I'm Back

My muse  deserted me. Or more to the point. I had  nothing of interest to tell  for a change.

We had a bit of a kerfuffle at council  last night. A crowd of residents from the south end of town came to oppose a  staff recommendation on a planning application.

They swore up and down and sideways, they knew nothing about the application until hours before the meeting. They demanded  council not approve the recommendation, to give them more time to acquaint themselves with the details.

Much the same  occurred in January,when  staff  previously recommended  the town's position  following  an Ontario Municipal Board directive in a mediation process.

The town asked the O.M.B. for an extension of time. four more months were  spent, three meetings were held with interested residents and the proposal was scaled down to meet their objections.

But not enough.

So last night a whole new crowd  appeared before Council and vowed they knew nuthin' 'bout anythin' and  again demanded the town reject the staff recommendation.

Last time Susan Walmer, Queen of the Jungle Telegraph,  was  spokesperson for the opposition.This time, a new spokesperson took the podium.

But Susan was there. As were other representative of a ratepayers association formed to represent the interest of the neighbours.

The application was denied  by Council  during the last term of Council. That triggered an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board. The decision was taken out of the town's hands and the town became subject to  Board
direction. 

Just like the Westhill Development application upon which we spent  two years, hundreds of hours of staff time and ended up losing on all counts. At a cost in legal fees alone of $650Ks.

The upshot of last night's deliberations were, the staff recommendation was approved. The vote was eight  to one. Councillor Gaertner being the one.

But it didn't happen without a chorus of mea culpae  from councillors for failure of due diligence in keeping people informed of the process and admonitions to do better in the future.

Short of knocking on  doors,  pulling people  out by the hair, to force  them to attend meetings, to  hear discussions which will affect their interest, there is nothing  more I know the town can do to make people  attend meetings and participate in the process. Everything that could be done was done. Including deferring the decision to allow time for meetings between aplicant and neighbours.

No politician is unfamiliar with the cry "Nobody told us" . "It's all your fault" "Stop the train we want to get off"

In the election before last, Susan Walmer who was the ex-mayor's campaign manager , organised a second all-candidates meeting  on behalf of a Coalition of Ratepayers  at the Town Hall. A great crowd attended. It was within days of the meeting regularly organized by the Aurora Library staff.

I was surprised by the size of the  audience. I commented on the fact to Ms. Walmer.

"Oh  you'd be surprised what can be done with a network  Councillor Buck"  Ms Walmer  slyly responded.

So last night's audience was another surprise. With Susan Walmer leading the opposition to the application, how could it be so many residents in the neighbourhood only heard about the application within  hours of last night's meeting?

It gives one pause.

But the staff recommendation was approved. The town will not be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars  to defend the indefensible at the Ontario Municipal Board .

The opposing residents can go there and make the case for themselves

At their own expense for legal fees, if they so choose.

As is their right..