"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 17 January 2014

Not Here..Not Now...Not Bloody Likely

Christopher Watts posted   the  website  here for the  Staff Report presented to Council on Tuesday to be received as information.  It recommends  something called a Heritage Park on Yonge Street frontage. A tourist attration intended to put Aurora on the map as Heritage Capital of Ontario ,if not Canada,  if not the world if not the Universe.

Maybe Richard Branson can  be persuaded to make it a destination for an international balloon trip.

That's all you get.

This  blog will not be used to promote the scheme.

The idea is an embarrassment.

Publicly suggested  price of $1,3 million dollars for the Horton House that calls for the owner to continue  to live  in the house, paying rent, to provide protection for the property until a plan is complete is  utterly bereft of  any kind of sense.

Not a scintilla....soupcon...hint...or trace.

Nothing ....Nil ....Nada....Zilch...Zero

Get outta here.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG and it has come out of committee that the potential renter did not declare a conflict when this park was discussed.Holy crap Batman.

Anonymous said...

"A tourist attration (sic) intended to put Aurora on the map as Heritage Capital of Ontario ,if not Canada, if not the world if not the Universe."

Nobody likes a smartass.

Anonymous said...

And to think we paid for that comic book report.

Anonymous said...

Could have bought Willow Farm & been ahead of the game.
It's a lovely morning & winter is over 1/3 done. Enjoy the break,

Anonymous said...

They were likely thinking about Edwards' Gardens where the owners stayed on. The sites are completely different so comparisons are inappropriate. Same with the Mc Michael Gallery. Don't let them blow smoke at you.

Anonymous said...


It was always my understanding that democratic government was all about those who are elected to public office have the fundamental responsibility to direct the civil service in the promotion of the greatest good for electors, not the other way around.

Members of Council should review their role in the life of our community.

They do not exist to promote real estate deals that stand to benefit two or three people at the expense of taxpayers.

This is an outrage.

Anonymous said...

@10:16
In both those cases the properties were donated to the entities. They were not purchased as is being suggested with this scheme.

Christopher Watts said...

Just to be clear I posted the link so that the information in this report was easy to access, and to save anyone the trip to the library if they thought it was located there.

I don't support the Heritage Park plan in any of it's pathetically cobbled together pitches it has attempted to date. Given the characters that have lent their support, and others who have withdrawn theirs the whole process is suspect. I take offence to the fact that the backdoor dealings have been downplayed by our Mayor as has the reference to a real-estate deal, which is exactly what the staff report has distilled down to. That being said one should probably read the report to understand what exactly is being used to support such a scheme.

Although I haven't finished it yet the report is both lengthy and glossy but so far lacks substance.

Curious given that it is being used to leverage millions of dollars.