Goodwill dump sight in Newmarket an eyesore despite bylaw

Once upon a time, Newmarket council members used to blog about their opinions and views on town related issues. Today, despite the fact that the public is funding their personal web sites (see here ), taxpayers never really know what their council members are doing or thinking. In the specific case of the aforementioned example, the taxpayers don't actually know if the website we bought and paid for even exists.

But back to my original point, here is a throw back to 2012 (see here). Beyond the spelling and grammar errors contained within the blog, former Councillor Emanuel argues against messy clothing donation bins owned by various charities located on private property. He calls them unsightly.  

Later, in May 2013, former Councillor Emanuel convinced his allies on Council to charge a deposit fee to these charities, which supposedly go towards the cost of cleaning up overflowing bins.

In his blog, then Councillor Emanuel referenced the Goodwill store as an example of a company that "take items for donation to bennefit (sic) the broader community".

My...how times have changed. I photographed this scene of the Goodwill store earlier today.



It's time that the Town of Newmarket step in and clean up the mess left behind by Goodwill.

Hopefully, the Town's workers will have the good sense to send Goodwill an invoice for the dumpster fees.

But if a bankrupt Goodwill can't afford to pay the fees, then the cost of cleaning up is borne by us. All we are left with is the unfortunate irony to then Councillor Emanuel's claim that Goodwill had a "bennefit to the broader community."  

Newmarket's dark history with our own version of Donald Trump

In US politics, much was made when the former "Grand Wizard" of the Klu Klux Klan endorsed Donald Trump for President.

Remember Trump's infamous CNN interview when Jake Tapper asked him to denounce David Duke's support? Here is what he said:

"Well, just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke. OK? I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know. I don't know, did he endorse me or what's going on, because, you know, I know nothing about David Duke. I know nothing about white supremacists. And so you're asking me a question that I'm supposed to be talking about people that I know nothing about." 

In Newmarket, we have our own dark history with racism, sexism and other exclusionary tactics. It still goes on today, and one of the frequent targets are people of middle-eastern descent. Longer term residents will recall the very public negativity surrounding the establishment of a mosque in our town.    

But we aren't alone with this problem. In Austria, MP Richard Lugar has compared refugees fleeing the civil war in Iraq and Syria to "Neanderthals." He has called for all refugees to provide DNA samples so that a database can be set up to be accessed in criminal investigations.  

Referring to asylum seekers as sub-human and criminals has echos of the darkest moments of our civilization. David Duke would likely recognize those sentiments.  

Why would residents of Newmarket care what an Austrian MP has to say about refugees?  

Because Richard Lugar isn't just a MP. He is also the Chairman of the "Team Stronach" Party in Austria.  

Just like Donald Trump, Frank Stronach is an eccentric billionaire who likes to put his name on things. A drive through Newmarket will result in many places carrying his surname.  

He is the founder and funder of Team Stronach in Austria.

He also funds many of our local politicians too. Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen, Deputy Mayor John Taylor, Ward 6 Councillor Kelly Broome-Plumley and Ward 7 Councillor Christina Bisanz all received maximum campaign donations from Stronach related companies.  

Stronach political support and funding has not been without sordid controversy. Stronach is being sued by a local resident after his bagman, Steve Hinder, punched the man at a 2014 political event in Aurora. The punch was such as to result in the victim being admitted to hospital requiring lifesaving emergency surgery.  

That incident of Stronach sponsored violence in local politics conjures up images of Donald Trump's recent rally/riot in Chicago.   

Eventually, even Donald Trump had the good sense to distance himself from David Duke and his offer of support.  

When will Van Bynen, Taylor, Broome-Plumley and Bisanz denounce Frank Stronach and everything his "Team Stronach" party has been spewing about refugees? Will they return the campaign donations they received from Frank Stronach related companies?

And will the Town of Newmarket and Southlake Regional Hospital remove the Stronach name from publicly owned property?

I hope to see Syrian refugees come and settle in Newmarket. I just can't imagine any of their children playing in Stronach Park located in Copper Hills subdivision.  What peace could they find in a park named after someone who spews hate by calling refugees "Neanderthals" and "criminals"? 

Spend, Spend, Spend - Newmarket Council ought to be ashamed

In 2014, incumbents of the Town of Newmarket Council threw in everything and the kitchen sink to ensure that tax fighter Maddie Di Muccio did not get re-elected.

Newmarket has never seen such a nasty campaign. We saw a barrage of very negative tactics which included bogus trumped up charges under the Council Code of Conduct, outrageously malicious Youtube ads, kangaroo court council procedures and defamatory hate mail delivered anonymously to constituent's mailboxes.

Hopefully that was the lowest these people will stoop.

Unfortunately, these tactics worked. Maddie Di Muccio was tossed from office. The candidate that Council approved of, Kelly Broome Plumley, has been quietly occupying the Ward 6 seat, never stirring to ask any difficult questions, and always dutifully voting in concert with her patrons' wishes just like I predicted here: http://nwkttownhall.blogspot.ca/2014/10/newmarkets-manchurian-candidate.html

The gruesome twosome have never had it so good.

With the release of the 2015 expense report, residents can now see how good these incumbents have things.

Just look at how much their discretionary spending has increased in the one year since Maddie Di Muccio left Council:

Council Member           Percentage Increase in Discretionary Spending 2014 & 2015

Tony Van Bynen                      115.34%

John Taylor                              222.11%

Tom Vegh                                29.46%

Dave Kerwin                            74.60%

Jane Twinney                           64.49%

Tom Hempen                           800.49%

Joe Sponga                               74.91%


In the case of the gruesome twosome specifically, the amount of funds provided by the taxpayers of Newmarket wasn't enough to sate their appetites for spending. They also dipped into public money belonging to York Region.

In the case of John Taylor, it allowed him to spend more than the money allocated by the Town. Including the travel costs he was reimbursed by York Region, Taylor spent 124% of the funds he was allocated by the Town of Newmarket.

Spend. Spend. Spend.

Taylor ought to be ashamed.

In the case of Tony Van Bynen, he squirreled money into the Region to avoid appearances that he exhausted the entire amount of his allocated budget with his reckless ways.

As taxpayers, it makes no difference to us whether the Region or Newmarket paid for the gruesome twosome's travel costs.

We get one property tax bill.

And if a taxpayer cared enough to take a closer look at the paperwork, they'd realize that most of their tax dollars via council expenses go to the very businesses or community organizations that help the same politicians get elected time and time again.

That's how empires evolve.

And that's how democracy loses.

Van Bynen failing to deliver promised "new economy" jobs

Tony Van Bynen promised to create new jobs for Newmarket. He ran his re-election campaign around this single election promise. During his re-election bid, Van Bynen heralded that his broad band internet scheme would transition our economy towards the "new economy".

That was 2014.

Two years have elapsed and Mayor Van Bynen hasn't made any progress.

This week, the Town of Newmarket issued an information report on job growth in Newmarket. The numbers are not pretty.

The GTA grew its economy with 4.1% growth in new employment. York Region lagged behind with just 2.4% but those results were weighed down with Newmarket's lagging economy. Newmarket grew it's new jobs by just 1.5%, well behind the rest of York Region and the Greater Toronto Area.

When will Van Bynen and his allies on Council do anything about growing the Newmarket economy? As Van Bynen's administration remains idling by, the rest of the GTA economy is growing and adding new opportunities.

Newmarket has not added any full time jobs. The number of part time jobs in Newmarket has actually decreased over the years. The only "new employment" in Newmarket is of the contract worker type that can only be described as precarious, at best.

Is that the "new economy" Van Bynen had in mind?

Hey Christina Bisanz -- Let's win one for Bogart Creek

Next week is "Earth Hour" and the Town of Newmarket is once again asking residents to turn off their lights between 8:30 and 9:30 on March 19.

Earth Hour is a symbolic gesture. We are all smart enough to know that one hour of reduced energy usage will have no effect on improving the environment.

But there is one decision before Council that does have long term effects.

Each winter, tons of snow from around Newmarket are collected and stored at the unused parking lot at the Ray Twinney Complex. When the snow melts, the sands, silts, and salts are captured. The process is our best option from an environmental viewpoint.

However, there are two or three NIMBY's who live near the Ray Twinney Complex who have convinced Council to end this environmentally safe process.

Instead, Council wants to move the process to 429-445 Harry Walker Parkway, which is a 3.47 hectare property at the headwaters of the environmentally sensitive Bogart Creek. The cost of moving the snow storage is currently estimated at $70,000.

According to Ward 2 Councillor Dave Kerwin, there are no guarantees that the sands, silts and salts from the melting snow won't end up poisoning the surrounding land. If the melting snow runs off into the Bogart Creek, the damage to the environment will spread down stream.

Closing the Ray Twinney snow storage was the brain child of Ward 7 Councillor Christina Bisanz.
This week on Twitter, she is encouraging her supporters to join the "Earth Hour Challenge"

 

ChristinaBisanz

Hey Ward 7--let's win this one! http://fb.me/2bQvJFsQG 

"Let's win this one?"

How can it be a win for the environment when she is advocating polluting Bogart Creek rather than risk disappointing two or three of her supporters? Are those few votes so important that it's worth the risk of polluting our ecological heritage?

Why don't Newmarket politicians focus on Newmarket's priorities?

York Region Council is deciding between adopting a 40% or 45% population density rate. Regardless of whichever rate the politicians accept, Newmarket has already exceeded the established target.

Our town could stop intensifying right now and tell the developers who want to build high rise apartment buildings and high density quad town homes to look elsewhere.

But at least one Newmarket politician, Deputy Mayor John Taylor is calling for more and more intensification of our town, saying we should target for 100% intensification. He doesn't tell us about the various landholdings he and other council members may own in areas of town slated for "intensification." You'll have to judge for yourself if our Newmarket council members are motivated by personal profit. It certainly seems that way, when members of Council repeatedly "forget" to declare pecuniary interests, or go as far as denying they own property along the Yonge Davis corridor, when in fact they do.

Instead, at the recent Council meeting, Mr. Taylor droned on about "white belt" farmland in places like Whitchurch Stouffville and East Gwillimbury that could be developed if we don't allow mega developments like Slessor Square, Hollingsworth Arena, and the Clock Tower to proceed.

A February 29th Town of Newmarket staff report even calls for rolling back designated green belt land, formally protected by Ontario Legislation, in Whitchurch Stouffville and East Gwillimbury. It seems that our Council is fine with using up farm land for that purpose, saying nothing of course of the acres of light manufacturing and warehouse lands sitting empty along Harry Walker Parkway.

As a resident of Newmarket, is it too much to ask for our politicians to concern themselves with the needs of our own municipality before they worry about what's going to happen to Whitchurch Stouffville and East Gwillimbury?

Our town's economic plan is centered around creating public sector jobs at the hospital and with a post secondary institution. That's fine, but keep in mind that these institutions don't pay property taxes.

Private sector employers, like those who have set up shop Aurora, King, Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan, not only create good, well paying jobs, but they also contribute to their host municipality's coffers.

When Newmarket Council sends private sector jobs elsewhere and instead focuses only on residential growth, then government services associated with growth are borne mostly by the residential tax base. That means higher taxes for homeowners.

Wouldn't it be better to slow the high rise development that this Council seems too keen to promote and instead look to host the next area's next big head office or light manufacturer?

That makes sense -- except of course, if you are a council member who owns a property located within the official plan's intensification zone.