"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

Wednesday 2 April 2014

\To keep the record straight

In the interest of keeping things  accurate ; My post did not disappear at my end.

Last night's  published  agenda  for the in camera meeting  stated the issue to be discussed.

The issue of a bid for  a satellite campus is not entitled to confidential discussion.

Provincial deliberation may be secret.

A call for proposals can hardly be secret. How would anyone know about it.

The community  is entitled to be informed  of an intention is to bid.  To hear  preceding debate  and
cntemplate the pros and cons.

The plan is not to purchase until and  unless the bid is in the bag.

Newmarket's Mayor and Regional Councillor and CAO  and Aurora's Mayor and CAO have  met
in private .  The intention is to share the purchase and the bid as equal partners and to gain more purchase in the process.

I believe the intent is well- meaning but so far as  openness and transparency of public business is
conducted, the  intent is in error.

I am not acquiescent to the  error.

A university does not pay taxes though the Province does make  payments  in lieu of taxes.

The land being considered for purchase is developable and when developed would add to the assessment base .  Growing the tax base is the business the town is in.

High Tor is  about ninety acres.

Thirty acres is table land, completely  serviced and  planned for development prior to being transferred to Ontario Heritage.

Water,sewers .hydro  and road access were planned  and installed  to  the  land's  edge  to accommodate   future residential development  on  thirty acres of table land. The rest was to be dedicated to the town.

The other provincially owned parcel  of 30 acres is in the location of Cardinal Carter High School on
Bloomington  Road West.

A site proposed for purchase by the town is on the north west corner of  the intersection of St John's Sideroad and Yonge Street.

The northern limit of the parcel abuts the political boundary between Aurora and Newmarket.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

There was an original plan to put a road through High Tor to reduce congestion down on Murray and drain it off to Bathurst. That did not occur and we now see the daily mess at the bottom of the hill. I believe that a former campaign manager of a former mayor deems that as a triumph.

Anonymous said...

I am sorry if I'm being obtuse.
How can Aurora be equal partners with Newmarket when the land is in Aurora ?
That sounds like the european traders sending cheaply acquired furs to the old country to be fashioned into high priced fashions for others.

Anonymous said...

Are there not tax implications if one agrees to give away property in advance of acquiring it ?

Anonymous said...

@18:59
Newmarket just had the OMB dump hundreds of new homes in their laps. Aurora provides the land- Newmarket has homes for sale. Guess which town gets the increase in tax revenues and all economic flow-thru that will go to local businesses ?

Anonymous said...

East Gwillimbury is looking to partner with Newmarket according to the Error Banner.

Anonymous said...

Newmarket is sitting pretty.

Anonymous said...

@20:45
Did you not enjoy Deb Kelly's lecture on sending kids to kindergarten ? Like she knows.......

Anonymous said...

Too many ugly ducklings are springing fully fledged from secretive meetings. I think it all started with the Centre sneakiness. Then the first tennis facility proposal and all that followed. The biggest was that Heritage Park concept which arrived with council approval before anyone in the community knew it was even in the works.

Anonymous said...

8:37- Yup I read it. I read that comic book newspaper out of sheer comic relief. Almost as good as the I Love Lucy reruns that have been playing lately.

Anonymous said...

The Error's coverage of the Glenway problem in Newmarket was sad. Their selection of facts was typical Error Banner. The Liberal paper is even worse.

Anonymous said...

The Error is just a sister ship in a large fleet. Do you think Ms Kelly might run ? She fits the demographics & believes herself to be a leader after more than 20 years in the same job. I really feel both she and Cllr Ballard need some travel under their respective belts.

Anonymous said...

I wish people would stop calling the paper the "Error Banner".

Watts started it and it was cute before but now it is annoying.

If you don't like the paper, fine. Throw it in the blue box.

People gripe about local business leaving. At the least the Era Banner has a facility in Aurora (although Evelyn did not know this before) and it employees local people. It also provides some spending money to kids.

If you are looking for New York Times quality, just look at how much you pay to have it delviered. Oh right, nothing. I guess you get what you pay for.

Anonymous said...

20:29- She’s been there for 30yrs., she won’t just leave unless she can retire. Besides….Newmarket can have her.

Anonymous said...

7:26
If you don't like the terminology on the Blog, you can go elsewhere. You pay nothing for the privilege of citing other people's errors.

Anonymous said...

07:26, it was never cute, but you're right about the annoying part - especially when parroted by others. You can also add juvenile as a descriptor.

Anonymous said...

8:31
Is it your blog to tell someone to go somewhere else?

I guess you are one of the entitled ones.

Extrapolator said...

Ha! Bang on, 10:07.

How does this sound to you, 08:31?:

"If you don't like the (actions of Town Council), you can go elsewhere."

Anonymous said...

10:07
What are you going on about this time ?

Anonymous said...

I like the terminology “Error”…It’s comical, just like the paper. And the writers there do seem a bit juvenile.

Anonymous said...

11:01-No...Come October most of council will hopefully be told to go elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

Do try to keep up, 11:31.

Anonymous said...

12:44
You have to feel sorry for real writers who try to work there. I think one of the last ones departed to write a column of Parenting which strikes me as a sideways move to get out from under.