SUPER MAYOR POWER

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” Always Remember That The cosmic blueprint of your life was written in code across the sky at the moment you were born. Decode Your Life By Living It Without Regret or Sorrow. - ONE DAY AT A TIME - An open plea to Mr. Ford. Dear Sir, please consider pulling the “Strong Mayor Powers”, from all these weak Mayors. I say this because, Strong Mayor Powers to some of these mayors is like giving a loaded gun to a child. In my opinion of 28 years serving Durham. I have seen all kinds of administrations come and go. From real good ones to what we have today. It appears that there is a viral type of attitude across the Region. One that works hard to exclude tax payers from the process. Municipal government traditionally worked due to the fact that those elected had something positive to contribute and had primary interest in the communities they lived. Well, don’t get me wrong. I do not blame those elected as they are just playing along. I blame society and the never ending population growth. With such, you have to prepare for change. For significant change. What I mean by this is... you can’t expect to have the local butcher, the town dentist and a few horse traders making multi million decisions. It just not working. Most of the Mayors across Durham region are careered politicians. Experts in municipal procedure but not intellectually able to retain the same level of responsibility in the private sector. Then, if this is to stand true. Why are we electing, technically incompetents. Insurance salesmen, realtors, retiree's, unemployable and so on. I think in order to run for office you should have a proven business success. You should have had previous similar decision making roles. You should have to pass a psychological assessment. Many today that sit in office and or are mayors have a clear mental deficiency as it is not about the public but more about assuring they maintain the status quo. Both as a politician and as a member of the “YES” internal team. And here is where ‘The Strong Mayors Powers’, stir thing to the point that we have mini men using powers to protect their interest and in the process fill their pockets with little or no accountability. Others, have free reign on fluffing retirement pensions. The so called POWERS - are a breeding ground for corruption and un-checked bribe taking. Like everything in society. The idea of Strong Mayors Powers is good for the good of the people in the hands of competent and balanced individuals. So far I question the integrity of the use and long term intent. Just recently it was brought to the attention of the media. That the Province is considering giving municipalities the right to get rid of elected officials on a vote of confidence. This would be so wrong from so many different sides. Collusion is alive and well at most Durham Region municipal governments. The general mentality is do as we do or else face the reality of coalition. Those that support the status quo are re-elected. Those that do not are deemed an outsider and their political life soon ends. We need to bring back fairness. We need to have standards for running for office. Academic as well as life experience that reflect the elected job position. We must stop making decision on staff recommendations and instead on what makes the most sense for our constituents. To think you know something, does not mean you anything. To know nothing means you know everything. We do not need thinkers. We need people that have the expertise and care to lead us and make all of our lives better not just theirs, through the opportunity of being elected to a position they are not qualified to be or ever held outside of politics.