Cept it wasn't in a garden. It was at Le Parc . It was Regional Chairman Bill Fisch' Inaugural Dinner in Celebration of The Arts in York Region. Co-chair was Ian Proudfoot of Metroland.
My daughter and I were guests of Joseph Lebovic, who donates millions to good causes throughout the GTA and had purchased a table in support of the cause.
He contributes to the Arts and Culture Fund in Aurora and attends council most years
when awards are being presented.
It was a posh do. Tickets were expensive. I would have been unlikely to attend otherwise. Town policy allows councillors to charge for such expenditures. I don't think they should.
Mr Lebovic is also a developer of up scale homes and developments.
Such a proposal was presented at a public planning meeting . It was for land designated for residential development before the Province passed the Oak Ridges Moraine Act.
An Official Plan designation for development means the right is lawful.
When The Act was passed, town planning staff informed Mr. Lebovic his original plans would unlikely meet the new requirements of the Moraine Act.
He asked what would conform.
He was advised accordingly.
Eventually,accompanied by a massive team of planners, engineers , hydrologists and every other expert required to meet the requirements of various public agencies, Provincial,Regional, Municipal,Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, South Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority and the Provincial Ministry of the Environment the plan was ready.
After months and hundred of thousands maybe millions of dollars, the Plan was presented at a Public Planning Meeting in the Town of Aurora.
The town's planning reports noted issues still to be resolved but recommended approval in principle.
The purpose of such a recommendation is to allow the parties to continue the work of refining the plan while adhering to the Planning Act which requires a Municipality to make a decision within a specified time limit.
Failure to do so gives an applicant the right to an Appeal before the Ontario Municipal Board.
Such an appeal takes the decision from the hands of the municipality and puts it in the hands of a non-elected body.
Municipalities complain loudly against the Ontario Municipal Board
Their failure to adhere to the law which results in an Ontario Municipal Board Hearing and decision is seldom acknowledged.
The Ontario Municipal Board is a convenient whipping boy for municipal politicians averse to making decisions which might prove to be controversial.
The province knows it, developers know it, municipalities know it. It is the scourge of the building industry and adds untold billions to the cost of construction.The wanton waste of resources is appalling.
The only people unaware of particulars are the media sometimes and the public usually.
The public are also unaware of huge and unnecessary legal costs paid out of their pockets to defend the indefensible.
The Town's planners found no reason to refuse the application. They recommended approval in principle.
How do you support the refusal of an application before the Ontario Municipal Board, when all agencies charged with advising an applicant of how to meet all requirements have done so and advised the municipality accordingly.
No permits are issued until refinements are completed. Approval in principle means work can continue and the decisions are worked out where they should be and not at a board table.
Mr. Lebovic's application was refused. On a vote of eight to one.
A Municipal Board Appeal was filed.
An application was promptly made by the Town for a "joint board" hearing.
Such a hearing, involving three separate authorities, takes several weeks longer than the norm. It costs several times more. A ball park figure was half a million dollars.
The application for a "joint board" hearing was denied.
That decision was appealed to another level of judicial authority.
I have been informed, to date, there have been three denials.
Further..... legal costs for Mr. Lebovic to defend the appeals have risen to one million dollars.
On the other hand, I have not been informed of three denials by the town nor have legal costs to the municipality been disclosed.
Nor am I or you likely to be informed under current strictures imposed on the Chief Financial Officer of the Town of Aurora by the Aurora Town Council.
If I am able to ferret out further information, which is not solicitor/client advice, which does not apply to decisions rendered in a court, I will pass that information along too.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
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8 comments:
Accepting invitations and favours from a developer, Cllr Buck? I'm disappointed.
Yes, Mr Lebovic makes his annual presentation to Council highlighting his company's donation to the Arts & Culture fund. But please don't think of it as philanthropy, oh no - it's an investment.
When he appeared before Council about the development in question he was quick to cite his years of donations to the town. Fine, thank you very much, sir, but what does one have to do with the other?
Those donations are long-term investments so that when 'business' arises, as it inevitably does with businessmen, things will go kindly Mr Developer's way. Hey, it's smart business - because it usually works.
But business is what it is - not charity, not benevolence - but a way to try to influence opinions and decisions.
So, thank you Mr Developer (of which there are too many) for giving back a small measure of the money you've made out of a community. But please do so with good intentions, "out of the goodness of your heart", as they say. Not with any thought of strings attached or any regard for a payback; we don't owe you anything.
Is our Ev in the back pocket of Mr. Lebovic? Say it ain't so.
I doubt that this comment will ever be posted, but what the heck I will try.....
What does the Aurora Code of Conduct say about a member of Council that takes 2 "expensive" and "posh" tickets to an event from a developer. I am sure all was above board, but the 8 to 1 decision made mention of.... clearly you were the "1". Was Mr. Lebovic courting your continued support? Was he thanking you for your previous support? This was probably a case of nothing un toward, however the optics may say something else.
I dont' think Evelyn is up to no good. I've seen the Mayor at some of the Lebovic functions too. Make what you will of it.
“But business is what it is - not charity, not benevolence - but a way to try to influence opinions and decisions.”
I agree. Let’s compare the developer to the “special events coordinator”. No matter how much she tries to tell us it is charity, we know it is not.
Not Ricky Nelson has nailed it on the head.
And Ev, be careful of the optics in accepting such generosity.
Using and schmoozing is at the very core of politics. At every election time we all hope earnestly that this time we will elect a bunch of honest, decent, principled politicians. But the bottom line is that those who are drawn to politics are all cut from the same cloth. In my opinion, people who seek to or actually engage in political public life have the same predispositions: using, abusing, betraying, lying, spinning, switching sides if there is something in it for "me", prostituting with whichever "John" of the moment may give an edge, advantage or campaign cash,... and I could go on and on and on. It is not likely that 2010 candidates will be any different from what we already have. How sad.
I think there are many instances when local politicians can be found in real and/or perceived conflict of interest. One of the most glaring is when a councillor is also in the real estate business. I have seen this happen in many communities where I have lived. In one there was quite a scandal involving the deputy mayor who used inside planning and development knowledge to further his business.
I think municipalities nationwide need a common code of ethics (not the same as a code of conduct)that would outline appropriate candidacy, real AND perceived conflict of interest situations, appropriate conduct when interfacing with business and development representatives et cetera. I think the ehealth situation illustrates very well the type of corruptions that exist where public money is the funding source.
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