Dear Editor,
It was obvious to anyone listening to the Mayor reading the Council’s resolution of The Apology that it was meant to finally have the “case closed”, as indicated by his statement prior to the reading that “there would be no comment after the apology was read, and there would be no questions relating to the statement.” This, however, was in direct conflict with a statement in the apology: “…Council offers this unequivocal apology for its way of dealing with other views at the time, and vows to be more respectful of the range of views of its citizens in the future.”
Those views could be heard only in the hallway loud and clear, after the reading of the apology - the most poignant one being that of former GTF board president Betty-Jean Findlay’s. She regretted that the apology came too late for a couple of GTF members who had died and whose illnesses had been severely aggravated by the lawsuit, just as it was in her own case. From others gathered in the hallway, one could also hear: “Too little, too late, insincere, made under pressure because it is election year, remember what happened just before the last election; contract was signed with GTF but not honoured after the election…” A desire for truth, trust, integrity, accountability was in the air and with these words lingering in my mind I left, evaluating the situation.
However, and for whatever reasons, the long overdue, generic apology was made, it in itself is not as important as what will follow in deeds and reconstruction of the current system - a very costly system, which obviously has not worked. The Hall manager and the Foundation have been given unlimited power to control the Hall, and one result of this is they have become synonymous with the Hall. In other words any criticism of them has been viewed as an attack of the Hall itself.
This was exemplified by Chris Fell’s article in the Meaford Express (Apr. 09, 2007) “Hall accuses GTF manager of sabotage” in which he reports: “Members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors appeared as a delegation before council at a special meeting… Foundation President Barb Cooper-Clumpus and directors Bert Chalmers and Paul Osborn (who is also the interim Meaford Hall Manager) spoke to council during a lengthy presentation that outlined the ongoing problems between the festival, council and the Foundation.” “Speaking as the General Manager for Meaford Hall, I would summarize all this – and putting it as mildly as possible –as observing that GTF has been a most undesirable tenant for our Hall. They do no credit to themselves, to the Hall, or our community, said Osborn.”
“In our opinion, many of the statements in the e-mail are incorrect and inflammatory and may constitute illegal action to damage the reputation and business prospects for Meaford Hall, said Cooper-Clumpus”
The aim of the delegation was obvious - blame GTF for their unsuccessful fundraising, inability to receive grants, lack of volunteers and slack attendance.
If the Council is really sincere and does “hope that forgiveness can now take the place of animosity and that all citizens, including those involved in the GTF and Meaford Hall reconstruction, will feel welcome and become part of Meaford Hall’s success, and the Municipality’s success going forward” then it must also realize that an apology from the Foundation members and the Hall manager is in order for the healing process to take place. To this day there has been a concentrated effort on their part not only to “forget the past,” but to forget that there even was a past.
The current system gives the Hall manager the liberty to adjust the rental price according to his discretion, thus giving him the power to charge little or even nothing to some organizations or to charge the full rate to others, adding all kinds of unexpected additional costs, thus keeping out or even bankrupting undesirable “competition.”
The self-appointed members of the Foundation, none of whom have had experience in culturally run institutions, have taken upon themselves to start an academy. Now, that the successful, GTF affiliated Academy, has effectively been eliminated and “a need created”, money is being spent on a feasibility study. That money could have served our youth better if it had been given to the Academy that had already proven its feasibility.
A lot of the money that the Foundation has raised and received from the Municipality has been spent on consultants, grant writers, seminars, travel etc. Since its expertise is mainly corporate and business orientated, the learning process has been rather prolonged.
In a municipality known for its myriad of pending, unresolved lawsuits, many worthy citizens feel vulnerable and intimidated and are reluctant to speak out. There is even fear that personal e-mails can be intercepted and used to destroy one’s reputation or business. Citizens of Meaford deserve to enjoy a community where free speech is not treated as an adversity and public input is indeed heard and appreciated. Those people criticizing the Hall management and Foundation have the best interests of the Hall and the community in mind.
Let us hope that the CAO Frank Miele and most of the Council members will be able to show their willingness to bring in a fair system in deeds, not just words. Truth, trust, integrity and honesty are the cornerstones that will heal our wounded and divided community.
Gita Kikauka, Meaford
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