Blogger criticisms addressed

The editorial in the February 28 edition of the Orono Weekly Times had some comments and criticisms of this Clarington Watchdog blog which I felt should be responded to. We all have a right to our opinions and this editorial is no different.... I'm not complaining as I don't have a problem with that. In the case of this blog though, there were specific reasons for not revealing my name or those of my contributors, and that was threats from the municipality regarding the criticisms levelled at previous council and mainly the previous mayor. But that doesn't make my opinions or statements of fact any less valuable than those of an editorial writer in any newspaper. So there you have it. As for the rest, I'll respond below. Before responding, however, I must reveal that the Orono Weekly Times is a favourite of mine, and I look forward to my weekly fix which includes the articles, letters to the editor, and yes, the editorials. It's not what I would call a "politically correct" newspaper, but that is one of its greatest charms!

Excerpts from "Blogging" - Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - Orono Weekly Times Editorial

"There is a local blog called claringtonwatchdog@blogspot.com, that calls itself a watchdog on Clarington council. To date, it has been relatively refined. That blog worked hard during the past election in calling for change. The blog was most critical of our past council."

Actually, that should be http://claringtonwatchdog.blogspot.com/

"More recently, that blog has been expressing faint praise, and strong criticism, of our new mayor. The blog claims that Abernethy is missing meetings, failed to support the "elect the Regional Chair" campaign, and is not working hard enough."

Those "claims" are all true. Did the editorial writer read Clarington This Week's February 16th editorial, "Mayor has to take job more seriously"? As for not supporting the "elect the Regional Chair" campaign, that is also fact. Is he working hard enough? That remains to be seen. I believe he is, but must get is priorities in order. Those missed meetings were important, and to my knowledge no good reason was given for missing any of them.

"We can understand impatience. There are huge problems for Clarington, many of which can only be resolved by the Region, or the Province. However, we think that blaming all that on the mayor, could become counter-productive."

We're not blaming everything on the Mayor. That most certainly would be counter-productive. We are, however, blaming him for missed meetings and for changing his position on election of the Regional Chair, and without input from Clarington residents.

"Anyone who took the time to learn about Mayor Abernethy during the election, concluded that he is honest, fair, methodical an understated."

And we agree with that. It is part of the reason we supported Mayor Abernethy during the election campaign. We (writers of this blog) also voted for Mayor Abernethy.

"That is exactly what he is showing now. If voters wanted a superman, who would dynamically revise council, and immediately solve all problems; they should have voted for such a person. Unfortunately for Clarington, no super hero ran in the election."

Again, agreed. He is not expected to immediately solve all problems. He is expected to set priorities and realize the importance of the meetings that were missed. He was expected to carry through on his campaign promise to support direct election of Regional Chair.

"It appears that the mayor is being slowed down further by council. This could be due to the fact he promised openness, and consultation. He seems to be delivering on that promise, but it is time consuming. To our mind, that is a huge improvement over what we had in the previous council."

Agreed, once again.

"Blogs, at their best, encourage debate, and so far, "the watchdog" has achieved that. The downside of a blog site is that uninformed people can put forth any claim, and one person can write dozens of blogs, using different names."

We are glad to encourage debate, and that is a large part of the purpose of this blog. But I hope the editorial writer is not calling watchdog "uninformed", as I can document my claims, and then provide my opinion on what is happening in Clarington (and the Region). I can also assure you that this is the only blog we write, and do not use "different names".

"We ask the bloggers to now remember the other possible candidates for Mayor, and think about the terrible consequences that might have befallen us had we elected someone other than Abernethy. He is showing us a fair, open and intelligent approach. We should support him as he faces huge challenges. Criticism is, of course, easier than constructive action, but we should leave the criticisms to closer to the next election. Now, we need to work together to get things done in this frustratingly complex area of civic politics."

Oh, we do remember the other possible candidates, and that is why we supported Mr. Abernethy for Mayor. We agree he is showing us a fair, open approach, except for refusing to delay voting on the motion put forward by Councillor Foster that "vehemently opposes" direct election of the Regional Chair, in order that members of the public might have their say. We don't feel the approach to that issue was either fair or open. We also don't believe we should allow the mayor or council to have a free ride for the next nearly 4 years and only bring up objections or concerns or criticisms at that time. What kind of "constructive action" would you have us take? Yes, we do need to work together, but we must be allowed to work together by having council listen to residents not only on issues they will agree with the majority on, but also on issues they know they may be taking an unpopular position on. That would be constructive action and fair and open. We, as taxpayers of Clarington, have little control over what this new council decides they will listen to or not. The mayor as leader will have to try to convince those on council who don't seem to care what residents think (unless residents support their position). This is not an easy task, and the job of mayor is not an easy job. But it is the job Mr. Abernethy asked us to elect him to, and we did just that.

Mayor Abernethy has our support in general, but we will criticize when we feel criticism is warranted. If we only gave praise and never any complaints, how would he or council ever know when we are displeased, or when we feel something could be improved upon, or when we have ideas they may be interested in but are not listening?

We do appreciate comments from media and from residents who want to give their own comments in response to our blog entries. We also welcome constructive criticism. There are guidelines for comments in the sidebar. And although we do prefer people to sign their names, it is not mandatory. We want to make it easy for people to comment. We do, however, reserve the right to not publish comments that are defamatory or personal in nature. We want comments on the issues that affect us where we live. Clarington.