Thursday, June 14, 2012

Copycat

LINK: http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/1374133--aurora-councillor-unhappy-with-publicity
Jun 13, 2012 - 7:45 PM
Aurora councillor unhappy with publicity
John Abel questions Aurora Jazz+ Festival organizers
Aurora councillors hope they can finally put the acrimony surrounding the Aurora Jazz+ Festival behind them.
A heated April debate that left the festival on the hook for previously waived permit fees had an epilogue at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Councillor John Abel attached to the agenda a contentious e-mail response sent to him by Susan Morton-Leonard, chairperson of the Aurora Festival of the Arts, the jazz festival’s parent organization.
Mr. Abel e-mailed Ms Morton-Leonard May 19, seeking her response to what he saw as negative publicity in a publication called Ontario Festivals Visited, regarding council’s perceived lack of support.
“This article portrays the town and its council in a negative light,” he wrote, noting the festival advertised in the newsletter.
The article, entitled What Were They Thinking?, questioned why the town would “penalize” a non-profit community event.
Mr. Abel also described as “offensive, if not just plain vulgar”, two May 15 personal blog entries by festival artistic director George St. Kitts.
Other councillors wondered why Mr. Abel was re-opening old wounds.
“I was really hoping we’d be past this,” Councillor Chris Ballard said. “I don’t believe AFA was (trying) to besmirch the good name of the town.”
Councillor Wendy Gaertner wondered whether Ms Leonard-Morton had been made aware her e-mail response, which was CC’d to every member of council, would be on the public council agenda.
In her response, Ms Leonard-Morton wrote Mr. Abel’s e-mail was “structured more like accusations than queries.”
The Aurora Festival of the Arts has no interest in “smear campaigns”, or personal blogs, she said, explaining the writer had simply written his opinion based on an article he read.
She countered the town had not even offered congratulations for the festival’s recent recognition as a Top 100 festival in the province by Festival and Events Ontario.
“This is the second year the AFA board has endured an attitude of mean spiritedness from a handful of people,” she wrote. “Continual unsubstantiated comments in the press and elsewhere ... unfortunately serve to hurt the Town of Aurora more than they hurt the festival.”
Mr. Abel laid the blame for the problems on the reporter’s lack of research and said council has a proud tradition of supporting arts and culture.
“I’m proud of this council ... I’m not going to allow people to be unfair,” he said Tuesday night.
“I don’t want to respond to the bad things they’re saying about our town, but I feel I have to and I will.”
“The bottom line is, unless the comments are defamatory, it’s called freedom of speech,” Ms Gaertner said.

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