Readers comment on Kincardine Zoom meeting, beach-closure order

To the Editor:
RE: “Kincardine councillor calls for beach-closure order to be rescinded”

I'd like to make the following comments about the recent council meeting as follows.

Firstly, I'd like to commend councillor Bill Stewart for the heads-up that the meeting was occurring. I manged to catch all but the first 15 minutes.

Secondly, I'd like to commend mayor Anne Eadie for her excellent work at chairing the meeting. As someone who has both participated in, and chaired, thousands of meetings during the course of my former career, this can be a difficult, often misunderstood, and thankless task. Especially so when using new technology that is less than perfect (audio issues) and apparently lacks features that would be desirable during the course of a meeting (such as "I want to speak" or I vote "yes/no" features).

Thirdly, I had difficulty determining who wanted to speak when watching the debate. I found it hard to distinguish between a hand being waved to get attention, a hand being raised to clean or adjust the camera, and a hand being raised to scratch an ear, when nine people are displayed on the screen simultaneously.

So, maybe this could be tried - give each councillor a flag (like the ones used to locate underground facilities) and when a councillor wants to speak, he/she could raise the flag until recognized by the chairperson.

Caveat - if council wants to try this, I recommend using blue or green locate flags, definitely not the red or orange flags.

David Whiting
Kincardine
 

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To the Editor:

The motion from councillor Laura Haight is “out-to-lunch.”

No level of government had any input to any of the closures and restrictions we’ve endured over the past few months. Why does Kincardine think it is special and believes it should have the right to vote on any closures?

Total waste of council’s time and energy.

The Grey Bruce medical officer of health made the right call.

John Gates
Kincardine
 

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To the Editor:

Take it or leave it, these are my thoughts.

This pandemic is bringing out the best, and the worst, in us. Yes, we are all very thankful for our front-line workers. Today, though, I would like to thank our political leaders in all levels of government in Canada.

The ones who have put aside their partisan differences to work together, deserve our praise as well. Unless you have been in one of these positions of leadership - whether prime minister, premier or mayor - you have no idea the full truth of the old adage, "It's lonely at the top."

Those who stick to their principles, follow the advice of the medical and science community, and who do their best to lead us in a safe and caring way - even in the face of adversity and self-serving individuals - will be remembered. They do not take the easy way. They are not the ones who always take the way that will make them popular.

They have what is lacking in the rest. It's called integrity - it's a precious commodity these days, and one that needs to be treasured.

Patt Lowry
Huron-Kinloss