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Policy governances in essence hands over operations to the direc- tor while leaving trustees to focus on broad-based policies. Unfortu- nately. the adoption of this model will not affect parents until they call their local trustee and hear the answer “I'm sorry, that is opera- tional and I cannot get involved. Those matters are left to staff." Trustees will eventually decide what is and isn't operational, and without parental input trustees may give away their right to advocate on your behalf. What concerns me most is that we have had no public input what- soever. I find this unforgivable since trustees would not even be in exis- tence without parents. The Waterloo Rvgiun Dixtricl school hoard I.\\~'HI)SH! is cur- rently undergoing a review on gov- urnanua The proposed model is policy governance. Has school board forgotten about the parents? A motion was presented on Oct 17 at the WRDSB that would allow '1 hat's where. this Itvrcvptirms'rvrility mix [mm-s. into play. Tr, the mayor and the I Ulllll illors. vnm 1 unu’rns may hr valid. In fact. they probably are Hut. bv mung aganm the lrgislautm. by Iurning it down. you send a completvly diffvrvnt nu-ssagr'. and that p, this.. Yo" don't cart' about warn. and if you're not hiding something you want In find a way to (In It smnmimr in the future. Is that fair? No Is il atturatN' Prohably not. Is It what a Int nfprnplt' will think? Ahmlutvly. lhlth is, ynu'll gm awaywith it. . Hear mom of Briatis thoughts rm life will: the At host. only in I per rent of pmplv mm- in munh - Km H. Morning f 'row "my umpkdm' morning from h 'pal elrwtions. g" this issue hpgins with a large m gill". on Waterloo radio station Ifrrr3 KOOL FM, Waterlnn Mann Hm!) Izpp thinks thr, t pmpnwrl law mlds unmhs'r layer (If Ivpps- Bt lation whn h ism nu ovary. He ulsn lhinks the \ystt'n] should hr strvairnliruul, lumping all Nut lt laws relating In muruvipal workings m our place. don't know who first coined that phrase, but I do Iknow who brought it home to me. Keith Davey was a longtime federal Liberal party strategist and adviser In Pierre Trudeau- during the 1970s and l980s. He was known as "The Rainmaker" and that was the title tsfhis autobiography. I interviewed him after the bank was released. In his hunk. Davey maintained successful politi- cians understood the concept of perception being reality as it relates In voters. What people believe is at least as important. ifnot more so, than the truth. N the very least. said Davey. politicians had In recognize that concept before communicating with voters. The provincial government is the midst nfpassing a new act. requiring local mun» cillors to keep more detailed notes of in- camera proceedings. and provide a better trail for city,rvrv, wanting more inhuma- nun. lhv Assuriulinn nl Mtmicipalitivs of Ontario is against It, and both Kitrlwrwr and Waterloo tnum'ils have votvd agairvu It as well. And so we go In the isr,tte of "Hans parvrwy" in local government. Perception is reality Unfortunately, the entire motion was referred to the policy and bylaw committee to be "reworked" with no commitment to deal with this motion in a timely manner. It was also suggested that perhaps it would take a couple of meetings to discuss the motion. Time is of the essence since it is expected the governance model should be completed for December. The proposed framework pre- sented to trustees incorporates the five basic principles of carver. However. we are told some flexi- bility has been built into the model. When I tried to exercise that flex- ibilityon Oct. 17, Twas unsuccessful I asked that the board pass the first bullet to allow the public the courtesy of knowing a review is tak- ing place. My request was denied. parents In participate on the gover- Ilulu'c rmnmillre. as well as Mitt thew meemigs to the public. takc minutes of these tneefu1g and post these meetings on the Weh site. lhe motion also included informing parents. - The first part of the motion requested the board inform parents and employee groups that a review is in progress. BRIAN BOURKE CC)l)v/f?rfEiNrl'" Maybe that's the point. Maybe I'm wrong. but with those kinds of numbers. I can only assume the vast majority of people have made the decision that what municipal councils do is no longer relevant to their lives, or they have opted out of voting because they no longer feel their opinion matters. You wundl-r if it t'VE'r, mam-rs In thvm, as long as they gm I'll-nod every time around Even with the RIM Park Scandal looming in the last election. people weren't motivated to get out and vote. And whilr. ax people we could all do to be bcttcr Infurmml. and to take the initiative. in caring. thc politicians haw nn mu- m hlmm- fur this apathy [ml Ihvmst-lwx. majority of people not caring a tinkery cuss about it Voting against the transparency legislation isrit going to help that. It will only cement the idea in some pcoplefs minds that politicians Ire" are interested only in taking care of . themselves. manor. A lot "fus my frustratvd and angry with nur political wan-m for manly that rl-asun. live-n nmn' of us have walked away altogetl1vr, cnnvinrcd Iht'n-K no point. 100 many ohm Only hrar from um N rvprewr1tativvs bol'nrv an election, or KE whvn they haw their own pH ivums In [Risk Ihat again. itist "mfirms the Mm that wr dun" Much like any good business. I think politicians at all levels - federal, provincial and municipal A should be turning their focus outward. What car, they (in. every day, to Ensuri- their comitituvnis feel con- sulted and connectcd In the issues, they fvvl arr important? It would seem to me that many politicians are missing the hum when it come In their job. It is my hope that the Ministry will legislate parental and employee involvement at the board level as well as mandatory communication. Trustees reasoned that parents should not sit on the governance committee because we are too far into the process, while other trustees argued we were just a! the beginning stages and parents need not be alarmed. lt was also noted that gover- nance was too abstract for parents and better left to trustees. I argued. if the framework is that abstract, shouldn't we, as a board. have reservations about adopting such a model? My concern i, that a majority of Irmtees could hamstring the rest of the board by not exercising the so- called flexibility built into the policy framework, and eventually this model could evolve into a hard carver. and, as l suspected, the t1exibility will only be vxvrcist'd if a linijurily (houses In exercise it. Cindy/Watson WRDSB trustee For years I have oniuyvd lhanksgiving a', my favourite wvek, rml (If the. year- Thanksgiving Come"; without the pn-ssun‘ of Christmas. and the fall colours and hrisknev, in Ihv an add 19%! In my stride My disapprrintrnvr1t was buoy-ml by tlw fact that the 'lrig our" didn't go to one winner hm was shared by I? (nwnrkvrs who all chipped in $20 and walked away with approximately bl millinn l'ilt‘ll What a nice stun}. Hut this past wvckend I derided Ihanksgivirig has In sharv the mantle with that glorious day and wvekcnd when wc turn tlw clocks hack. Getting that "xtra hour of slevp on Sunday was. I dare my. pun' luxury. I only wish I rnnld find that l-xlm hour $'very day of (hr wrwk thc whnh, vt'ar round. To get the train moving in the right direction. some form of consensus among the existing municipalities needs to be achieved, andior pressure from the rovincial overnment.Without one or r K r . ghe other §his current version of the S IRICRIX regional reform train is yet again des- SPEAKING tined for the scrap yard. I may be wrong, but I doubt it. 3 ' "s Er', My cynicism was rewarded when the lucky contestant missed from 20 yards. and from 30, and from 40-yard lines. No chance he will make one from 50 yards. Oh ye of little faith - boom just over the uprights. Brian Diesbourg wins Sl million. Wow. What a neat way to cure the cynic in all of us. Almost. For his part, Mr. Iy1eshourg is handling the whole affair with a great deal ofclass when he says "the contract was 25 grand for 40 yeah and lwon and that's how the rules were." Thanks Brian. my optimism for the human condition has been restored. Three cheers for you. Three jeen lhr Wendy's and TSN So imagine my surprise when I m tuned in to watch my beloved Hamil- SEAN ton Tiger Cats get trounced by those nasty Toronto Argos and was happily STRICKLAND surprised to see a guy get a chance to kick a field goal for a cool million. Like most people I thought it was a nice gimmick for TSN and Wendy's. the sponsors of the contest, hut really. the guy had to kick a 50-yard field goal. Most professional field kickers are shaky at 50 yards. let alone a 25- year-old engineer from Belle River, Ont. It turns out the Sl-million field goal was actually a $25.00” tield goal over 40 years. How cheap is that? l guess a "million, dollar field goal" has a halter ring to it than a “$25,000 a year for 40years field goat" Thanks to Wendy's and ISN for bursting our collective huhhlo. Lucky lotteries That sum was a Whopper of a jackpot last work at $34 milr linn. I don't play the lottery um often hut when it gvts up In lhnw astronomical numht'rs I lake a Human and last van-k I hit it big and won five lotus; My favorite weekend E mail your seartwsermstrirkiond mm How many times do you go to a sporting event and see someone shoot the puck through the target to win a car? A lawnmower? Anything? Obvi- ously not too often. couple of weeks ago I suggested the regional reform debate wasn't going anywhere. Kitchener city council assed a motion for the province to send in a facilitator and failed to talk to any of their colleagues before the motion, or after. " hat all changed last week when Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr sent an open letter to all the councillors in the region, inviting them to sit down and talk about local governance. Good for Mayor Zehr; too bad about the tinting. In hindsight I'm sure the good mayor of Kitchener realized the letter should have gone out before they passed a motion at city council, not after. ludging by the response at regional coun- cil last week. the air has already been sullied with ill winds. and any amount of trust that may have existed prior to the actions of Kitchener city council has apparently evaporated. Mayor Yehr‘s attempt to get the regional reform discussion back on the rails has barely left the station and it already needs serious repair. And if it ever does leave the station. its only pas- sengers will be a few lonely Kitchener councillors. No one else will be aboard. Field-goal funnies Regional reform is a runaway train questiorrs/rommerrrs fo