4:37 p.m. - 2002-11-11
Intuitive Reasons
Odd night last night. For whatever reason I could not sleep. I went to bed at about 2 am then was up an hour later. Stayed up and played Mah Jongg on the computer, since I wasn't coherent enough to do anything else. In the past, whenever I felt like this, news arrived shortly thereafter. Usually, it was a birth that just occurred or some major life change for someone close to me. There isn't anyone I know right now who is pregnant, so it must be something else pending that had reached a crucial stage over the weekend. It didn't feel bad or good, just very powerful - made me very restless.
Along the intuition line too, I just asked the belly dance instructor if there was someone she knew who could benefit from her class, but who couldn't afford it. They can step into my spot - an anonymous gift. For whatever reason, I have a very strong gut feeling right now about not traveling late at night on transit until after Christmas. Usually it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I enjoy people watching on the train at night - it brings out some very interesting characters. But not now; I've learned that ignoring my intuition costs me dearly. Besides, when I was struggling to raise my guys by myself, there were a couple of times people made it possible for me to attend a workshop or class that I couldn't afford. Sometimes there's no way to repay someone for something that just happens at the right time to help you out of a big emotional hole, so it's time to pass on the kindness instead. Doesn't mean I've forgotten the people who were there for me, I'm there for them too, but in other ways. Besides, there's nothing to stop me from shimmying at home, and it even gives me a couple of extra hours to invest in it since I don't have to travel. I'll sign up for her class again in the spring.
My supervisor called this morning. Still no placement, but he asked me for a short explanation/report on some rather arcane technical practices in the industry we consult to, as well as the legislation that governs it, for a proposal he's working on. I like to keep in the loop and it was a nice change from the other type of work I was doing. Hope his meeting goes well.
The land issue that blew up at City Hall about a week ago has become a huge power struggle between the mayor and the chief bureaucrat. Two more senior people were fired, this time by the CEO rather than by the mayor. Retaliation I think. Both of the people he turfed each had over 30 years of service to the city and were supporters of the mayor's efforts.
Interestingly enough, one of the two people fired was someone I worked with, and who was a key facilitator, on a volunteer committee I was a member of called the Go Plan. It was convened for a period of three years by City Council, in about 1990, to look at development issues facing the city. The spur had been a major revolt by Calgarians, when a roadway proposed by the bureaucrats, was to be put through a very sensitive environmental area/park in order to meet the phenomenal growth in traffic/transportation demands for the whole south section of the city. This crisis was precipitated when developers threw up housing in the south of the city without putting in any of the infrastructure necessary, like roadways, to support the new communities. They had the full support of the land department staff who were proposing the road construction, using our tax dollars, against citizens' wishes. In the wake of the uproar, City Council took the public's interest and passion about the issue and set up this committee to do a full public consultation to determine land use legislation, transportation policy, and to set development plans that would govern how the whole city grew and developed for the next 20 years. The person fired this week was one of several city personnel who worked hard to open up the process for the average citizen, so they could participate effectively. I suspect he has worked hard since then to keep those plans from being undermined by the very same land department who were just caught red-handed in the current development scandal. This is also the same group of bureaucrats, the land department and the CEO it appears, who just recently began trying to force the building of the road that was rejected so vigorously by Calgarians over ten years ago again.
Citizen input just doesn't sit well with the "behind closed doors" management style of the current CEO, I guess. I imagine there is a feeling that we are too dumb to know what is best for our communities and our families. But you know, it is citizens' taxes that pay for the services and capital projects undertaken by the city corporate and it is also citizens' taxes that pay the CEO's very handsome salary and benefits. Citizens in any community should have the right to determine, in an orderly way, what they value most in their city, where they want their taxes invested, and then see the bureaucrats act upon it. As long as bureaucrats aren't being asked to break the laws of the land by citizens, they should strive to implement their wishes. That's what civil service means.
�
�
