Making Rental Happen in the Town of Newmarket

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.

Newmarket Council Prefers the View from Outer Space

Construction has barely begun on the Yonge Viva bus lanes and already we are seeing the same sort of nonsense that plagued a similar project on Davis Drive for many years.

Coordination and planning are really impossible tasks for York Region and the Town of Newmarket.

It seems that the people in charge couldn't manage to plan for a one-car parade.

Yonge Street is very likely the busiest street in Newmarket. It's important to keep all traffic flowing in both directions during the period of construction.

But already we've seen examples where traffic is being blocked on both sides of the street for days at a time.

I am not talking about vehicle traffic, although there have been single lane closures that have snarled traffic too.

I am talking about pedestrian traffic.

The other day, I had an occasion to walk a significant stretch of Yonge Street. Between Mulock and Eagle, the sidewalks on both the east and west sides were either closed with a sign, or blocked by trucks and heavy machinery.

There is no way for a pedestrian to get by.

On Monday, Newmarket Council will vote to adopt David Suzuki's Blue Dot resolution, and our Council members will pat themselves on the back about how much "work" they've accomplished to achieve a greener planet.

"Blue Dot" refers to what planet Earth looks like from outer space.

It's a good metaphor for our Newmarket Council. They prefer to talk about things like "global warming" and "CO2 emissions"- which are frankly beyond the municipality's reach.

Yet on local issues, like pedestrian safety concerns, you can't find a single accomplishment that you could attribute to them.

Time and again, our Newmarket councillors vote against a new sidewalk, or in support of paving over parkland in favour of creating more parking spaces.

They keep their focus on the blue dot view from outer space as opposed to real action they can take right here, right now.

Gruesome-Twosome Tag Team Wrestling Takes Over Newmarket Council

A number of concerned citizens approached Newmarket Council today to be heard on a variety of issues including:

• exorbitant development charges
• lack of action on electing a York Region Chair
• a vacuous resolution on OMB reform
• recommending a lobbyist registry
• Main St. BIA

The amount of venom being spewed by council members in response to polite, well spoken, citizens was jarring. Perhaps the lowest point was when Councillor Sponga accused the President of the Main St BIA of lying. (But maybe lower than that, was while this was going on, none of his Council colleagues objected to Joe Sponga's accusation with a point of privilege).  

When a Mayor and Council feels it must go to war against every member of the public that speaks at a Council meeting, then we know it's time for a change in Newmarket.

The Mayor and members of the Newmarket Council owe the public a huge apology for acting in such an ill mannered way at today's meeting.  

And the Mayor and members of Council need to reflect on why they are so aggressive towards the public they are supposed to be accountable to.  

Stronach bagman Hinder refused seat on York Regional Police Services Board but 'Glenway/Slessor Square' Brad Rogers is chosen

Remember when Christina Bisanz talked about laying down in front of bulldozers to stop the Glenway development?

Well it better not come that, because one of the newly appointed members of the York Regional Police Services Board is Brad Rogers of Groundswell Urban Planners Inc. His company is behind such controversial Town of Newmarket developments as Glenway and Slessor Square. His influence within the York Regional Police could spell trouble for any potential protests against his upcoming projects from local residents.

And while these appointees are officially "provincial appointments" there can be no doubt to residents how close Brad Rogers is with the municipal level politicians at York Region Council. As Groundswell Urban Planners Inc is primarily focused on Newmarket and Georgina, it's safe to say that Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen and Regional Councillor John Taylor were both consulted and signed off on his appointment.

With Brad Rogers' new appointment, the curtain has been pulled back to reveal how tight the Mayor and Regional Councillor are with developers - especially those associated with the Glenway and Slessor Square mega projects.

Noticing that Ward 7 Councillor Christina Bisanz is in every photo-op with Mayor Van Bynen these days. it is hard to imagine that she didn't know about this controversial appointment beforehand too. This certainly wouldn't be the first time that she betrayed her election promises to Glenway residents in favour of developer interests.
  
The second newly appointed member, Khalid Usman, is probably best known for being the Treasurer of the the Frank Scarpitti Foundation. Seeing as Frank Scarpitti is the Chair of the York Regional Police Services Board, it isn't hard to see who influenced Mr. Usman's "provincial appointment."

Overseeing the York Regional Police annual budget makes the Police Services Board one of the most influential groups in local politics. The other citizen members of the Board include long term member and former Town of Newmarket Fire Chief John Molyneaux and failed Liberal candidate Bang-Gu Jiang of Markham. The politicians on the Board include Chair Frank Scarpitti, Deputy Chair Virginia Hackson, and York Regional Chair Wayne Emerson.

Most notably absent from the list is Steve Hinder, who our sources say campaigned quite openly for the appointment but was rejected. Hinder is known locally as being the bagman for Frank and Belinda Stronach, directing campaign donations to certain municipal council incumbents. He would be seen as someone who politicians might owe favours to, but he failed to get the support when it counted.  

Note that Steve Hinder delivered fat campaign donations from the Stronachs and/or Magna to only four Newmarket politicians, including Van Bynen, Taylor, and Bisanz. The fact that these three politicians refused to back Hinder must really sting his ego.

Reasons as to why Mr. Hinder was denied an appointed are not made public but I'd like to think that this blog may have had some influence:  (Click here)

Vice Chair of the "Stink Letter" Newmarket Library is the Executive Director of Local Homeless Shelter

I want to send out a note of support to the employees of the Newmarket Public Library who are merely trying to do their jobs as best they can.

I couldn't imagine how embarrassing it would be to have someone approach you with a letter informing you that other people are complaining about your body odor. But I have to empathize that it must be equally awkward for the individual who is required to deliver that message too.

Don't blame these library employees folks. Instead, let's turn our attention on the policymakers for the Newmarket Public Library. The Newmarket Public Library Board has been mostly silent while employees are being vilified in the media, with the CEO stating he would be taking a "hiatus" from Twitter.

The Newmarket that I know is a great community. Our local churches engage in helping the less fortunate. Citizens come out in droves to fund raise for Syrian refugees or Belinda's Place homeless shelter. What a slap in the face it is for all the dedicated volunteers who work with the less fortunate and those who donate money to this cause to see our local government enforce such a socially offensive "stink" policy at one of our public buildings.

So who is behind this policy?

Tom Vegh - Ward 1 Councillor, Vice Chair of the Newmarket Library Board, and Executive Director of the Inn From the Cold homeless shelter.

Kelly Broome Plumley - Ward 6 Councillor and a former recipient of the Neighborhood Network's Character Community Award. She is also a member of the Newmarket Library Board.

Joe Sponga - Represents the ward in which the Newmarket Public Library is situated and also sits on the Newmarket Library Board. In 2014, Joe Sponga contemplated running for the NDP in Newmarket Aurora.

Knowing the people behind the "stink" controversy at the Newmarket Public Library reminds me of the Valley of the Hypocrites in Dante's Inferno. These damned souls were condemned to wear beautiful, dazzling coats that were lined with lead which weighed them down and prevented them from spiritually progressing.

Isn't that an appropriate metaphor for our Council members who rush in for every photo opp to appear to be doing great things in our community? But behind the scenes and away from the camera flashes, they are ordering Newmarket employees to hand out "stink" notices to humiliate those very same people they are supposedly helping.

And just like a coat of lead, such action really does prevent our local government from having a real effect on helping the people in need.

Newmarket Council Members Are Paid to Show Up At Community Events So Why Don't They Attend?

Every time we bring up the issues of council member expenses, our elected officials get awfully prickly and defensive.

David Dingwall famously declared, "I am entitled to my entitlements." With that kind of attitude, he would fit in perfectly with Newmarket Council.

Let's review Newmarket Council's entitlements:

Our Mayor is amongst the highest paid politicians in this country.  But unlike most others, he has a unique taxpayer funded subsidy that allows him to keep more of his paycheque than the other elected officials do.  When Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne makes $208,974 annually, she pays income tax on that amount.  Although Tony Van Bynen's salary is slightly below hers, his take home pay is greater because 1/3 of his Mayor's salary is not subject to income tax.

This 1/3 tax free benefit is a holdover from a previous era when politicians used to pay out of their own pockets to attend community events or send newsletters. When taxpayer funded expense accounts were introduced, most municipalities did away with the 1/3 tax free benefit.

Not Newmarket.  Our Mayor and Council members get to have their cake (1/3 tax free) and eat it too (with a taxpayer funded expense account).  It's an embarrassment of riches.

Earlier I wrote about the atrocious attendance of our Council members at scheduled meetings.  (Click here if you want to review their attendance track record).  But attendance at community events is even worse.

Should we expect our Council members to show up at community events?

- YES -

We are giving Council members a 1/3 income tax free subsidy plus an extremely generous expense account and yet they still won't show up.

Yesterday's Big Brothers Big Sisters bowling fundraiser is a good example.

Newmarket Era reporter Chris Simon and Mayor Van Bynen's wife were called in to fill in when not enough Council members showed up to participate.  And despite the low turnout, John Taylor left halfway through not caring that his absence meant that the "team" would be undermanned.  Only three of the potential 9 Council members put in the time with the community to earn their extra perks.

This one example demonstrates what your members of Council are doing with the 1/3 income tax free subsidy and their publicly funded expense account.

If Council members don't want to feel obligated to show up to community events then they should refuse the extra take home pay and the publicly funded expense account.

The public can only expect that these Council members "show up" to community events as long as we are paying for these perks. If the Council member refuses the perks, then the public would have no right to complain when a Council member decides to stay home.

So now it is up to these members of Council.  Will they show up and earn the extra money that the public is allotting to them?  If not, will they have the integrity to refuse these funds?  

Why the Newmarket Era is Distorting the Facts About Campaign Fairness Reforms

Earlier this week, I posted a blog calling for the cessation of developer, union and corporate donations in Newmarket municipal elections.

As the Newmaret Era so often does in reaction to what I write, a few days later, the paper published an editorial calling for the end of developer - but not union or corporate - donations.

The Newmarket Era cites Campaign Fairness and the will of the people to justify it's point of view. (To learn more about Campaign Fairness, click the link here).

I don't have to fight Campaign Fairness' battles, but clearly the Newmarket Era is distorting the organization's views. Campaign Fairness in bold lettering declares:

Fair campaign finance laws for Ontario municipalities. Ban all corporate and union donations.

It couldn't be clearer that what Campaign Fairness is fighting for isn't just prohibiting "developer" donations, but all corporate and union donations too.  

Why would the Newmarket Era purposefully distort this fact? 

1)  The company that owns the Newmarket Era, the York Region Media Group, has itself donated money to incumbent's campaign in the past. The editorial writer wouldn't dare be critical of what her bosses have been doing.  

2) The worst offender of being beholden to corporate donations - and there is irrefutable evidence of him using his council expense account to repay his campaign donor (RC Designs) with public funds almost three times the amount of the donation - is Regional Councillor John Taylor. Recall that the spouse of  the controversial Mr. Taylor is a senior executive within the organization that owns the Newmarket Era. As I wrote earlier, Mr, Taylor's 2014 re-election campaign had 42 corporate donations between $500 and $750, the most of any candidate in 2014. The editorial writer certainly wouldn't criticize that, would she?  

Clearly because the editorial writer is fearful of her corporate bosses, the public receives distortions of fact within the pages of the local paper.  

A couple of years ago, the editor of the Newmarket Era went public with a speech declaring that Newmarket Town Hall Watch was an aberration, and only professional journalists, not citizen journalists like me, had the ethics and integrity to report the news. 

All of this is pure bluster of course. The reality is that her corporate bosses heavily influence her to distort the facts. She is the last person who should be allowed to advise us of what is good for democracy.  

Citizen journalists, like me, are not beholden to private, corporate, and union interests. We are 10,000% more likely to tell the story accurately because of this. 

Professional journalists often moan and complain that their form of media is dying out in favour of bloggers, YouTubers, and Twitter users.  

The Newmarket Era should be the case study in journalism school that defines why newspapers are endangered species. The public knows that the citizen journalists who talk about issues, like myself, are a far more trustworthy news source.