TIME FOR RECKONING

At this time in the last election year, Council made the calamitous decision to proceed with the joint facility. The vacancy left by Councillor Ballard's election to the provincial assembly had to be filled to get sufficient support.

Council had  authority to appoint an individual. They didn't. A competition was created and a number of people entered in good faith. A written statement was required and a speech in a public 

meeting . Neither undertaking  is stress free. 

It's true no-one was required to compete. But that  they were sufficiently interested was to their credit.

Unfortunately it seemed obvious to me the decision  had already been made by the Mayor, his henchmen and woman. It was no coincidence the person chosen, cast the deciding vote for the project. 

I often argued against staff recommendations. I was without confidence in their competence . Considering what I knew of their hiring, their backgrounds.or previous advice ; not the purchase of an unsuitable  site from Mr. Leibovitz...nor the  20 year lease of the Hydro property to the QYR...nor sale of the town works and parks sites without a competition...none of it convinced me the town's interest was served . Cost to taxpayers was in the millions. None of it  sensible. 

In my years of service, I learned to make arguments with the force of logic. If the community responded, I was successful. Often, I was not. But my position was always clear. People expected it of me and they deserved it. 

Water  and sewer rates were another example of betrayal. I choose that word deliberately. Meters were installed to create the illusion people paid only for  water used. Staff refused  to justify the increases. The Mayor parroted what he had heard  at the Region. "Water  is the best bargain we have" 

I believe we are paying for treatment systems at Lake Simcoe  and servicing to allow northern York Region to be developed in ever increasing density. 

33% increase in water rates is a tax increase like any other. It's just located in a different column to deliberately obscure the fact. 

Do we read about it in the local newspapers? Do they have any obligation in the matter? The answer

 to both questions is negative. 

The previous two posts are comments. I'm pleased to see them. They indicate interest in how the community  is  not served by our current council . 

I hope it grows and continues. 

MORE OF THE SAME

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "AUDIT DELIVERED": 


How about Aurora's water and sewer rates? A 33% increase this year in sewer rates! It passed like a breeze. Hard to believe our elected officials did not need a little more detail on why. Maybe a note to the department head that says - "inflation is running about 2%, why is a 33% increase required this year?"  

But like the operations centre there seems to be little accountability. 

This operation centre spending looks bad on the Mayor. Especially when he and the Deputy stepped up to control spending on this project.

I Hope Aurora taxpayers are following closely. 



Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 15 April 2018 at 15:42

AUDIT DELIVERED

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "ALMOST CUSTOMARY": 

For those who follow the gross miss-expenditure of town money - the Joint Operations Centre - it is already $454,000 over budget and it is estimated it will take a minimum of $1.800,000 to finish the project. This according to a full audit of the building's construction.

There was supposed to be a Financial Task Force - a five member panel which included Mayor Geoff Dawe and Councillor John Abel, to oversee the project.

The auditor reports that "in terms of leadership, the lack of an overall project management methodology in the Town was lacking. Clearly that should have been in place."

It is obvious that the Financial Task Force knew nothing about supervising or managing a construction project that ended up costing well in excess of $20,000,000.

And now Mayor Dawe's stated intent to seek a third term is to see through to completion two new major projects. This is laughable.

The Town must hire a reputable and experienced project manager to oversee the work and who can report to council the progress of construction and the budget numbers. Senior staff might also be employed.

But please keep elected officials out of meddling. 


Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 13 April 2018 at 07:49

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