CPAC MEMBERS ARE DROPPING LIKE FLYS

First there were eight. Pat, Ron O., Susan, Sandy, Ken, Sandra, Gerry, Richard. They were summarily (& privately) dismissed last October 26/10. Then they all withdrew their Applications this spring as well, in protest.

Then there were seven. David, Ron C., Lynne, Vivienne, Alan, Dan, Julie-Anne.
NOW THERE ARE FOUR AND FALLING!

The first casualty was on Monday evening May 9/11 at the private CPAC meeting, only convened by the Mayor & Chair Councillor Herteis upon threat of us going to the public Woolwich Council meeting the next evening. Chair Julie-Anne Herteis got up and walked out of this meeting with little or no provocation. Everyone was stunned by her behaviour. EVERYONE was appalled. She resigned as CPAC Chair that evening to Mayor Cowan. The Mayor cheerfully (?) spread the news far and wide such that by the next night at Woolwich Council (Tues. May 10/11) the media present heard about it. As of today this is not yet public knowledge.

The next casualty was yours truly the very next night at Council. The BIG LIE spread by Councillor Bauman, aided and abetted by the In Camera comments no doubt, of Mayor Cowan, was that I wasn't a team player. Also that I couldn't follow process. These are the usual and normal prevarications by politicians wishing to blame third parties for their failures. I have responded to those lies over the last few days here in the Advocate. Clearly I was following process and working diligently with my fellow CPAC members, unlike Mayor Cowan and Chair Herteis.

The most recent victim of the politicization of CPAC is Lynne Hare. She submitted her resignation earlier this week. She was a strong CPAC member who found herself in a very difficult situation. Her duty and honest nature were caught against personal loyalties to the Mayor and at least one Councillor.

Two points need to be made. Why would Ron Campbell of Acute Environmental Services and David Marks of Burnside Consulting wish to carry on in this volunteer position? Yes they are friends of the Mayor but they have both family duties and loyalties not to mention their professional reputations and obligations at risk here. I say at risk because any unbiased observer can see that this current version of CPAC is circling the drain. This is not I emphasize because of the talents and abilities of the individual members. It is due to the hidden agenda of the Mayor and possibly one or two Councillors. They clearly wish to make CPAC a puppet of Council rather than to make it a vehicle to remove Dioxins (Agent Orange) and other contaminants still buried on the Chemtura property.

The last point is this: SPIN SPIN & more SPIN. I think that when the Mayor and Council make these resignations public you can count on a gooey mixture of love, duty, busy lives, family etc. as the excuse for Julie-Anne's and Lynne's resignations. Just look at the timing and the ongoing media outcry around CPAC. Look at the delay in publicly announcing these resignations, especially Julie-Anne's. Her resignation was discussed at the In Camera meeting of May 10/11 and should have been announced at that evenings public Council meeting. Of course as they were giving me the boot to try and stifle the CPAC unrest, they didn't want to honestly link her resignation to the CPAC difficulties.