"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

Monday 8 August 2016

FLIES IN THE SUGAR BOWL, SKIP TO MY LOU

,Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "DICK WHITTINGTON , DICK WHITTINGTON WHERE HAVE YOU...": 

Maybe they were planning for a hotel? 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 8 August 2016 at 14:39

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

Now that's funny. Again with pie in the sky. Everything except decisions within Council authority.

Like on a scale of one to ten, what are Aurora's chances of enticing a second hotel to locate in Town ?

CAO says 7. Like negating development charges will make the difference.

We already have a hotel. Closed. Defunct. Vacated. Vamoosed without as much as Farewell,
fair friend.

 They  did not exactly fold  their tent and steal away into the night, they certainly left without saying ,
So long, it's been good to know you. 

Whatever problems were there, were not shared with the town. Leaving Council in the awkward position of being last to know and still knowing nothing. 

When realisation set in,Mayor and Council fussed and mused. Oh dear, what can the matter be?

But the hotelier wouldn't tell. Didn't have to. No interest was shown while the hearth was warm, no 
explanation was forthcoming  when the lights were turned out. 

The town has an economic  development  division. Salaries in the sunshine list. Creating a line of communication between town and partners in business is not within their responsibility.  

Tinker Bell is in permanent residence at the Town Hall with an endless supply of thick fairy dust to persuade boys and girls in the circle who believe they have power they don't . 

A site for a hostelry was approved is out there by Hwy 404 seven years since. The  Mayor told 
guests at his first Chamber of Commerce luncheon, the good news. 

Like Stronach's Wilderness Park ,it came to nothing. But unlike the park, for no discernible reason.

So what would a potential seeker of a hotel location seek? 

Good business practices ? The  list of decisions pending, might  soon answer that question. 

Good Fiscal management? The  Culture Centre contract and ditched opportunities for revenue 
snuffs that feeble flame.

A relationship with existing business ? A poke at the archives dispel any illusion the most optimistic of entrepreneurs might have. 

A closed and shuttered modern hotel building would certainly be a red flag. 

St. Andrew's College Banners on town light standards might be noticed.  Does St. Andrew's still provide meals and accommodation to visiting team in summer? 

Competition from the Soccer Club facility and the Legion and all the other clubs that want the town to provide free facilities for meetings and dinners and fundraisers and such might easily be detected. 

A Council responding  eagerly to every citizen demand, at taxpayers' expense,without thought to those trying to make a living while carrying a disproportionate tax load might be a deterrent. 

A successful hotel chain would  likely know what to look for in a preferred location. And what to avoid. 

Damned if I can detect the fancy footwork Geoffrey Dawe and his merry men and maids might need to SKIP TO MY LOU.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Enticing new business is the easy part, although it does take some work and partnerships. Retaining business is the hard part. And this Town along with the province has failed miserably. I'm hoping the exit of Magna is a wakeup call, but I doubt it. Statefarm is on its way out as well. The little guys...we'll they just don't give a hoot. It's nice to see how councillor Mrakas takes the time to go around to different neighborhoods talking to residents. It would be nice to see another councillor doing the same with the business community.

Anonymous said...



There are more brains in a barn board than in the collective council and all the sunshine critters.