{"id":16326,"date":"2017-01-18T17:15:40","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T22:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=16326"},"modified":"2017-01-18T17:15:40","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T22:15:40","slug":"brocks-banter-wielding-your-axis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/brocks-banter-wielding-your-axis\/","title":{"rendered":"BROCK’S BANTER: Wielding your axis"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

If a tree falls in a forest and there\u2019s nobody there to Like or Share your photo, did it really happen?
\nSo, the world at large is going to begin its seismic shift on its axis this Friday.
\nWe\u2019ve gone through the wherefores and whys. The ink has been spilled, the wounds keep getting re-opened, so I\u2019m going to let that topic scab over for at least one week, until circumstances \u2013 and I\u2019m sure they will present themselves on Friday \u2013 necessitate ripping off the Band-Aid, digging in and settling in for four years of intensive treatment.
\nIt\u2019s going to be a long, rough ride for so many in all parts of the world, but together the world will have to persevere to get out the other side relatively unscathed.
\nTo do so, however, it is all too important to stick together and find a collective voice so that the important issues are not lost among the white noise billowing out from quarters that are all too familiar. Efforts are being made to undercut the weight which words carry through concerted efforts to brand them \u201cfake news\u201d, figments of embittered imaginations or, in short, to borrow a phrase that is being adapted and reused with alarming frequency in the lead-up to Friday, \u201cgaslighting.\u201d And, unfortunately, nothing is immune to falling victim, or too sacred to be targeted.
\nThose feeling their oats, however, will continue to do their damndest not to hear the mounting chorus, so it is the responsibility of the majority to make sure that this is impossible; and it is also the responsibility with those still in a position of influence, albeit from the other side, to listen to effect change in the future.
\nIt is hard to imagine anything in Aurora\u2019s political spectrum to cause anything close to a seismic shift, but next week Council is set to dip its toes into an area which could turn out to be a game changer in how local lawmakers interact with the people that elect them.
\nWe all know the current drill.
\nIf you have an idea on how a particular situation can be improved, you call Town Hall or show up at a Council meeting to make your pitch as a delegate, or as a member of the public at large, during open forum.
\nThe format varies slightly if there\u2019s something to complain about in that focus often shifts to the online world of an endless stream of emails to Council members, often copied to local reporters, and electronic haranguing to anyone who will listen in whichever social media channel best suits you.
\nThis can spur action but, more often than not, the complaints languish in the ether until one, two, or tens of individuals descend on Council chambers to lend an actual voice to their concerns, complaints, or general dissatisfaction with the status quo.
\nSome offer solutions, others just want a listening ear, but it is a tried and true cycle.
\nTake, for instance, last year\u2019s efforts by a relatively small group of local residents who repeatedly sounded the call for a series of speed cushions on four area streets. It took them a while but their campaigns, along with a few hours of Council discussion and staff reports \u2013 and a few logistical kinks that put things back a few months \u2013 helped them realise their goals.
\nSimilar efforts, this time from a larger group of people, successfully led to significant restrictions to on-street parking in Aurora\u2019s historic Downtown Core which, in turn, led to a logistical nightmare for the medical building at Yonge and Kennedy as consultation with local businesses as to the impact such changes might have were woefully inadequate \u2013 something pointed out by Mayor Geoff Dawe at the time.
\nSo, I am looking forward with both curiosity and trepidation on the bold new experiment which could soon be implemented, pending Council approval, which would funnel complaints, concerns, and general spleen-venting over Aurora\u2019s traffic trouble to a web-based app, which would allow residents to map out problem areas, suggest solutions, and interact with staff members and residents alike on a possible course of action.
\nIf approved, it won\u2019t be the full re-instatement of a Traffic Advisory Committee which Council pushed for last year, but the experiment could prove fruitful, ultimately expanding into areas such as public planning, infrastructure improvements, and, quite possibly by the time of the next Municipal Election, questions over governance if Council once again tries to float the balloon of whether or not Aurora should have a ward Council system or, at the very least, a smaller Council complement.
\nWhen I first read the report before Council ahead of next week\u2019s General Committee meeting recommending Town Hall proceed in this direction, I was initially skeptical.
\nIn the grand scheme of things, unless it is an issue that directly impacts young families, Aurora\u2019s most engaged citizens are typically 40+ and 50+ and used to the status quo. Despite the obvious convenience a new system such as this might bring, Town Hall might have its work cut out for them in selling it to the community.
\nHowever, it will undoubtedly lead to efficiencies in all corners.
\nIt is a new way to reach out to people who, at the end of a long day at the office, simply might not have the energy to extend themselves to a public open house to learn more about a sexy topic as relevant to their neighbourhood as a new stop sign or sidewalk. It is also a much more convenient way for residents to maintain a dialogue. And, perhaps most importantly, it removes from the equation the fallback position of so many residents who try to delay the inevitable by blaming Canada Post and scads of public notices they claimed never reached their final destination.
\nOn the other hand, there is also the possibility that Town Hall might be biting off more than it can chew.
\nWe live in a world of instant gratification, where people value instant likes, comments, and shares on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so forth, and where people alarmingly think what they have to offer is of less value to others if these likes, comments, shares, and retweets don\u2019t come.
\nThose who will be responsible for tending the field of comments bound to come in through any perspective web-based platform will have to have their fingers not only on the pulse of the community but also on the button to ensure that they get their reward \u2013 as simple as a comment \u2013 in near-real time to ensure residents feel their opinions are respected, valued and being heard by those who can make a difference.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir If a tree falls in a forest and there\u2019s nobody there to Like or Share your photo, did it really happen? So, the world at large is going to begin its seismic shift on its axis this Friday. We\u2019ve gone through the wherefores and whys. The ink has been spilled, the wounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4fk","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-17 12:30:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}