Leave it to Lever!
We’ve all heard of the 50’s sitcom Leave it to Beaver. Well the Council meeting held April 1st at the Puslinch Council Chambers certainly held the air of comedy of the popular TV sitcom.
The star of the show was Mayor Dennis Lever who led his Council cast members through a meeting farce like no other, with the eventual outcome predetermined like a well-rehearsed TV script. The topic of this week’s episode of “Leave it to Lever” was the ongoing saga of the Ren’s Pet Depot land re-zoning situation which for over six years has been a comedy of errors. This particular episode ended with an outcome that outraged the entire chamber in attendance to speak out against the travesty that this re-zoning and warehouse expansion is causing in Aberfoyle.
Several community members requested a delegation and presentations were made, ranging from presenting evidence that that the existing warehouse is actually improperly zoned and breaks the height restriction bi-laws to many environmental questions that have gone unanswered for years.
Mayor Lever, along with Council, who for the sake of this article will be referred to as Ward, June, Wally and Eddie, appeared to display concern and even empathy at times, just as the 1950’s sitcom often displayed compassion at the end of each episode.
However the outcome appeared predetermined and they simply voted to send the application onto the next step with the recommendations of the County Planner to allow the re-zoning and expansion to continue.
The “studio audience” who tuned in to watch this week’s episode was ashamed of you for your refusal to do the right thing for the people of Aberfoyle. You all know right from wrong but the tax dollars are all too important, even though the residents will suffer discomfort for years to come. The real Ward and June would be very disappointed indeed.
You have also set a very dangerous precedent for additional warehouses to now be allowed within the Hamlet of Aberfoyle outside of the industrial area.
Mr. Mayor and Council, you have not only lost our votes in the next election but also our respect. In today’s day and age, we tend to be very cynical and distrusting of our politicians….and it appears for good reason. They are elected to do what’s right for the residents but it appears that tax dollars are more important than the quality of life for our community.
Had we known that our attendance and presentations would have no bearing on the predetermined outcome, it would have been easier to PVR this episode and fast forward through the proceedings to the eventual ending, or simply not tune in to watch at all.
For those of you who are not familiar with the one-time popular sitcom series and wonder what eventually happened to it? Well it was cancelled of course after a few years for becoming irrelevant, and that’s exactly what should happen to the current regime in the township of Puslinch.
Leave it to Lever!
Brad Finck