A Day to Remember

It is 11:11 am on January 27^th and I wish to write a quick blog on something we should reflect upon. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of each year, in Canada we remember the heroic sacrifice of those who fought the many horrible wars that have afflicted and continue to afflict the world. I and all of you enjoy the freedom of thinking, expressing ourselves and living that we have today because many fought against those who were taking that freedom from us. Many died.

Today is a very sad day as well, but one we do not pause to ponder upon, at least not in the way we do for November 11. Today is the day it was symbolically chosen as the anniversary of the end of the Shoah, the Jewish Holocaust of World War II by the Nazis. On January 27, 1945 the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviet Army. The Nazis had left the camp days before and left a number of prisoners alive in the camp without food and any other means of survival. A few more died before the Soviets arrived. Some are still alive today and testify of the atrocities of life in the lagers. Although the people who suffered the most were the Jewish, who lost 6 million of their own, many others were victims of this shame: 1,5 million romas, 3 million Soviet POW’s, 2 million ethnic Poles, 250,000 disabled, 80,000 freemasons, 25,000 Slovenes, 15,000 homosexuals, 5,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many others from different ethnicities, beliefs and walks of life.

Others, like my grandfather, had to suffer personal consequences for not accepting to be part of the ‘regime’. When Colonel Alberto De Feo was asked to join the Fascist party and he refused, he was demoted, reassigned and deprived of any chance of future promotions. He was constantly spied upon and the family had to escape to a safe location during the war. My grandfather told his children to never forget the lessons of this horrible wars (he had been involved in three) and to always teach to our future generations to stand for what we believe and never compromise. My father did the same with my brother and me and I am doing the same with my children hoping that one day they will do so with theirs.

There is a movement today to negate the historical reality of the Holocaust and concentration camps. This movement is present in our society as well. It’s shameful because it refutes evidence and offends the memories of those who died, including those we remember on November 11. Let’s keep the memories of these events alive in our minds and let’s teach our future generations to appreciate the sufferings of those who have preceded us and taught us to have hope in a better world. They deserve it.

New Year, New Commitments

“We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service relationship to humanity.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Sir Winston Churchill

“Therefore, I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” – Matthew 6:25-29

What are we going to do with or lives in this new year? Have we thought of what our contribution will be to ourselves, our community, our family, and our neighbour? As I ponder over my life, I try to see it through the eyes of a bird or a lily to understand my role and place in this time of history. The world needs leaders and yet we all share the responsibility to lead within our circle of influence.

Gordon B. Hinckley stated: “It is the future with which we must be concerned. We face great opportunities and great challenges…We will stand up where we fell and go forward.” So, am I going to be consumed by the missed opportunities or the mistakes I made? Will I look at the offence I received years ago or at the wrong I suffered through the hand of another? Or will I stand up for myself and go forward? As individuals, this is the year we need to reach for the one. This is the year we need to recommit and look at our contribution to the community by being an example of service and dedication. An ancient spiritual leader once said: “And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked…ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another. And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of succor…”. I know I am busy with work and many other things, but I will find the time to pause and serve. I will commit now and undoubtedly to reach out and succor. “For behold, are we all not beggars?”. I know I am and I am in need of my family, my friends and the community as only in my social belonging I can find solace. Will you?

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Just a Bit More Balance, Please

I just recently came across an article by Tom MacDonald, the Executive Director of the Local Government Management Association (LGMA) of British Columbia and 2011 Silver Medal Lieutenant Governor Award of British Columbia. The article fully reflects my sentiments about the subject topic of local government taxation and relationship with the business community and so I asked Tom if I could publish his article in my blog. He agreed and here it is:

“I can’t think of even a single time over the past eight years where anything even remotely political in nature has been the subject of this report. After all, normally we leave the politics to the folks at UBCM (Union of British Columbia Municipalities). However, a few weeks ago I was out walking with a local government colleague and we got onto the topic of the various “Occupy” movements that were manifesting themselves across North America including Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria. While the “Occupy” groups seem to be at best incoherent collectives of people with beefs against “the system,” the prevailing theme of the movement is that corporate greed has led to a situation where a very small percentage of the population controls much of the wealth, and that the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow.

 

So what does any of this have anything to do with local government in British Columbia? Well, most of you who are our members and readers will know that local governments have been under a concerted attack this year by business lobby groups who are saying that local government spending is out of control, that business pays too much, and that business has no voice in how they are taxed. Earlier this year, an excellent response to these concerns was prepared by the UBCM in collaboration with LGMA and GFOA to address these specific points. (See www.lgma.ca: Resources and Publications for a copy of the report.) While not wanting to rehash the report, it did acknowledge that local government expenditures and taxes were rising, but that in virtually all cases, these costs were coming from the local taxpayers who were demanding the increased services. It also provided data showing that the business share of property taxes has actually gone down over time versus residential taxes, and that the majority of elected officials in B.C. were from a business background.

 

So now back to my walk with my colleague and our conversation about the “Occupy” movement sweeping North America. “How is it,” he said, “that the business community and Chamber of Commerce groups often lead the charge for pressing local governments to provide additional services – deal with homelessness/street people in business areas, deal with criminal gangs, undertake beautification projects in business areas, provide more downtown parking, install new underground infrastructure to facilitate development, etc., etc. – but in the next breath, they attack local governments for increased expenditures? Isn’t this just a bit hypocritical that the business lobby always seem to want more but that they want others to pay? Could this be a version of the same principle that the “Occupy” movement has seized upon when they complain that a very small minority control the wealth while the rest of the population bears the burden?” Of course my friend also raised the point that any business person reading this article would simply make the assertion that as local government employees, comments such as these from us are just self-serving and an attempt to protect our fat-cat jobs. In response to this, one might ask, how many local government managers make up that 1% who control the 99% of the wealth compared to those who are business people?

 

“Just a bit more balance on this debate please!” said my colleague.”

 

The article speaks for itself…thank you for listening.

 

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2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,100 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 52 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Hope Starts with Us

We live in a world of eroding values. What was right once is now wrong and what was wrong once is now right. Britain’s chief Rabbi Jonathan Sachs recently wrote: “In virtually every Western society in the 1960′s there was a moral revolution, an abandonment of its entire traditional ethic of self-restraint. The [Judeo-Christian] moral code was jettisoned. In its place came [the adage]: Do whatever works for you…We have been spending our moral capital with the same reckless abandon that we have been spending our financial capital…The message is that morality is passe’, conscience is for wimps, and the single overriding command is ‘Thou shalt not be found out.’”

Freedom is the most wonderful gift we have, but to be free to do everything we want regardless of the consequences our actions may cause to others and to ourselves does not make things right. We know that the law of gravity says that if we jump off a window we will fall down, but that does not mean that we have to do it because we are free to do so. We may but its consequences are out of our control: we could be severely injured or die altogether.

It seems to me that this ‘I’ mentality which is now prevalent in Western society and is quickly moving to other cultures in the world is rather selfish and it is causing the real problems we see in our times. Simply put, for instance, the financial crisis we are experiencing is the fruit of the mentality I just described. The thought that comes to mind in this case is that those who caused this worldwide misery did not care at all about others but only about the ‘what is in it for me’. The ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement has clearly identified that problem. Yes we are free to do things and it is right to increase our personal wealth but not at the expense of others. So does freedom justify that the greatest majority of wealth and riches are available only to 1 per cent of the entire population? There is something very wrong with that.

Change can come only through us. We cannot expect systems to correct themselves like some financial pundit would have us believe. We need to act and we need to act within our circle of influence. The choice is between a momentary, maybe physical pleasurable event and an enduring sensation of peace and contentedness. I’d rather go for the latter. The problem is that many today make the first choice. Like addiction to a drug, that short lived momentary pleasure will only be a quick fix unable to be entirely satisfying and demanding more. The fact is that the afterward of that moment is total emptiness.

John Bunyan once wrote: “Although I have been through all that I have, I do not regret the many hardships I met, because it was they who brought me to the place I wished to reach…I carry with me the marks and scars of battles – they are the witnesses of what I suffered and the rewards of what I conquered.” Hard work, sacrifice, honesty and integrity will bring scars but also everlasting peace of mind and happiness.

I hope and I hope because I know that people have the intrinsic power to know what is right from what is wrong and I also know that they are more than they think they are. I will begin today as I do every day. Will you?

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We need to be prepared – OECD warns Euro

We need to be prepared – OECD warns Europe’s recession will spread – http://ow.ly/7Hkip

There Is More Than Meets the Eye

We just had a general municipal election in British Columbia and from my perspective there was something very positive about it: we had a higher number of candidates and a higher voter turnout. This means that interest in what local governments do and how they do it has increased. I am very pleased about this, because one of the biggest issues we face at the local level is apathy for government. I love my job and I have passion for what I do and the community I serve and live in. In addition, as a local government administrator I deal with a very complex field and a wide variety of issues: from road construction and maintenance, to parks amenities and recreation centres; from water quality and conservation, to saving lives and properties; and the list goes on. In addition, as the Chief Administrative Officer of a municipal corporation I have the blessing (or for some the curse) of two main responsibilities: first to advise Council to the best of my ability on the options they have in order to make an informed decision; and second, to carry out those decisions with the assistance of staff. I know and I feel this to be a huge responsibility but it takes an entire organization to do that and I am ever grateful to the members of my staff.

In my life experience, I have worked in many jobs. I marketed computers, I reported for newspapers, I served in the military, I practised law, I consulted private corporations on management and business plans, I taught, and finally I worked (and work) in local government. I believe that my variety of experiences has provided me with good common sense and decent business practices. I have to say that, in all honesty, working for local government is not for the faint of heart. You have to keep motivated all the time and you have to fight constant misinformation on what staff do and how we are organized and operate. Notwithstanding all that, my job is a constant inspiration to me and to the majority of our staff. I remember a few years ago I hired a new Director of Finance for a municipality from the private sector. She had never worked in local government but she was the best fit for the job and I was right. She did a wonderful job and she earned the respect of many colleagues who have never worked in the private sector. She used to tell me that she had never been so busy in her entire career. Indeed her job with that municipality was very demanding on her. Just a couple of years ago she left that local government and is now working for a progressive, rapid growing private company expanding its business throughout BC and Alberta. In fact, she has become a partner in the company. One day we were having a conversation about differences in work environments and she said to me: “I never thought working in local government would be so hard, busy and demanding. Compared to the work I did in private corporations, some of them very big, local government is the most challenging and demanding.” I believe so too.

Communities from all over the world are facing and will face hard times and as individuals, families and community members will have to meet new and old challenges, especially doing more for less. Many times I wrote and said that we are or can be leaders within our circle of influence. This is the time to draw upon our inner strengths and abilities, which I know we all have, to face these hard times with a renewed commitment. So, in thinking of these challenges, may I suggest that it is our responsibility, collectively, individually and in all of our respective roles to do the following:

1. Be informed. Get to know your local government by approaching staff and asking questions on how things work and what we do. Try to understand the demands of your community and how we are trying to meet them. Finally, approach your elected officials and ask them good questions about the goals and objectives of your municipality.
2. Be connected. In a society where social networks are the norm of communication now, your community probably has a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and other social media accounts. Subscribe and keep informed on what’s happening in your community. Visit the community and local government website. You will find useful stuff that will help you explore our community in more depth.
3. Be part of the solution, not the problem. Your feedback is important to your community leaders and they understand that sometimes you can be frustrated by the bureaucracy imposed by the many laws that regulate us. Sometimes even staff scratch their heads at some of the legislation they have to deal with. In British Columbia, for instance, the reality is that local governments have a very limited autonomy and it all comes from the provincial government. The provincial government pretty much decides what we do and how we do it. In addition, they are downloading more and more responsibilities to local governments without giving them the resources to do it. It is as frustrating for us as it is for you.
4. Be positive. Recently, I received an e-mail from one of my staff who also has had a long experience in the private sector. In a nutshell, he was concerned at the tone of some election campaigning, not just in Lake Country but everywhere else in BC. He commented: “… I’ve been thinking a bit about working in local government lately, with the election coming and some candidates, journalists, and forum respondents passing various types of comments about municipal staff being lazy, incompetent, etc. While I know it is a common misconception for people to think that public servants are lazy, incompetent, etc. due to the bureaucracy, it concerns me how advocating and voicing these misconceptions can affect the entire organization [and the community] in the long term… I don’t believe they consider how attacking the reputation of the municipality has many unintended impacts. .. I’m sure these claims do not help how employees see themselves. Worse yet, they will no doubt affect our ability to attract the bright talent that we need to develop and improve as an organization, or to retain the talent that we have already. I believe that while we do have areas to improve upon as an organization, we have taken many steps lately to get better and we have many highly qualified and talented professionals working [in local government]. As someone who has worked in the private sector and in various municipalities, and is committed to working in the local government field, I find it troubling that public service … seems to be valued less [than other services].”

Many people are willing to help and are committed to provide the best service to the public and the community. I know that there is always room for improvement and in my sphere of influence I am working hard on making those improvements happen. The majority of local government staff are local taxpayers and care for the community as they care for their family’s and individual quality of life. Also those who don’t live in our community are caring individuals that take pride in what they do. Give us the benefit of the doubt. There is much more to local government operations than meets the eye.

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Great words that we should really ponder

Great words that we should really ponder upon regularly @ http://www.break.com/index/one-of-the-greatest-speeches-ever-made-2218472

Lest we forget. http://www.youtube.com/w

Lest we forget. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6l4bF-EoKY

What a great story of achievement. The M

What a great story of achievement. The Mayor of Missisauga, Ontario is 88 and 31 years in the Mayor’s seat. Watch @ http://ow.ly/7n27F