GETTING ALL THE HEAT THESE DAYS, TO SPEAK TO THE PUBLIC HONESTLY, REGARDING HER CONCERNS ABOUT THE HIGHWAY II CORRIDOR EXPROPRIATIONS. I THINK WE COULD FILL A VENUE RATHER NICELY. COMFORTABLY. AND WHO IS TO SAY, IT WOULDN'T BE AN ENTIRELY AMICABLE AFFAIR. BUT THERE IS NO MANDATE FOR THEM TO HOST SUCH A MEETING. IF THEY DON'T HAVE TO…..THEY WON'T. THEY PREFER TO DEFER! EXCEPT OF COURSE IF ANYONE USES "NAZISM" TO EXPRESS THEIR OUTRAGE. EVEN THE PRESS GOES APE SHIT OVER SOMETHING LIKE THIS, BECAUSE FRANKLY, IT'S BEEN SO DULL IN THAT COUNCIL CHAMBER, EVEN HEARING A ONE CHEEK SNEAK COULD MAKE IT TO THE FRONT PAGE.
WHEN I SUGGESTED IT, AND QUITE A FEW PEOPLE DID MAKE COMMENT THAT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA, I KNEW THERE WAS NO WAY IN HELL THIS WOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. I'M USED TO MAKING SUGGESTIONS, TO DEAD AIR MOSTLY. AND LIKE TURNING DOWN ANY DEAD END ROAD, YOU JUST TURN AROUND, BACKTRACK, AND THINK OF ANOTHER APPROACH. WHEN I RECOMMENDED THE ESTABLISHMENT, RECENTLY, OF AN OPERA HOUSE ADVOCACY GROUP, I KNEW THERE WAS MORE LIKELIHOOD OF MY HAIR GROWING BACK, THAN COUNCIL TAKING THE MATTER SERIOUSLY. IT'S THE RIGHT IDEA BUT UNLESS THEY INVENT IT THEMSELVES, (WHICH I WOULD LET THEM HAVE FOR FREE) NOTHING WILL HAPPEN UNTIL THE OPERA HOUSE IS DEALT WITH BY A MORE PROGRESSIVE COUNCIL, WE WILL ELECT TWO YEARS FROM NOW. I EVEN SUGGESTED THAT COUNCILLORS OPEN UP TO THE PRESS, AND PROVIDE REPORTERS WITH INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES ON A MONTHLY BASIS. I EVEN OFFERED TO DO COUNCILLOR INTERVIEWS MYSELF, TO GIVE THEM SOME AIR TIME. THE CONDITION BEING, I WOULDN'T GIVE THEM THE QUESTIONS IN ADVANCE. SO I'M NOT REALLY SURPRISED I HAVEN'T HAD ANY COUNCILLOR RING ME UP TO DO AN INTERVIEW. WHY WOULD THEY? WHAT'S IN IT FOR THEM? FOR ONE THING, I'D GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO GIVE ME CRAP, AND FOR THIS, GEEZ, WHAT A FUN TIME THAT WOULD BE. IF I CAN DISH IT OUT, I CAN TAKE IT.
LIKE I'VE WRITTEN MANY TIMES BEFORE, I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF NEWSPAPER WARS HERE IN SOUTH MUSKOKA, AND IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES FOR CONSTITUENTS WHO GOT THE BIG SCOOPS BY HUNGRY REPORTERS. TODAY? LET'S JUST CALL IT "NEWS LIGHT," AND INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM ISN'T A BIG PRIORITY. IF THE WORD "NAZISM" HADN'T BEEN USED THIS WEEK, BY ONE PISSED OFF COUNCILLOR, GEEZ, WHAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ITS PLACE? SHE GAVE THEM SOME HEADLINE INK. IT WALKED RIGHT TO THEM. AND THEY MADE IT INTO WHAT, I'M SURE THEY THOUGHT WAS GOING TO MAKE THE NATIONAL NEWS. THE BIG PAY-OFF OF CUB REPORTING. WITHOUT ONE WORD, TO EXPLOIT, THE STORY IS PRETTY MUCH RUN-OF-THE-MILL WOULDN'T YOU SAY, IN TERMS OF OOMPH? IT WAS A SHARP CRITICISM BY AN ASTUTE, KNOWLEDGABLE COUNCILLOR. AND THE HIGHWAY CORRIDOR PROPERTY OWNERS NEED TO BE ABLE TO TELL THEIR STORIES, AND KNOW THAT COUNCIL IS WORKING ON THEIR BEHALF. BUT THE WORD IN QUESTION WAS THE BIG HOLLOW FIZZ…..THE MEDIA FELT IT WAS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT TO HIGHLIGHT. THE GIFT QUOTE OF THE YEAR! AS I WROTE LAST EVENING, THE COUNCILLOR USED THE WORD TO REFERENCE AN UNDEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE MODEL. TO MY KNOWLEDGE, SHE DIDN'T REFER TO THEM AS A BUNCH OF NAZIS, OR USE IT WITH ANY RACIST INTENT. AS FAR AS GRAVENHURST COUNCIL RECOVERING FROM THIS ALLEGED SLUR…..GIVE US A BREAK. GRAVENHURST COUNCIL HAS A LOT OF MAKING UP TO DO, ALRIGHT, BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH A COUNCILLOR'S ROBUST DESCRIPTION OF QUEEN'S PARK CIVIL SERVANTS.
THE POINT OF THIS ALL? THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME MUNICIPAL CHANGES IN GRAVENHURST. BIG TIME. AND BEFORE THERE IS ANY JOCKEYING FOR POSITION, FOR THE NEXT MUNICIPAL ELECTION, THERE'S GOING TO BE A FAR GREATER PUBLIC SCRUTINY TO GET RID OF THE POPULARITY CONTEST ONCE AND FOR ALL; AND ELECT PEOPLE WHO AREN'T THERE JUST FOR THE CELEBRITY OF ELECTED OFFICE…..BUT WHO ARE BUSINESS-TOUGH, OUTSPOKEN, WELL-SPOKEN, WILLING TO SPEAK WITHOUT THE MUZZLE, SUPER RESILIENT, HIGHLY COMPETITIVE, AND A LITTLE COMBATIVE, WHEN IT COMES TO REPRESENTING US…….THE CONSTITUENTS, WHO COUNT ON OUR TOWN TO TAKE OUR ISSUES AND CONCERNS WITH THE ZEAL OF A CHAMPION. A TALL ORDER? WE SHOULD MAKE IT A TALL ORDER, BECAUSE WE ARE GOING INTO AN ECONOMIC DECLINE THAT WILL BE MEMORABLE…..AND WE NEED COUNCILLORS WHO HAVE THE COURAGE TO DEAL WITH OUTRAGEOUSLY PRECARIOUS SITUATIONS.
ECONOMIC WOES WILL STRESS EVERY PART OF THIS COMMUNITY AND DISTRICT
The other night I was watching the evening news, and I was absolutely stunned, to see the huge turn-out of job seekers, for a new box store in Toronto I believe. It was said that there were 40 applicants for each job, and the line began early in the morning, and stretched around several blocks. Many of the jobs were part-time. It didn't matter, as one young man said. "I just lost a job, so part-time is better than nothing at all." He's right. It was worth lining up for hours. With what the Bank of Canada is warning about huge household debt, and the necessity, at some point, of raising interest rates, one expects with all the warnings about this inevitability, that the big giant heads of economics in this country, know how serious it could get if something goes tilt in the near future. The European debt crisis is worsening, with many countries there, are already in recession, with riots in the streets, in countries like Greece, where austerity measures have killed whatever economy was left after the initial rounds of cost cutting, and government collapses.
Now Canadian household debt is at record levels. It's a record we don't want, and can't live with. I think it was in the area of $1.65. So for every buck we earn, we spend $1.65. That can't be good over the long haul. We've got young people in our community holding $200,000 dollar plus mortgages. They tell us we won't have a bubble-burst like they did in the United States five years ago….which is still hurting them today, and nothing like the real estate depression of the late 1980's, and early 90's, which nearly cost us our new house……that lost forty thousand dollars in value in two years. Even then, we couldn't sell it. No one could. So having a recession now, as a rebound of the small one we just came through, could be catastrophic……and I do pity the folks who have mortgages in the nose bleed section. I've been there, and it's lucky we had a home economist and a modern day homesteader in this family, because we had to fall back on a lot of skills dating back to our grandparents and their parents. I had has as many patches on my pants as an adult, as I did as a kid……and yes, they did call me "Patches." They even called Andrew "Patches" because his mom had to sew a small one, on the knee of brand new trousers. So what? He and his brother grew up resourceful, and learned how to get what they want without depending on a bank. They have a solid six year old business without a penny of credit. Not once have they bought anything on credit, short or long. We saw what happened to businesses indebted to banks, when the going got tough…..and they wanted their money back.
I don't believe this economic catastrophe is imminent. I think it will hit us hard in a year or two, just about the time we're looking at replacing Gravenhurst Council, with a group of councillors who will have constitutions to fit the requirement…..and it may be a bleak environs. Just about every week, I hear about another economic woe in the business community of South Muskoka. Is it the seasonal thing? I hope so. But the social calamity that may exist two years from now, is going to take this being a "councillor thing" to a new level of commitment……and yes, it can't be business as usual……because it won't work. The next time we put our faith in democracy, we want a much greater, more tithed commitment from our elected officials……that they won't just say, while walking into town hall, "nuts to you, we're in charge now!" They may not have said this in chorus, using these words, but everything I see, hear and read today, suggests they were thinking it!
Our Council has a chance to make the last two years better and more productive than the first two. They need to stop worrying about their tidy little protocols, and political correctness for a few moments, and start having a really good discussion…….in private, if must be, to break away from the quiet, gentle, unassuming, unresponsive council, and give us the representation we want……big, bold, loud, aggressive, stalwart, determined and absolutely in the free spirit of democracy. There's still a chance. I don't want anyone to resign. I want them to sense and research public opinion today, about their term of office, and decide to do something about it……and not just showing up for grip and grin photographs, to show their "public" side. They need to demonstrate leadership above and beyond what they think they are accomplishing at this moment. If they think the public loves them, then they are delusional. If they are worried about their public perception, they should be. It's all salvageable. If there is a will to do so.
As for the Opera House roof. We need an advocacy group, now! That would be a brilliant first step in responsible stewardship for that historic building. It would show that council knows it's the right move at the right time. They have a quandary about the Opera House…..and they need more time to study the issue. No they don't. They need to appoint a committee of people, who do know what to do!
Thank you for joining me today. Thanks to your support, I'm well on my way to 27,000 hits since last fall, and for a small time blogger, this is pretty impressive. Especially seeing as I haven't resorted to writing blogs about celebrities to get cheap hits. So thanks again for you patience and loyalty. By the way, I have just set up my new writing office in the former Muskoka Theatre building, where our boys have their music shop, and beginning on December first, I will be writing from their antique shop daily, to present my Gravenhurst Christmas blog, until New Years day. No politics. Just stories about our town, at this festive time of the year. You're always welcome to drop in and visit
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