"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

Friday 20 September 2013

A Tale of Treachery

I said I would tell about the man with the two million dollar investment in a new home in Aurora. But Oh my...it is so convoluted as to be literally almost impossible to tell and even less likely to be believed. It starts off with a parcel of land being processed for development. In the centre of it is a small modest century house. The house is designated heritage. The development process can take fifteen years in Aurora. Cost per house is horrendous. Needless to say, developers will agree to almost anything to get construction started. It's the business they're in. Homes in the new neighborhood are massive.They fill the width of the lot. Three car garages,double doors graced with beautiful leaded lights. Clad in Carved grey stone. And there, forlorn amidst the grandeur, little plain white stucco with bits of gingerbread around a familiar peak of roof over a window. It took several years before that which was always obvious had to be addressed. This house did not belong in this neighborhood A planning amendment allowed it to be re-located. The vacant space was son sold and yet another million dollar mansion constructed. At the rear, a walkout basement. Change of house design and siting meant change of grading. But wait, trees on the lot will not allow for adequate grading and drainage of the lot and all the others around it. Another amendment is required to remove the trees. Once more into the brach and another amendment is processed on advice and under the guidance of town staff. An arborist report and approval of the Director is all that's required. At a cost of $4,000 the report is completed and a staff recommendation of approval is forthcoming. The way is clear for grading completed and product delivered as promised in the offer to sell and purchase the home. Ay weel, ye micht think it. Enter three abutting neighbors undoubtedly with encouragement of some misguided Councillors. They are determined not to to lose what is rightfully theirs; the view of their neighbors trees. Declaring their love and friendship for said neighbor they came as supplicants and begged for the trees to be spared. Apparently no qualms were felt about the shabby little house. The trees were a different story. The only thing less logical was the decision made by council. They refused to grant the amendment that met all requirements of the subdivision agreement. They decided in favor of pandering to abutting homeowners. The decision remains to be ratified on Tuesday. But that didn't stop Councillor Gaertner,showing no semblance of impartiality,from leaving her seat and circling the table, to high five and give a thumbs up to the victors under the nose of the homeowner who got the shaft. You've got the week-end. If they can do it to him they can do it to you. You have a chance to make a difference Tell your Councillors what you think of what they did in your name. We should all be ashamed. It sold

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

We saw this first with the mutual hugging session after the Centre debacle. So much for codes of conduct & simple civility. But, sadly, there is no way to stop those who think in terms of battle when they outnumber us.

Anonymous said...

Jim Reeves:

" The Shifting, Whispering Sands "

Anonymous said...

I found the convoluted reasoning at that meeting ridiculous. Especially from a Mayor whose own neighbours sprinkle their yards and driveways all summer during the water-conservation period without a single warning. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
That resident played it straight and got clobbered.

Anonymous said...

Did any actual town business get done ? Or was it all auditioning for next week's council meeting ? I'm certain that councillor Gaertner didn't write her own lines on the Centre Street condos. They were ' way above her comfort level.

Anonymous said...

They should have done what the owners did with the property on Yonge just south of Industrial pkwy....Chopped them down! They could have saved a whole pile of money and time. How sad when you play by the bylaw rules, get town staff ok, agreeing to replace the trees, pay permit fees, development fees, consulting fees, then get shut down. Shameful!

Anonymous said...



Mr. Chris Kotsopoulos, representing 33 Longthorpe Court, his home, made a representation to GC to request the removal of three trees presently located in the southwest corner of his lot in order to ensure proper drainage away from the house and northward to a catch basin.

This appears to have been referred to staff for a study and report.

The staff study and report recommended that approval be given the homeowner for the tree removal.

A three-person delegation of neighbours argued that the trees not be removed as that act would devalue their adjacent properties and despoil their existing views of these trees.

Despite having a staff report with recommendations to remove the trees, the majority of council members at the September 17 GC meeting, after having talked themselves in stupid circles about whether these trees were "heritage" trees, because, as one poor soul said - the Allen Brown House originally on the property had been designated a heritage building, but subsequently removed following agreement by the Heritage Advisory Committee in September last year, overturned the recommendations of the staff report and determined that the trees must remain.

Why do we pay staff to provide expert opinion and advice when a bunch of noodle-headed councillors are able to run roughshod over staff and ignore this opinion and advice?

And if there is a drainage problem on the site that can be resolved by removing the trees this must be done as otherwise there could be significant and substantial damage to the home that was built, regardless of whether it is worth $2 million or only $1/2 a million.

The three neighbouring homeowners should be told to take their property values and their views and go for a long walk.

Anonymous said...

Clr. Gaertner is an idiot and should be planted on Longthorpe Court to provide three homeowners with an enhanced view.

She can even change her hair colour with the seasons.

Anonymous said...

Mr.K, I have a chainsaw you can borrow.

Anonymous said...

Is that Chris Kotsopoulos, the former NHL player?

Anonymous said...

The irony is that the very same homeowners will likely be ticked off if the current resident declines to pay for a team of Xmas tree light installers to come in & decorate ' their ' trees.

Anonymous said...

The truth is always a Moveable Feast when bullies have selected their target. I was very disappointed in Councillor Thompson. He knows better than to play with that pack.

Anonymous said...

You didn't publish the 'faux chateaux' comment, but you did publish another insult about a fellow councillor?!

Anonymous said...

20:37
Those owners tried very hard to work with the system. Their paperwork shows just how much time, effort & money they put into their project. They are in the drivers' seat if it ever gets to court as Councillor Ballard is demanding. He made it all look very sneaky & it was not.

Anonymous said...


When I look back and consider the former mayor and five of her councillors I get the impression that they might have been suffering from some variant of mad cow disease, a particularly virulent and nasty version.

That might explain the reign of terror that beset Aurora for four years.

There are two hold-over councillors from that bunch plus another who fits in quite neatly in their attempt to overcome good sense, good government and good governance.

What has become increasingly evident is that some of the new councillors to this term, and the mayor, are back-sliding, and in the process are losing much of their initial intelligence that used to shine forth on occasion.

There is little shining forth following the September 17 GC other than gross ineptitude.

Maybe these councillors should dismiss the Directors, all of whom are earning well upwards of $150,000 per year, and have members of council replace them taking over their salaries and other perks. Then they could prepare whatever reports and recommendations they wished and either rubber-stamp them or get into a food fight.

Anonymous said...

No one is going to pay any attention to ordinary residents who don't scream for attention. Note the Auroran poll which has been completely ignored. Ballard is on record that Aurorans are ' just a bunch of rubes '. He's building his electoral list - nothing else matters to him.

Anonymous said...

It is the responsibility of Councillors to keep the town 'safe ' from lawsuits. This vote does not do that. If the weaker of those trees becomes ill and requires expensive treatment, who pays for it? If there is a problem with drainage on that property, who pays for that clean-up ? It isn't going to be the ' concerned ' neighbours and the resident could just sue the Town. Why not? It would be the result of the actions of the Council.

Anonymous said...

10:44
You are right on. The last time I saw Council working together in order to accomplish something for the Town & enjoying themselves was in a photo taken after the first Lucid presentation. Turned out the rot had already set in & the entire thing would be scuppered.

Anonymous said...

6:34 A chainsaw would be useless. Removal would be expensive and complicated. We can't help the guy.

Anonymous said...


9:56

Some councillors wouldn't know an insult from an accolade.

Anonymous said...

I've seen how some Councillors sing praises of town staff when reports come back in their favor. Yet will be the first ones who dismiss these reports when they don't like what they hear. These theatrical performances are truly an embarrassment to this Town. These trees will get taken down. The question is at what cost to the Town and the homeowners.

Anonymous said...

10:04
i like your prediction but how do we get from x to y ? Is this that awful ' new math '? On my kid's board at school is the question; " what colour is math ? " for the entire term, this has been what they've been doing.

Anonymous said...


Members of Council should have to take an IQ test every three months.

Anonymous said...

19:03 When I went to school Math was pretty much black or white. The answer was either right or wrong. How to solve the problem can be as colourful as you would like it to be, as shown with this council. The decision to remove those trees is right or white. What will the cost be? And who will be paying it? That will be colourful.

Anonymous said...

21:38
The teacher in our family works steadily to try to explain the concept of money. Kids think it grows in banks and their parents all use credit cards. Forget about making change or understanding sales tax.

Anonymous said...

The math results are out at the schools. One within range in our Region got 22% in math!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Parents don't know yet.

Anonymous said...

@16:39
This sucker is squarely on the Liberal's table. It is their agenda and they are shoving it down the teachers' throats. Could be very interesting to watch the Education Government take a well-deserved hit. Kids do matter.

Anonymous said...


In an article published in The Globe and Mail August 28, 2013, "Ontario needs to improve teacher training in math, the province's Education Minister has said in response to standardized test results that revealed students are losing ground in the subject for the fifth year in a row."

"the number of Grade 3 and 6 students meeting the provincial standard in math fell, despite promising gains in reading and writing skills."

"The academic background of a lot of our elementary teachers is more in the arts - they don't necessarily have an extensive background themselves in math and science," Education Minister Liz Sandals said."

This is not a situation that will get turned around quickly. You have to convince existing public school teachers to take courses n math and science - if these exist - and you must emphasize to people who are interested in becoming teachers that they MUST take courses in math and science or they will simply NOT GET HIRED.

Anonymous said...

19:49
Problem is that the teachers know how to teach real math. They have no idea what this new stuff is all about & neither do those peddling it. The failure in scores has already shown that pupils taking the innovated course are losing ground. It is quite clear but the Liberals cannot see that their curriculum is to blame.

Anonymous said...


Based on the fact that I have a spy in the public school system, a teacher, I think I can reasonably say that many of today's crop of teachers are inadequately educated and trained for the job they are called upon to do. And their attitude is often do as little as is necessary.

This applies to all subjects.

What is even more depressing is that most school principals do not know the first thing about their jobs, their responsibilities, to their staff, to the students and to parents.

But possibly the greatest fault lies with the parents who take little or no interest in what their children are doing at school, whether their children are receiving an education that will prepare them for their post-school years when they seek to enter the work force. How many parents actually sit down with their sons and daughters to assist and review their homework?

And the higher up the education chain one climbs things get dumber and dumber.

The education system is for the most part filled with people whose main objective is CYA until retirement. Teachers who reach retirement, number of years not age, can then get part-time teaching assignment and tutorial work.

If a teacher retires he/she should be gone from the school system, thereby allowing a young replacement to start on the education highway.