Over recent years, people engaged in social media noticed a trend from certain Newmarket politicians to hashtag "Make Rental Happen" after their posts.
Newmarket Council was seemingly engaged in advocating for more rental opportunities in our community.
After all, we know that our region has the lowest percentage of rental dwellings in the Greater Toronto Area. 11.5% of York Region households are rentals, as opposed to 28.4% in the GTA.
In 2012, there were just 33 new rental units completed in York Region.
To say that renters can go live "someplace else" isn't a solution. Newmarket businesses need employees and customers to fuel economic growth.
So the solution is simple. Newmarket Council has to (hashtag) "Make Rental Happen."
Along comes the Clock Tower proposed development, which plans to construct 165 rental units on Main Street. It's important to note that Main Street has received significant investment of Town of Newmarket resources - time, money, manpower - over a 30-year period.
Council has an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. It can "make rental happen" and it can inject a significant amount of potential new customers into a shopping district that needs the economic boost.
What does our Newmarket Council do when faced with a Win-Win situation?
Lead by the controversial Regional Councillor John Taylor, Council decides to do everything it can to ensure this project fails.
I invite you to read John Taylor's blog (Really I do - because taxpayers like you and me apparently paid John Taylor via his council expense account almost $2,000 to post his opinions on line). You can click here to see what your tax dollars paid for.
I think the lesson in all of this is that residents expect a heck of a lot more from our elected officials to (hashtag) "Make Rental Happen" than a tweet, Facebook post or a vacuous resolution.
Yet when it comes to making those tough decisions, our Council, lead by John Taylor, would rather prevaricate and pander.
That's not leadership.
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