Food For Thought

A reader sent us this quote:

The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

And all this time we thought Mayor Paul Tomlinson was trying to create a dictatorship. Sorry about that, Paul.

How The Grinch Boycotted Christmas

Is Mayor Paul Tomlinson as big a Grinch as we made him out to be on December 16th? Probably not. At least as far as his friends and family are concerned. 

But time and time again he's clearly demonstrating how little he (and his cronies Steve Sainsbury, Barry Dingwall, and Louise Wadsworth) care about the Town of Kearney (outside Proudfoot) and its traditions.

We already know that Tomlinson and Wadsworth are against Kearney having Regattas and Dog Sled Races, so it wasn't much of a surprise that they and the other Proudfoot Two didn't show up Christmas Eve for the traditional "Lighting of Santa's Runway" on Main Street, by the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department.

Now, the first rebuttal that comes to mind is that His Worship and the other councillors were at home with their families, and what's more important than family, right? Oh, please. For as far back as we can remember, every other mayor and most members of council have come out to the lighting each year with their children and grandchildren. Not to mention the volunteer firefighters who "light the runway".

If Tomlinson can't drag himself out of Proudfoot to rub elbows with his Townie constituents for 10 minutes on Christmas Eve, maybe he should have let someone who actually cares about the people be the mayor. (You can run with the Olympic Torch when it makes for a great photo-op during your campaign, but God forbid you come out to a traditional Townie event, eh, Paul?)

And rumour has it that Deputy Mayor Art Murdy was in Kearney Christmas Eve but also chose to boycott the event. Apparently, it was too much trouble to step out the front door (Murdy's  weekend residence is on Main Street, next to the Fire Hall).

But one councillor did show up. Yvonne Wills.

Are you surprised?

High-Speed Internet for Kearney?

Xplornet, the company that already provides the Town of Kearney and many of its residents with high-speed Internet, is announcing that by 2012 all of rural Canada will have 4G internet access.

4G is the replacement for 3G technology that most of us have been using for our cell phones. Devices such as the new iPhone take advantage of new 4G speeds, which are about 4 times as fast as 3G.

What this means is that people living in rural areas like Kearney will be able to use an adapter with their computers to access high-speed Internet at speeds comparable to most mid-range DSL plans. No word of prices, though...

Read more about it at the Xplornet website.

The Lord's Prayer Saved

Bet you didn't know that Kearney's "Santa" doesn't believe in Christmas.

Mayor Paul Tomlinson (who was goaded into playing Santa this year by outgoing Mayor Johnston) tried his best to impose his non-Judeo/Christian beliefs on Kearney's council by having the Lord's Prayer struck from the opening proceedings. Fortunately, the majority of council is more tolerant than Tomlinson and voted to continue to recite the prayer.

Isn't religious intolerance usually found in a dictatorship?

If you see His Worship, tell him that the Concerned Citizen's of Kearney wish him a "Merry Christmas!", but he's probably back in Proudfoot decorating his Holiday Tree.

Verboten!

Word is, Mayor Paul Tomlinson is trying to forbid "his" councillors from reading this blog because we're "full of shit".

Well, first: We're always happy to support what we say and make any corrections if new information comes to light.

And second: Censorship is one of the most common hallmarks of a dictatorship. 

Kearney's councillors are all grown-ups and free citizens, Paul. They can read whatever they want no matter how badly that scares you. In a democracy we fight information with information and let free citizens form their own opinions.

Tomlinson spent the last four years screaming to the press that Mayor Johnston was a dictator, but now that he's in power Tomlinson's the one who's been violating municipal by-laws, ignoring the democratic process, and trying to control what law-abiding free citizens read. All in his first week as mayor.

Are you surprised?

Kearney Firefighter Helps Save Couple

When neighbouring Perry Township sent a 911 dispatch, Kearney's Frank Colley, a volunteer firefighter, responded. An elderly couple had fallen through lake ice by their home in Perry Township while trying to rescue their dog. Frank went into the water and, with the help of Perry firefighters, was able to rescue all three from the ice, saving their lives. It made the news on ABAR.

So, has Mayor Tomlinson showered this volunteer firefighter with praise? Bestowed accolades? Offered a hearty handshake? Bought him a Coke?

Naw.

But Frank did catch Hell for leaving the community centre before the end of his shift to help save three lives!

Remember what we said about being Tomlinson's friend if your house catches fire?

Are you surprised?

Art Murdy is the New Deputy Mayor

Mayor Paul Tomlinson has appointed Councillor Art Murdy as Deputy Mayor.

We have nothing against Art, but is it really all that smart to have a Deputy Mayor that's only in town on weekends? One duty the Deputy would have, if the Mayor is absent, is to sign the paycheques for the town. How's he going to do that if he's at home in Sudbury?

Would it not have made more sense to appoint a councillor like Yvonne Wills?

• She's a full-time Kearney resident.
• She's very dedicated to the betterment of the town.
• She received the most votes of ALL candidates, which demonstrates that she has the confidence of most of the ratepayers of Kearney.

So why not Yvonne? Why Murdy, who received less votes?

Well, we know that Tomlinson couldn't appoint one of his cronies without the  already pissed off town rioting, so that eliminated Wadsworth, Sainsbury, and Dingwall. So that left Murdy as the only Seasonally-sympathetic councillor available.

And, of course, it's well known that Councillor Wills won't play favourites and doesn't kowtow to Tomlinson or the cottage associations, making her an automatic enemy of the Proudfoot Four.

So, if you work for the town, you better hope Tomlinson signs your paycheque before he goes on holidays or you'll have to wait until Saturday (weather permitting, of course).

Are you surprised?

More Tomlinson Shinanigans?

Word is, Mayor Tomlinson is going to start off his term by violating one of Kearney's procedural by-laws. Tomlinson is going to hold his first council meeting this Friday, December 10th and unless it's an emergency meeting, he's violating the by-law that requires that council meetings be held on Wednesdays.

We know that Tomlinson wants to change the council meetings to the weekends to accommodate Kearney's new Weak-end Council, but first council has to vote to change the by-law. But it looks like Tomlinson isn't going to let something like the law prevent him from doing what he wants. 

Unilateral procedural changes. Complete disregard for council rules. Complete disregard for the democratic process. Kinda sounds like a... wait for it... dictatorship!

Unless you want to tell us what the emergency is, Paul.

Are you surprised?

The Mail-In Vote Revisited

The Proudfoot Four ran for election partly on the mail-in vote issue. They say that restoring the mail-in vote will restore democracy to Kearney (where, according to Paul Tomlinson, we've been living in a communist dictatorship for the last four years under Comrade-Mayor Johnston).

But the mail in vote is about, well... voting. Right?

So why are the Proudfoot Four ignoring two polls that have clearly shown that a HUGE majority prefer the in-person ballot box? A poll is really just a tabulation of votes, isn't it?

The first poll was run by Councillor Louise Wadsworth on her blog. Wadsworth arrogantly assumed that her poll would show that the majority wanted a mail-in ballot, but her poll surprisingly showed that 69% favoured the ballot box. In typical Proudfoot fashion, instead of acknowledging the democratic will of the voters, Wadsworth buried the poll and fed her constituents the lie that Mayor Johnston ordered her to remove it.

Okay, so let's pretend she was ordered to remove it. Did she still represent her constituency at the council table when it came time to vote on the mail-in issue? Of course not! Tomlinson's will be done, and she voted against the clear majority of voters. Proudfoot democracy in action.

But this is ancient history. Let's look back just a few weeks before the election...

CottageCountryNow, the website for the Almaguin News and other regional newspapers, ran a poll on the mail-in vote issue and 84% vote against it!

So now that the Proudfoot Four have control of the town (Damn your clairvoyance, Mayor Johnston!) will they ignore these two, very clear, polls? Or will they put their money where their mouths are and show that they truly wish to represent the people of Kearney?

And how would they do that? Another poll?

No.

Here's how you do it: When the town puts out the tax bill, simply insert a questionnaire to the ratepayer asking them what method of vote they prefer. Then vote at council according to the popular vote of the electorate. It's called a referendum.

Simple.

But they won't do it. The Proudfoot Four don't represent the people of Kearney (two of them don't even live in Kearney). They represent the Proudfoot cottage associations that sponsored and funded their campaigns. Wadsworth already polled the ratepayers and we know how that turned out.

But we can always dream.

Inauguration Update

Mayor-Elect Paul Tomlinson hasn't even assumed office and he's already breaking his election promise of fiscal responsibility and falling back into his old spending habits. Because almost half of the new council doesn't actually live in Kearney, Tomlinson's first order of business as the new mayor will be to change Inauguration Day from Wednesday Dec. 1 to Saturday Dec. 4. This is to accommodate councilors like Sainsbury, Dingwall, and Murdy who normally only come to their cottages in Kearney on the weekends. Apparently, being sworn in as the new leaders of Kearney just isn't important enough to merit a day off work, so Tomlinson is going accommodate them and force the town staff to come to work on their day off.

And who will be footing the bill for the overtime? Why the ratepayers of Kearney of course!

As with the new two-tiered system of Proudfoot "democracy", we're now starting to see Proudfoot "fiscal responsibility" in action.

Are you surprised?

And this just in:

"The Mayor and members-elect of the council... request the honour of your presence..." to celebrate the new Inauguration Day on December 4th. "The Mayor"? Mayor Johnston? No. By "Mayor" the invitation is referring to Paul Tomlinson who, despite not having been sworn in or starting his term, is already calling himself The Mayor around town. Couldn't wait another week, eh Paul?

We hope Mayor Johnston has cleaned out his desk; Tomlinson's probably already changed the locks.

Are you surprised?

Where's Pauldo?

On Friday, November 26, the Town of Kearney held a "farewell" luncheon for the outgoing council. Attendees included Town staff, members of the fire department, and others who wanted to express their appreciation for the outgoing council's hard work and dedication.

Not surprisingly, Paul Tomlinson and Louise Wadsworth were nowhere to be seen. Both had been invited, but Tomlinson decided the luncheon wasn't important enough for the two of them to bother leaving Proudfoot for. 

Besides, a Townie might try to talk to them or something.

Are you surprised?

Inauguration of the New Council

Your new council will be sworn in on Saturday, December 4th, at 2 pm. The term of the new council actually starts on December 1st, but that falls on a Wednesday, and almost half of the new council only visits Kearney on the weekend.

We guess like voting, democracy will be served in Kearney so long as it's convenient for the Proudfoot Four.

• No wards
• Less councillors
• Part-time governance
• Secret meetings

And they're not even in office yet...

Tomlinson Just Makes It Up As He Goes Along

In the Almaguin News on October 28, Paul Tomlinson is quoted as saying,

"Thrale has agreed to be involved in a number of committees and projects over the next four years."

But it seems that Tomlinson has been fast and loose with the facts again. Although Thrale has a general interest in increased community involvement he hasn't made any commitment to Tomlinson as the latter would have us believe.

Word on the street was that Thrale was not impressed with Tomlinson's statement and on November 10, Lance Thrale wrote the Almaguin News to set the record straight:

"I have not had any discussions about future work on any committee or project with anyone despite statements in news articles, random emails, or blogs."

Welcome to Tomlinson's fantasy factory, Lance.

Are you surprised?

The Jim Skelton Flyer

Recently we received, in our mail, a flyer from Jim Skelton, self-declared Proudfooter and Paul Tomlinson worshipper.

A quick perusal made us think, "Hasn't anyone told Jim that the election is over?"

A more thorough read left us with a few more questions:

Doesn't Jim Skelton know that Jeff Johnston will no longer be mayor in a couple of weeks, and that his buddy (more on this in a moment) Paul Tomlinson and the other Proudfoot Three were elected?

And why is Skelton sending out a flyer telling everyone that he emailed his complete genealogy to Mayor Johnston FOUR years ago? The email never actually says what he so upset about but does go into great detail about how, while Columbus was discovering America, his mom discovered Kearney. We can only imagine that Mayor Johnston's ADD kicked in at about the halfway point, as did ours. Skelton may have written down the cure for cancer in there somewhere, but no one will every know because they'll never read that far. Sorry Jim, but your flyer was only slightly less boring that watching (FOUR-year-old) paint fade.

What is most interesting is Skelton  griping about Mayor Johnston (four years ago) warning that former Proudfoot cottage association president Paul Tomlinson and his cronies were trying to take control of the town. Again, has no one told Skelton that the election is over? Has he not read the Almaguin News article that states, "We find equally disturbing the manner in which [Paul Tomlinson] describes the way seasonal residents seemed determined to use the ballot box to punish local residents with a slate of their choosing."? So what is Skelton bitching about? That Jeff Johnston was right?

Skelton also extols the virtues of "mutual respect", "rising above spreading false rumours", "making sure you have all the facts", etc. Which is very ironic since... Hang on. Before we get into the irony, let's talk a little about Jim Skelton and his connection with Mayor-elect Paul Tomlinson.
 

Jim Skelton and Paul Tomlinson are buddies. More that just buddies, in fact. You see, Paul Tomlinson, as chair of the financial committee during the last term, recruited Skelton as a member. And while Skelton was a member of that committee, he published the following statement regarding Fire Chief Rick Philip's recommendation on a new fire truck (Here comes the irony):

 "I personally question both [Rick Philip's] judgment and his motives."

Which would say to any normal person that Jim Skelton believes that Rick Philip is not competent and that he has motives or an agenda that lie outside a good faith recommendation on the fire truck issue. Or more specifically, Rick Philip has an ulterior motive that should be questioned. (Or maybe he's just the f'ing fire chief and might have some experience in the matter, Jim!)

And that's what council thought as well when they tabled a motion for Jim Skelton to resign from the committee. (For those of you just tuning in, that's the same committee that Tomlinson ran over budget to the tune of $50,000, (which equals a 2% property tax increase) in 2009)

But that's when Tomlinson jumped in and declared that if the council did not defeat the motion for Skelton to resign, the Financial Committee would block the purchase of the new fire truck.

Let's spell that out:

Paul Tomlinson considers his personal friends MORE important than your safety.

(Hey, you voted for him!)

Anyway, enough councillors felt that public safety outweighed a little comeuppance for Skelton, and the motion was defeated. Once more, Tomlinson proved that good guys finish last.

But the issue doesn't die there. The Philip family next addressed council and asked Paul Tomlinson, point blank, if he (as the committee supervisor) endorsed Jim Skelton's public statement that Fire Chief Rick Philip is essentially incompetent and corrupt.

Councillor Tomlinson did a little Proudfoot sidestepping, hummed and hawed, checked his Blackberry a few times, then stood firm that he will not say anything against his buddy Jim Skelton, 'cause, Hey! what a little libel? Apparently, the Philip family agreed and once more, Tomlinson proved that good guys finish last.

So Jim, instead of cranking out your family history that nobody really gives a shit about, how about you set an example and go apologize to Rick Philip for besmirching his character to everyone in Tomlinson's address book?

And to the rest of Kearney: If your house catches fire, you better hope that Paul Tomlinson likes you.

 

Remembrance Day

Paul Tomlinson has never shown up for any of Kearney's Remembrance Day ceremonies in the past, but I guess he'll have to now that he's the mayor-elect.

What a drag, eh Paul? Now you actually have to rub elbows with the locals.

Council Meeting Friday Night

Mayor-elect Paul Tomlinson (despite not having been sworn in yet) will be holding his first council meeting on Friday, November 5th, at his home. The meeting begins at 7:00PM and if any members of the public wishing to attend they can call Paul for directions at 705-636-1608 or attend at 1070 Grass Lake Road, Kearney.

Secret Meetings and Job Cuts?

Now that the Proudfoot Four have been elected, they've been secretly meeting to plan their strategies for when they take control of the town on December 1st. According to one inside source, a main topic of these meetings is how they will make good on their campaign promise to lower taxes. One way they are planning to do this is by reducing town staff levels.

Screw you and your years of loyal service! YOU'RE FIRED!

Isn't it nice that Paul Tomlinson has no problem with spending $50,000 (over and above his budget) for an outside financial consultant to attend a few meetings, but has no qualms about firing a full-time employee (who probably only makes about $30,000 a year) just to please his Proudfoot masters?

Mind you, we're not too surprised... This will give Tomlinson the "legitimate" excuse he needs to get even with the employees that filed harassment complaints against him when he was a councillor.

Some Musings on Lance Thrale

Tomlinson should also be thinking about this:

Proudfoot's other mayoral candidate Lance Thrale entered the race in the eleventh-hour as a complete unknown, but still managed to get 329 votes! That's only 52 votes less than Tomlinson who had massive backing from at least 2 Proudfoot cottage associations, was an incumbent member of council, and is very well known.

Which begs the question: Where did Lance get his votes? Considering the division between Proudfoot and the Locals, we can safely assume that not many came from outside Proudfoot.

But isn't Tomlinson Proudfoot's champion and golden-boy? Yet apparently nearly half the ratepayers of Proudfoot preferred a virtual stranger over Paul Tomlinson.

Maybe having Sainsbury and Dingwall join his team helped Thrale, but Tomlinson is starting to look more and more like Kearney's own George W. Bush.

What Paul Tomlinson Needs to Remember

When mayor-elect Paul Tomlinson is crowing to the newspapers about his success, he should keep something in mind; While 381 votes did get him elected, 554 voters (or almost 60%) voted AGAINST him being mayor.

And while we're number crunching... with 2406 registered voters in Kearney, 381 votes is only 15.8%.

So, while you feeling mighty proud(foot) about your popularity, you really only have the support of about a SIXTH of your constituents. And we know where that sixth comes from.

And something else to consider:

Every councillor that got voted in, received far more votes than Tomlinson. Even councillors that didn't get voted in received more votes than Tomlinson.

Oh, and in 2006 Mayor Johnston received almost twice the votes at 744, and in 2003 Cliff Reeds received more than twice the votes with 779. In both cases that was over 50% of the popular vote. Kinda makes 15.8% look pretty piss-poor, eh?

So Paul, you're Kearney's new mayor, but you're not loved by all. Not by a long shot.

The Almaguin News has Tomlinson's Number

The Almaguin News published an editorial this week that really hits the nail on the head. You can read the entire article online, but here's the part the speaks directly to Tomlinson's campaign and general attitude toward the Townies of Kearney:

"...Having said that, it is with more than a little trepidation this week that we acknowledge the remarks of mayor-elect Paul Tomlinson from the Town of Kearney.

By highlighting how he built his electoral success by sowing and nurturing the seeds of anger amongst seasonal residents, Tomlinson has show a great deal of recklessness in that he is not afraid to play “us” and “them” politics in a small community. We find equally disturbing the manner in which he describes the way seasonal residents seemed determined to use the ballot box to punish local residents with a slate of their choosing.

Since Mr. Tomlinson couldn’t take the time to be gracious, we will take a moment to acknowledge the contributions made by incumbents Charlie Zummach, Mary Lesperance, Shirley Reeds and Bob Tilley. We have found all of these people to be hard workers for the betterment of the community not just in their roles with council but also in the many community groups and volunteer opportunities they have taken on and led. When we attended functions in Kearney we didn’t just find them in attendance but working hard in the kitchen, at registration tables or elsewhere to do their part to make events a success.

The newly elected members of Kearney council have some big shoes to fill and mayor-elect Tomlinson would do well to acknowledge as much.

With the start that he is off to in to his four years in office, we do not predict there will be any healing of rifts in the community of Kearney. We believe there is every reason to think that strife and fractiousness will be the hallmarks of his term.

We put it to you Mr. Tomlinson to prove us wrong."

"Us and Them politics", "punish local residents", "couldn't take the time to be gracious", "sowing and nurturing the seeds of anger"...

It's nice to see that we're not the only ones that see Paul Tomlinson for what he really is.

The Proudfoot Four Begin Plotting Strategy

Despite not having been sworn in, Paul Tomlinson has been setting up secret "council" meetings with his three cronies (Wadsworth, Sainsbury, and Dingwall) in order to plan their strategies.

So much for openness and transparency, eh?

And so the Proudfoot version of democracy begins...

Election Results

Mayor:    
Paul Tomlinson (C)     381
Lance Thrale     329
Charles Zummach (C)     202
Frank Heran     23

So even though Tomlinson only received about a THIRD of the 935 votes, the Thrale/Zummach split let him squeak in.


Council:    
Yvonne Wills     514
Arthur Murdy     483
Louise Wadsworth (I)     442
Steve Sainsbury     440
Barry Dingwall     426
Ken Ball     423
Mary Lesperance (I)     394
Shirley Reeds (I)     337
Cliff C. Reeds     290
Robert Tilley (I)     281

It wasn't a runaway, but the Proudfoot Four now control the town of Kearney.

Welcome to the Town of Proudfoot.


And remember: If you didn't vote, you don't get to bitch.