A classic play to the crowds
In a masterful piece of political puffery the Cobourg Council led by the Mayor played to the standing room only crowd in the room. This story recounts the action last night. Essentially the Mayor trotted out some memories of a free beach and said he would do what he could. Which by the way, if the owners stand firm, is very little.
If the Mayor and Council were serious about this they would have studied the existing legal opinions gathered over the past four years and actually done something. Blaming failed negotiations and obdurate owners is not good enough. If expropriation is an answer do it. Council was approached by a citizen in 2007 who asked for something to be done. and nothing was done. Amazing what can be done with a packed room. But remember when we were told that 2500 names on a petition was not good enough, good on the 150 who went to Council last night. Getting in the faces of Pols actually does work. But as with many other Councils this Council has been guilty of saying yes to a crowd and then disappearing into the backroom to discover that it could not be done. So the crowd should expect to be disappointed. And as for the offer that the Beach Society is making, "We will clean it up and police it" Didn't work so well for the Ecology Garden did it?
A suggestion from Michael Moore designed to drive the Cons nuts. In this story MM, the filmmaker of "Roger and Me" fame suggests what Obama should do to make GM work.
If the Mayor and Council were serious about this they would have studied the existing legal opinions gathered over the past four years and actually done something. Blaming failed negotiations and obdurate owners is not good enough. If expropriation is an answer do it. Council was approached by a citizen in 2007 who asked for something to be done. and nothing was done. Amazing what can be done with a packed room. But remember when we were told that 2500 names on a petition was not good enough, good on the 150 who went to Council last night. Getting in the faces of Pols actually does work. But as with many other Councils this Council has been guilty of saying yes to a crowd and then disappearing into the backroom to discover that it could not be done. So the crowd should expect to be disappointed. And as for the offer that the Beach Society is making, "We will clean it up and police it" Didn't work so well for the Ecology Garden did it?
A suggestion from Michael Moore designed to drive the Cons nuts. In this story MM, the filmmaker of "Roger and Me" fame suggests what Obama should do to make GM work.
10 comments:
What I expect from Cobourg Council on the waterfront access issue starts like Ben predicts; that they will go into the back room and figure out they can't afford to do anything.
But then, LO and BEHOLD, one of them, maybe Spooner the pretend populist, will recall how a noble group of commited citizens organized, fund raised, and bought the north west corner of Victoria Park, site of the former Chateau Hotel.
Following this revelation it will be enthusiastically endorsed by the other councillors, and all will declare they have every confidence that Mr. Cairns and his many supporters will be able to do the same now and save our precious waterfront for all eternity with no need for Council to take any leadership whatsoever.
There, problem solved, and Council can go back to designing their ultimate monument to themselves, the community centre.
DJO
Enjoyed reading Michael Moore's article very much about the demise of GM and what Obama should do to fix it.
The part I liked best was seeing that Mr. Moore is very much in sync with another of my favourite philosopher types, one James Howard Kunstler of upstate New York.
He does a weekly blog too, and this week was talking about taking a trip through Watertown up into our part of southern Ontario, and the comparisons he made were most astute. Lots of interesting comments being posted too, from folks on both sides of the border.
At least with the WWW and blogs like these (including this one) it's possible to reduce the lonely sense of isolation that many of us with alternative viewpoints suffer frequently.
In solidarity!
Deb Haynes O'Connor
So what's the going price for 35 metres * the lot width, of shoreline property these days?
What is the use of fund raising if the property owner declines to sell? Do the funds raised go into an account where it might have an opportunity to purchase property in a future generation? It's not a good sell for raising funds.
a.k.a. Michael Moron
"With the WWW and blogs like these ... it's possible to reduce the ... sense of isolation...."
Precisely! Here is how Mary Pipher described Writing for Change:
"Good writing connects people with one another, to other living creatures, to stories and ideas, and to action.... Writing to connect is empathy training. And as Gloria Steinem once said, 'Empathy is the most revolutionary of emotions.'"
--from Writing to Change the World
Thanks, Ben, for starting this discussion. I humbly offer a correction to your original post and to Wally's comment:
1) The NT article states that Cobourg Beach Society spokesperson Robert Cairns said that the beach park would be "kept clean with help from the group and kept peaceable by police patrol." The article does not state the group itself offered to police the park, as you state. Perhaps you are quoting a different source.
2) The NT article states that presenter Howie McCourt called for the process to create a park "be completed within a year, the lands acquired either through donation, token fees or expropriation." This last alternative speaks to Wally's concern that the property owner might decline to sell.
I am happy that the DBS has done something and, further, that Cobourg Council has responded as it did. No, the story is not over, but, Yes, Monday ended differently than it began.
Darned if I can find who said that Intelligent minds can find intelligent reasons for doing nothing. I'm very happy that some intelligent people in Cobourg found reasons for doing something.
PS to Wally. I take it, not that you think Michael Moore is dim, but that you disagree with his values and his opinions. A truly muscular poet can say as much is a way that makes us laugh rather than cringe. You are up to the job, Wally. Just do it.
When I spoke about "policing" I meant the the general well being and cleanliness offer. Who will be picking up the paraphernalia that is offensive now? Why the CBS, but how long will that last?
As well expropriation is a drastic step and obviously takes place as a last resort but it does have to follow on to a demonstrated public need, as opposed to "public domain" in the US where a government can take anything it wants at any time. How will the public need be demonstrated? A couple of speeches by people representing, at last count, 200 members. This Council rejected a 2500 name petition not so long ago as not representative. Stay tuned it could get messy.
Michael was brilliant with Roger and Me. Unfortunately, he thereafter took himself seriously.
This mornings gazette has a letter by Richard Bridges, which states, "If the land owner's deed states 'to the water line,' this would be the line on the original deed, not today."
Bridges further wonders whether the grantor of the deed had the right to issue such a deed.
Bridges bills himself as an anthropoligist, not a lawyer, so his opinion may be worth exactly what we are paying for it.
Even so, the beach ball is rolling--now if you, John, et. al. will keep your eyes on it....
As of 10:30 AM this morning, Bridges letter wasn't in the online edition.
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