council's grading

[Pookster]

I was just wondering if anyone was commenting on the Whig's latest "grading" of council and then the next paper's article on the new bylaw as "a clear violation of local democray".

[macphail]

Like about the relationship between Rosen's score and the slow erosion of democracy in the name of efficiency?

D.

[Pookster]

Could not have said it better myself ... anyone else concerned? What to do ....?

[macphail]

What to do ....?Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much the average citizen can do. Local government is supposed to be the level of government closest to the people...but not here in Kingston. Rather, Kingston's local government is closest to the people with money and their friends.

I'm not going to mince words here: The solution is to scrap a majority of the council and start fresh. Perhaps then, some of the fossils and deadwood will be removed and fresh ideas will result.

We need a mayor and council that is open and accountable to the people and with an agenda that considers the community as a whole - not just the downtown or special projects in select wards/districts.

For Rosen to get an A- shows the bias of the Whig, a bias they have denied since Rosen announced he was running for mayor. Deny it all they want, I learned before he had declared his candidacy that the Whig would be pushing for his election (an unnamed source on the inside). How can Rosen get an A- when he has "lead" a council that has done more to decimate community spirit and cohesion more than any Mayor and council previously?!

This council has disgusted me so much that when asked if I would consider running again, I have said "no". I am that fed up with these people that I don't even bother attending council meetings any longer.

The people of this city need to think about what kind of city they want to build, and then carefully consider the options placed before them during the next election.

Cheers, Derek

[fsrvival]

Excellent post, Derek. I agree with you entirely.

My personal opinion is that people are too zombied-out by consumerism / celeb-fetishism etc to get involved. As long as their hormonal buttons are getting pushed (cortisol, endorphins, ... ) and the paychecks are rolling in they aren't going to think about anything.

Less than 1% of the population in this city has any idea what's going on - and what chance do we stand of making any kind of a dent in the situation?

Maybe I'm naive, but I still hold out hope for legal challenges to the really corrupt and anti-democratic stuff. But that takes a huge amount of concerted effort and of course money. Could we interest George Soros, I wonder? (See http://www.soros.org/

:-)

[Emerald]

Councillors are just like us -- people with all the strengths and weaknesses we display. Change comes slowly and each of us can influence the direction of our municipality if we take the time to dig in. (there are lots of good examples of this). Allegations of corruptions MUST be documented. Don't allude - spell it out! Then we can deal with it.