Aurora Citizen

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Opinions, Allegations and Threats

Posted by auroracitizen on September 16, 2010

The Aurora Citizen is again the target of a letter from the Town solicitor demanding that comments be removed from this blog.

On Sept 14th, Mr Bill Hogg received a registered letter from Christopher C. Cooper, Director of Legal Services/Town Solicitor with the comment “While the Town does not seek to stifle fair and accurate comment, we hereby ask that you remove the posts from the Blog, which posts suggest  Mr Ballantyne is or has acted unethically and illegally in his role as the Town’s manager of Corporate Communications.”

Within the letter he also indicates the specific comments that are the subject of the letter.

So let’s be clear –in the quest for accuracy.

The comments identified by Mr Cooper are not posts written by someone associated with this blog — they were comments submitted by readers of this blog.

The first comment suggested that a Phyllis Morris quote included in a Banner article on her campaign for re-election was written by Mr Ballantyne.

The second comment indicated that they hoped that Mr Ballantyne was not responsible for updating comments on Wikipedia since they could be looked upon as electioneering edits.

Both comments expressed opinion. They were not asserted as statements of fact by the commentors.

The issue from the town perspective is that these comments implied that Mr Ballantyne was improperly using his office to help a candidate for re-election — which is inappropriate and a serious accusation under the Code of Conduct governing Town employees as well as the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.

Fair enough — we have removed the 2 comments at the request of the Town since it is the Town’s position that “the suggestions made in the posts were not true, have no basis in fact”. You can read the entire letter by clicking on the pictures above.

We also do not want any allegations published — either by contributors to this blog or the numerous readers who comment.

We believe the protection of staff from being embroiled in political debate is an important issue. Staff are expected to remain outside the political battles at all times. After all, this terms enemy, might be next terms boss.

We trust that Phyllis Morris and the remainder of Council share this view.

Posted in CAO, Election 2010, Integrity, Leadership, Staff Turnover, Town Council | 41 Comments »

Mayor Morris’ Re-Election Website

Posted by auroracitizen on September 15, 2010

Well Phyllis has finally launched her re-election website. And frankly it exactly reflects her political style. Glossy looking, completely lacking in anything of substance and a willingness to mis-represent or  twist facts and stretch the truth to suit her own purposes.

One of our readers has provided their view on the site and asked for your feedback.

Mayor Morris has now updated her re-election webpage.

Without knowing the history of Town Council for the past 4 years and having a critical eye for the lack of detail it would be easy for anyone to think that perhaps we should all be re-electing Mayor Morris. For perhaps the thousands of Aurorans who do not follow town politics this could be an easy conclusion. It’s up to the informed and the other mayoral nominees to set “the record straight”.

The other nominees should also note her “tag line” of “Leadership, Vision, Ability”. This is what they will have to counter and what she is running on as the incumbent. She doesn’t have to demonstrate these qualities she just has to keep repeating them and the voters may believe her and vote her in again.
 
I have included a few comments below of my own but would be interested in what others may think of her presentation. She of course would not speak of the negative and must spin it all to her best light. I believe it whitewashes over the conflicted town council and all of the problems of the past 4 years.
 
There doesn’t seem to be any message in her website of what’s going forward by electing her once again. She perhaps doesn’t want to disclose a platform at this time and will only do so when needed.

Reference www.phyllismorris.net  (Homepage)

  1. “It has been a pleasure to work with a fantastic Town Council that successfully considered and charted new directions. The public record shows it to be the most capable in a decade at both finding common ground and achieving results.”  Wow! Has she really enjoyed all of the turmoil. What new directions have been charted? Where are the details of this success? What is the “public record” that she is credit for as being “the most capable in a decade?”
  2. “Our town is remarkable! Aurora is quiet neighbourhoods, heritage homes and nature trails.”   No mention of traffic jams at Yonge & Wellington or at the GO Station on Wellington or that Aurora has urban sprawl.
  3. “Aurora is for everyone!”   Wasn’t the Mayor the one that commented that low-cost housing isn’t needed in Aurora. It is for everyone that can afford to live here now and in the future with rising taxes.
  4. “Aurora has grown stronger because we respect and nurture new ideas. Your local government is better because it has become more open, accountable and fiscally responsible. With fresh energy, enthusiasm and commitment, we have developed a clear vision of how to further enrich our community.”  ??? more open, accountable & fiscally responsible? Where’s the proof?
  5. “The New York Times wrote: “Aurora is exactly the kind of hip, upscale, well-educated town where conflicting values are put to the test.” You would need an US paper to quote as the Canadian papers with local knowledge have not printed favourable reviews of what’s happening in Aurora.
    (Editors addition:  Knowledgable readers know this is related to a New York Times article that appeared on April 17, 2008, headed “A Line in the Yard: The Battle Over the Right to Dry Outside”  Is this what our election is all about? Or is this possible mis-leading to people not fully aware of the context)
  6. Reference www.phyllismorris.net/About-Phyllis-Morris (About Phyllis) “Mayor Phyllis Morris is known for her integrity, energy, positive attitude, sense of fair play, genuine concern for people”   It’s all depends of course on your perspective.
  7. “Phyllis Morris was elected Aurora’s first four-year Mayor in 2006.   “Of course emphasis has been placed on the “four-year”. Come on, really??  Is that what you are calling your accomplishment? Well somebody had to be the 1st.
  8. “Mayor Phyllis Morris has consistently demonstrated her leadership skills by identifying issues critical to the Town and rallying the community, councillors and staff to find solutions.”   From what I have read I would question her methods of “rallying”. It would appear more like “it’s my way or the highway” in how she deals with issues.
  9. “In areas such as the environment, town planning and heritage preservation, she is often at the leading edge of what is happening in politics in Canada and the world.”Really?? That’s putting it on a little thick. Mayor Morris is “often at the leading edge of what is happening in politics in Canada and the world”. Wow that’s stretching it! I don’t seem to seeing her on national news etc. Is she taking personal credit for all of Aurora? She doesn’t include any examples. Is it perhaps a couple of heritage awards and the “line laundry” issue but of course no mention of the code of conduct fiasco.
  10. “As an elected official, Phyllis’ key goal has always been to facilitate the public’s access to the processes of government, so that her constituents’ needs are heard.”   This seems to contradict the many requests for information that other Aurorans have issues to Town Hall and the numerous closed sessions of council.

What’s your take on all of this?

Posted in Election 2010, Integrity, Leadership | 59 Comments »

Aurora Back In the National News

Posted by auroracitizen on September 11, 2010

Aurora was once again back in the national news due to the political infighting that has taken place under the “leadership” of  Phyllis Morris.

Today’s Toronto Star article about key issues in the GTA lists Aurora as 1 of 6 municipal elections to watch. But the reasons are the political climate that has been seen here for the last 4 years.

Aurora, a usually quiet town on the Oak Ridges Moraine, finds itself split into two factions: one camp that favours Mayor Phyllis Morris, and another that favours the mayor’s longtime vocal critic, Councillor Evelyn Buck. The two have been embroiled in a nasty battle that started with Buck’s outspoken political blog and ended in a $5.2-million lawsuit that Buck filed against Morris and five other council members last year, alleging they abused their power by launching an ethics complaint against her.

This is not the first time we have been front and centre for the behaviour of this Council. We made the national press when Phyllis and Councillors Gaertner, Gallo, Granger, MacEachern and Wilson banded together to fire David Nitkin, our first Integrity Commissioner, after he threw out the first complaint against Councillor Buck for being politically driven.

This is the basis of the $5.2 million lawsuit against the 6 individuals by Councillor Buck. However, the 6 are using town funds (yours and mine) to fight this battle.

Some Relevant Posts:

https://auroracitizen.ca/2009/10/31/lawsuit-continues/

https://auroracitizen.ca/2009/10/18/an-unbiased-opinion-the-globe-and-mail/

https://auroracitizen.ca/2009/09/09/toronto-star-council-spat-gets-uglier/

https://auroracitizen.ca/2009/09/07/the-spin-continues/

https://auroracitizen.ca/2009/08/13/toronto-star-editorial-weighs-in/

https://auroracitizen.ca/2009/08/10/keystone-cops-alive-and-living-in-aurora/

If you are interested in more of the history of this situation, click on the  category links below (or in the column to the right):

Posted in Code of Ethics, Election 2010, Integrity, Leadership | 10 Comments »

Dawe’s Response on Canvassing at The Farmers Market

Posted by auroracitizen on September 9, 2010

Spotted Geoff Dawe’s post on his blog about the experience he had at the Market last Saturday. We thought it provided some insight into the man’s approach that was worth sharing.

Of particular note were his comments about respect.

The more important issue, is respect. I was advised that I was breaking the rules and I chose to honour those rules — regardless of whether or not I agree with them. One of my main issues has been the general lack of respect – for rules and for people – demonstrated by the past Mayor and Council. There is precious little reason for me to talk about that issue if I don’t live it.

Regardless on your position on whether he should or should not be allowed to campaign, possibly we can all agree that respect is an essential component of a leader — something that has been missing this past 4 years.

And make no mistake, a leader who respects the rules is not the same as a coward.

Let’s hope that Geoff will stand up against bullies that try to dominate by intimidation.

Posted in Election 2010, Leadership | 10 Comments »

Has Mayor Morris Fulfiled Her Election Promises?

Posted by auroracitizen on September 6, 2010

Council Watch #14 – by Richard Johnson

I think that it is about time for Aurora to check this speech against delivery…”
 
Selections from the Inaugural Speech of Mayor Phyllis Morris, Town of Aurora, December 5, 2006
Full text is available from the Town website.

How exciting it is for me to stand here tonight addressing this inaugural gathering as your Mayor. It’s a privilege to lead this Council and our community for the next four
years. I will respect the trust you have placed in me and will always hold sacred your confidence.

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’ll strive to ensure that your interaction with us is enjoyable, productive – and, yes, sometimes maybe even fun!

We will not forget that you – the people of Aurora – are the reason our town is such a vibrant and wonderful place to live.

So let’s not forget one thing. Aurora voters – sent a strong message that they expect us – Council, Staff and Mayor to do a better job – a better job of working together to move the business of this town forward in a positive and productive atmosphere.

The word most often used during the recent election was “teamwork.” Some say there’s a difference between being on a team and serving on Council. The only difference is the lack of uniforms – not the spirit, perspective, or ethics.

I believe an effective team requires players with a diversity of strengths and points of view.

So, yes, as Mayor, I will stress teamwork.

As Mayor, I promise to be fair and supportive – and I believe the public expects the same of all members of Council.

You’ll find that I’m a “hands on” Mayor, interested in the day-to-day operation of our town. 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.

By now I hope you know I’m an energetic and optimistic person.

And, I want to know what you think. After all, this is your town. My door is open. You have my phone number – please feel free to stop me in the street, call me, or e-mail me.

I’m here to listen.

So was it a Fairy Tale?

Closed meetings have increased, legal action seems to be on the rise, over 20 senior and mid level management have left the town’s employment (some willingly, some not willingly), an integrity commissioner was fired resulting in widespread coverage in the Toronto Star, National Post, Globe and Mail, Toronto Sun and CBC news and the local media, one Councillor quit, two Councillors have stated they will not run given their experience on council, one Councillor is suing the mayor and a number of fellow councillors.

The media and residents have had to resort to numerous Freedom of Information requests in order to get answers to even the most simple and straight forward questions. While the Mayor supports legal action, trails, trees, a cultural center, a Jazz Festival and parades she has not made it a priority to support the food bank or the region’s affordable housing program with the apparent reasoning that “those kind of people don’t live in Aurora”.

I could go on with further examples but I think the picture is rather clear.

Posted in Council Watch-Richard Johnson, Election 2010, Integrity, Leadership, Town Council | 18 Comments »

Double Standards?

Posted by auroracitizen on September 4, 2010

Earlier today Geoff Dawe was in attendance at the Aurora Farmers Market. He was with a couple of supporters who were wearing “Geoff Dawe for Mayor T-shirts” and offering campaign literature to patrons.

He was approached by one of the vendors and informed that campaigning was contrary to the Market guidelines/by-laws. In response, Geoff put away his brochures.

Which begs the questions. What has Phyllis being doing sitting at this same vendors booth for many weeks?

In fact, when I was at the market this morning (after Geoff had left) and heard the story — Phyllis was engaged in a conversation with a number of patrons directly in front of the complainants booth discussing issues in the town. Is that not campaigning?

Or what has Nigel been doing at the market? Has he not been promoting his candidacy?

So is Phyllis still trying to pretend her time at the market — standing in front of her supporters booth — talking about town issues — is not campaigning? How long does it take to buy groceries?

First we had to push her to stop using town resources to campaign while pretending it was town business.

Now that she has declared, must we also ask her to submit to the same rules that apply to other candidates.

Geoff stepped back after being informed of the rules. A leader follows the rules and behaves as they expect others to behave.

So now that the rules are clear, will Phyllis attend to her shopping and move on.  Anything else would be campaigning — and we expect her friendly vendor to remind her of the rules the same as she reminded Geoff.

In case Phyllis forgets — then maybe you could remind her of the rules everyone else is expected to abide by 🙂

Posted in Election 2010, Integrity, Leadership, Uncategorized | 24 Comments »

Where is Team Morris?

Posted by auroracitizen on September 3, 2010

Outgoing Mayor Phyllis Morris has been MIA on the campaign trail for weeks now. Since hastily filing her nomination papers on August 11th – a Wednesday- not a peep has been heard save the brief bit of pabulum fed to the Banner.

This isn’t like Morris. We all know she loves a parade – and yet… No fanfare. No media release. No nothing. Just quietly filed the papers after months of speculation – not by us mind you, we knew Morris would be attempting to hang onto her seat.

This is not classic Phyllis.  She’d go to the opening of an envelope.  Nope. Something’s up. Usually there is a big to do when she announces.  As per the last few times, it has been at the last-minute – riding in to save the day.  “I am responding to the many many residents who have begged me to run” blah blah blah.

Everyone knows Phyllis hasn’t stopped campaigning since she squeaked past the post to win the 2006 election with less than 50% of the vote.

Which makes the rushed and harried nature of her filing and non-existent campaign presence all the more puzzling.  Well, we should say she hasn’t conducted any “official” campaign activities. We’ll leave it to you to decide if recent “Town” initiatives are anything but an attempt to make her look like she’s doing something besides taking credit for doing nothing.

She has filed her papers and yet has no website. No functioning email address or phone number to call. No kick off party. No fundraising event. Again, we should state no “official” fundraising event that we are aware of. Very disorganized.

So what gives?  She said recently that she would “begin campaigning” after the summer.  Huh? All the other serious candidates for Mayor have been actively engaging the community in the electoral campaign – through websites, through door to door canvassing, through advertisements and, recently, election signs.

What does it say about the incumbent’s attitude towards the race? Either she doesn’t take it seriously or she is so overwhelmed by the support garnered by other candidates that she is in a frantic state.

Either way, it seems that Morris is well on her way out…

Posted in Election 2010, Leadership, Town Council | 22 Comments »

Does Phillis Morris Have Historical Issues Meeting Deadlines?

Posted by auroracitizen on September 1, 2010

After an election each candidate has a specific period of time to submit their campaign expenses for public review. Many will recall that in Vaughan this led to some issues being raised about whether campaign expenses were handled appropriately.

Candidate financial statements are public documents and available for viewing or to make copies by any person at the Town Hall during regular business hours. The deadline for submitting statements is clearly identified in the candidates handbook and is legislated as part the Municipal Elections Act.

Consequences for not submitting on time include forfeiting the office you have been elected to. Pretty serious stuff.

Historically the deadline is the last Friday in March the year after the election. This year it will be Friday March 25th, 2011 — 5 months after the election.

Last election (2006) Nigel Kean submitted his expenses March 1, 2007, Tim Jones submitted his expenses March 26, 2007. Both within the designated time limits before the end of March 2007.

Nigel spent $8,875.81 — $3,832 from donations — the balance self funded.

Tim spent $30,628.56 — $27,620 from donations.

So you are probably wondering where Phyllis Morris’ expenses are. Well, she finally submitted them Feb 14, 2008. Almost 1 year past the deadline. Apparently hitting deadlines is not a new issue with Phyllis.

Phyllis spent $24,783.55, of which $5,750 was from donations.

It’s also interesting to see who is financially supporting which candidates. Some names you might recognize from Phyllis’s contributors list;

  • Guy Poppe
  • Ken Whitehurst (in kind)
  • Suzanne Whitehurst
  • CSB Communications (Chris Ballard’s company)
  • Gary Fernandez (Susan Walmers Husband)

Just thought you would find this interesting.

Posted in Code of Ethics, Conflict of Interest, Election 2010, Freedom of Information, Leadership | 15 Comments »

Clean Up Aurora Campaign – Isn’t That What The Election Is For?

Posted by auroracitizen on August 29, 2010

The Town is being papered – quite literally – with a “communications piece” about the “Clean up Aurora Campaign” which is proceeding in advance of the completion of the Aurora Promenade Study – a study still in draft form and nowhere near completion – though it is “expected” to be approved by the outgoing council on September 28th. 

Interesting side note – according to the “lame duck” provision of the Municipal Act, if less than 75% of the current Council file nomination papers, then the lame duck council can’t authorize new spending over $50,000 or sell land worth the same amount. They also cannot appoint or remove officers of the corporation (phew!  Town staff are in the clear!). For the mathematically challenged Morris – that means that 7 out of the 9 members must file their papers.  So far (thank god) only 3 have… So before this Council “approves” this study, let’s make sure we know just how much it’s all going to cost us.

This week approximately 2000 residents and businesses within the study catchments area were supposed to receive the newsletter extolling the importance and urgency of the “Clean up Aurora Campaign”.  And yes, before the Aurora Citizen receives any “complaints” about spin or misleading statements, the newsletter states, categorically, that this is a “campaign”.  What telling choice of words – bit Freudian don’t you think? One does not have to be a genius to understand what “campaign” this “programme” actually supports.

In tandem with the massive newsletter mail out – how much did that cost you might wonder – the town has actually created a website (seriously) about the “Clean up Aurora Campaign with breathless chatter about the completed projects and pending projects.  (www.e-aurora.ca/cleanup)

Have a close look at the website folks.  After you stop laughing at how ridiculous it is, you should get very very angry.  These are your hard-earned tax dollars being used to fund a “campaign” of questionable utility and suspect purpose.

Look at the “completed projects” noted in the glossy, multi page, newsletter:

  • Re-painted all downtown railings their original green colour
  • Planted/hung 90 baskets of flower arrangements
  • Repaired, repainted and reinstalled Heritage signs where needed
  • Installed a new playground at Machell Park
  • Periodically power washed sidewalks in the downtown business area
  • Re-painted the road lines on Yonge Street
  • Removed advertising boxes in key business areas

We’ve raised this point previously in the post Is Mayor Morris Putting Lipstick on a Pig, but in light of the increased expenditures on this “campaign”, they’re worth raising again.  To be clear – there is NOTHING innovative about this programme. In fact it is not a programme at all but everyday work that the relevant departments are required to do and already doing.  This is already covered in their operating budgets.  This has already been paid for by your hard-earned tax dollars.  Why are we spending untold THOUSANDS of dollars on a pile of promotional nonsense.

We have an answer for you – ELECTION DAY!!!

We urge you to make your anger known.  Take the newsletter and send it back to the Town Hall – do your part to “clean up aurora”.   Let the Town know that you are not fooled by this pathetic attempt at whitewashing over a failed term of council.

Please vote on October 25th and truly “clean-up aurora”.

Posted in Election 2010, Leadership, Town Council | 26 Comments »

The Tale of the Tape

Posted by auroracitizen on August 27, 2010

There was an insightful occurrence during the Council meeting on Tuesday, August 17th. This is the meeting where the Integrity Commissioner presented his report. The IC was reporting on the two complaints initiated by Councillor MacEachern against Councillor Buck. His findings were to issue a reprimand on the first and to dismiss the second. After he presented his reports, and answered (sort of) the questions, the Mayor, rather than simply calling a vote, chose to read the entire contents of each report, a rather unusual thing to do, to say the least.

At some point, during the reading of the report on the second complaint Councillor Buck left the Council Chambers. Councillor Buck fell in the hallway, but was not hurt.

The insightful occurrence was the totally inappropriate (but very telling as to her character) remark made by the Mayor, and the fact that the official Town recording of this meeting has been edited. We are sure that it is just a coincidence that this particular part is NOT on the official tape — however, it is on the Rogers recording, which can be accessed here:

http://www.rogerstv.com/option.asp?lid=237&rid=70&mid=52&gid=69838#38_120_3447

We know watching these replays can be painful, so you can check the Rogers version at the times noted below with a reasonable description of the discussion:

3:40:35     the “accident” occurs (you can clearly hear the noise of something / someone falling)

3:40:45    The Mayor states that “we are going to call a recess, there has been an accident in the hallway. We’re in recess at 10:30. Stop taping at this time. It would be appropriate not to be taping at this time.”

3:41:10    The Mayor stands up as Mr. Elliot comes across the floor explain what has happened. You can hear a voice in the background asking if all the cameras are off.

3:41:15    The Mayor responds to Mr Elliot by saying  “typical”. At the urging of one of the other Councillors, she then reaches down and turns off her microphone. Note: that because the Mayor is standing up, you must turn up the volume to hear her make that statement.

Mr. Leach (Town Clerk) might argue that they didn’t edit the DVD since the Town does not keep the tape rolling during a recess. However, the Council was not in a legal recess.

Without getting too technical, for Council to go into a Recess, a Motion is required, and must state how long the recess will be for. This was NOT done. Once again demonstrating how the “experience” of Mayor Morris comes into question. Calling a recess is a fairly basic rule of procedure.

Could you argue that in this case (that being the accident) that a violation of the rules is acceptable? Probably — assuming the goal was to offer assistance, or at least to see what was going on.

Of course the tape also shows that none of the Mayor or Councillors seem particularly concerned about the events surrounding the accident. We can’t comment if that is due to general lack of interest, because they already knew the accident was minor or because they knew it was Councillor Buck.

So draw your own conclusions. It’s all there for you to see. It’s a question of Character.

Posted in Code of Ethics, Leadership, Town Council | 21 Comments »

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