Category: Entitlement

Mayor and Council: Absque Verecundia

Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour2 Comments

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The same year Columbus set sail west for unknown lands, Sir John Kendal received a stern admonition in writing from the council of King Henry VII, of which he was part. The reproof, written in Latin, was for publishing self-serving documents meant to promote his goal to be appointed prior of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in England. He put his own ambitions above his responsibilities to the realm. Sounds like a few local politicians, doesn’t it? The chastising document described Kendal’s behaviour as “absque verecundia” which meant “without shame, shameless, lacking respect.” The word verecundia also means ……… click below for more ↓

Petitioning Mayor Saunderson to Actually Act Like a Mayor

Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour / Ineptitude and bungling5 Comments

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There’s a petition being shared online that calls on Mayor Brian Saunderson to actually do his job as head of council and discipline the misbehaving Councillor Madigan. You can read my post about Madigan’s behaviour here, and download a PDF copy of the petition here (or download a Word version here). I doubt he will heed it, but I admire the sentiment. After all, Saunderson has yet to show he actually cares about his role as mayor or even about the community he was elected to lead. And his favourite, Madigan, has been acting puerile for too long to change. ……… click below for more ↓

Why is Our Mayor Being Sued?

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaignLeave a comment

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Ontario civil court records found online show our Mayor, Brian Saunderson, is listed as the first defendant in a recent lawsuit, along with his allegedly former employers. The lawsuit is for $150,000 and was filed Sept. 17, 2019. The plaintiff is Grand Mortgage Investment Corporation, which the Financial Services Registry Authority office shows has a local office at 192 First Street, in Collingwood, with John Dopp listed as the mortgage administrator. M. Christopher Diamond, of DiamondPantel LLP, is listed as the company’s legal representative. I have not yet found other details about the lawsuit, or why Saunderson is the only ……… click below for more ↓

More Disrespect From Madigan

Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement4 Comments

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After my last post, I was informed about a similar incident of disrespectful behaviour during a previous public council meeting this year. It’s also by Councillor Bob “Lapdog” Madigan. And again his disrespect is again aimed towards female council members. Are you seeing a trend here? And why are local media silent about what seems to be abusive behaviour? The meeting was held March 15, 2021, and the discussion in question was about spending taxpayers’ money to create yet more work for staff on Saunderson’s Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (the SVJI) and his vendetta against people who thwarted his personal ambitions ……… click below for more ↓

What is Council Trying to Hide?

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Legal issues2 Comments

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In an article in CollingwoodToday titled 18 simple rules? Council receives draft of new Code of Conduct, we learn that council is looking to update and revise its current Code of Conduct. Again. The article says, A new set of 18 rules aims to help town councillors navigate the sometimes-complicated situations they may find themselves in through their public service roles. You’d almost think it was a good thing when the article adds that the proposed code “seeks to incorporate recommendations to tighten up and clarify the rules for councillors, members of committees and local boards based on recommendations out ……… click below for more ↓

Our Scruffy, Run-Down Town

Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / Staff and administration5 Comments

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There’s a gravel trail that runs along the waterfront, north of the Shipyards development, that’s been blocked by barricades since the spring. It’s been that way at least six months, perhaps longer. The path suffered erosion and some holes opened up along it. These were marked by barricades. Sort of. Most of the barricades collapsed some weeks (months?) ago, but no one from the town has bothered to pick them up. Yet someone from the town regularly fills the nearby dog mitt dispenser on the trail, so that person or persons must see the fallen barricade every time they do ……… click below for more ↓

I Miss Collingwood’s Elvis Festival

Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Financial follies / Ineptitude and bungling3 Comments

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I miss Collingwood’s Elvis Festival. It was a weekend full of visitors, friends, music, entertainment, dancing, and fun. But it was killed in 2019 by a council that dislikes others having fun. Elvis was too loose, too free, too liberal, too wild for their puritanical tastes. Couldn’t have people dancing and singing in the streets, drinking, laughing, and enjoying themselves, could we? Fun, it seems, can only be something our dour, Soviet-style council mandates, and only under the strictest supervision and oversight.  The Elvis Festival was a kitschy delight that drew thousands to the town, gave the community worldwide publicity, ……… click below for more ↓

Why Are Council’s Conflicts of Interest Being Ignored?

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaign7 Comments

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While local media focuses on our revenge-obsessed council’s myopic intent to punish people who committed no crimes, merely thwarted their Great Leader’s personal ambitions in 2012, they blithely overlook the bigger issue at the council table: conflicts of interest. Avoiding even the appearance of conflict is at the core of the recommendations in the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI), yet these recommendations are routinely ignored at the council table. I have written about and documented them here in detail, but local media also ignores them. Not a word on these conflicts gets published. That’s troubling. We know that ……… click below for more ↓

Council: Disarray, Disunited, Disrespectful

Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement2 Comments

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Chris Pott’s latest blog post, titled “Council in Major Disarray” captures in part the stumbling, bumbling, and fumbling in-fighting that has become endemic in our council and is now on view for the public’s entertainment. Potts writes: Collingwood, when council starts fighting amongst themselves, you know we are in trouble. We already knew we were on the brink of disaster but this now confirms we are heading down a bad path. This dumpster fire has been ongoing for a while, although not as often in public. Those closed doors that our council loves to scurry behind are said to shield ……… click below for more ↓

Yet More Secrecy From Council

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / EntitlementOne Comment

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A “special” council meeting has been called for May 19. Now, when this council says ‘special” they almost always mean they scurry behind closed doors to avoid public scrutiny of their machinations. And, yep, they’re at it again: locking themselves away from the public eye, and sending a clear message about the credibility of their promised openness and transparency. The topic of discussion this time? Cultural Awareness Training.” Since when was that something that should be done in secret? That seems the sort of education that everyone in public could benefit from, not just councillors. So either it’s something else ……… click below for more ↓

Council Rewards Its Friend. Again.

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / User fees and costs4 Comments

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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 or appearing to provide preferential treatment to close friends and family. They should not conduct municipal business or encourage the municipality to contract with individuals with whom they have a close relationship. Recommendation 42 states (emphasis added): The Code of Conduct should state that Council members cannot use their position ……… click below for more ↓

An Example Our Mayor Should Follow

Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaign4 Comments

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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 taking the town’s paycheque and benefits, he has resigned his seat. In his media release, Williams said it was because that was the right thing to do for his community: I have decided to resign instead of taking a leave of absence with the best intentions of being the fairest ……… click below for more ↓

Does Collingwood Mislead its Citizens?

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry4 Comments

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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 to be tallied through the completion of all associated bills and will be posted to the Town’s website.” But the town’s own accounting of the costs to date that was made public late last year is actually much higher: $8,098,547.40. You can read the document here.  As long ago ……… click below for more ↓

Once Upon a Time in Collingwood

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry7 Comments

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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” activity. It is, after all, the first such public event since the previous council approved Saunderson’s motion to initiate the inquiry, more than three years ago. It’s been two years since the inquiry itself began, and almost a year and a half since it ended. And let’s be clear: they’re ……… click below for more ↓

Council Just Waves Its Hands

Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour / Financial follies / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry5 Comments

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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 attention from your failure. Wikipedia describes it as, … a pejorative label for attempting to be seen as effective — in word, reasoning, or deed — while actually doing nothing effective or substantial. Oh, boy, does that ever describe to a “T” our council with its collective, increasingly desperate, yet ……… click below for more ↓

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