Things at the Newmarket Aurora PC Association just keep going from bad to worse.
Current EDA president Derek Murray, with the blessing of former MPP Frank Klees, is disputing the outcome of last month's candidate nomination vote. (See here for The Auroran article).
While Murray won't say publicly what the irregularities are, it's well known that Charity McGrath, who won the vote, acted improperly to attain victory. Abuses of the local membership lists and brazenly handing out $25 'gift' bags to her PC member sign-ups - who were bused in - are among the allegations I have heard from outraged members.
It's well known that this isn't the first time the Richmond Hill resident has courted controversy. McGrath's failed 2016 nomination in Oshawa, which she lost to now MPP Lorne Coe, included several similar irregularities. In that fiasco, it was rumoured she purchased over 1,000 memberships from people who never signed up. Some PC insiders have openly questioned how she and Mr. Coe could work together in the same caucus if she ever gets elected.
Her husband, Joe Di Paola, was a former Richmond Hill councillor who was booted out in the last election. Readers have to look no further than this story to see how the McGraths/DiPoalas are among one of the most embarrassing couple in Ontario politics.
If you notice in the above article, the McGraths/DiPoalas have a penchant for changing their addresses depending on where they're running. McGrath continues to lie to residents here that she lives in Newmarket - until a journalist exposed her.
Murray's complaint is now the third investigation conducted by the Ontario PC Party into shenanigans in Newmarket-Aurora since January 2017.
The party was well warned about the potential of controversy relating to the Newmarket Aurora nomination several times during 2015 and 2016. For reasons unknown, the Ontario PC's decided to ignore all the sound advice, and instead chose the perilous route which courted disaster.
Local PC supporters are telling me that they are just fed up and won't support either Patrick Brown or whomever ends up being the local Newmarket-Aurora candidate. As with other ridings, many are openly complaining that Patrick Brown is on course to re-elect a Kathleen Wynne government through his own ineptitude.
Saturday, 6 May 2017
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Newmarket's Town Drunk Named Citizen of the Year
Has it really been 40 years?
A frantic call came into the municipal offices urgently demanding to speak to Mayor Ray Twinney.
The caller had a complaint to make. One of the local town council members showed up at his house and this councillor was completely boozed up. Drunk like a skunk. Three sheets to the wind.
It was demanded that the mayor drive over to pick up this plastered politician and make sure he ended up at his home to sleep it off.
What an embarrassment.
Well yesterday it was announced that the infamous drunkard was named Newmarket's Citizen of the Year.
I wonder if they'll tell this story at his induction ceremony?
A frantic call came into the municipal offices urgently demanding to speak to Mayor Ray Twinney.
The caller had a complaint to make. One of the local town council members showed up at his house and this councillor was completely boozed up. Drunk like a skunk. Three sheets to the wind.
It was demanded that the mayor drive over to pick up this plastered politician and make sure he ended up at his home to sleep it off.
What an embarrassment.
Well yesterday it was announced that the infamous drunkard was named Newmarket's Citizen of the Year.
I wonder if they'll tell this story at his induction ceremony?
Saturday, 8 April 2017
PC strategy of opposing Mulock GO is off the rails
They say all politics is local.
Which is why the Ontario PC Party wants to weigh in, here in Newmarket. PC MPP transportation critic Michael Harris believes he has a strategy of winning the next election in our riding. He wants to oppose the Mulock GO Train station.
In this week's Era newspaper, MPP Michael Harris has declared that the proposed Mulock GO station doesn't make sense.
Full disclosure, I also oppose the new GO station for Mulock and have written about it last October. But in response to that blog post, I heard a unanimous chorus in support of the new station that would be built in the Steven Court area. It is going to be financed with Metrolinx money and it will bring jobs to Newmarket through construction,
The Ontario PCs are also running against new public transit projects in Vaughan and Hamilton. From accounts that I have read, the PC view has been soundly rejected by municipal level politicians and the general public.
Michael Harris - who is from Kitchener but somehow knows the Newmarket political landscape - publicly railing against the new train station is a god-send for local Liberal organizers, as it is bound to tip support towards current MPP Chris Ballard.
Which is why the Ontario PC Party wants to weigh in, here in Newmarket. PC MPP transportation critic Michael Harris believes he has a strategy of winning the next election in our riding. He wants to oppose the Mulock GO Train station.
In this week's Era newspaper, MPP Michael Harris has declared that the proposed Mulock GO station doesn't make sense.
Full disclosure, I also oppose the new GO station for Mulock and have written about it last October. But in response to that blog post, I heard a unanimous chorus in support of the new station that would be built in the Steven Court area. It is going to be financed with Metrolinx money and it will bring jobs to Newmarket through construction,
The Ontario PCs are also running against new public transit projects in Vaughan and Hamilton. From accounts that I have read, the PC view has been soundly rejected by municipal level politicians and the general public.
Michael Harris - who is from Kitchener but somehow knows the Newmarket political landscape - publicly railing against the new train station is a god-send for local Liberal organizers, as it is bound to tip support towards current MPP Chris Ballard.
Friday, 7 April 2017
How many investigations of Newmarket Aurora is Rick Dykstra conducting?
For the second time in two months, Ontario PC Party president Rick Dykstra is promising to launch a serious investigation into allegations of wrong-doing involving the local Newmarket-Aurora PC membership list. In the latest series of complaints, dozens of people have contacted PC Party head quarters as personal information was given to a third party company without the party's consent.
All three candidates on the local PC nomination ballot, (Charity McGrath, Tom Vegh, and Bill Hogg), have been connected to serious allegations of past misconduct. For local members, it is a veritable rogues' gallery on the ballot.
As of this time, all three candidates have been OK'd by party screeners and the nomination vote will proceed as planned.
Local members learned the extent of today's latest PC controversy when Bob Stanley, the Executive Director of the Ontario PC Party, contacted each member by phone this morning through robo-calling to confirm the anonymous company was not affiliated with the party.
Noting that I cannot link him to this present controversy, it is curious to note that Court documents show that Bill Hogg was found to have lied in a filed affidavit while he was sued by a pharmaceutical business for having taken their client list without permission.
But it could have been any one of the current candidates.
All three candidates on the local PC nomination ballot, (Charity McGrath, Tom Vegh, and Bill Hogg), have been connected to serious allegations of past misconduct. For local members, it is a veritable rogues' gallery on the ballot.
As of this time, all three candidates have been OK'd by party screeners and the nomination vote will proceed as planned.
Local members learned the extent of today's latest PC controversy when Bob Stanley, the Executive Director of the Ontario PC Party, contacted each member by phone this morning through robo-calling to confirm the anonymous company was not affiliated with the party.
Noting that I cannot link him to this present controversy, it is curious to note that Court documents show that Bill Hogg was found to have lied in a filed affidavit while he was sued by a pharmaceutical business for having taken their client list without permission.
But it could have been any one of the current candidates.
Water issues in the Newmarket Public Library
Innocent questions about the location of the Newmarket Public Library's only water fountain deserve an answer.
Currently, the sole water fountain is located in the Children's Department. This is convenient for families who use the Library, But concerns have been raised that the Library may be putting young children at risk by requiring strangers (without accompanying children) to visit the Children's area. Should this area be restricted to young children and accompanying adults only?
Why aren't there any other options?
Would it not be simpler to install a second water fountain in the main lobby on the first floor?
I would like to point out that a plug in water cooler can be purchased from Canadian Tire for a very reasonable cost. See this link
For less than $200, the Library can address the safety concerns that have been raised.
What are they waiting for?
Currently, the sole water fountain is located in the Children's Department. This is convenient for families who use the Library, But concerns have been raised that the Library may be putting young children at risk by requiring strangers (without accompanying children) to visit the Children's area. Should this area be restricted to young children and accompanying adults only?
Why aren't there any other options?
Would it not be simpler to install a second water fountain in the main lobby on the first floor?
I would like to point out that a plug in water cooler can be purchased from Canadian Tire for a very reasonable cost. See this link
For less than $200, the Library can address the safety concerns that have been raised.
What are they waiting for?
Saturday, 25 March 2017
Top Ten Earners at Newmarket Town Hall - 2016 "Sunshine List" Released
Did your salary keep pace with the bureaucrats who work for you at Newmarket Town Hall?
The Ontario Government released the details of how much the senior management at the Town of Newmarket earned in 2016. Here are your Top Ten earners:
- CAO Robert Shelton continues to earn the most in Newmarket bringing home $247,641.16.
- Commissioner Peter Noehammar brought home $182,403.22.
- His colleague, Commissioner Ian MacDougall saw a salary of $179,553.30 in 2016.
- Rachel Prudhomme, the Director of Engineering, earned $165,492,19 in 2016.
- The Town's Director of Public Works, Chris Kalimootooo, he earned $162,769.62 last year.
- Commissioner Esther Armchuk took home $153,814.55..
- The Director of Finance was the next highest earner. Mike Mayes earned $149,889.10 in 2016.
- Wanda Bennett, Director of Corporate Communications, earned $146.453.27.
- Susan Chase, the Manager of of IT, was the Town of Newmarket's 9th highest earner at $146,453.27.
- Karen Georgeff, the Director of Human Resources, rounds out the Top Ten list bringing home $146,453.27.
With just one exception, this year's top ten earners are the same as last year's. No new blood has been injected into the senior management team of the Town of Newmarket.
It is impossible to compare year to year increases because the way the Town of Newmarket publishes information seems to change with each edition of the Sunshine List. Based on the published data without any context leads us to believe that most of the top ten earners had a pay decrease from 2015 but we don't know if the same factors were included in these two years. It seems far more likely, that the Town of Newmarket did not count all the apples in their basket which makes the pay seem lower.
Conspicuously absent from the Top 10 list is our Mayor, Tony Van Bynen. According to the Sunshine List, Mayor Van Bynen earned $117,162.21+ in 2016. The Sunshine List reported sum does not appear to include the $54,337.92 he earns as one of Newmarket's representatives at York Region Council. Nor does it appear to include the $12,004.00 he earned as a board member of the Newmarket Tay Hydro Board (a position he holds automatically, because he was elected Mayor). We should also make special note that $31,398.12 of his earnings is not subject to income tax by virtue of a vote by the Gruesome-Twosome Council which deems 1/3 of his municipal pay to be "tax-free".
It is impossible to compare year to year increases because the way the Town of Newmarket publishes information seems to change with each edition of the Sunshine List. Based on the published data without any context leads us to believe that most of the top ten earners had a pay decrease from 2015 but we don't know if the same factors were included in these two years. It seems far more likely, that the Town of Newmarket did not count all the apples in their basket which makes the pay seem lower.
Conspicuously absent from the Top 10 list is our Mayor, Tony Van Bynen. According to the Sunshine List, Mayor Van Bynen earned $117,162.21+ in 2016. The Sunshine List reported sum does not appear to include the $54,337.92 he earns as one of Newmarket's representatives at York Region Council. Nor does it appear to include the $12,004.00 he earned as a board member of the Newmarket Tay Hydro Board (a position he holds automatically, because he was elected Mayor). We should also make special note that $31,398.12 of his earnings is not subject to income tax by virtue of a vote by the Gruesome-Twosome Council which deems 1/3 of his municipal pay to be "tax-free".
As with previous years, because of the discrepancies between the various published reports and lack of an explanation forthcoming by the Mayor and his administration, the public still cannot say how much Mayor Van Bynen actually earns from taxpayers. These contradictions between the published reports creates a confusion that has led many to believe that Mayor Van Bynen is among the highest paid elected officials in Canada. But just like Donald Trump, Mayor Van Bynen isn't going to release his T4 slips any time soon despite the fact that his paycheque is funded exclusively by public money.
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
No Search Warrant? No Problem for Town of Newmarket Investigators
What would you do if you arrived home from work this spring to find a stranger poking around in your backyard? What if this stranger was peering into the windows of your home?
Would your first reaction be to call the police?
Well the Gruesome-Twosome Council of the Town of Newmarket is about to make it legal for its bylaws officers to enter your property without a search warrant to investigate whether homeowners are cutting grass or have an illegal accessory dwelling unit (ADU) such as a basement apartment.
These extraordinary powers for bylaws officers go well beyond what the real police have the authority to do. If the police suspected a drug lab in a basement, they would first need to go before a Justice of Peace to get a search warrant before they could legally breach the homeowner's right to privacy.
We need to think of what is in the public's best interest when it comes to law enforcement. Are people in imminent danger? Is an indictable offense being perpetrated? Of course not.
So why can't our bylaws officers simply knock on your door and make an appointment with the homeowner to view the property? Wouldn't common courtesy and respect for privacy trump the need to creep around and snoop without the homeowners consent? If there was an urgent need to inspect a property, shouldn't the bylaw officer justify their case (just like police officers do) and get a search warrant?
Instead of being decent and respectful, our municipal government is considering Gestapo tactics to deal with alleged rule breakers, such as people who don't cut their grass in their own backyard to the standards of a nosy neighbour. This change is to be considered by Council on March 27th,
Would your first reaction be to call the police?
Well the Gruesome-Twosome Council of the Town of Newmarket is about to make it legal for its bylaws officers to enter your property without a search warrant to investigate whether homeowners are cutting grass or have an illegal accessory dwelling unit (ADU) such as a basement apartment.
These extraordinary powers for bylaws officers go well beyond what the real police have the authority to do. If the police suspected a drug lab in a basement, they would first need to go before a Justice of Peace to get a search warrant before they could legally breach the homeowner's right to privacy.
We need to think of what is in the public's best interest when it comes to law enforcement. Are people in imminent danger? Is an indictable offense being perpetrated? Of course not.
So why can't our bylaws officers simply knock on your door and make an appointment with the homeowner to view the property? Wouldn't common courtesy and respect for privacy trump the need to creep around and snoop without the homeowners consent? If there was an urgent need to inspect a property, shouldn't the bylaw officer justify their case (just like police officers do) and get a search warrant?
Instead of being decent and respectful, our municipal government is considering Gestapo tactics to deal with alleged rule breakers, such as people who don't cut their grass in their own backyard to the standards of a nosy neighbour. This change is to be considered by Council on March 27th,
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