Monday, August 11, 2008

Haldimand "Councillor Totally Out Of Line"

I attended tonight's Council Of the Whole Meeting, for those of you that are not familiar with the agenda, this is the "formal meeting" where all the bylaws are passed by Haldimand County Council.

I have not attended a Council meeting in some time and I am appalled at what I heard a member of council say "publicly".

Before I get to what was said, I want to state that in my opinion the "image" of Haldimand County is in direct relation to the "attitude" of our members of council. I for one believe that our "elected officials" should be "respectful" of each other and the residents of this county.

Council was discussing the issue of the Braund House in Dunnville (the old library) when Councillor Bartlett stood up to have his say he started out by saying "I Can't Suck and Blow at the Same Time". Now I want to tell you that I am still thinking to myself, he couldn't have said that, BUT HE DID! I really don't know what his comment was after that because I think I was somewhat in shock of what had come out of his mouth.

A few members of council thought this was very "amusing" as their laughter was quite hardy.

Mayor Trainer should have stepped in at that point and let Councillor Bartlett know that his behaviour was indeed "inappropriate and disgusting"!

I would certainly be interested in exactly what Councillor Bartlett meant by his statement. "I Can't Suck and Blow at the Same Time".

I wonder was there some kind of "inside joke" between council members?

Regardless some may think that I am tied a bit tight, but this kind of behaviour in my opinion is not going to get Haldimand County anywhere.

I truly believe that Councillor Bartlett owes the residents of Haldimand County that were in attendance at tonight's meeting an apology for his lack of respect and his disgusting comment.

19 comments:

  1. This type of attitude is clearly what has gotten us to where we are today. I would say that this councillor should resign from his position. This is more than disgusting Donna. This is a person who is mocking the good residents of this county, we don't need the likes of him. These council members respresent us and I certainly am not proud of that today.

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  2. It will be also be interesting to see if any of the press in Haldimand County print what Councillor Bartlett said. I bet none of them will have the nerve.

    Haldimand County deserves much better than this.

    I hope that this councillor is exposed for what he has said, the residents that voted for him need to know so that they won't make the same mistake twice.

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  3. Mayor Trainer should have stepped in Donna. I agree with the above posters 100%. But I am sure that this will just fall by the wayside.

    Looking at the bigger picture one has to wonder what these council members are saying to upper levels of government. If there is no respect in the council chambers and this attitude is fine with our council members and Mayor what are we supposed to do about it?

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  4. This kind of comment is more likely to be heard from someone who has had too much to drink!

    There is a time and place for all things and it looks like some council members have forgotten where they are.

    No excuse will be good enough as far as I am concerned. This is not Councillor Bartlett's first time as a council member.

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  5. I think he just wanted people to know that he can't inhale and exhale simultaneously. He probably thought that people were wondering.

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  6. Was Councillor Bartlett trying to make a point?

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  7. It seems that you are either complaining that Council members are fighting or laughing. Isn't is better that they are laughing? You need to lighten up Donna, in my humble opinion.
    We may not all have the same perception on what is laughable or not.

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  8. I agree with the inhale/exhale comment along with all the rest. I expect the poor boy can't walk and chew gum at the same time. With very few exceptions, municipal governments tend to be laughing stocks. Ours more so than most. Add this comment to all the other inane gibberish, hours spent behind closed doors, refusing to listen to residents, considering creating a communications position for a hundred grand, the sum total of the equation is a group of individuals who are there for the pay cheque and benefits. They care only for themselves. A disease that has infected all levels of government. Where did all the heroes go? Elizabeth Hutchison

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  9. This is a council meeting, not a committee meeting . Counncil is a formal meeting where conduct is formal, To stand at with cameras on citizens in attendence just shows the hillbilly mentality so some councillors . They really think they are important and smart until they open there mouth then we know , RESPECT they think they should have it becayse there in this positions , Respect is earned by treating other the same.

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  10. Thanks everyone for your comments and for the words of advice.

    I do believe that my standards are a little high, and because of this I do expect a certain set of standards from others.

    As I ran in the last election one of the complaints that I heard the most from people was the "attitudes" "arrogance" and "disrepect" from the current council. I will never forget what I heard from people when I went door to door!

    Some even lost their seats because of their all mighty attitude.

    I want to clarify that my problem with the comment and going to council last night was more the attitude and the tone of council members, and add this type of statement and it just didn't sit right.

    Haldimand County is certainly having it's fair share of problems, but we have to think about what do others think of us?

    Our Council members are our voice, and this comment is not what I want to hear from someone who is speaking on behalf of me.

    There is nothing wrong with humour, in fact humour is a huge asset when times are tough.

    Thank goodness we live in a society where "most" of us can have our say!

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  11. Donna I was at that same council meeting and I won't be going to another one. I will not sit and listen to this bunch of clowns again.

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  12. The team is a reflection of the coach!

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  13. Perahps his "suck" refernce would be provincal, and his "blow" referance would be federal ?, LOL.

    I agree not profesional, I belive another person linked out near Kingston just recently used this term and got called on it ?

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  14. I agree with most of the above as well.

    I for one do not want this council speaking for me, they need to grow up and be more professional.

    Most of these council members promised us more than what they are giving.

    They are constantly blaming others eg: province, Federal governments yet they take no responsibility for their lack of professionalism.

    In fact some promised town hall meetings, when was the last time any of us heard of a town hall meeting? When was the last time that council had a public meeting and gave us updates to the community liasion table?

    So council stop passing the buck, get a grip, stop the inside jokes, and do what you promised you would do!

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  15. Donna:
    If this bothered you so much, why didn't you address the issue directly to Leroy Bartlett after the meeting?
    You must have had the opportunity to do so as you were talking to two of the press, Grice and Bartlett were there after the meeting outside. This would have been a perfect opportunity to do so with press there, don't you think?

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  16. Thank you everyone for your comments.

    To answer the above poster.

    Councillor Bartlett called me on Thursday and asked me the same question. My answer to him was a simple one; Why should I approach you Councillor Bartlett when you have never spoken to me at a council meeting. In fact you have always walked right past me and ignored me. Other council members do the same thing and when I have tried to address them I have been shunned, and in front of people! I wasn't taking that chance as my blog would have been more detailed than it is. As residents we should not be disrespected in this manner.

    Although I have been critical of council I have never "personally" attacked any one of them. There are many in Haldimand that feel the same way. I have a blog and I express my opinions.

    As far as the conversation with Councillor Bartlett I will tell you that he was respectful on the phone. There was indeed an inside joke carrying on at that council meeting and Bartlett agreed that they went to far.

    My hope is that this will change some attitudes on council. As I relayed to Bartlett they were at a formal meeting and they are representing Haldimand residents.

    How could we even know that there was inside jokes going around, this is childhood behaviour when one council member is writing another council member a note and passing it to them while they are speaking at a formal meeting! That note was passed from Ricker to Sloat after Bartlett made a motion to Ricker in regards to "suck and blow"! I didn't see that body language as I was on the opposite side of the room. I wonder though how did Bartlett motion "suck and blow"?

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  17. Good Grief !

    Haldimand must be the whiners capital of the world. Isn't there better things to complain about than this?

    Complaining from behind a keyboard instead of facing the councillor to their face is so lame.

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  18. You must be referring to the council members as being the whiners of the world.

    You may ask yourself a question as to why Haldimand is always left out in the cold as far as funding from levels of government. Our council is always whining that they are not getting anything from upper levels of government.

    Maybe we as residents are whining because we have a council that is not capable of making an intelligent comment!

    I say thanks to you Donna, you gives us an avenue to vent our frustrations, as we don't seem to have the opportunity to do this through our elected officials!

    It sounds like the poster is very very close to the situation and are being defensive. IMO of course.

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  19. I agree with the enclosed commments. It seems like a lot of whining for nothing going on.


    ``Anonymous said...

    Good Grief !

    Haldimand must be the whiners capital of the world. Isn't there better things to complain about than this?

    Complaining from behind a keyboard instead of facing the councillor to their face is so lame.

    August 17, 2008 6:58 AM``

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