Harry Stemp Aug 06, 2009
Harry Stemp was born in Uxbridge in 1934. He started his career with the Uxbridge Times-Journal as an apprentice typesetter at age 14. He soon began writing sports for the Times-Journal and eventually owned 10 community newspapers in central Ontario including the Times-Journal. He started writing his award-winning Stemp’s Stew in 1965. The column came to an end shortly after he sold his newspaper chain in 1989, but was rejuvenated in 2006 when Harry became a regular contributor to The Cosmos.
Previous
Work order?
?Can't remember how many times I have seen municipal workers, hydro or telephone employees, etc, working on my street, and since I needed a small job done asked if they could manage it while they were in the neighborhood.
The reply was always the same: “Sorry, sir, but we don't have a work order for your job”.
What a crock, I thought. When will we ever get employees who can help people solve a small problem without hiding behind “we don't have a work order” nonsense?
Well, I came across a news item out of Ottawa that put the whole situation into perspective and explains the reason behind a lot of this. And these are the things that, having been around civil servants for many years in my newspaper career, never cease to amaze me.
The Ottawa City Works Dept. received a complaint from a homeowner about weeds and long grass growing alongside his property, creating an eyesore in the neighborhood.
Employee Paul Martin's supervisor agreed with him that he could quickly drop by the property and clean up the mess while on his way to another job,
This was done (took less than a half hour), and the happy homeowner thought he was doing Paul a favor, because part of the time Paul was on his lunch hour, by writing a laudatory letter to the editor of the Ottawa Citizen.
Thus started a major problem for Paul.
When city bureaucrats saw the letter Paul didn't get a pat on the back. Rather he was called to a disciplinary meeting and was scolded for unauthorized use of city property before receiving a work order authorizing him to carry out the work.
How does that grab you?
Of course we all know that these highly paid bureaucrats don't give a tinker's damn for city equipment. What they do care about is the lack of respect for their position and the fact that if every city employee did this their position (and huge salary) would soon be redundant and they would be forced to go out and find real work.
Why I tell you of this is not to create sympathy for Paul (although he does deserve some praise), but rather to point out why government costs taxpayers millions and millions of dollars, much of it wasted by these highly paid paper pushers.
Fortunately a right-thinking councillor went to the defense of Paul and raised hell over the way Paul was being treated. Under pressure, the bureaucrats retreated and Paul is receiving the praise that his efforts deserve.
This sad and ridiculous attitude isn't just native to Ottawa. It happens in municipalities right across Canada.
Next time you have a worker say, “Sorry, sir, but we don't have a work order for your job”, don't get angry. Just say, “I understand”. Most of the time it is not their fault.
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In the small world department it seems I am always meeting Uxbridge friends in my travels.
Finishing my morning walk in Mont Tremblant on Monday, I noticed a huge travel bus pulling up in front of one of the many hotels in this beautiful resort community.
Nothing unusual about this, there are hundreds of busses every week, until I heard “Harry Stemp, what are you doing here”?
It was Grant Noble, a good friend from years past and from my Uxbridge Kinsmen days, who now lives in Fenelon Falls and has been driving tour buses for many years.
Grant didn't have a lot of time, but enough to reminisce about good times enjoyed in Uxbridge and as we parted, Grant mentioned that we should get together. In his years of dealing with people on the bus, he could give me subject matter for a lot of “Stews”.
“It's an interesting job, Harry, and I've seen it all”.
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If you are as proud of Uxbridge, your home community, as I am you will jump at the chance to spend a day at the CNE in Toronto and exercise your bragging rights.
Uxbridge will be front and centre at a booth during the big show in Toronto from August 21 to September 7 and volunteers are needed to man the booth on a daily basis.
It's a fun day. I did it last year and thoroughly enjoyed talking to people who had never heard of Uxbridge, and to those who knew it well during visits or driving through on the way to the cottage.
Volunteers receive a one-day pass to the CNE, including on-ground parking (car pooling is encouraged) and have breaks to wander the grounds, enjoy the buildings or sit with a cold one and take in all the entertainment.
If you would like to help - and I hope you do - give Holly a call at 905-852-0400. She'll be glad to hear from you.
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In closing, a tip of the hat to the co-operative and professional work crews who have been rebuilding Brock Street for the past few weeks.
They have not only been co-operative, thus winning the praises of the merchants affected by the disruption, but they have completed phase one in record time and shoppers can now enjoy a beautiful new Brock Street.
A thriving downtown is so important to life in small communities. The re-construction has not made it easy for these local businesses. Hopefully, the new look will draw the strong support of residents once again.
