A Dress Rehearsal

I posted a comment from Guy Poppe yesterday. He had presented as a friend recently
I was reluctant to decide what his comment conveyed. I thought readers might help me decide.
They did.
The comment is removed.

I conclude Mr. Poppe is an active supporter of Mormac, trying to infiltrate the enemy.

It makes friendship unlikely

We all know by now how much organization went into Mormac's campaign in last election .

Susan Walmer, organizer par excellence, created the Coalition of Ratepayers Associations.

First there was S.W.A.T., the South West Aurora Team that campaigned against Ontario Heritage Trust's plan to sell part of the Anne Bartley Smith lands.

Twenty acres of the land were pre-serviced by the town for development . O.H.T. apparently would have realised financial resources desperately needed to carry out their mandate.
The plan was to transfer ownership of the other sixty acres of land to the town for free and untrammelled use by the entire community.

S.W.A.T., a group of residents, including Guy Poppe, who could see the land from their windows, were strongly opposed to the plan and fought it to a standstill. Hardly to the advantage of the community at large.

Councillor MacEachern was leader of the opposition and mindful of her financial advantage, currently declares a conflict of interest whenever the Ann Bartley Smith lands are on the Council agenda for discussion.

The North East Quadrant Ratepayer's Association were also part of the Walmer organization. Their objective was to remove all traffic from streets in their neighbourhood.That was after having their entire neighbourhood designated heritage so that no resident can do anything with their property that the neighbours do not approve.

Since the election they succeeded in their endeavour with quarter of a million dollars of taxpayers money spent on a crazy" traffic calming" plan.

The Bayview Ratepayers Association had the issue of Ontario Hydro's plans to install higher voltage transmission lines in the hydro corridor overshadowing their homes.The shadow seems to be removed by the Province's recent decision to exercise authority to approve placement of the peaker plant in King Township. We can only hope that's a done deal.

A Coalition of Sports Organizations was also created in time for the election. The Mayor's victory celebration was held in the Aurora Men's Soccer Club Building in a field provided to them free by the Town of Aurora.

The President of the Aurora Junior Soccer Association has recently requested the town provide a suite of offices to rent for his multi- million dollar operation. His request has been referred by Councilllor MacEachern's Leisure Services Advisory Committee for staff to determine availability of space.

Considerable organization was obviously necessary to get everything into place prior to the last election.

It didn't mean all the people represented by the organizations actually voted for the Mormac team.

Bayview West made the difference in votes.

Councillor MacEachern did well; a couple of thousand votes more than the Mayor. Councillor Gaertner did exceptionally well, all things considered. Councillors Granger and Wilson were part of the slate and were elected.

Councillor Gallo, President of the Bayview Ratepayers' Association was appointed to take Councillor Marsh's place when sadly she resigned.

Politically, Councillor Gallo would have been wiser to opt for the popular demand of a by-election and put his name forward as a candidate But he didn't ask for my advice.

So there you have it. The story of a campaign.

It worked once.

No doubt, even as we speak, first strategy sessions have been held for the next election. Gears are cranked, wheels are in motion.

Areas of weakness have already been identified and supporters assigned their roles.

I figure the exodus of staff from the administration has been fingered. Guy Poppe has been assigned the task of identifying the real culprit and proving his friend of heroic stature, Mayor Morris has simply been a victim of circumstances.

It's so unsubtle.

In terms of drama it's a British Christmas Pantomine with the role of Buttons already captured.