Sunday, February 19, 2012

Police Headquarters

It's a story I've been meaning to get at. Again.

York Regional Police headquarters will move to Aurora.

It's hardly news. But it was shaped that way.

It was the cause of the former Mayor's first Emergency.

November 2007

A lawyer was in the Council Chambers, having had discussions previously with the Mayor. All present were informed an in-camera meeting had been called on an urgent matter.

I asked. "Madam Mayor is it your intention to inform council what the meeting is about?

"Ah No Councillor Buck " she said "You will not drag me into that"

"That" was a requirement of the regulations. A Council may deal with certain items behind closed doors. However,the category of the item to be discussed must be disclosed.

The lawyer was escorted around the table and introduced to moi.

I told him if he wanted to talk he should pull up a chair.

He inquired had I retained legal counsel?

"Why would I do that?" I asked.

"I'm not suggesting it " he quickly assured me.

Then he proceeded to discuss the seriousness of being found guilty of a Conflict of Interest. He talked about severe and newly regulated penalties.

Finally his purpose was clear. The Mayor desired an in-camera meeting to talk about me without my presence. The lawyer, it seemed,had been instructed to dissuade me from attending.

So, I declared firmly. "I am a member of council. I intend to attend the meeting"

It was about a news story on Regional Plans to re-locate police headquarters and Aurora's refusal to sell land we had for sale on Don Hillock Drive for the purpose.

The Police Chief and Chairman Fisch came to an in-camera meeting in September.

Within a week Council met again in closed session and instructed the C A O not to continue discussions. Land purchases and sales was the function of the C.A.O.

By November,no decision had been reported out. No deal made.

The story appeared in The Auroran.

The proverbial organic mass hit the fan.

It's a mistake for anyone to imagine a complete understanding of an act or regulations is obtained simply by reading. One learns how it is intended by how it is applied.

Where the municipality's interest or privacy of an individual is at risk,The Act allows discussion behind closed doors.

Secrecy to cover collective political arses is not its purpose

Regulations require business concluded to be reported out in public.

But there's a flaw. There's No time limit to report out in the regulations.

By November, no release of our refusal to sell land we had for sale to the Region for Police Headquarters took place. Three months after the decision was made or failed to be made.

To this day,the decision is not acknowledged.

In fact,the ex- Mayor denied it happened.

From that debacle came the decision to create a Code Of Conduct to ensure Councillors would observe the highest standard of conduct; Services of an Integrity Commissioner were retained and ultimately yet another lawyer at a cost of $70,000, to generate and publicise a litany of dastardly deeds in the form of a complaint.

Meanwhile, it seems the Police added a third storey to a building constructed on the original site bought from the Town during Tim Jones' administration.

The Chief notes 60,000 square feet of unoccupied space on third floor of the building. He hopes headquarters will fit in when the space has been "renovated"
It is intended headquarters will move to Aurora next year.

Now I ask you.... what is that about?

Are we to believe it just happened that they built extra space that just happens to be the size needed to accommodate headquarters.

Did they just happen to build a six million dollar parking garage because the site was smaller than it needed to be.

It's five years since the Great Emergency was declared to distract attention from the news; Aurora had been so incredibly stupid as to refuse to sell land for the Regional Police to locate headquarters in Aurora.

A process was set in motion that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a farce that will undoubtedly form an ignominious part of the town's history.

On February 9th 2012,a newspaper produced another chapter in a masterpiece of obfuscation.

Why?

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