Political Stench from Region?

Political Stench from Region?

There they sit, all seeing, all knowing, all telling, partially informed scribes of record diligently going about their business of witnessing the Niagara Regional Chair and Councilors play council.

It’s the press and wannabe press that we are talking about. Some twitting out snide remarks about this or that as if their comments were of some value. All the while they seem to be oblivious of the political intrigue being played out before them. Surely it makes one wonder if the gaps in their reports are based on their personal political preferences.

Round #1 - They sat there all through the attempt to bar the public from the public forum without a peep in their grand news media. http://www.niagarawinnerscircle.com/Inventing-Darkness.html  On the recommendation of The Secret ‘Council Organization Review Committee’ (CORC) whose members were Regional Chairman *Partington, Councillors Baty, Augustyn, Burroughs, *Casselman, Cordiner, Greenwood, *Heit, Henderson, Lepp, Marshall, *McMullan, Puttick, *Rigby, Saracino, Smeaton and *Timms  (* St. Catharines Councillors) they voted for the blackout.

It was the NWC that had to break the story that the whole of Regional Council voted September 23, 2010 that, ‘delegations {Individuals} shall not be permitted to appear at Council Meetings’.

Round #2 - Two years later the serious psychological tsunami happened which caused the ‘good ole’ boys club’ of the Regional Council near cardiac arrest when a known ‘questioner of political conduct’ had been duly elected as a member of their ‘private country club’. They found the threat so great that they started a whisper campaign of false accusations against this perceived enemy. They went so far as to create a fictitious ‘straw man’ under the pseudonym of ‘Tim Lewis’ to lay spurious charges against their perceived enemy. Even with the admission from St. Catharines’ Mayor Brian McMullan that he knew the people behind this criminal act there was no inquiry or even discernible concern from Regional Chair Gary Burroughs.  ...and these are the councillors demanding an ‘Integrity Commissioner’?

Note: Both McMullan and Burroughs were members of the secret CORC committee.

Round #3 - A year later Preston Haskell went before the committee of the whole to question the need for adding yet another bureaucrat to the public taxes only to be insulted by Pelham Mayor and Regional Councilor Dave Augustyn who said the presentation was so full of errors that he couldn’t vote to have it accepted into the record! http://www.niagarawinnerscircle.com/Presentation-to-Regional-Council.html and http://www.niagarawinnerscircle.com/Niagara-Region-MEMORANDUM.html

Would Mayor Dave Augustyn of anti-property rights notoriety                                                      http://newsalertniagara.blogspot.ca/2012/07/citizens-or-subjects.html  have been so demonstrative if the committee meeting had been on camera? 

Regional councillor, Augustine was another member of the secret CORC committee!

Round#4 - Regional councillor and St. Catharines City Mayor Brian McMullan is at it again. According to McMullan’s own words regarding the ‘Tim Lewis fiasco’, McMullan and the ‘old guard’ are once more attempting to muzzle, gag, silence and control any of the new councilors who have the audacity and temerity to not follow in lockstep with the old guard’s tax and spend autocracy.

 The ‘old guard’, which have been in power for so long that they think they have the right to demand that the new councillors follow orders and not question the senior councilors or even the bureaucrats.

In other words, ‘don’t rock the boat’ if you know what’s good for you.

Round#5 – Observing the machinations of our Niagara Regional Council leads one to the conclusion that former councilor Peter Kormos hit the nail right on the head with his stated opinion the there should be no mayors on Niagara Regional Council.

The preponderance of the dreaded parochialism stems from the individual mayor’s efforts toward self-interest.

They are not elected members of the Regional Council! They are elected mayors by the citizens of their specific communities. The twelve mayors (12 of 30) start in a conflict of interest they hold too great a sway over council decisions, often attempting to mutually benefit themselves and maybe even their community at the expense of the region.

The twelve mayors are a corruption to our democratic process.

Therein lies the cause of acrimony toward any who would stand in the way of parochialism.

The conduct of the ‘old guard’ is evidenced by their repeated attacks, without evidence, against those that resist simply following the ‘old guard’s’ wishes. We have already witnessed their use of false accusations. When it suits their purpose they regularly disclose items that are supposed to be confidential from ‘in camera’ sessions.

Thanks to outfits like the St. Catharines Standard they can hide behind pseudonyms to bully and libel anyone that they feel is a threat to their autocratic predilections.

· They target their un-favored councilors for missing a meeting, while they do it regularly.

· They scream about bullying, while they bully their un-favored councillors constantly.

· They openly insult their un-favored from the floor of council.

· They cut short un-favored councillors who are trying to defend taxpayers.

· They hold to their disgusting scheme to block presenters from council meetings.

· They conspire to denigrate, by false accusations, anyone not conforming. Stay Tuned...

   The current mix of councilors have created the fastest growing entity in Niagara. The words on our coat of arms reads UNITY - RESPONSIBILITY - LOYALTY. However, with the current mix, and without term limits, our region will and has stagnated into a chaotic, fallible and enigmatic financial morass.

What do you call it when you continually do the same thing and expect different results?