As soon as we abandon our reason and are content to rely on authority, there is no end to our troubles.
Bertrand Russell
This post follows
Onagawa Trucking Ltd
which follows
Nelson: Blessed Relief? I Wish!
which follows
Onagawhat Now?
These are the basis for this latest in the series - read from the bottom up.
Mayor
Mayor Dooley's desultory, largely superficial/non-factual, often beside-the-point, short and - above all - very late in coming communication - towards the end of the Regular Council Meeting (RCM), Nov. 5 - was not the earthquake-relief-funding update in our next meeting, promised by him, Sep. 18 - now 3 meetings ago. Rather - it was prompted by Councillor Cherbo's request for clarification on the issue and given against the backdrop of Council not providing any input whatsoever. Not one question! Not a word! Nothing!
After the recent extensive local media-coverage of Nelson's humanitarian-relief concerns - or the lack thereof - one could have reasonably expected the mayor - as spokesperson for the group efforting with getting someone in Onagawa to accept our donated funds (how bizarre is that!) - would finally want to straighten out his group's vague and spotty image/record, by explaining how what has been done-and-not. And his involvement in it. Open. Transparent.
Significant here - and very troubling - that the mayor seems to have had inside-info all along - info neither Council nor the general public has access to - prior to announcing his intended update - never upped - never cancelled!
Bluntly: the mayor appears to have been withholding information of direct major concern to the donating public and Council.
Like the truck-decision - supposedly made by his group right after Sep. 17 - which the public and Council could find out about only a month later on-line, in The Nelson Daily, Oct. 16, running an exploratory article on Nelson's fundraising disaster, this in response to my questions in the Committee of the Whole, (COW), Sep. 17.
Neither the mayor nor his committee volunteering anything about this phantom-truck within that month. Maybe they were worried - so they ducked!
Easy to see why - what with this truck materializing practically overnight - and in reaction to my presentation to the same COW. Not because - as the group eventually claimed when confronted - they had become highly re-charged/motivated by my presentation, but - let's be real here! - because they suddenly had to worry about losing their monopolizing grip on the donated funds (more of the same bizarre!). Seeing that several councillors - the day after said COW, Sep. 18 - finally involved themselves by wanting these funds to be sent-off asap! No smarmy gifts - just cash to where most needed! To the Red Cross or such!
So, who told the group? about this Inside-City-Hall development and kicked them into truck-mode: cocking-up this miracle of timing, with someone in Onagawa thrown in as having originated the idea - just to be on the safe side. Attempting to safely lock-in these funds to feed their agenda: after over one year of next to nothing - suddenly a just-like-that! proverbial flurry of actvity.
This obsession with Onagawa-Only! makes very clear that to the City/group humanitarian relief just for the sake of helping is not an issue - but applauded self-glorification is! Non-Onagawa Japanese in need - who cares! - need not apply!
Little wonder there was no update, no timely truck-info volunteered - those in charge of this set-up were - still are - hoping things will die down, just go away.
Well, they're not going away - so this is a new experience for everybody!
The Mayor's Council
During the RCM, putting out a press-release was contemplated to inform the public on the progress of some item before Council - I forgot what. Yet - although blindingly appropriate - this was not suggested later on by the mayor or Council for the donated-funds issue!
And I can see why: sudden transparency may have demanded too many answers from the mayor thus Council, just as the update in our next meeting would have. So keeping it all in the backroom surely was the way to go. Opaque and woolly.
Earlier in this meeting, the mayor became dramatically indignant over some tagging of a hydro-box on Stanley ... I just don't understand ... all I want is beauty for Nelson ... while later showing none of this indignation over those Non-Onagawa Japanese still suffering.
Just as astonishing is how excited - on one hand - Council can get over inanimate-stuff issues. Like when they discussed a possible stretch of sidewalk - somewhere in the hills and going nowhere - and the pros and contras of concrete vs. crushed-granite to cover it. So excited: they went into overtime with it. And - on the other hand - just as astonishing: how little excitement they will muster with animates - like people in need even - if not sure whether the boss will approve. Same meeting.
One can see why: in a small town, personal agendas in search of context are run with a careful-just-in-case app - anywhere, anytime, with anyone. And with Council-work being a poorly paid parttime overtime thing only ...
Understandable yes - acceptable definitely not!
Details Of The Mayor's Communication, RCM - Nov. 5
Clearly directed at me; here in bits and mostly paraphrased:
1.
Mayor:
The committee has been working very hard on this issue.
Response (now, here - there was no space for it within the meeting's structure):
Putting (misdirecting) a lot of energy into something does not automatically guarantee success. Wendy LaCroix (WLC) told me - at the end of August - how tired and frustrated she and everybody else in the group was; they had no focus; they hadn't met in some time; she didn't know whether all members were in town; there had been no contact with Japan in a while. Councillor Cherbo - having attended meetings of this ilk - generally confirmed this.
2.
Mayor:
Anybody is welcome to join the committee and make suggestions.
Response:
a.
This had never been offered before. Whatever - it would be pointless to join now - seeing that clearly the decision to buy a truck was made some time ago by them and the mayor, to the point where - according to him - now the committee and the City have to work out how to deal with the truck's purchase in Japan and how to get it to Onagawa.
b.
I did indeed make suggestions to WLC: our contact was positive - she told me she would connect with whoever of the group was in town, and we would have a meeting. I believe she was sincere then. But she didn't call me back, neither did she respond to a follow-up email. Who prompted here not to?
c.
Yet despite this, they supposedly became energized by me - and this gush of new energy manifested the truck! Stroking me: gross!
3.
Mayor:
Now the Japanese Consulate is handling the trucking process for the committee and a Mr. Doi in Onagawa.
Response:
I don't see the consulate in Vancouver wasting its time (and paying for it!?) with an insignificant private, single-truck purchase in Japan, particularly in view of the huge and very real disaster-problems there.
Unfailingly polite gestures initiated there would do little for Nelson, except present a very drawn-out bow-for-bow process going nowhere. Sumimasen!
This takes me back to the mayor saying in October that the committee and the City now need to work out details of the truck purchase. Considering the group's ineptitude thus far, the City surely would have to supply considerable amounts of time, energy, manpower and money to facilitate this, under there-given circumstances.
So what's with this consulate-thing now - except that it sounds good, makes it look as if something is actually happening. Providing a good cover!
Mayor:
The truck will be used for community events, moving things, seniors.
Response:
Tepid examples for the truck's use clearly were improvised on the spot - adding seniors is a nice touch. But - in winter - getting bunches of seniors to wherever on the back of a flat-bed truck - not so much.
Obviously this truck would not be the only one in the world - a live-or-die, post-apocalypto thing - it would simply provide occasional conveniencee for some, be a gift. Hardly need-based humanitarian relief there - but a vanity-project here. Another plaque in the making: the mayor's name on it.
Adding to this is the recent report that extraordinary amounts of Japanese government-funds - made available for disaster-relief - have been misdirected/appropriated. Meaning: if a truck were really so desperately needed in Onagawa - the funds are surely available, possibly just a bit cumbersome to get at.
While the non-political, not-for-profit Red Cross - run by donations only - is applying funds directly in on-the-ground, pre-assessed and supervised, hands-on situations. Still active at Ground Zero today! If the mayor and his group were interested in humanitarian relief as such.
It is obvious that Nelson's donated funds must go to the Japanese Red Cross instead of into the pockets of car-dealers and middlemen.
End of statements/responses
The Mayor's Manager
1.
Part of the backroom-lack-of-transparency is the lately much mentioned fact - eliciting no response from Mr. Cormack: how much in donations exactly is in this City-held account?
2.
Then there is the possible cluster-bomb of the mayor claiming not be sure to whom the funds belong - and there being no written legal documentation regarding ownership and who has legal authority to safeguard and release these funds (to whom and under what conditions). Yes, Mr.Cormack?
3.
Substantial resources would be needed to facilitate the mayor's unilateral decision to have the committee and the City work out details of the truck purchase. I don't believe the City's manager has authority to allocate non-specific amounts of tax-payer-originated funds to an unapproved project - in other words: also act unilaterally. Yet he has not openly taken a position regarding any of this. Press-release!
Under these circumstances, Mr. Cormack's stirring proclamation of his professional infallibility, COW, Oct.22, draws attention.
With its version of relief-response, the City of Nelson administration has moved from lack of transparency to lack of accountability to lack of credibility.With nowhere left to go but up!
So go already - all of you!
Sources:
http://thenelsondaily.com
Nelson Citizen's Tsunami Relief Donations Still In Local Bank
Bill Metcalfe - 250.352.7670
Oct. 16, 2012
http://hqkootenay.com
The Bridge
Money Always Headed To Onagawa: Mayor
Glenn Hicks - ghicks@1035thebridge.com
Oct. 26, 2012
http://nelsonstar.com/opinion/176867661.html
Relief Without A Cause
Greg Nesteroff - 250.352.1890
Nov. 1, 2012
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