MAYORAL MANIPULATION REVEALED ?

Today's Elmira Independent carrys the following article titled "CPAC rejects invitation to participate in "stakeholders" meeting". To date CPAC & SWAT have been asking and both Councillor Bauman (he of two hats) and Mayor Shantz have been sitting on the answers regarding details around what Mayor Shantz is now calling a "working meeting". Questions have been specific such as what is the agenda, what issues will be discussed, when and where and most importantly who exactly are the participants. To put it bluntly if you were a Christian missionary invited to a dinner and you found out that the rest of the invitees are cannibals, might you reflect a little longer on your decision to accept or not? Pat Mclean, Susan Bryant and other former CPAC members invited a couple of the current CPAC folks to attend a meeting at the Elmira library in the summer of 2011 and then viciously ganged up on them when they attended. Shame on Sandra Bair, Susan and Pat and others who took out their resentment at not being appointed to the new CPAC on those that were appointed and had no knowledge of that resentment or reasons for it.

We are advised in Gail Martin's article that the results of this alleged "stakeholders" meeting will be presented to Council for their final Decision. First off these aren't "stakeholders". I personally am a 25 year "stakeholder" and notice that I'm sure as hell not invited. Meanwhile the GRCA who don't know dick about Elmira's contaminated groundwater or about the contaminated Chemtura site, allegedly are "stakeholders". This meeting is a setup of friends and colleagues of Mayor Shantz and other municipalities who will simply give her the direction that she and Chemtura/M.O.E. ask them for. This direction will be given to Woolwich Council with the aura of "consultation" behind it. It is a typical Woolwich Township sham and exactly why twenty-five plus years later we still are at first base at cleaning up from the Uniroyal disaster.

The final point in Gail Martin's article deals with the cowardice of Chemtura and the M.O.E. as well. They still have not advised CPAC as to what their issues are. They simply send an e-mail, in the case of the M.O.E. literally a few hours prior to the meeting, saying they won't attend. Meanwhile Councillor Bauman and Mayor Shantz have the unmitigated gall and nerve to suggest that CPAC have been disrespectful. Those two are biased and in bed with Chemtura. Shame on them.