On September 10 the CBC ran a piece on the change in Aurora from an at large to ward system. One candidate who registered to run as a ward 6 councillor is not only opposed to the ward system, when I confronted him he stated he is actively campaigning to reverse it: The CBC piece […]
Read more "Well this is awk-ward"At the recent September 13th 2022 General Committee meeting there was an item to approve a $200,000 increase for “Street Light Maintenance Services”. Not $200,000 in total. The current contract is $717,500. This would increase the spend to $917,500. The report is very vague, just reads: Includes “banner and Christmas decoration installation”. Why is council […]
Read more "you taught me everything I know about exterior illumination"Some days more than others the town of Aurora feels like Simpson’s Springfield. On Sunday September 25th at the Aurora Public Library Virtual Meet the Candidates event Mayor elect Tom Mrakas felt a lot like Bob Dole. Amongst his scripted list of accomplishments Mrakas stated “Together we’ve demonstrated Aurora’s commitment to diversity and inclusion through […]
Read more "Diversity and Inclusion for some, miniature Aurora flags for others"Back in 2010 the MorMac government set president of rubber stamping the flaming peace in-front of town hall. In addition to commenting on how inspiration for said piece appears to have come from an aftermarket Ford truck grill I pointed out how then Clr MacHeckron was too impatient to wait for a public policy stating […]
Read more "Putting the art before the horse"Newmarket just opened an outdoor skate park that is being so well received that a skateboarder visiting her grandmother here in Aurora that has been in the sport for four years is looking forward to getting use out of the park. Which begs the question doesn’t Aurora have a skateboard park? Let’s check their website. […]
Read more "Aurora Skateboard Park has left the chat"I’m curious if accepting campaign donations from Frank Stronach and/or his dysfunctional family comes with the unwritten expectation the sitting Mayor of Aurora do photo-ops riding his latest contraption. Almost 3 years ago I wrote this post on Stronach’s last non-car vehicle failure: BionX. Then touted as “the world’s most advanced – and most desired […]
Read more "just like falling off a tricycle"I’m proud of the Aurora Public Library raising the bar with it’s most recent staff pick posted to facebook: A pick that no doubt resulted in much pearl clutching by the library board’s resident Ned Flanders. You remember the ass-hat who pushed to censor me a year ago because he was offended by a swear […]
Read more "Offensensitivity, Actually"In response to covid-19 the mayor’s egg hunt (my vote for best title of a special event in the entire town) has expanded beyond eggs to having Aurorans between the ages of 60 and 64 search out their vaccines. The boundaries have also expanded outside the town, even the region with Mayor Mrakas advising Aurorans […]
Read more "the mayor’s egg hunt, covid-19 edition"Back on January 28th the Town of Aurora’s Bylaw Department spokesperson was quoted in the paper stating “our enforcement efforts will be focused on non-compliant businesses”. Because the Town of Aurora has chosen not to communicate the activity of its weekly bylaw enforcement with residents on its own website in an open and transparent manner […]
Read more "The bylaw of averages"The City of Richmond Hill’s official motto, “En la rose je fleuris” is derived from the Duke of Richmond’s coat-of-arms. During the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century Richmond Hill was the largest supplier of roses in Canada. In the 21st century Richmond Hill is poised to be Ontario’s most dysfunctional […]
Read more "Makin’ their way. The only way they know how"In a rather awkward and totally backwards way of accomplishing a professional rebranding in 2021, The Aurora Chamber of Commerce has placed an ad in the local paper calling all Graphic Designers to Submit!: If you go to the link you read that it’s a cattle call with the following rules: SUBMISSIONS WILL BE REVIEWED […]
Read more "Beating Aurora’s graphic designers into submission"December 10th 2020 Mayor Mrakas stated that “we can’t continue lockdowns”: Yet here we are January 12th and not only have we continued lockdowns but the Province has issued a second state of emergency that includes a stay at home order. Just because an elected official don’t want something to happen doesn’t mean it can’t. […]
Read more "Throw Me A Frickin’ Bone Here!"Back at the start of the Pandemic something called “ExploreAurora” was initiated by the Aurora Business Continuity Task Force and managed by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce. It is a ghost town, yet if you can make it through the tumbleweeds to the About section it claims that this online guide will include “real time […]
Read more "Deplore Aurora"The Town of Aurora is running a low effort photo contest: Instead of using actual photos taken in Aurora, showcasing what they are seeking from applicants, they opted for uninspiring Getty stock images: Compelling budding photographers by using “One woman cross country skiing at sunset in ski resort”. because nothing says Aurora like photos from […]
Read more "Grand Theft Photo"Back in August Clr. Rachel Gilliland’s inner teenager leaked out as she took to social media to gush over the opening of a Starbucks: It must be so warming to all the small restaurant and coffee shop owners in town to hear this council member declare she has chosen a large chain coffee shop to […]
Read more "A half caramel, half vanilla latte, decaf espresso heated only to 100° with nonfat milk and caramel drizzle on top…"Last Monday Clr. Harold Kim posted to a local facebook group regarding issues residents have had with sidewalk plowing this season: Interesting because both the Town of Aurora and the mayor haven’t acknowledged any issues residents have been having through their social channels over the past 2 months. In fact if you go back 2 […]
Read more "The Greatest Snowman?"Aurora’s Mayor Marakas sends out his annual cookie-cutter Happy New Year message overflowing with self congratulations and back patting that we have come to expect from him. It is no surprise that Mrakas cherry picks the positives while completely failing to address the equal amount of turds. No town, its politicians nor its bureaucrats can […]
Read more "The 2020 Town of Aurora Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Mediocrity"Photos of Evelyn Buck that news pieces and a few political “friends” have selected to represent her life after her recent passing are from her later years on council and reduce her accomplishments to being the first female mayor of Aurora, and just plain old. How dismissive. The importance the possession of certain genitalia has […]
Read more "Buck Up Aurora"Earlier today someone at the Town of Aurora attempted to be funny and posted this to their social accounts: The post claims this declaration to be signed all members of council. Here is the official declaration: One of these things look just like the others, and yes it’s the signatures. WTF? Is the Town of […]
Read more "sign, steal & deliver?"There seems to be some confusion by some members of the public as to why the Town of Aurora is still operating in a state of emergency during the second wave of this Covid-19 pandemic. One member of council was even questioning during a council meeting if there is a specific date as to when […]
Read more "state of emergency or state of denial"NASA claims that about once a year, an automobile-sized asteroid hits Earth’s atmosphere, creates an impressive fireball, and burns up before reaching the surface. Luckily we have prime seating to watch such a spectacle unfolding next door in Richmond Hill. When Richmond Hill’s Regional councillor Brenda Hogg retired two years ago fellow Ward 5 Councillor […]
Read more "Richmond Hill’s Asteroid comes crashing down to earth"Ron Wallace’s passing during this pandemic was far too quiet for a man who was such a vocal advocate for our town. My November 29th 2011 post focused on Ron’s retirement from The Auroran. At that point Ron wanting things to carry on without him, and likely due to the great impression he made on […]
Read more "When you’re this Aurora they call you Mr."When she’s not selling CO2 spewing used appliances on facebook Clr. Gilliland posts to a facebook group I believe she created and moderates called L4G Community Farts or something boring like that. It is a forgettably small group with little content that isn’t just copy pasted from others feeds, little of it actually has to […]
Read more "Carbon Biased"The Town of Aurora’s Communications department has several full-time staff and an annual budget of over $700,000 for several years now yet with all these resources move in very snow motion. Back in 2016 I posted on how the town used inappropriate stock imagery that showed snow to advertise fun activities for a March break […]
Read more "Snow Green and the 7(00,000) dollar bills"After dragging its feet for over a decade Aurora has finally adopted a policy to record its closed door meetings. In 2015 Niagara Falls joined several other Niagara municipalities who already record closed-door sessions. This piece states those municipalities include Niagara-on-the-Lake, Fort Erie and Welland. That same year in Aurora the majority of council including […]
Read more "Aurora’s Perpetual Moron Machine"Back on November 17th Metroland announced it was launching a new parcel delivery service. Yes the same outfit that cobbles together a paper version of The Error Banner every week and manages delivery of that flaming turd 4 times out of ten. That paper has earned the name Error Banner from its multitude of failings […]
Read more "Say Journalism, Say Journalism!"Aurora’s low effort “deck the halls tour” of getting people to drive around town was recently announced. No surprise the Town of Aurora is 12 years late to the party as Uxbridge has been doing their fantasy of lights for 13 years. At least this season the town of Aurora decided to finally update its […]
Read more "where 2 snowflakes can be identical"So yesterday Mayor Mrakas got up on his soapbox and declared that we can’t continue lockdowns: Today the Province is seeing him eat those words as York is placed in lockdown, and rightly so. Without lockdown we are a destination for all those in regions under lockdown which increases our case count and maximizes risk. […]
Read more "You’re so vain. You probably thought this pandemic was about you."It is said that however beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. So today let’s take a deep dive on the Town of Aurora’s IT Strategic Plan. In June of 2018 Perry Group Consulting announced that they were “really pleased to have been selected by the Town of Aurora to help facilitate […]
Read more "What’s the Sharepoint?"When the Aurora Holliday Inn officially opened this month nothing could stop the rush of town councillors to get their photo taken at the obligatory photo-op. I’ve taken the liberty to circle some of the issues from this event in a game of “spot the stupid”: 1.) Vanity trumps public health when 9 people are […]
Read more "Keeping it Casual"
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