20:24 - There's more than half a dozen! Culture is one of the new economic industry in government. Culture and Environment, both are to improve the quality of our lives don't you know!
Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 23 June 2016 at 08:42
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Yes indeed there are more. They started before the current Council. There was an election and changes were made. But not really. The "change" turned out to be phony and things continued
as before with barely a pretense.
The multi-million dollar hydro property being used for our own purposes spirited away to the Queen's York Rangers with a ten year lease was given an extended the lease to thirty years.
Councillors were so be- dazzled by the royalty connection, they paid the Feds over half a million for the mouldering, contaminated shed vacated at the corner of the town park.
Former Councillor Ballard had the connection to QYR and the former Mayor.
Then there was a culture board member with a dream of hosting piano concerts in Aurora. The newly renovated museum,$3 million cost, was turned over to a Culture Centre Board, rent free, with half a million annual funding .First purchase,with town funds, for the empty space was a grand piano at a cost of thousands.
A couple of world-renowned pianists have played for a capacity audience of seventy-five. Both concerts sponsored by the board member with the passion.
The current Mayor really appreciates culture so close to home,particularly the free parking. For the taxpayer however ,the price can hardly be justified.
The Heritage Park boondoggle in the Hillary House triangle had thousands expended on consultants before that crazy Idea was laid to rest. The current Mayor's signature was top of the supporting list.
It wasn't his idea but he swallowed it, hook line and sinker,followed by a number of other prominent, well-intentioned citizens.
A Sports Hall of Fame has been established with a free address at Aurora Town Hall. It supports a
lucrative magazine and a sports organization with membership far and wide within and beyond town boundaries.
We don't know for sure because details are sketchy but we think the multi-million dollar Aurora Youth Soccer Association has been accommodated with another $11 million purchase of employment lands to use as soccer fields to support their commercial growth and also a lease of an industrial building for all season indoor facilities for training.
Another acreage taken out of the revenue side of the ledger with no input from the Chief Financial Officer paid a salary likely closer to $2 than $1 hundred thousand a year to do exactly that.
A summer music festival has been re- located from the bandshell in the town park to the Highland Soccer Club facility which the town leases to Aurora Men's Soccer for the princely sum of $1. With a prohibition against renting it out for any other purpose.
The advantage is murky but certainly not, as stated by Councillor Abel,nuisance to neighbours of the town park. It has to be said town park neighbours cannot argue a musical event is unwelcome in the neighbourhood. The bandshell has been there since before them.
The most notorious give away of all time was to the St Kitt's woman and her travelling band. Their music can still be enjoyed in the Town of Newmarket. Photos in The Auroran of various personalities wearing Chris Ballard Ontario Liberal T shirts holding St Kitt's business cards up to the camera, at the Aurora Chamber of Commerce Street Festival.
Make whatever you like of the waft and weave but there's ittle doubt or shame either that certain people with connections, have free access to all the goodies the town treasury can provide.
If you don't want $200,thousand spent on yet another consultant ,so the Conservation Authority can
make the decision for an unlikely Wild Life Reserve, I will publish your opposition but you really ought to contact the people who were elected.
If you don't, they will assume you are on board.
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3 comments:
OT
The British are going to be up all night.
There is so much paranoia that some are marking their ballets in pen because they fear someone will erase the pencilled ones.
Employment lands? When has this Town cared about employment? We have the biggest employer leaving for King. I'm sure StateFarm has a exit strategy already in the works for Quebec. I'll never forget the councilor who basically wanted to tell Bulk barn to take a hike! With all the for lease signs that Chris pointed out recently, it's obvious employment is not exactly on this Towns radar.
The Welsh have just realized that they voted away their regional benefits.
What a flipping mess !
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