Mississauga Musings

(You may need to click twice or if you wish Go Directly to the clip on YouTube or Google Video)

(You may need to click twice or if you wish Go Directly to the clip on YouTube or Google Video)

This- is Mississauga.

A note to readers: This is the time of year when we turn our attention to researching sea turtles. So yesterday, I said good-bye to The Big Yellow and my "office" On the Clock Tower.

(I didn't leave the big 6 foot by 3 foot Mississauga pole flag at The Clock Tower though. It's coming with us along with our other 6 foot by 3 foot Mississauga pole flag who made the trip last summer. Yes, we'll send pictures.)

OK.

What follows is a Blog entry that won't change until we get back online sometime Tuesday or Wednesday. In between, we wish you a Happy Canada Day and ask that you please remember what CANADA means.

Moving Forward.... my June 30th Blog entry:

A major source of frustration for me in my study of municipal governance is my failure to summon the right words to convey to you What Is.

While my own research is still preliminary, early findings suggest that Ontario municipal governance is a "secretive corrosive-to-the-soul ritualized drama of mutual pretense Hypocrisy Democracy". Unfortunately, that's the shortest descriptor that I been able to craft. Not good.

"secretive corrosive-to-the-soul ritualized drama of mutual pretense Hypocrisy Democracy" -- sure won't play in any newspaper headline.

You try finding one word to cover "secretive corrosive-to-the-soul ritualized drama of mutual pretense Hypocrisy Democracy" .

And then this week, Ontario Ombudsman, Andre Marin served up The Perfect Word --"Puffery". Yes,

"PUFFERY"

Any Seinfeld fans out there? Remember The Puffy Shirt episode?

It's PUFFY, Jerry! PUFFY!

The mississauga.ca website contains a June 20, 2007 press release, "Mississauga Council to Challenge Provincial Candidates on Key City Issues"

Regarding the Fall Provincial Election mississauga.ca states:

"We believe the time is right for our citizens to be aware of the issues that most impact the City of Mississauga and require assistance from our provincial representatives," said Mayor Hazel McCallion..."

"Since March, City staff have brought forward four separate reports to Council on the following issues:

-- investment in transit and transportation systems
-- current value assessment, airport payment in lieu of taxes and tax increment financing
--fiscal imbalance: underfunding of municipal services
--status of the City of Mississauga within the Region of Peel"

No. The greatest single issue facing Ontario citizens today is Puffery.

I'll leave the rest to Ontario Ombudsman, Andre Marin. From his second report released June 27, 2007.

"I do not wish to suggest that our government and its agencies should not set lofty goals for themselves. But when there is a gulf between promise and delivery, when promises are broken, it matters. Public trust, the necessary currency of good government, is squandered. Openness and transparency are the watchwords of mature democracy for a reason: Without accurate knowledge of what governments are doing, citizen participation is meaningless. Puffery is antithetical to open and transparent government, corrosive of public trust and even harmful to meaningful democracy. It is therefore serious business when government departments and agencies make promises they cannot or will not keep, or attempt to paper over their failings with ostentatious claims.

Puffery can inhibit quality in two ways. First, if organizations fall into the trap of believing their own hype, they can become complacent and lose the urge for self improvement.

Second, as our recent investigations demonstrate, puffery can become a shield for inertia and apathy. If governments and their agencies believe they can hustle the public, they will be tempted to leave their programs under-resourced and flawed, crossing their fingers that no one will pull back their Wizard-of-Oz curtain and expose the real state of affairs.

Fortunately, Ombudsman oversight can mitigate the effects of spin-doctoring."

There you have it. A huge issue, (HUGE, Jerry) in the Fall Election --Municipal Puffery.

PUFFED MUNICIPALITIES --The "M" in MUSH sector

To quote Andre Marin (emphasis mine):

"BEYOND SCRUTINY

At times we in the Office of the Ombudsman have to say “no” – and not only to complaints that do not have merit. We are forced to say “no” thousands of times a year to citizens with serious problems because of a discreditable technicality: We do not have jurisdiction. We have been shut out of what I like to call the MUSH sector, which stands for municipalities, universities, school boards, hospitals and long-term care facilities, and other organizations such as police and children’s aid societies.

These areas consume the bulk of provincial budgets, and more importantly, they represent the most serious contacts that Ontarians can have with their government. Yet they are immune from our scrutiny."

And that, Mississauga Boys and Girls is the greatest issue in the Fall election. The Municipal governments (Corporations) of this province are beyond scrutiny. Beyond the reach of our Ontario Ombudsman.

Seriously. What good is any provincial government giving The City of Mississauga or any municipality what it wants such as:

-- investment in transit and transportation systems
-- current value assessment, airport payment in lieu of taxes and tax increment financing
--fiscal imbalance: underfunding of municipal services
--status of the City of Mississauga within the Region of Peel

when there's no scrutiny, no oversight mechanisms in place to ensure citizens know that their money is spent well? The reality is that Corporation of the City of Mississauga --and every single municipality in Ontario is:

BEYOND SCRUTINY

And yet Mississaugans are served up TONS OF PUFFY.

(You may need to click twice or if you wish Go Directly to this PUFFY clip on YouTube)

News Flash --oh oh... the Barrie Examiner just weighed in. In their Editorial.

'Puff' Daddy and the year of overpromising, underdelivering

McGuinty --"PUFF Daddy"...

Who knows? Maybe the press will make PUFFY MUSH the Fall election issue! (We can only hope.)

All I can say is, nice one, Barrie Examiner! (and "MUSH COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS --MUSH!")

Signed,
The (Remember our Mississauga Watch Operative Code -- PUFFY MUSH) Mississauga Muse
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All "Antonio Batista Pothole Poet Trial" Blog entries:

THEIR MISSISSAUGA, yes, and ever increasingly --THEIR MISSISSAUGA (May 27, 2007)
Hypocrisy Democracy (May 28, 2007 7:27 am)
"What would Edward R. Murrow do? What would he want me to do?" (May 28, 2007 11:55 pm)
"We have to send a message to the public" Crown Attorney. (May 29, 2007 2:51 PM)
A pothole never loomed so large (John Stewart's "Random Access") (May 30, 2007)
"The government must not silence its critics by force." ---Clayton Ruby (May 29, 2007) (May 31, 2007)
"she does not think how you feel" Antonio Batista (June 4, 2007)
"Mrs. McCALLION what is wrong with the City of Mississauga?" (Antonio Batista) (June 5, 2007)
"Reasonable Person Test" --Crown Witness (June 6, 2007)

"We must employ every possible tactic to dissuade those who try to silence us with fear"
---The Mississauga News Editorial (2007-03-24)

Click here for John Stewart's Blog
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