Councillor Gaertner has embarrassed herself — and defamed Aurora’s reputation — with her recent comments about the inadequacy of Bulk Barn as a corporate citizen here in Aurora.
Her desire to wait for something better is also probably the reason she has had such poor success in her quest for a youth centre here in Aurora — her single issue that she has wrapped herself in since she ran all those years ago. Still nothing she can point to as done. Still just a pipe dream.
Gaertner has made a political career standing back and criticizing what others are trying to do — rather than actually working with others to get something accomplished.
Would another organization have brought more job to Aurora? Maybe. But Bulk Bran would be welcome in almost any community — except Geartnerville.
BTW, possibly one of their supporters could point out the names of the companies and number of jobs she and her cronies from the last four-year term got to re-locate in Aurora? None come to mind.
Below is the Era Banners Editorial comments on this issue. Seems like more than ourselves see the folly in her thinking.
Waiting for ‘better’ option makes no sense
ISSUE: Aurora Councillor Wendy Gaertner not impressed with Bulk Barn’s 400-job announcement.
There’s a lot of truth in the old saying, “You can’t please all of the people all of the time.”
As Aurora council approved the site plan for a new corporate head office and distribution centre for Bulk Barn, most councillors applauded the notion of 400 new office and distribution jobs coming to town. But the sentiment wasn’t unanimous.
In fact, Councillor Wendy Gaertner wasn’t impressed at all. “Frankly, I didn’t think it was the best use for these lands,” she said. “We are trying to bring in many well-paying jobs to this community. I would have liked something more like State Farm that brought with it 800 high-paying jobs with benefits.”
It’s great to aim high, but downplaying the impact of the Bulk Barn relocation is ridiculous, especially considering the deal meets the provincial business land mandate of 50 jobs created per hectare of land sold.
“I am glad this fits in with the mandate, but I still don’t think it’s the best use of space,” she said. “If we look at GTA land value, for the most part, it keeps going up, so I would have rather waited.”
That amounts to a pie-in-the-sky attitude in this day and age. There’s not a person out there who wouldn’t rather have 800 jobs come to town, instead of 400, but there comes a point where waiting for a better deal that might never come is a bad idea. Aurora and area was hit particularly hard when the manufacturing sector dumped jobs in the late 2000s.
The 2009 closure of Magna’s Exterion plants in Aurora and Newmarket alone put 850 people on the unemployment line. That means we’ve already been waiting three years to replace those jobs. That’s long enough.
We know 400 doesn’t equal 800, but people want to work and jobs are jobs, right now. Food bank use continues to rise and queues for subsidized housing grow every day. The Bulk Barn jobs won’t end the need for subsidized housing and they might not even make any difference at the food bank, but they provide hope, which is desperately needed.
BOTTOM LINE: Bulk Barn’s relocation guarantees 400 new jobs during time of need.
Aurora Citizen 