万锦市民得胜，市委员会投票通过移走高跷奶牛雕塑

 

 

 

 

被安置了奶牛雕塑的街道居民代表早早来到DSC召开的听证会。他们共有6-7代表，其中一位是我，本文的作者。万锦市政府的网站上公布了此会的议程，包括曾经被藏起来的公共艺术咨询委员会（PAAC）拒绝该雕塑，以及建议市府进行公听会，寻求其他地方来摆放该雕塑的报告。

An organized group of residents from the street where the statue is located arrived early to give their deputations to the committee. There were 6-7 deputations given, including one by this writer. The attachments to the meeting agenda on the City of Markham's web site now included the missing reports from the Public Art Advisory Committee (PAAC) rejecting the statue and recommending public consultations to be held to determine the suitability of its location.

 

市长在会议上建议，那些不住在摆放雕塑街道上的居民没有资格在会议上发言（实际上是要剥夺我发表意见的权利）。但这一不民主的做法被其他市议员拒绝。

The Mayor suggested the exclusion of debutants not living on the street where the statue is placed (effectively just myself), based on a full agenda. This undemocratic approach was turned down by all other councillors.

 

会议开始时，各位议员都表示，他们当初投票同意摆放这个雕塑时，没有看到PAAC拒绝雕塑的资料。除了市长，大多数市议员认为他们以前批准这个项目是个错误。但是，市府公务员Steve Chait却表示，PAAC的建议对市府工作人员的决定没有约束力。实际上，他们根据自己的意愿有选择地接受某些建议，例如安全方面的顾虑。市府工作人员们承认，他们之所以没有进行雕塑安放的公众咨询，是因为他们认为此选区的市议员何胡景会做这件事。

At the start of the meeting, councillors all claimed that information relating to the PAAC rejection was not given to them at the time when they make that earlier decision to approve the statue. Most of them recognized their earlier approval as an error in judgment, except for the Mayor. Steve Chait (a staff member) then stated that PAAC recommendations are non-binding to staff decisions. In effect, they cherry-picked them as they wish such as taking their recommendation for safety concerns and not others. They admitted that there was no public consultations since they assumed that the ward councillor (Alan Ho) will be doing that himself.

 

 

雕塑附近的居民们向委员会阐述了他们反对摆放雕塑的理由，其中许多人的二楼窗户的视线几乎完全被20多英尺高的雕塑挡住。虽然市府工作人员们坚持认为，雕塑远离任何居民窗户至少有18米，但许多居民对此表示异议，表示距离不到18米。

The residents made their cases known to the committee members, many of them had their second floor window views blocked almost completely by the statue at eye level, over 20 feet above the ground. While the staff insisted that the distant from the statue to any windows is at least 18 meters, many residents disputed that fact and stated that they are much closer.

 

万锦市政府现在才意识到，放置高跷奶牛雕塑的场地太小，无法容纳前来参观的人流，而且距离居民住宅太近。作为一个旅游景点，此雕塑需要更大的场地。雕塑上的花圈和其锋利的金属花瓣也会因人去摸，或破损时造成可能的安全隐患。市府意识到他们从来就没有征求居民的意见，造成了这些居民突然发现他们卧室窗户外近在咫尺的地方突然矗立了一个雕塑。

The City now understands the current location for the statue on stilts is too small to handle large crowds and too close to residences. It is a tourist attraction that requires a large display area. The statue's wreath with its sharp pieces also presents a potential safety concern if broken apart or touched. They realized that the residents were never consulted and they woke up to see a statue outside their bedroom windows, almost within a stone's throw away.

 

在议会上，该区市议员何胡景提出了一项名叫“移走这条牛”的议案。此议案随后进行了多次修改，涵盖了其他委员的意见，包括：

The ward councillor Alan Ho then put forward a motion to “Remove cow from the location”. It was subsequently revised a number of times to include input from other committee members as follows:

 

当项目最终验收后，市府会得到雕塑的所有权，或在此之前与捐助者协商，把雕塑从当前位置移除。找到合适的场地之前，雕塑保持原位。2017年底前，市府工作人员将报告安放此雕塑的新地点。市府工作人员在10月17日市议会开会前与此雕塑的捐赠者联系，确认他们如何打算。

Remove from current location upon Final Acceptance and receipt of ownership of the sculpture by the City, or otherwise agreed with the Donor.And that the sculpture remain until a suitable location is found. And that staff report back on an alternate location for the sculpture by the end of 2017. And that staff contact the donor to confirm their intentions by the Oct 17 Council meeting.

 

令人困惑的是，此动议做了许多修改和补充，最后投票以8比5通过。令人惊讶的是，给此动议投了反对票的包括何胡景自己。他可能不喜欢修改后的动议，因为它留下了一些让问题无法解决的漏洞和各种不同的结果。

This is very confusing with so many amendments and additions to the motion but when put to a vote, it passed by a 8-5 count. Amazingly, one of the dissenting votes came to none other than Alan Ho. He probably did not like the amended terms as it left a number of open ends and possible outcomes.

 

万锦市政府仍然在努力与雕塑捐赠者协商。捐赠者对移走雕塑不以为然。根据目前的协议，她有权先完成整个雕塑的安装再把雕塑的拥有权转给市府。如果这需要“很长的时间”，那么雕塑将在目前地点停放。市府也可以通过改变原先的协议，先收下这一未完工的项目。这可能是解决问题的最后途径。

The City is still trying to work with the donor who is not budging. She has the right to complete the installation before turning the ownership over to the City under the current agreement. If this takes “a long time” then the statue will stay there for the extended period. The City can also change the existing agreement by accepting the statue in an incomplete condition but that will probably be a last resort.

 

“拆除雕塑”动议将于2017年10月17日在市议会上正式投票。雕塑的捐赠者可能会就此游说，如何解决雕塑问题也可能出现其他建议。有些议员也许会改变支持此动议的立场。居民们必须盯住事态的动向，并在市议会投票时到场，以确保雕塑在合理的时间内移走。

The “remove the statue” motion will come up again in Council on Oct 17, 2017 for formal voting. There may be lobbying by the donor and amendments may show up. Some Council members may even change their vote. The residents must keep an eye on this and show up at that meeting to ensure the statue is removed in a reasonable time frame.