Posted by auroracitizen on April 26, 2010
The following was provided by a reader for distribution and information to readers.
RETA has put together an informative and entertaining video to help raise awareness of the issues surrounding high voltage power lines. Please pass this on to everyone you know. And, if you get mad enough, please drop our premier a line too (he can be reached at premier@gov.ab.ca).
You can see the video at www.reta.ca or you can see it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2JoYdo1kk8.
Posted in Community Corner, Community Input, Hydro | 2 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on April 5, 2010
Hello!
I’m looking for any Sisman memorabilia that Auroran’s may have, to add to my collection. Old ads, paperwork, shoes, boxes, info, stories, etc. I’m happy to pick up in the area. Please email me – I’m especially interested in stories from people who worked for Sisman’s.
I know that not everyone in Aurora is online, so I’ve placed an ad in the paper too.
Thanks!
Heather Sisman
Posted in Community Corner, Community Input, Guest Post | 20 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on March 30, 2010
A reader writes:
I recently read that the town is looking for feedback on the pilot project of LED streetlights. The lights are currently are on Murray Drive.
Please have a look, make a comment and do provide feedback to the Town even if it is to tell them to NOT do anything more until their time (this Mayor and Council) has run out!
Sadly there will be more stuff, so let us not leave anything to this current team to decide for us.
Thanks
Posted in Community Corner, Community Input, Guest Post, Traffic/Parking | 8 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on March 28, 2010
Council Watch #8 – by Richard Johnson
It looks like a past reporter for Metroland Press’ Alliston Herald has been hired as Aurora’s new communications contact. Apparently a press release has been issued by the town announcing that Jason Ballantyne has replaced the lady that appears to have been effectively squeezed out of her job despite getting glowing job reviews (when they did them) over the past eight years. As a point of note, job reviews could not be done for those years when so many senior staff had been fired or left the town in such a short period of time.
The current communications officer being cast aside to play a new role at the town as a result of the job requirements being changed from under her, is the same lady who came back from holidays to find her office belongings moved to one of the councillors work stations (which was incidently renovated a few years ago and has rarely ever been used). One could argue that this could potentially be an effective dismissal case here.
The Mayor now has strengthened her ties to Metroland Press (the publisher of The Banner) thorough the hiring of her new speech writer, not to mention her potential strengthening of her relationship with the Conservatives thorough the hiring of our new Integrity Commissioner. The mayor also apparently has the benefit of two executive assistants when there was once one, so it now looks like all her ducks are in a row just before the next election.
RJ
Posted in Community Input, Council Watch-Richard Johnson, Integrity, Leadership, Staff Turnover, Town Council | 45 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on March 26, 2010
The following comments are taken verbatim from Phyllis Morris’s acceptance speech almost four years ago. She suggests contacting her about these issues. I’d suggest anywhere but at Shoppers Drug Mart but I digress. If you do see her out of her fortress sometime ask her about these promises, especially the ones about belief in a diversity of point of view, looking after our finances and transparency and accountability.
Perhaps you’ve heard the joke about the little girl who asks: “Mother? Do all Fairy Tales begin with ‘Once Upon A Time’?” Her mother replies. “No darling, there’s another series of Fairy Tales that begin: ‘IF ELECTED I promise’.”
Well this promise is not a fairy tale – I will work with Council and Town Staff to make our municipal government more open, more transparent, more accountable and more inclusive.
I believe an effective team requires players with a diversity of strengths and points of view.
While I will not micro-manage The Town’s administration, council members, including myself, must be kept fully informed, so that little problems don’t become big ones.
Together We can foster an open and accountable government, where leadership is impartial and allows ideas to be discussed, where teamwork is valued
To that end, together we must insist on greater representation on York Region Council,
Have we looked after our finances, balancing taxes against public expectations of services?
My door is open. You have my phone number – please feel free to stop me in the street, call me, or e-mail me.
Not sure if the fairy tale should be called Phyllis in Wonderland or Six Bad Wolves.
Thanks Will Be Given Come October
Posted in Community Input, Election 2010, Guest Post, Integrity, Leadership, Town Council | 79 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on March 13, 2010
GO Transit is changing routes. This may not be a hot issue because it doesn’t affect most people in Aurora (read voters), but it does affect some. And for those it affects, it has a significant impact on time and dollars.
So what is Aurora Council doing to help those who are asking?
Granted, stirring up support with a vocal, concentrated group like the Wells Street folks is certainly a more efficient strategy to gain votes — but is it what we elected our politicians for?
Granted, transit is not one of the issues that municipal councils are responsible for — any more than school closings — but working to represent a disparate group within our community is exactly who politicians are elected to represent with a common voice.
Our concern is not how GO Transit should run their business or change their routes. We are just wondering why Council is not representing their stakeholders.
Maybe they should look to Frank Klees MPP for guidance on how to solicit input and work with the community. We understand Frank organized a meeting which included the community as well as representatives from Go Transit and YRT.
That’s how issues get resolved — invite all interested parties (not just your friends and inner circle) to the table and have an open discussion about the issues.
No telling what will happen!
However, clearly Phyllis Morris doesn’t see it as a great vote gaining strategy so Aurora Council isn’t interested. Yet.
Time will tell whether they get the message.
Posted in Community Input, Leadership | 10 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on March 7, 2010
Some might say Phyllis Morris and Evelina MacEachern are liars and hypocrites. Apparently obsessed with their manic egos, they have held Aurora’s Council hostage to their deranged approach to government. The vaunted Transparency and/or Accountability that were promised in their respective campaigns for office in the 2006 Municipal Elections were a complete fraud.
They co-opted four of the stupidest possible councillors to act as their surrogates in following along blindly the path laid out for them.
It appears that Morris and MacEachern embarked upon a mission to destroy the very Transparency and Accountability that marked their election campaigns. Instead we have a repugnant Code of Conduct for Council and an unnecessary Integrity Commissioner.
When the Code of Conduct faltered, the Integrity Commissioner reported on the charges laid by six members of Council against Evelyn Buck, to the effect that they had no merit and were politically motivated. His reward was his unceremonious firing.
The town recently entered into a contract with a new Integrity Commissioner, a former politician now practicing law. It is doubtful that this replacement has anywhere near the academic and professional qualifications of our first Integrity Commissioner. And up to $60,000 is allocated for this activity. Time and events will tell.
Seemingly, Morris is personally responsible for the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of tax-payer dollars, many completely wasted, in hiring a substantially larger bureaucratic staff, renaming and restructuring senior executive staff titles, positions and responsibilities. Has this streamlined our local government? No. On the contrary it has created a larger body of personnel whose sole task appears to be to do her bidding.
It is likely that all of these changes have led to staff concerns; many reports comment about the fear of staff for their jobs. It is inconceivable that the town’s employees are at a higher level of morale than they were when the Morris-MacEachern juggernaut first rolled into town. If staff morale is negatively affected it follows that the level and efficiency of their work will suffer significantly, and consequently impact upon Aurora’s residents.
Our town doles out hundreds of thousands of dollars of public purse dollars to various non-elected Committees; The Historical Society, the Arboretum, the July 1st Parade, the Farmers’ Market. These groups do what they wish with the town’s ‘generosity.’ They spend the money with no accountability to anyone. This is not the way to run a government whose promised objective was Transparency and Accountability. If a public company operated this way it would be subject to the scrutiny of the OSC in Ontario, to the SEC in the U.S., and possible prosecution by each.
Many residents feel that vast amounts of taxpayer dollars have been spent stupidly, whether in financing losing and futile OMB appeals or in needless internal investigations supported by a claque of lawyers whose sole interest is running up their legal fees. Many residents are of the opinion that these parasites care not for what is right or in the best interests of the town. And the bills are approaching $750,000, if not more.
Why do we set aside money every year to buy recreational land when it already exists? Instead we are selling off much of Aurora’s public lands, adding the proceeds to the millions of dollars already in the town’s “savings” account.
We will be cash rich and land poor and the land that we will eventually have to purchase will be twice or more as expensive as that of four or five years ago when we already had a huge cash balance in the bank.
It is felt by many that a request should to be sent to the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to conduct a forensic audit of the books of the Town of Aurora in order to identify those areas where public money has been gratuitously squandered with no possible benefit to the town and its residents.
A similar audit should probably also be undertaken to determine just how political decision-making in Aurora occurs. Are decisions made by members of Council or by hired lawyers?
To Morris and MacEachern a Code of Conduct appears to be a license to abuse.
AUGUSTINIUS
Posted in Code of Ethics, Community Input, Guest Post, Integrity, Leadership, Legal, Staff Turnover, Town Council | 4 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on February 23, 2010
Council Watch #6 – by Richard Johnson
You have to love the following quote from the news story below: “They never really understood the proposal, even though we tried to explain it to them,” Mr. Cherniak said.
Does that quote sound familiar to anyone that has followed the power supply issue closely? It really does take your breath away when you realize the lack of critical thinking that Aurora council continually demonstrates.
Even Councillor Buck’s response regarding the town spending money on legal battles is consistent with her stance in the power supply issues we have faced.
That said, I disagree that the town should not work to protect residents from inconsiderate or poorly planned public infrastructure and corresponding environmental impacts stemming from municipal development approvals. But also remember, this is the same council that approves poorly planned urban sprawl all of the time while trumpeting their efforts to allow cloths lines to be installed in postage stamp sized back yards as some form of environmental panacea. We are hardly talking about smart growth planning in Aurora.
This latest case serves as yet another example of why we need some new blood at the helm.
How can the town expect to win their latest legal battle when they can’t even understand the core issues or the viable alternatives ?
Knowing what we know, is it any wonder that the town has wasted $135,000 in legal fees in this case alone and are likely to waste far more ?
How many examples do we need to drive home the point that we would all benefit from more professional representatives on council ?
RJ
_____________________________________________________
BY SEAN PEARCE – February 19, 2010 05:41 PM
Aurora has been handed another setback in its fight to stop a golf course and housing development on the environmentally sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine.
Earlier this month, a divisional court dismissed an appeal by the town and local residents arguing a joint board hearing involving representatives of the Ontario Municipal Board and the Environmental Review Tribunal would be necessary to gauge the suitability of the Westhill Development, eyed for an area near Leslie Street and Bloomington Road.
Lebovic Homes plans to build an 18-hole golf course and 75 luxury homes on the site, but the application was denied by council in 2008.
Since then, the matter has bounced back and forth between the OMB and the divisional court with the former body denying a joint board hearing and the latter supporting its lack of jurisdiction to even order one.
As such, the divisional court has repeatedly said the OMB is the appropriate venue to address the myriad of concerns raised by the town and residents.
Undaunted by the recent divisional court ruling, Mayor Phyllis Morris said she and her colleagues have since ordered their counsel to launch another appeal. Read Full Article.
Posted in Community Corner, Community Input, Council Watch-Richard Johnson, Leadership, Town Council | 13 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on February 22, 2010
Wow. I guess this latest development in York Region should come as no surprise. I understand that Aurora’s Mayor Morris supported this latest brainstorm from the Region with barely a mention of it to the Aurora Council.
I have to wonder what she would say if a developer came to Aurora and asked to build a development for WASPs only ?
If Phyllis feels the Region can support racially based housing with my tax dollars then I trust that she would support self funded segregation of all sorts.
I find it very hard to fathom that my tax dollars are supporting discriminatory policies based on race and religion that have the end effect of limiting where someone in need can actually afford to live. This is a high risk social housing policy if there ever was one, especially for those on the outside looking in. If any given community wants to raise funds and support its own, then fine. Go for it, but don’t use my money to shut people out.
These are my tax dollars at work and I don’t appreciate others spending my hard earned money in such a discriminatory and biased fashion.
RJ
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Fri Feb 19 2010 – Gail Swainson Urban Affairs Reporter
Critics say a York Region policy of using tax dollars to subsidize housing restricted to members of certain ethnic and religious groups is discriminatory and condones a form of segregation.
The policy, endorsed recently by regional council, allows four buildings that limit residence to members of their own faith and ethnic communities – one Italian, one Jewish and two Muslim – to receive regional rent-geared-to-income housing subsidies.
“These kinds of special exemptions can get tricky and set a dangerous precedent,” said Newmarket Regional Councillor John Taylor. “These segregated services are not conducive to the kind of communities we want to build. This is also a significant public policy direction that should be debated, but has gone ahead almost unnoticed.”
Although it is illegal under Ontario’s Human Rights Code to restrict housing based on race, ancestry, colour, ethnicity, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status or disability, some affirmative-action housing providers enjoy exemptions.
Only Toronto, with four such facilities, and now York Region, have chosen to award exemptions. Read Full Article.
Posted in Community Input, Council Watch-Richard Johnson, Growth, Integrity, Leadership | 3 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on February 20, 2010
The debate about whether to place a question on the ballot for the upcoming election is underway.
It seems Councillors Gartner & Granger want to be able to point to something they did (and can explain without notes) when asked about their contribution this past term. Mayor Phyllis Morris and Councillor MacEachern have acquiesced to their request for the very own motion (although surely written by others) — although Councillor MacEachern has already is quoted as stating “representation-at-large is best”. It make one wonder why they bother since MacEachern has already stated her preference. And we have seen the voting record for a motion by MacEachern.
The real issue behind the question is whether a ward system will increase the performance and accountability of Council. If the answer is “Yes”, then a case can be made. However, if there is no difference — then why change.
In business, you are faced with questions where there are no clear answers. The best way to discover the answers is to keep asking the question “WHY?”, until eventually the answers start to become clearer.
From our view, we were pleased to hear that Council will share their thinking and be presenting information to inform the public — and hiding behind the skirts of “the public said so” — before simply holding an Open House and wasting everyone’s time and our tax dollars. Citizens need to be provided with information so they can make “informed” comments, rather than just react emotionally.
In the interim, here are a few initial thoughts to get the discussion started.
Frankly, we see no compelling reason for a change. Do you?
Agree or disagree?
Posted in Community Input, Election 2010, Growth, Leadership | 5 Comments »
Aurora Citizen 