A blunder of epic proportions? A sobering display of supreme incompetence and ineptitude? A total failure of communications, direction, and leadership? An underhanded excuse to hand our municipal water services over to a private corporation without public consultation? A rudderless municipal government fumbling from one crisis to the next with
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Scripturient: Council’s Frenzied, Deranged, and Expensive Obsession Over the SVJI
Three hundred seventy-nine boxes and one hundred binders. That’s what EPCOR has delivered to town hall for town staff to comb through looking for… well, no one knows yet. Maybe heffalumps. And it will occupy a considerable amount of the time for the town’s $216,000-a-year CAO to go through them
Continue readingScripturient: County’s Lukewarm Response to SVJI
Seems our mayor failed to get the response from the county for the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI) he hoped for. Rather than welcoming the report with open arms, Simcoe County Council seemed hesitant to do more than what appears a token gesture of support “in principle.” One
Continue readingScripturient: Saunderson Failed to Engage Public on SVJI
Despite his continuing efforts to promote and lavish public funds on the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI), our mayor has again failed to make the public interested in his expensive report. The latest foray into self-promotion was the virtual “public meeting” held last week (the first public meeting
Continue readingScripturient: Fixing Collingwood’s Streets
While our council has been obsessed with the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI) and lavishing all our tax dollars and their time promoting its often redundant or irrelevant recommendations, most of our residents have been focused on things that actually matter. Such as the sad condition of our
Continue readingScripturient: Council Rewards Its Friend. Again.
Our council has found yet another way to reward its friend, despite the recommendations in the report from the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI) warning about “apparent” conflicts of interest with friends. Page 7 of the full SVJI report states (emphasis added): Councillors and staff should avoid providing
Continue readingScripturient: An Example Our Mayor Should Follow
In a recent story in the Quinte News (March 31, 2021) the headline told us, “Belleville Councillor Ryan Williams has resigned from Belleville City Council.” Williams was elected the federal Conservative candidate for the Bay of Quinte riding for the next federal election, and instead of staying on in council
Continue readingScripturient: Does Collingwood Mislead its Citizens?
The town’s “engage” page for the upcoming “public” (virtual) meeting about the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI) contains a deception (emphasis added): “The original estimated budget for the Collingwood Judicial Inquiry was $1.6 million. To date, the Town has processed and paid over $7 million. The costs will
Continue readingScripturient: Once Upon a Time in Collingwood
MORE THAN SIX MONTHS after council received the final report from the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI), council has finally seen fit to hold a (virtual) public meeting about it (April 7). Given their history of secrecy and deception, I suspect most of them begrudge even that one “public”
Continue readingScripturient: Council Just Waves Its Hands
Council waving its hands. Making ineffective flapping gestures. It sounds like it should be some sort of metaphorical phrase. Something from the Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra episode of Star Trek. But hand-waving is actually a metaphorical term that means failure to deliver the goods. And also trying to deflect
Continue readingScripturient: Quidnuncs on Council
A quidnunc is “a small-minded person, focused on petty things.” That’s how Gord Hume describes them in chapter five of his book, Taking Back Our Cities (Municipal World, 2011). Hume adds, “We have far too many of them on municipal councils across Canada.” I wonder what he’d say if he
Continue readingScripturient: Collingwood’s Version of QAnon: the SVJI
A story in CollingwoodToday titled, Council orders CAO to sift through old COLLUS documents kept by EPCOR shows just how far into the conspiracy pit they have dug themselves. They are so totally obsessed with the events of a decade ago, that they happily continue to waste administrative staff time
Continue readingScripturient: Why Won’t Council Answer Megarry?
Collingwood resident John Megarry is asking of council the tough questions our lackadaisical local media should be asking. But he’s not getting any replies. In fact, he’s being stonewalled. (You can see the video of the latest council meeting here, with Megarry’s deputation starting at 0:15:22).* To date, Megarry has
Continue readingScripturient: Floccinaucinihilipilification in Collingwood
Floccinaucinihilipilification*, the longest non-technical word in the English language, is when you consider something to be unimportant, worthless, useless, or generally valueless. Basically, it means it’s rubbish. As Robert Heinlein wrote in a 1951 scifi novel: Digby was a floccinaucinihilipilificator at heart—which is an eight-dollar word meaning a joker who
Continue readingScripturient: Let’s Play “Spread the Virus!”
I see Collingwood Council wants the province to end the lockdown, but hasn’t said anything about improving public safety if that happens. That suggests to me they are okay if the coronavirus spreads again, and strains our hospital’s already stretched capacity to deal with it. At least, that’s the message
Continue readingScripturient: Berman’s Cowardly Comment
Late last month, Collingwood council heard from the town’s inquiry legal team* justifying the cost of the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI), which many residents feel was an exorbitant waste of our tax dollars. The Collingwood Connection reported that Councillor Berman engaged in a to-and-fro with Will McDowell
Continue readingScripturient: The Inquiry Cost $250,000 More? Were We Lied To?
Former councillor Tim Fryer is back on the agenda this coming week, making another delegation to the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee about the true costs of the judicial inquiry (aka the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry, or SVJI). I admire Tim’s tenacity at trying to get the truth out to the
Continue readingScripturient: Still Can’t Escape the B.S. (Brian Saunderson)
It’s late February as I write this and still our mayor, Brian Saunderson, refuses to do the ethical, the moral, and the RIGHT thing for the town and resign his office while he openly hunts for another, out-of-town, better-paying job.* It’s been more than a month since he admitted he
Continue readingScripturient: Another Sad Day for Collingwood
It’s sad to see any council devolve into pettiness and paranoia, but not surprising when this thin-skinned group does. In a story on CollingwoodToday, council voted 4-3* to censor “fact-check” letters or comments from the public. It’s so very Stalinist of them that they need staff to ensure the public’s
Continue readingScripturient: Should Children be Recruited in Party Politics?
I found these lines in Brian Saunderson’s latest job-hunting email somewhat tone deaf: It is also interesting that a 14-year-old can purchase a membership and vote in the Nomination process. If you have any family members who live in Simcoe Grey Riding who are interested, it is an opportunity for
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