SBP Feature in the SunTimes
Interviews always make me nervous; couple that with my reclusive nature that does not often give me the chance to talk about my work to anyone but the cats and you have an explosive combination that had Sun Times reporter Jenn Watt leaving the cottage here having filled up a goodly portion of her steno pad. As the ministry PR people used to playfully warn the media back in my days with Culture and Tourism, "Don't ask Gary! He'll tell you!"
J: Would you say the SBP is a success?
G: For my goal of humanizing the net? I think it is just starting to really work ...
Or words to that effect :)
I can't really say exactly what all I said, although I do remember saying, "I'll leave it to you to boil that all down to a lot less words", and probably on more than one occasion, but I do remember we had a fab talk about all sorts of things, about being an information pioneer in the bush, about May an' me and our music, about where the 'net came from and where its headed if we don't grab it back for us reg'lar folk, about barriers technical and psychological, about blogs and journals and the Internet as an open unedited raw record of our lives, about where the Peninsular came from and what it was supposed to do and whether or not it is doing it or when, and a lot about an open read/write web, about the Internet For Everyone manifesto and how all of you Peninsulars here now are helping to prove that all that can happen if we just make it possible to do.
The length of that last sentence alone should give you some sense of the monumental burden now heaped on Jenn to sift the bits into some readable sense of order by press-time tonight.
Expect it in the Sun Times tomorrow or Wednesday, and if you're looking for me after, I'm the one in the baboushka, trenchcoat and dark sunglasses ;)
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The Secret Election Secret?
Garym, Is this the article below that you were interviewed for? Remember, a good reporter will beat around the bush and come out with the pheasant. Looks like you fit your baboushka, trenchcoat, and dark sunglasses well. I copied this from the Owen Sound Sun Times website.
" Secrecy frustrates candidate; Some councillors also question agreement with former fire chief
JENN WATT
Local News - Wednesday, September 27, 2006 @ 08:00
Frustrations over a non-disclosure agreement came to the fore at a South Bruce Peninsula council meeting Monday night.
The agreement is related to the resignation of former South Bruce Peninsula fire chief Steve Nickels and the amount of money that was settled upon between him and the town.
At Monday's meeting, Dan Kerr, a candidate for Ward 4, told council about a freedom of information request he made to chief administrative officer Malcolm McIntosh.
"In my opinion, it should not be Malcolm (McIntosh) making the decision, it should be council," Kerr said at the meeting.
McIntosh has denied Kerr's request for information regarding the settlement between the former fire chief and the town, but Kerr argues that the Freedom of Information Act says a council member must make the decisions, not the CAO.
Some councillors were just as frustrated as Kerr about what Coun. Jay Kirkland called a "gag order" that forces councillors not to speak about the settlement or the reasons for Nickels' resignation. "What are you supposed to keep secret? I don't know whether we're lying or telling the truth," Kirkland said at the meeting.
He said that when he speaks with his constituents, they often ask him about the settlement with Nickels and rumours surrounding the dollar figures.
Kerr says he has been asked the same questions.
"When I've been campaigning, that's what everyone's asking me. The rumours on the street are that it cost (SBP) half a million dollars. As a taxpayer, this stuff just should not be secret," he said in an interview on Tuesday.
Council has instructed McIntosh to get an outside opinion about who should rule on information requests.
The only way to lift the non-disclosure agreement would be for both parties, SBP and Nickels, to agree to remove that clause from the final settlement, McIntosh said.
Nickels is now fire chief in Meaford and his lawyer was not available for comment on Tuesday. "
silly
No one knows for sure what happened but half a million dollars is definately out of the ball park, its common knowledge if anyone gets let go its one years wages plus six months, that way no lawsuits can be put into place.Im not saying that this happened, but being involved in personnel matters for 27 years, I know this to be a fact.If you really want to do some freedom of information requests..I would start with pipeline lawyers, pipeline consultants and pipeline suppliers as well as pipeline contractors..but of course that would be *way too close to home*.Perhaps a wind turbine would fit your bill?
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"Did A.J.Krapper organize a mass walk-out of latrines?"
-zenGary
Don't Shoot the Pipefitter
Ha! ah, no, as much as I may suspect that article you spotted may have been prompted by something Jenn read while browsing our humble little blogsite, no, that's not the article in question. Latest word has it the SBP'r feature won't hit the stands until "sometime next week" due to "reorganizing of the B section"
Don't forget, all that great stuff about Nickels that we all enjoyed here some weeks ago wasn't me; I just oil the gear chains and grease the wheels that make it whirr and purr so all of you can keep us all informed (or suitably mis-informed, take your pick :) and (I'm expecting) that is what the SBP feature is going to be about, about the necessity and power of free open community dialog on a read/write web.
S-T Feature to run Oct 11
An email from Jenn: Look for the Peninsular feature to run in the Wednesday October 11th Sun-Times, in the newly reinvented B section.
Welcome Sun-Times Readers!
A big Peninsular welcome to all those following our trail from our article in today's Sun-Times! C'mon in, make yourself at home, join up and be a part of it if you're a local (or even just a wannabee!) and yes, I absolutely agree with you, your own local town, school, clubs, federations and associations really should be doing exactly this sort of open participatory grassroots web journaling thing! -- if you want a fast-track trip-tip to making that happen, go take a peek at the homesite of our community plumbing because sure, it may speak Geek, but it's really not half as hard as it looks! Oh, and send us the URL when you're done so we can fold your feed into our LocalTalk sidebar :)
The Internet really is for everyone, but always remember: you and I and all of us together need to put in that elbow-grease to make it happen that way.
And for Jenn, if you're out there, a thousand thanks for the thoughtful coverage, well said (and expertly distilled from that pile of notes!) -- proof completely how traditional pro journalism and DIY community journaling are both fundamental to fostering a community sense!