The Mayor's Comment

The  quote  attributed to the Mayor was not made  during last week's committee meeting.

The  insane hokum scheme  to  remove three Yonge Street frontage properties from assessment rolls
was not discussed.

The  Report  was received for information; to  return mid-February for deliberation.

It may or may not be the decision  at Tuesday's council.

I detect a level of ,shall I say,  dismay, among Councillors .....confusion  about when the considerable work  the report represents was authorized.

I  chaired the meeting. My job was to move the agenda forward smoothly, ensuring  each members had opportunity to state position on matters before them.

It means I don't participate in the debate. I do not stir things up from the chair.

When the Strategic Plan  was updated and enfolded into the Official Plan  and adopted by Council, the CAO expressed  gratification that Council had placed such confidence in staff.

I did not vote to  adopt the update . We  already had  a plan. All  it needed was a  review and determination if it still fit. . If not make the  necessary adjustments  to bring it up to date.

$80,000.  for a consultant study was an unneccessary extravagance in my view.

Not having voted  to approve and cringing at the  juvenile and  excessive language and unreal objectives of the new edition, I  emained consistent.

I was concerned by the CAO 's understanding the green light to bring  the airy-fairy  crazy stuff
to fruition  had been given by adoption of the plan.

I cautioned Council  on what I perceived to be mis-perception on both sides.

I was advised of the need to move forward and get with the program.

Ding Dong    Ding Dong

Council  continued down the road  divesting themselves of  authority  all the way ....surrendering the town's future to others.

Spending authority for the CAO  was increased from $50, thousand to $100, thousand.

$200.thousand had been recommended.

The CAO  had now received authority and resources  to bring  objectives  of the Strategic Plan to reality .

No need to slow things down with reference to Council  for approvals.

Lickety split ...that's the ticket.

Heritage Theme park, Fab Lab, Post Secondary Institution(University) , Cultural Tsunami, Town Hall Renovation , Joint Works and Parks facility are  all objectives intended  to provide an exceptional  quality  of life for all . 

All straight from the pages of the lofty and superior plan .

The report tabled on Tuesday was written by the Special Project Planner signed by the CAO. and had a consultant study attached.

The Exalted Executive Leadership Team apparently had no role to play.

The Mayor has apparently swallowed holus bolus,hook,line and sinker , the plan of assembly of millions of dollars worth of real  estate  To find out  later how it might be developed  into a mini northern Disneyland  in the glow of the Aura of Aurora.

All ya gotta do is throw money at stuff and something is bound to happen is a philosophy not heard
often in political circles.

It might be reasonable to assume the remark was made to The Banner

This may be  an epiphany for  Council.

One can only hope.

To be sure,  it's late in the day.

But not too late.

There's still time to redeem commitment.