"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Pyramid Scheme Aurora Style

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Eh1 What's dat you say":

Are furtive liaisons, where pitching and wooing take place, the usual way political business is done municipally?
I thought that there might be a few on this present council who wouldn't operate that way. There go my idealistic hopes again!!

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Actually ...No!... Shady dealing by shadowy individuals are not the 
usual way political business is done municipally.
There is no cover.  
Suzanne Reiner's invitation for  private individual meetings with this Councillor was refused.  I  responded immediately  such meetings were entirely inappropriate.
Apparently, they proceeded anyway. 
Up to the point, a shady meeting  with shadowy characters was held last week with the Mayor, the CAO and  Director of Parks and Recreation.
All conducted without  direction of Council.or Council  even being informed of the goings on.
Bruce Sprague,   owns  one of the properties in play.It is designated for miltiple-residential development. Has been  on the market for seven years. 
Obviously, the price is not right. 
John McIntyre, a member of the Historical Society's executive,  owns the other  property in play.  Not  publicly offered but stands to gain  by never having to take his chances with the market..
The price touted  is $1.2million apiece for the Sprague and McIntyre properties.
The Historical Society were not initially promoting the real estate deal. 
The president and an executive member initiated the process, independent of the Society.
I  inquired of the structure of the Society. It involves  membership and an annual meeting. .
The last firm membership figure was from a previous president when the Society withdrew from autonomous commitment to manage Church Street School and operate the museum.
There were fifty-nine members.
The small number was a shock.
Until I realized . It does not reflect  community interest in the town's heritage..
A figure  heard since is around a hundred members.
But that too does not tell the whole story. 
The Society  meets  in February.
An Executive Board of eight meets regularly. .
Within that is  yet another executive group.
It includes the President and   member who have aligned themselves with a real estate agent to float something which amounts to a pyramid scheme for a park on Yonge Street. 
An investment of  $2.4 million for the private properties is required. 
It's not known if a public offering of shares will be floated..
 


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Actually ...No!... Shady dealing by shadowy individuals are not the
usual way political business is done municipally."

I think that you might be living in a dream world. It is the way business is done and that is what has happened in this town for a number of years. You go on about all of the shady dealings of the past as proof. I think the fact you were contacted this time is what has caught you by surprise.

Anonymous said...

10:55 AM
Your viewpoint is always negative & skewed. The antics of the former council were an aberration & Aurorans know this well. None of us live in your ' dream world '. In fact, you would be astonished at the backgrounds of some of Evelyn's readers. Why you continue to nit-pick every post has ceased to be of interest. Still lack the guts to set up your own Blog. Like a parasite feasting on Evelyn's site.

Anonymous said...

Aren't you glad you live in Aurora and not in a large metropolitan city.

All of your waking hours would be spent in closets discussing schemes to raid the public purse at the expense of, who else? The public.

Are we far from corruption?

KA-NON said...

The link below indicates that Town passed a resolution to consider alternate forms of Town ownership of Hillary house.

http://www.yorkregion.com/print/1265644

Is that not what this is? Do you remember the resolution from council?