"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

Thursday 28 February 2013

What you hear is not necessarily real.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Oh that God the gift would gie us, to see oorselv...":

"Use of the old library site for social housing."

How would this be a Town initiative?


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

It was an idea, put forward in what was thought to be a friendly   conversation.

The question of disposition of the buildings on Victoria Street  was still  in the forefront of  the town's concerns.

I myself had put forward an idea for use of the Hydro funds. A building   several floors high to  accommodate separate studios 
for whatever  pursuits one might  imagine, not sports oriented, including a cyber cafe for  all ages.

A Shakespeare workshop,music,dance ,sound,  to name but a few. 
Open from ten in the morning until ten at night with a steady stream
of people coming and going.       

The reaction  to Grace's  benign suggestion was all the more shocking for the circumstance. 

The rage  and  violence of the language  totally incomprehensible.

To Grace at least.

To myself, not so much.. I  learned to be prepared. No civilities  were extended at the town hall from any of the gang of six.

Yet if I happened to be at the same reception  or  social occasion,
I would find myself  receiving  warm and effusive greetings. 

Like a call  for others to hear and attend to:

"Evelyn, I didn't know you were coming. I'm so glad to see you"

Only myself and the other  knew how unlikely the sentiment or  the conversation.

The Town of Newmarket has been  successful in providing social housing. They provide the property. The Region fulfills it's role. with the housing.

In  our town  no such need was acknowledged.

Even now, the high average income in Aurora is cited  with  budget documentation.
       
   

8 comments:

Middle Finger Manor said...

We can connect the dots from your "idea" for a building back to Morris' designs on the site.

Anonymous said...

Actually, they wanted to put in a bunch of up-scale condos. It might still be in the starting blocks since the requested report on ' disposition ' of the lands around the Old Library appears to have vanished into the Town Hall maw.

Anonymous said...

What has Aurora Council ever done to support social housing or the food bank, other than ask others to donate generously ?

Surely at some point, our town has done something to support those in need. Isn't that what most governments do... at lease as a token show of support ?

Anonymous said...

7:42 AM
We are getting a bit better. Last Council there was a councillor who didn't even know the location of the Food Bank. Might not know now that it has moved. There is still a long way to go until we are anywhere as generous as our neighbouring town.

Anonymous said...

All the young professional, the ones that councilor Gaertner claims to want in Aurora, are getting places in Newmarket because Aurora is too expensive. Nurses, teachers, management from the larger businesses, all head for Newmarket. Once there, they find everything they need within easy reach. We have gone from being a home nest for families to being just a place they drive past going to and from work.

Anonymous said...


12:37 PM

Good. That will keep us from growing too fast.

What do you have against Bradford?

Anonymous said...

To 12:37 PM
I have nothing against Bradford. Kids graduated from BDHS. Drivers' Ed in that parking lot with the school buses. The problem is that Aurora spends money on everything except the essentials of living. Decent affordable housing for those who work within range of the town would be great. It is as if we were minting money when our tax base is actually not keeping pace.
It's the Economy. No?

Anonymous said...

Back at you, 5:49 PM
Wouldn't it be terrific if staff, who claim to know what is good for Aurora taxpayers, actually lived in Aurora? They don't live in Bradford & elsewhere because of the ambiance.