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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-11-25, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010. Writer shames HMA Writer speaks to division over school issueTHE EDITOR,After reading the headline story in this past week’s issue of The Citizen, “Board says it won’t negotiate with appeals” I felt it was time to get back into this discussion. Of course, the references in the Editorials and Opinions page, to wit: “the school issue, and the sense the municipality has chosen sides”, only added fuel to the fire. This statement, however, should not come as a revelation. When a member of council states,for the record and on local radio, the positive economic impact of the “super school” to Wingham (and by omission, the negative economic impact elsewhere), I think we can agree that sides had indeed been taken within the municipality. After retracing previous accounts of this odyssey, one would think that the support for the school was overwhelming, but checking the information in the public domain, it would seem to actually indicate theopposite. The results have indeed been underwhelming based on the numbers. Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell was cited on the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) website as acknowledging 219 petition signatures in favour of the school, and Board Chair Jenny Versteeg was also quoted as saying that she was “pleased...about the tremendous community support” in the same issue. I guess if you're in public office, a number is what you make it. The vote by North Huron Council in support for proceeding with the re-zoning, site planning and a precedent-setting development investment, as I recall the vote that night, was 4-3 in favour of proceeding with the process. Again, hardly overwhelming. And the vote wasn’t about the school, but about the planning and zoning process, as was explained in the council meeting, despite the comments in the Nov. 18 issue of The Citizen. Furthermore, a second editorial states, “writers... are being asked to make the school system more affordable by taking less... even as everyone else in the school system, from janitors to professors and directors of education, get regular top-ups to keep them up with the cost of inflation.” Hello, has everyone forgotten the provincial Sunshine List? Take a quick look at the Ministry of Education’s pay cart (and these are just those folks making over the $100,000 per year). If the stewards of education believe that “bricks and mortar”make for a better education system, and education experience, then we probably have our priorities upside down. What makes a better education system is the actual front line educators. These “bricks and mortar” initiatives merely serve to centralize the system. And centralizing the education system simply makes the process more efficient, not necessarily better. Ask the kids who are on the buses now, how their education experience has improved. It’s been my experience that in most well-managed businesses, employees and managers who are engaged fully in the process of success-building are also the most successful. Accountability and responsibility go hand-in-hand with the necessary authority to influence that success outcome. The converse is true also – authority without accountability and responsibility would be unacceptable. Legislation has ceded the absolute authority related to school-related decisions with school boards, including the AMDSB – there’s no debating that, for the time being anyway. But having that absolute authority, without the necessary and associated accountability is simply unfathomable. If we accept the premise that authority without accountability, then shame on us. We should expect no less of them, than we expect of ourselves and our actions. As I recall, the four pillars of the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) decision-making guidelines are value to the student, value to the school board, value to thecommunity and value to the local economy are simply guidelines, which can be ignored if so chosen. It would seem at least three of these four pillars were ignored. The fact that the board will not discuss any further revisions to a poorly-planned project seems to speak volumes about their planning processes in the first place. “We’re done with negotiations,” Director of Education Ted Doherty stated. One has to applaud Bob Pike and Rick Elliott for standing up to the poorly- planned, poorly-communicated and poorly-executed AMDSB process. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Auditor General of Ontario, at some point, doesn’t weigh in on overall provincial expenditures, and in particular, ones that do not necessarily provide “value for money” which is the province’s latest mantra. A 15 per cent cost overrun, on the initial financing request to the ministry, and they haven’t broken ground yet, would strike me as an expense of interest. This from a government that is now sitting at record deficits. The phrase, “when the hole starts getting too deep, stop digging,” might apply on what might be an instance of fiscal imprudence. In my opinion, if the AMDSB has negotiated any revisions to their original plan, after being prepared to go ahead with its original plan in the first place, it would merely confirm a less-than-exemplary planning process. Greg Sarachman Blyth. THE EDITOR, What do the letters H.M.A. stand for? Glad you asked, Huron Manufacturing Association. The emphasis on “Huron”. The HMA just had its annual Excellence Awards banquet Nov. 12 at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. At least local facilities were utilized for that. At the awards, a bag made in China, was handed out to all who came. It must have been a real slap in the face to one of their own members who has been with the HMA for 10 years, and who just happens to operate a canvas bag company right in the association’s own backyard and has for 18 years, since 1992; Barmy Tech, owned by Dorothy Cummings and located at the rear entrance of othe Walton Little School. You can’t get more “Huron” than that, can you? We all hear the slogan, “Shop Local”, well, what chance do we have of keeping jobs in Huron County when groups like the HMA outsourced that lowly little bag and got it made in China, especially when they are at a banquet honouring “local” manufacturers. We all know it can be done cheaper there, but, come on, you are a local manufacturing association, supposedly advocating just that, local manufacturing. Shame on you HMA, shame on you. You just took a pay cheque from me and gave it to China. I work at Barmy Tech. Doris Williamson. CAR • TRUCK • FARM • ATV 519-357-9508 TIRES TUNE-UPS BRAKES AIR CONDITIONING REPAIRS TO ALL MAKES NEIL’S REPAIR S E R V I C E Letters to the Editor THE EDITOR, The editorial in the Nov. 18 issue of The Citizen entitled “It’s a Big Municipality” speaks to the division created by the school issue in general, and aggravated by official statements that give the impression that North Huron is fully supportive of the school board’s decisions and schemes. In fact there have been no unanimous votes in North Huron council on any of the major school- related measures. The latest three votes on the re-zoning application passed only by only one vote (4-3). While I agree with most of the editorial, I disagree with the statement that “the municipality couldn’t hold up the school over zoning changes when planning regulations don’t allow for turning down a zoning change because of the consequences for other areas of the municipality”. There is nothing in the law that stipulates how close the negative effects must be to the property in question. There has been another mistaken opinion expressed that economic, social and business factors are not legitimate matters for opposing re-zoning applications. I talked to an official in the western Ontario office of Municipal Affairs who denies this limitation. He further stated that a county planning department or municipality that states otherwise is taking too narrow a view. Blyth is part of the municipality and it will be hurt by the loss of its school, and this is a more serious objection than any raised in the other appeal. We do not know where the incoming council will stand with regard to issues surrounding the school. It is my hope that this council will adopt a rule of thumb to the effect that when any proposal arises that will cause major harm to any ward, the other two wards will oppose that proposal and support the threatened ward. This clearly did not happen in the case of the school issue. It might not have dissuaded the school board in its reckless process, but at least it would have provided a sense of loyalty among the wards. As it is, no ward can feel confident that it can count on the others when some external threat emerges. Brock Vodden Councillor for North Huron – Blyth Ward Councillor responds to school concerns Complete Automotive Service Centre TS 1 2 5 2 4 3 4 For every tire sold during the month of November, Tirecraft will donate $2.00 to the Haitian Relief Fund. Huron Tire & Auto 519-482-3752 or 519-482-9796 Hwy. 4 South, Clinton, Ont.