{"id":27377,"date":"2020-08-28T19:09:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T23:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=27377"},"modified":"2020-08-28T19:10:06","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T23:10:06","slug":"i-am-definitely-the-black-sheep-in-the-bunch-says-gallo-on-council-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/i-am-definitely-the-black-sheep-in-the-bunch-says-gallo-on-council-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI am definitely the black sheep in the bunch,\u201d says Gallo on Council decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Councillor John Gallo says he sometimes feels like \u201cthe black sheep in the bunch\u201d when it comes to Council\u2019s decisions. It is not something he necessarily wants to hang his hat on \u2013 indeed, he says he is \u201cdisappointed\u201d that this is the reality he sees, but, \u201cI just don\u2019t know how else to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to The Auroran ahead of Council\u2019s decision this week on tendering out the redevelopment of Library Square, he said \u201cSome of the things are just so shocking that it is beyond me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome things just don\u2019t sit well with me and I can\u2019t get over that,\u201d he says. \u201cThere is more happening that I am not in the loop, or at least that must be happening that I am not in the loop for some of the Council members to make the decisions they make, and I just can\u2019t explain it any other way. They just don\u2019t make sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the decisions that fall into this category, he says, are both Library Square and Council\u2019s $7.5 million purchase of buildings just north of the Aurora Public Library as part of that greater Library Square vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not sure to what extent the general public is [aware] of what we\u2019re actually doing and that has always been my issue,\u201d says Councillor Gallo. \u201cOur connection to the residents has been extremely poor and it is clear I have a different perspective on how Council should conduct business than some others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent weeks, Councillor Gallo has made his position on Library Square clear. From his perspective, it is time to hit \u201cpause\u201d on the project due to financial uncertainty stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in an unprecedented time and I think some of my colleagues, unfortunately, have their heads in the sand,\u201d he says of the Town\u2019s finances, an issue he cites as one area he will be particularly focused on once Council resumes regular meetings next month. \u201cI don\u2019t think they realize the impact this global pandemic is going to have on our finances. To me, that is a huge concern and I am trying my best to convince them, particularly the two major issues \u2013 to really reflect on it and better understand whether it is the right time or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo me, there are significant issues that really haven\u2019t been planned out to the degree they should. At least as a sitting councillor, I am unsure [of] the impact of spending all that money [will have] on our reserves. Our financial position relies on the income from that, which goes towards some operating through reserves. We have to make that all up. There are a lot of question marks there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown up \u201ca lot of question marks\u201d across the board, not the least of which is Council\u2019s ability to convene and engage residents, he contends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting remotely on Zoom since April, Councillor Gallo says he has \u201cfelt a bit of a disconnect with the public\u201d in not having that in-person engagement and has looked for ways to remedy that situation. Looking at a few different options, he has increasingly focused on engagement through a series of YouTube videos re-capping that week\u2019s Council or General Committee meeting and the decisions that had been made, as well as through social media channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI figured I could make a connection with residents in that way, but I am still trying to figure out how to get a two-way conversation going,\u201d he says, but he notes there are certain things about the Zoom meetings he has come to like. \u201c[Outside of Council chambers in this setting] you can actually see people\u2019s faces and reactions to different things. I find value to get a sense of where that Council member is or where a staff member is, seeing them face to face. I didn\u2019t expect to have that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Council not being able to host meetings in chambers for most of the first half of 2020, Councillor Gallo says he is proud of some of the achievements that have been made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An active member of the Town\u2019s Arts and Culture Roundtable, a group brought together to discuss the impacts COVID-19 might have on that particular sector, he says there was a \u201cgreat exchange of information and a great depth of knowledge\u201d that was shared around the table, and the initiatives stemming from the group \u201cdemonstrated how wonderful a community we have\u201d and how knowledge and talent can be tapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Council shifted focus to COVID-19, Councillor Gallo says some initiatives he was looking to bring forward had to be pushed to the backburner, but come this fall, these will be in focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among them is a motion to allow schools to use municipally-owned parks during the school year, something that is not presently allowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt just doesn\u2019t make sense to me,\u201d he says. \u201cThey are all taxpayers. Short of maybe some liability issues and teachers crossing over to public property and having kids there, I am sure we can overcome those and there is no reason why kids couldn\u2019t use Town parks during school hours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also plans on continuing to work with Town staff and Metrolinx on pedestrian railway crossings, building on a motion he successfully presented to Council earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the things I asked for was a status report on where we are,\u201d he says. \u201cI think September or October is where they will be putting a report to Council.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, in the months ahead, putting a sharp focus on the Town\u2019s finances and continuing to build connections with the public, will be a primary effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPersonally, I feel I am connecting more with the residents and they\u2019re hopefully listening to what I have to say,\u201d he says. \u201cI hope that even though I realize I brought some negative energy to the Council table, I really didn\u2019t know how else to do it for them to perk up and listen. I am not suggesting I know it all, but I have some experience and I hopefully have a pretty good sense of making good decisions. I have connected with residents [and] hopefully turned a negative into a positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am just going to continue what I am doing. I really hope I am effective. I want to get back to work and do some good things for the Town, but there are some struggles before we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Councillor John Gallo says he sometimes feels like \u201cthe black sheep in the bunch\u201d when it comes to Council\u2019s decisions. It is not something he necessarily wants to hang his hat on \u2013 indeed, he says he is \u201cdisappointed\u201d that this is the reality he sees, but, \u201cI just don\u2019t know how else to do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/2020-08-27-04.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-77z","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 06:32:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}