Dumb Serve

I would say Doug Ford’s preocupation with having corner stores sell alcohol, buck a beer etc seems to have worn off on Clr. Gilliland who has introuced multiple motions to increase access to alcohol at town events and facilities this term. Last night council debated a staff report that clearly outlined how there is no […]

Exploration is curiosity put into action

Don Walsh would know, he was an oceanograpoher who explored the depths of the Challenger Deep. Having sunk from a seasonal publication to the depths of an annual I was curious to see what exactly was put into action for the Aurora Chamber’s latest marketing zombie the 2024 Explore aurora guide. Flipping through the thin […]

Off to never-never land

The town of Aurora recently posted this downright insulting video to social media: Did this talking head really state that Aurora has never really had a place where the community can come together? What a factually incorrect statement to make with a straight face. I have no clue how long he has lived here buy […]

just throw it on the pile

Last Tuesday there was a post on the Aurora Community Connection Facebook page regarding textile dumping at one of the town’s collection bin locations: The person posting wrote “community centre in Aurora” of which there are several. At first read this comes across as the Aurora Community Centre which is one of the locations listed […]

There are three things in life people like to stare at: a flowing stream, a crackling fire, and a Zamboni clearing the ice.

This is Charlie Brown’s observation from the animated short She’s a Good Skate, Charlie Brown. Zamboni’s would appear in Charles Schulz’s timeless Peanuts comic strip a full 48 times as the humble ice resurfacer slowly worked its way into the national psyche. Paula Coony, Zamboni’s brand manager points out in this 2021 piece “The Zamboni […]

Leadership that gets things spun

At the close of the April 23rd Council meeting Clr. Gallo announced “As a result of personal matters, hopefully for a short time, I will be resigning from all committees. Effective immediately.” You can watch it at the 2.08 mark on the video here: Whatever personal matters Clr. Gallo is facing I hope that he […]

rather have a single-use bottle infront of me

Back in 2017 the Town of Aurora’s Environmental Advisory committee endorsed a memorandum from staff to launch a BYOB initiative at town facilities. The result was the town removed bottled water from meetings in their facilities including their meeting rooms as I pointed out in this post from 2018. And no leadership could possibly “get […]

Breaking (the) News

Saturday April 6th, Metrobland Media posted this “news” article to their Aurora Banner page: They couldn’t even manage to get the title correct, claiming a driver was caught “in Aurora” when in the copy the car was caught on Highway 400 north bound which is obviously not within the boundary of Aurora: Given the decline […]

Where am I? Sharon!!! Sharon!!!

The East Gwillimbury Sport Hall of Fame held their first annual “celebrity” golf fundraiser last year up in Sharon. No, wait, sorry that was the Aurora Sport Hall of Fame: When it came time to choose the course this year they flipped off any notion to “Explore Aurora” and are returning to the same course […]

Aurora the Explora

I continue to see stacks of old 2023 Explore Aurora Fall/Winter Guides in multiple locations around town. Here’s one spotted at a local Shoppers Drug mart today relegated to a miserable space below the stack of unread Neigh-bore Media publication formerly known as Snap’d: It is spring and we are in Q2 of 2024 so […]

Hey Aurora is your water meter running? Well, you better go catch it.

Earlier this month “strong” mayor Mrakas along with Clr. Thompson, and a failed council candidate for Ward 2 went all the way to Washington out of concern for the great lakes stating that Aurora relies on the great lakes for its water supply. Back here in Aurora a resident who relies on the town for […]

Fleeting trust

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day “strong” mayor Mrakas was quick to jump aboard the town’s shiny new green electric “zamboni”: Notice how he put the trademarked brand in quotes because what he is resting his ass on for a photo is not a zamboni at all, the ice resurfacer is made by Engo. […]

Mayor Mrakas’ Small Idea Series

By now you have likely heard of “strong” mayor Mrakas’ last minute $500,000 addition to the Town’s budget for a ridiculous sign that no one asked for and fills no need. This coming from the town that under Mrakas’ leadership through 1.5 terms of council can’t even operate a simple LED sign. This small idea […]

The chamber pot o’ gold at the end of the BIA rainbow

Aurora’s “dowtown” BIA is grasping at anything to appear relevant after a recent damning staff report clearly stating that the “performance of the Aurora BIA, to date, is not sustainable in its current model and poses risk to the municipality”: The BIA’s latest low effort offering they posted to social media is a challenge to […]

Working together to get things done….just not with you, or you, or you.

Mayor Mrakas skipped town to head out of the country to Washington to attend a water conference and take some selfies. He is not alone either as Clr. Thompson seems to have joined him, likely to take the obligatory photos: I wonder how much time this fab 4 consumed colour coordinating their foot ware. Aurora’s […]

You miss 60% of the houses you don’t start

Back on September 21st, 2023 Aurora Mayor Mrakas published this update on Aurora’s Housing target on page 2 of the Auroran: Mrakas highlights Aurora’s target of 8,000 units by 2031 claiming that Aurora is “well on track” to meet that number. He mentions 8,550 units in the pipeline, but conveniently fails to mention the percentage […]

180 degree from kids

Last Thursday 360 degree kids, a youth homeless charity held their annual Experience fundraiser. I understand that they have raised $1.5 Million to date. In this NewmarketToday piece we read that The mayors of York Region have also banded together for the first time for the event, started by usual event participant, Richmond Hill Mayor […]

You can’t be in love with a Google search

That nugget of wisdom is courtesy of Talyor swift circa 2012 but rings loud and clear here as no Auroran I have ever spoken to is in love with searching the town’s website for anything. The town’s website search function has been so bad for years now it is a running joke amongst elected officials. […]

The Aurora Money Hole of Fame

Mayor Mrakas continues to prognosticate about the huge financial burden the town will be under if it accomplishes what its own advisory committee recommended and raises the pay for councillors. It needed to “get done” last term but apparently there was a lack of leadership to do so. Now under the same mayor’s leadership this […]

1,2 skip a few 19, 20. Ready or not here I come for my photo-op

Strong Mayor Powers obviously don’t include the strength of fact verification, as was evidenced by mayor Mrakas who recently not only failed to catch a BlogTo article mistaking Aurora Colorado for Aurora Ontario but choosing to celebrate it and share it on his socials. But this appears not to be an isolated incident as just […]

Newmarket Today, Aurora Tomorrow?

At the January 30th meeting of council, Aurora town staff presented the much overdue Communications Strategic Plan. You can watch the video here: Clr. Weese speaks up @1:01:45 to question the town’s relationship with local media, particularly newspapers. Staff’s response seems to be a very curious departure from its previous relationship where journalism was sought […]

Giving the cold shoulder

Coldest Night of the Year is described as a winterrific family-friendly walk in support of local charities serving people experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness. The 2024 event happened on February 24th and raised $13.4 Million with out of 190 total locations York Region claiming 2 in the top 25 of their fundraising scoreboard. Newmarket was […]

resign of the times

In the most recent municipal election Alexandra Bonham was a failed Ward 3 Candidate who spent $2,466 to place 3rd out of 4 candidates, managing to escape last place by a mere 76 votes. For some context Bonham received only 1/3 of the votes of Clr. Wendy Geartner. That tells you how little her platform […]

Facts matter in Aurora, just not the Aurora you’re thinking of

Yesterday, dawning his Steve Urkel line of eye-ware, Aurora Ontario’s mayor gave the state of the town address. But just before he did Mayor Mrakas wasted no time in blasting out an empty #AuroraProud post on his socials: If you don’t accept the article at face value and read it you will find a bunch […]

Arrogance is the camouflage of insecurity

Earlier today Mayor Mrakas posted that bringing greetings from Aurora to the 2024 CISO Forum Canada, hosted by SiberX: An interesting world for the mayor and town to wade into given how the town has been experiencing some IT challenges of late. I posted previously about the issues in accounting, as well as technical difficulties […]

I am altering the opportunities for public participation. Pray I don’t alter it any further.

Nathalie Des Rosiers, the principal of Massey College at the University of Toronto and the former Liberal MPP for Ottawa-Vanier predicted accurately back in November of 2022 that “This new law would essentially allow a mayor to do whatever they want, with most of council becomimg “little more than a chamber of discussion.” Even a […]

To thine own selfie be true

To be or not to be. That is the question Markham Mayor Scarpetti has of York’s lower tier municipalities. His argument is that York Region has 77 municipal representatives for 1.2 million people, while the City of Toronto has 26 municipal representatives for three million residents. Mrakas of course rushed to social media announce that […]

design by committee or committee by design?

If a camel looks like a horse that was planned by a committee then what does a committee look like that was planned by a horses’ ass? Well the Town of Aurora has painted a good picture with it’s council appointed committees and boards. One ususualy doesn’t pay much attention to the composition of these […]

There are some problems that technology can’t solve

One of two General Committee meetings was cancelled in January due to technical difficulties. When this occurred the town posted a notice to social media. Here is a snapshot of their facebook post: When was the last time this has happened? Not cancelling a meeting but a meeting cancelled with little notice due to a […]

Just Keep Billing, Just Keep Billing

On January 5th the Town of Aurora issued a notice on their facebook page of a Water/Sewer billing error: Most Aurorans are forgiving and willing to extend the benefit of the doubt but this was not a one-off as a few days later on January 10th the town followed this up with a notice of […]

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With great hair comes great responsibility