If you watched the Rogers telecast of the Newmarket Council last night, (and provided you managed to keep awake during the YRP and Viva presentations), you were treated with some really entertaining exchanges between our elected officials.
Here is what we learned:
1. Tony Van Bynen is Dr. Evil.
Did you notice the resemblance between the Dr. Evil character of the Austin Powers movie and our own Mayor especially when he tries to contain Maddie? I’m just waiting for him to say, "Zip it, Zippy Longstocking. www-dot-zip-it-dot-com-org, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury - ex Zip it A". And of course, "I will not tolerate insolence".
2. Chris Emanuel: "Everyone's a jerk but me".
There is something not quite right about the indignation displayed by Chris when pointing out an error in the motion tabled by Maddie. The woman admitted she made a mistake and she accepted that she was sorry for the error. Despite this, it was off-putting to watch Chris nurse his hurt feelings. The guy remembers that he is a convicted criminal, right? A mistake in Maddie's paperwork doesn't come close to the mistake he made last summer.
3. Tom V. has a web site.
At every opportunity last night, Tom mentioned his web site. It was odd behavior for a guy who has been telling the public that he had a website since 2000. Even odder, Vegh doesn’t really understand the Internet and the concept behind caching. Any person with google and 30 seconds to spare can check to see if this website was posted previously.
4. Officer, Arrest that man!
What was that bizarre exchange between Tom V. and Police Chief Jollife all about? Was Tom actually trying to convince the Chief that he was a victim of Internet bullying? And was he trying to sound menacing about arresting these so-called bullies? What a kook.
5. Keep your hands off my stash, man.
Like many people who have expense accounts, my employer puts has very specific rules about what I can and can not submit for reimbursement. As I am lead to believe by Maddie, (and nobody else refuted it), the Town of Newmarket doesn’t have these rules in place. Why not? Council voted 8-1 against.
6. Who is gassing up in Parry Sound?
Personally I thought it was very clever of Maddie to ask for the expense accounts of senior staff members to be made public, (the Sunshine lists already makes their salaries public). Using the Freedom of Information Act, a Vaughan resident has recently demonstrated how municipal employees in Vaughan can submit questionable expenses. Could the same thing happen in Newmarket? Why not? Council voted 8-1 against.
7. Wow, those council chairs can really spin.
Kudos to the Rogers camera man for the poignant shot of Maddie’s empty council chair that lingered for just the right amount of time adding to the drama unfolding before us. Where was the sound FX guy with the "duh dun dunnn" music?
8. Tom V. does not want his domains back.
I don’t approve of owning opponents’ domain names but I know it is done all the time in politics, particularly in conservative circles. Tom V. isn’t new to the game of politics so it is very surprising that he’s not more embarrassed by the fact that he got pranked. And for some reason, Tom V. thinks he can gain more support by not owing his domain names. Why else would he try the stunt he did yesterday? I don’t know who is giving him advice on this but clearly his advisors must be laughing at him.
9. Apex marine predators are people too.
John Taylor made a very impassioned speech about the shark fin soup ban last night. Many residents are wondering when the Kony 2012 motion will be tabled. And John is right. If we can’t solve any of our local problems, we might as well jump on every facebook inspired protest band wagon that comes along.
10. Did I mention that Tom V. has a web site
Find another issue, brother. Sheesh.
