A Guest Post By Paul Sesto

Paul Sesto has left a new comment on your post "Here's The Thing":

I encourage anyone making comments if they haven't already done so to actually read the Report No. LGL11-011 on its recommendations concerning the ACC and the original agreement.

This is freely available at http://www.town.aurora.on.ca/app/wa/mediaEntry?mediaEntryId=59273
(see page 5 for Item 9 LGL11-011 Church Street School - Cultural Services Agreement Review - if you click on this link you'll be taken to the 18 page pdf report that includes the original signed agreement of June 9, 2009).

This is the report that Councillors Abel & Pirri are acting upon. They are simply following up on the recommendations of the Town Solicitor. Perhaps it may be negligent on the Town’s part not to follow through with the recommendations in order to protect the Town’s interests.

Please see the report. Perhaps if a solicitor (Town Solicitor, Associate Town Solicitor or contracted external legal counsel) was engaged for the writing and/or review of the original agreement in 2009, they would have found the same omissions that Mr. Mar found in his present review prompting their actions.

The ACC may be operating within the guidelines of the agreement but it is the recommendation that it is the agreement that is flawed.

I would hope that the Council would handle any other agreement and disbursement of funds in the same responsible manner be it ACC, sports or the Arboretum.

I am not against the ACC but they have to be responsibly run like any other organization funded by the Town and if the agreement is flawed it should be changed for the better.

From what I can tell in the agreement, there are no predetermined measurements from the Town to determine the ACC’s success. It is perhaps an old & tired saying but “if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it”- and this is relevant whether it is a business or a non-profit. How does the Town justify the expenditure? How does the ACC show the money has been well spent (and if so ask for more funding)?

I simply encourage anyone who is interested to read the report.