"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

Wednesday 30 October 2013

The Tale becomes the Legend

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "It's an Oxymoron":

@ 00:19
The Centre was clearly told by the treasurer that their support by Aurora taxpayers at such a level was unsustainable. And that was after the solicitor had to explain that their ' contract ' was out of whack.
They have learned nothing.
The initial figures that I have seen show that they are still spending beyond their means. And clearly expect Aurora residents to make up the thousands of dollars of difference.
How like the Senate are these folks ?

*********************

It's amazing how many people don't want me to talk about Church Street School.

They're not very nice either. They call me nasty  names and suggest I'm not wanted.

If I didn't know better  I could  easily get a complex. She who writes e-mails at the witching hour is back on track.

Should we be surprised  the Historical Society  has never given any sign of support for the museum's return. Well no!  They actually surrendered the right.

As time goes by the reason becomes more apparent. At first the commitment to manage the facility was withdrawn. They had too few members. The number was fifty-nine. 

It doesn't seem to have improved. The President made a presentation to Council at the last meeting
on the Fifty year History of the Historical Society.They wanted to change the name but couldn't because only twenty-six members showed up for the annual meeting.

I always had the impression the Historical Society was a really representative of the community.
Seems not.

Going back to the Culture Centre and the comment above. I didn't know the Treasurer told them
the town could  not continue to sustain that level of funding.  I don't recall Council ever being  so advised.

Of course we don't know what the Mayor has been  advising  the Board.The Mayor was attending the closed Board meetings for a year and Council knew nothing about that either. The Town solicitor apparently told him he shouldn't but he continued to do so.

The meetings are closed  so Council has no idea if he is still attending the meetings .

The Board started off with  a payment of $343,000. for purchase of culture.

In  the first  year ,a donation of $50,000 was received from theToronto Dominion Bank . It was solicited by the Interim Chairman and matched with town funds according to the contract.

No such donations were ever received again or solicited either so far as I know.

The contract called for the funding to be increased  by a certain percentage each year  without asking.
Last year the Board asked for more than theTreasurer recommended  to Council. They got that.

The new contract gives the town space to store the collection. It's not clear that a curator will be hired. I is also not clear the small group that is the  misnamed  Historical Society should continue to receive  $60,000 which was the grant provided last year .

Probably they will.  The museum has not been operated for ten years but they continued to receive the grant anyway. Now they don't even own the collection and that needs attention so we will probably pay twice.Plus Mr. Albino continues to promote the Heritage Disneyland/ real estate deal.

The original curator provided heritage planning services to the town. Now we have a heritage planner on the payroll as well as the grant to the Historical  Society.

Some  people  have the impression  town resources are being expended to  establish feasibility of the plan.  All I know about tat is Coucil directed the Director of Recreation and Parks to  do a little bit ofwork on feasability and tha

Last week we were talking about volunteer organization being provide space rent free.
his week we're talking about handing over $60,000 to a voluntary organization





















12 comments:

Anonymous said...


It seems that the mayor is of the "tax and spend" school.

He also choses to disregard the direction to him from the Town Solicitor that he should not attend closed Board Meetings of the Centre.

Possibly Mayor Dawe has a fourth little book from which he takes his legal instructions.

It would be interesting to look at his bookshelf where these items are stored, to see what other "bon mots" he has available to him.

The more I see the less impressed.

But he does photograph well

Anonymous said...

I don't believe the treasurer said any such thing. How would the commenter purport to know communication between the treasurer and the board? That sounds more like wishful thinking from an opponent.

Anonymous said...

It is very difficult for the Centre to get around the fact that they are non-paying tenants in a town-owned facility which was never designed for them. The history can be re-hashed over & over but doesn't change the case. That building could have many uses that might generate town income.
And for those who cite the ' need ' for the Centre, that has never been proven. We were also told that the world would end with the departure of the Jazz Fest. Odd how well Aurora has managed to muddle through without them.

Anonymous said...

Think of those ugly late night missives as the plaintive cry of displaced birds.

" Cuckoo ! Cuckoo ! "

Anonymous said...

@ Ah, 11:13. There were a large # of communications & meetings. No minutes, no records, very hush-hush. You could not have been privy to all interactions.
As for the side-swipe about an ' opponent ', it is no skin off my nose who sits on council. You, on the other hand, are thoroughly entangled.

Matt Maddocks said...

"She who writes e-mails at the witching hour is back on track".

Hmmm...does this mean that we can expect "Clowncil Watch" to re-start it's vitriolic Twitter feed?

Anonymous said...

12:46
How do you know about all of this secret goings on then?

Anonymous said...

Oh Matt,
We can only hope that Clowncil Watch returns.

Anonymous said...

Canadians are debating whether or not to turn the Senate building into a large medical grow-op. The Centre has possibilities on a smaller scale.

Anonymous said...

15: 04
What's with the Royal ' we ' ?

Anonymous said...

You're absolutely right, 19:18!
#inane #weak #asinine

Anonymous said...

Where is the letter the Mayor was going to write & print in the papers about why he wouldn't ask staff questions about the concerns of a councillor ? I want to know his reasoning.