tell a story if like is compared to like. Nothing about the Mormac regime compares to any council I have ever known.
At the start,meetings often lasted until 1.a.m. Agendas would not be completed.The Mayor's voice continued to echo all the way home. More meetings were needed to finish previous business and order practised was a route to disorder.
A solicitor retained by the Mayor, morphed into two, with the objective of filing suit against her predecessor for invasion of her privacy. Two years of private legal consultations and communications between the Mayor and the solicitor came to nought in the end. At never to- be- revealed taxpayers' expense.
The new council followed the leader, perhaps not surprisingly.
The second solicitor, George Rust D'Eye; The Mayor had consulted him previously and invited him to a Council meeting where she declared an emergency to be dealt with behind closed doors.
First though, Mr. Rust D'Eye was introduced to me by the Mayor.
He asked if I had retained legal counsel; hastily assured me he was not suggesting I should; delicately indicated I should not attend the closed meeting; litigation might ensue; I might hear something to my advantage and incur a conflict of interest for which there are severe penalties.
Mr Rust D'Eye was retained that night by Council to "investigate a leak" from a closed door meeting.
A decision made behind closed doors in September, had appeared in the media in November.
The intent to locate New Regional Police Headquarters in Aurora had apparently been known in police circles for months.
Aurora's decision to refuse to sell land we had for sale at an appraised price to the Region had spread... perhaps not surprisingly.
The actual decision was not to allow CAO John Rogers to negotiate with the police although it was his responsibility. It was another way to humiliate the man. The mayor obviously thought there were kudos in it for herself. In the end, that didn't happen and Aurora lost the prize.
To distract from the debacle a great fury was contrived.
Mr. Rust D'Eye advised his client. Legal action against myself was not advanced as the final solution. A Code Of Conduct was offered instead with special emphasis on the opportunity for punishment.
It has been a long wait forthe Mayor and Councillor MacEachern. A Code had to be passed. An Integrity Commissioner recruited. The professional chosen, actually wanted to provide educational sessions for Councillors.Who ever heard of such a thing.
We had.
Councillor Mac had already said what she thought of that idea when it was proposed by Councillor Collins Mrakas.The resolution was defeated.
We had one workshop.Neither Councillor Mac nor Mayor Morris attended. A second makeshift was presented in a council meeting. It was hardly conducive to a meeting of minds.
But an agreement was made. A contract signed.
Next step, a different lawyer retained for a different "investigation"
We all know the consequence of that.
No, my friends. This is not a Council like any other.
The Corporation's Business Agenda takes no precedence.
I see that your fellow Councillors have finally come to their senses on the Petch House or so it would seem. Al Wilson needs to realize that he did spend money on this house, thousands of dollars for what you said should have been done from the get go. And now they are talking about keeping a piece for historical purposes. This house originated in the town of Whitchurch. It is not even a part of the Town of Aurora. Again go ask Whitchurch if they want to foot the bill on that and place a part of THEIR heritage in the Vandorf Museum. I think if you are going to use pieces of buildings for historical monuments then save the money and use it for a REAL piece of AURORA and make sure a piece of the WELLS STREET school ends up in the Cultural Center.
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