The newly elected Pickering Council may be a cause for concern.
To paraphrase the Bard, something may be rotten in the State of Pickering.
Some discomforting portends may be cause for concern with the newly elected Pickering City council.
Invited to submit Christmas messages for BOOKz COOKS NOOKz subscribers, only the federal minister, Jennifer O’Connell, the mayor, one trustee and one councillor responded initially. With a reminder invitation, an additional councillor responded. Six did not. (Confer with the DEC Newsletter)
The electorate may be right in having some apprehensions and concerns.
There is more to the story:
Recent applications for board/committee positions posted by the City have received questionable consideration, viz. Library Board positions.
An applicant, a white male, 76, with multiple postgraduate degrees, fluent in three languages, and with many years of service on City committees was rejected for a Library Board position. Furthermore, the applicant was urged to apply by a Library Board member.
Patronization? Racism? Sexism? Ageism?
There may be a variety of factors in play here. The change in council should have been marked as a time of renewal, new initiatives, new directions. But something is beginning to emit odour in the state of Pickering.
The applicant understands that every candidate cannot be accepted. However, surely a person of such qualifications deserves more than a carelessly written generic letter of rejection as a simple courtesy. Once again, too many applicants to render such courtesy. You think?
Two councillors have promised improved and increased public accountability and transparency with monthly town halls, of which we have heard nothing more. Election rhetoric? Hollow promises? Campaign condescension? Continued observation is warranted.
Hope springs eternal and every new association/organization deserves a honeymoon period. Perhaps these councillors need more time, given these sea legs. Well and good, the above missteps are in the past, accepted, understood and assimilated.
Where do we go from here, Pickering Councillors?
