It appears our elected servants have done it again!
Against all conventional wisdom they have found a way to surprise us with their capacity to act in self-serving and irrational manners.
It seems a cow had landed on the roof of a cheese shop in Orleans. If the bovine had managed to make its way in an unassisted manner, well, it would have been a miracle.
But in this case the shop owner had apparently given the cow a helping hand and in so doing fell afoul of a city ordinance.
The cow had been transformed into a sign and signs on roofs are illegal. Rather than remove the animal or pay the consequences, the owner mounted a campaign and obtained the support of Big Bob.
Latching onto the novelty of the cheese sellers’ publicity, Big Bob marched into city council chambers.
Here was a man on a mission to grant pasturing rights on the graveled roof. With the added bonus of the media’s need for a storey line, the Orleans councillor wanted to suspend the legal process until the city planners could study the reason this cow could be considered a good sign. He intends to extend the same privilege to hammers and go-go dancers, should the need arise.
Not wishing to take a risk on the cow loosing its rightful place on the roof top podium, and perhaps affecting his re-election chances in October, Big Bob proposed that city planners study the matter but that they not report back to council until after the election.
A win-win for Bob, since nothing gets resolved until after the study and the election is behind him.
He has championed the cow’scause and wins the support of all those petition signers that are the backbone of local politics.
Since the cow was not in their backyard, there was not as much as a moo from the other councilors.
Quite frankly I don’t care if a cow or any other barnyard creature sits atop the roofs of shops in Orleans.
I learned a long time ago that you cannot legislate good taste, whatever that is.
If roof top cows are considered good taste in their neighbourhood, leave it to Orleans residents to decide.
However, I do take exception to this flagrant misuse of the public treasury.
Staff has been given 10 months to study the issue.
There is no description of the product expected, but they will look into the situation at other North American cities and they will ask the public if they have any views on the matter.
An incidental irony: The 14th quarterly report on performance measurement of staff was received at the same meeting of city council.
Not a word was spoken by a single city councillor about a document that measures staff productivity.
I looked at the document and I want to assure you, the authors are performance challenged! The same as their political masters, it seems.
If you listen closely you can hear the cow laughing and Big Bob Monette contentedly chewing his cud.
So much for responsible government! And you can’t blame the cow!