Letters

Election choice is clear for this resident

October 22, 2014   ·   0 Comments

Aurora is facing two very distinct Mayoral candidate choices heading into Monday’s election. For me the choice is clear. I’ve made a choice to support the candidate who has lead Aurora Council for the past four years.
The candidate who has moved Aurora forward, despite facing some whose actions have attempted to block progress – actions cloaked in the guise of “the need for transparency”, but in fact, are borne out of pure political spite.
Mayor Geoff Dawe is a friend. I have great respect for his leadership, his honesty, his character, and I know Geoff to be a man who considers each issue carefully.
He has no agenda, other than to serve the Town he and his family have called home for 37 years. “Integrity” is one of those words we often grow weary of hearing during a campaign, it seems each candidate will speak to their own degree of this attribute. But if you know Geoff, you’ll know he doesn’t simply talk integrity, he lives it. Integrity embodies many traits, most importantly an unwavering level of honesty.
It’s been said that in war, the first casualty is truth. As election campaigns are often characterized as war, it’s disheartening that we have seen truth so corrupted by the other Aurora Mayoral candidate, John Gallo.
Throughout this campaign, Councillor Gallo has faced one constant glaring question from the public; “where have you been for the past four years?” His record of absenteeism from most Town events has been staggering, most notably having not bothered to attend any of the four Aurora Sesquicentennial celebrations.
The Town of Aurora marked a major milestone in 2013 in celebrating its 150th birthday. A volunteer committee worked hard to produce events, each designed to celebrate a different aspect of Aurora’s past, it’s present, and it’s future. Support at each event was shown through the participation of great numbers of citizens and municipal representatives save one – John Gallo.
How can a man who purports to be “the voice of the people” not even bother to show up at events designed to celebrate the Town in which these very people live, work, and play?
Bad judgment and inappropriate remarks, however, seem to have become somewhat of a go-to campaign strategy for Councillor Gallo.
Witness the display played out during the recent Sport Aurora debate; posing what appeared to be a pre-planted question, a Gallo supporter pressed Mayor Dawe on what he perceived as an issue of transparency regarding the annual Mayor’s Charity Golf Tournament.
The questioner implied that monies raised through tournament, funds that go to support several worthy charities in our community, were perhaps in some way not held to a high enough degree of scrutiny, and further, that Town staff were “forced” to participate in the event.
In a further attempt to bolster the interrogation, Councillor Gallo suddenly produced an “at the ready” letter purportedly written by an anonymous Town source, a letter the Councillor claimed validated the questioner’s claim.
The fact that this mysterious and nameless letter has never surfaced before, and has since disappeared does not, in my opinion, pass the sniff test.
I cannot find any reason why I would support for Mayor, a man who shows such utter disrespect and distain for not only our Town, but to the volunteers and groups that assist our neighbours. A man who’s “visionary” campaign platform is based on a plagiarized version of the Town-drafted Strategic Plan, and a man who’s definition of “authentic” includes staged and false claims targeting Aurora’s corporate business successes and honourable charitable fundraising events.
My choice for Aurora’s Mayor is Geoff Dawe. Since his election as Mayor in 2010, Aurora is now rated one of the top places to live in Canada. Our tax rates have stabilized, and our green spaces and trail system have flourished. Business and corporations look to Aurora as a great place to invest, and we have seen steady growth in the cultural and social development needed for great communities to thrive. And through it all, Geoff continues to tirelessly show his support and enthusiasm for our Town and its people, with enduring honesty and true integrity.

Matt Maddocks
Aurora

         

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