Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Eleven comments oppose the Heritage Park Concept on  north Yonge Street . Three  are  in support.. 
The concept will not be promoted in this space. 
Why would it?
I will keep tabs however. 
The question, has been asked "why wasn't one of them honest and upfront" referring to Council.

I am one of them. I  have been honest and upfront. Information was provided here months ago.
I received an invitation from Suzanne Reiner to a secret and separate meeting to hear of an opportunity for  investment. 
Shades of Bernie Madoff,  I thought.
I refused and informed Ms Reiner such a meeting was entirely inappropriate. 
Meetings  proceeded anyway. Some Councillors had already met with the imaginative trio; Reiner, Albino and Sprague.
Reiner is President of the Aurora Historical Society. The fact  probably lent propriety to an otherwise dodgy enterprise.
Yet the Aurora Historical Society was not front and centre in  support of  the project.
Of the list of  named supporters, with exception of the Mayor, none are accountable to taxpayers. 
Like Suzanne Reiner, Mayor Dawe was not authorised by Council to lend the support of his office to the enterprise. 
In itself, that circumstance is problematic.
Can  a person elected to the office of Mayor or Councillor, separate his or her activities from  the constraints of  public office?
From my experience, it's hard to imagine how Councillors could  perceive secret, separate meetings as appropriate.
Councillor Pirri, absent on Tuesday,  informed  me previously he thought  the idea being floated had merit  but  he did not support   public funding. 
Expressions of unqualified support heard on Tuesday came from Councillors Ballard and Gallo.
Even that baffles me.
We are speaking of prime real estate . Assessment revenue is  the town's bread and butter.
Sprague's property is designated for multiple residential units.
Forfeited  revenue can  be calculated in millions.
Hillary House receives all municipal services. Sidewalk, street lighting, snow plowing,, water.sewers,police and fire protection parks, schools and recreation facilities.  
As a federally designated  heritage site, I doubt we see a thin red dime  contributed to the cost of  services provided.
(If I call the treasury department to confirm, my inquiry must be run past the Chief Financial Officer before I am permitted to receive an answer)
McIntyre's property, from an assessment perspective is  currently vastly underutilized.  
A "Heritage Park" publicly owned,  all tax revenue would be  forfeit.
Unused and unuseable frontage on Yonge Street, the town's main  commercial throughfare, Craddock Park, St Andrew's College Machell Park and multiple other sites is substantial.In terms of revenue, they are a deficit. 
How much ore can we afford to forfeit. 
A municipality is a business corporation.Assessment is our base. 
Why would a knowledgeable elected or appointed official endorse an idea that removes   a large, key, chunk of  useable Yonge Street frontage from potential earnings, without first examining the   impact. .
The town  already  has an  agreement that allows a bubble  erected on public property to be used for a commercial purpose.
No assessment revenue  is derived because  the land is in the public domain.
Yet the town  pays Regional and Education taxes on the property. Over the twenty year  lease, it will have cost the municipality $2 million dollars in taxes to other levels of government.
Apparently, there's a way around it. We  haven't made the effort.
There's  a soccer clubhouse at the south end of town, on  public land . Prime  employment  land. The men's soccer club pays a dollar a year in rent.
The town has  forfeited  a capital asset,  assessment revenue, and potential for employment
In return, the soccer club  competes with tax-paying, employment providing  businesses, for wedding and funeral receptions and business lunches.
The Royal Canadian Legion has two building on their property.
They enjoy all municipal services. The town pays their taxes to the region and school board and forfeits our own share. 
They compete with  taxpaying business within the community.  
Promoters of the Heritage Park  provide a dazzling outline of potential  commercial opportunities such as weddings and receptions.
Should local businesses be thrilled by the prospect of  more non-taxpaying  competition funded by public  resources ? 
I think not.
Hillary House has been touted for years as an asset to the town 
No  potential  has ever been realized.
The property has swallowed up millions in financial resources and volunteer commitment. 
Since 2003, when  Church Street School was closed to be renovated for use as a museum, the town added to the forfeited tax revenues with  a reduction in service.
$50,000 was  transferred  annually to the Historical  Society with no obvious  return whatsoever.
Nothing at all to offset the expenditure in  town book-keeping. 
Aurora  has history and ample experience of how not to run a business.
Yet we are charged with the responsibility. . 
We might better focus our efforts on doing  our   job  fairly and efficiently, before  branching  out  in a cockamamie scheme to compete with Disneyland. 
Saints Preserve Us, have we lost our wits completely?