I’m tired of HRM council deciding everything in council. It’s complete bullshit that they don’t even record how councillors voted. If our elected representatives can’t stand behind their votes then they don’t deserve their seat. Democracy without openness and transparency is a sham.
I started a Facebook group to try and track how often they go in-camera and raise some awareness. The spineless excuse for leaders in our city hall will only act if public opinion is against them.
The FB is at “Citizens for Public Democracy in Halifax”. I know Tim Bousquet on here follows the actions of town council, hopefully we can get some like minded people together on this. —Pete
This article appears in Feb 25 – Mar 3, 2010.
we need an honest person in office,actually all offices across this country. notice i didn’t say politition, there just ain’t no such animal. they may look and sound lilly white, but deep down, they are all crooks and pigs just waiting for a chance at the trough, that is yours and my pocket.
Yeah, them politicians is all a bucnh of theives and crooks, idiots the whole lotta them!
Then campaign LS. Run for office. If you think they’re crooks, do something about it.
The reason why people are so dissatisfied with politics in general is because nobody is active in it. Nobody goes to the meetings, nobody has their MP or Council member on speed dial. More often than not, they send an e-mail to the office that gets a form response back from a staffer, or it’s outright deleted.
Another failing is: people in general just expect them to read the constituency’s collective mind and cater to it. It’s an awful product of the Me Generation. Meanwhile what we fail to realize is that we’re the masters of our own fate when it comes to something as simple as city politics. It’s not String Theory, for fuck sakes. These people are more average than you think.
LIFE SUCKS for Mayor! Nail that bumbling bastard Peter Kelly.
guys, trust me, if i could run for a political office, i would, in a heartbeat. but a couple things hold me back. one is that i’m honest. two is that i would never have enough support, but thanks for thinking of me. i would clean house in the first fucking week. all those poor unemployed crook bastards.
oh, and dr., you could attend all the meetings in the world, would they listen to and act upon any suggestion you could make, not a chance in hell. i tried that quite a few times with city council. that is a laugh in itself. as to writing them, another waste of time. they have flunkies tio read shit,and toss in crapper. it is and always will be an old boys club. and if you know one,then you might have a shot, but otherwise? we are talking over 25 years of trying here. just not the right time yet for me. i still have a few things up my sleeve tho, look for it, maybe in 2014 or so.
“The reason why people are so dissatisfied… Nobody goes to the meetings…” Right and closed door meeting make it the much easer to be involved.
I don’t think council wants people involved, it makes their job of representing us harder.
not to mention LS would also need more funding for an additional editor on staff to correct everything he sends out… and many censors it so that he isn’t cursing out a 9 year old for wanting more cheese sticks in his school cafeteria.
Fever, I’d rather have a drunk, high and passed out Martin Lawrence packin’ a pistol and slapping babies for no good reason represent me than LS.
Balls, try quoting me correctly next time. I said that people aren’t involved anymore. You don’t have to go to meetings necessarily. Have you ever talked to your councilor? Have you ever bothered, whether you felt it would do any good or not?
Complacency is no excuse for poor government.
“The reason why people are so dissatisfied with politics in general is because nobody is active in it. Nobody goes to the meetings, nobody has their MP or Council member on speed dial. More often than not, they send an e-mail to the office that gets a form response back from a staffer, or it’s outright deleted. “ better ffs.
The post is about secret meeting. Are you saying because you think no one seems interested, that it’s ok for them not to inform us?
If council wanted us involved they wouldn’t have these secret meetings.
Secretive meetings are a sign of poor government.
I think they have to have the meetings in secret to cover up the Mayors incompetence/incontinence** ** delete as applicable.
The only people who are to blame for this are the idiots who keep voting that idiot kelly into office. We have known for years how ineffective he is and yet here he is. I have never, nor ever will, vote him into any office.
Then inform yourself. Vote against them. Problem is, people don’t know/don’t care enough about how we’re governed. Including the people that join the OP’s Facebook group.
See, the people that do care about the system did vote for the same people that created the secret meetings and the people that don’t care about the system didn’t vote at all, then complain about secret meetings. Wanna take a vote to see how which group the OP falls in?
sure…
but I won’t vote
All you’re doing is passing the buck. Fever. Yes the people who voted them in are responsible for that, not for the actions of the council members. Are there any responsibilities related to being a counselor?
These people get paid to represent the people, not to hide from them.
I’m not passing the buck. I’m sure if people took voting more seriously, we’d not be in this situation. We’ve had democracy long enough in this country to understand how this works. But voter turnout only continues to falter.
We’ve only got ourselves to blame, sadly.
Fuck that. We vote for a person because of what they say they will do. Once there in office we expect them to follow through, or at less explain why it’s now unattainable.
I don’t blame Joe blow down the street because the new councilor is a lying sack of shit.
Problem is, according to statistics, Joe blow down the street didn’t even vote.
That wouldn’t have stopped the nominated from lying to the rest of us.
You’re passing the buck.
relax fellas… there’s plenty of blame to go around….
joe blow can have some, for being the lazt fucktard and wanting everyone else to do his electing for him…
and the “lying sack of shit” was it?
he can have some too for taking advantage of us all when he turns from jekyll into hyde