{"id":32867,"date":"2023-04-06T18:59:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T22:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=32867"},"modified":"2023-04-14T00:49:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T04:49:03","slug":"downey-hangs-up-his-tools-after-more-than-40-years-in-municipal-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/downey-hangs-up-his-tools-after-more-than-40-years-in-municipal-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Downey hangs up his tools after more than 40 years in municipal service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Memories were flooding back to Al Downey on Friday afternoon as friends and team members past and present came by Town Hall to wish him the very best on the next chapter of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downey, a long-time member of the Town of Aurora\u2019s Executive Leadership Team, who most recently served as Director of Operations, signed off last week after more than four decades in public service, the last 23 of which have been in Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am so proud of so many things that we have been able to accomplish,\u201d Downey told The Auroran on his final day, \u201cbut if I stop and think and close my eyes, I remember the people \u2013 all the people who touched me and I had the opportunity to work with truly amazing people, members of Council who helped me and guided me through difficult decisions that had to be made, and staff who went way beyond in order to make sure we are successful at whatever we were working on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people and the staff I worked with in Aurora are what I am going to remember the most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After coming to Aurora in 2000 following stints in Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Whitchurch-Stouffville, Downey helped oversee the development of the new Aurora Public Library building, the building of the Aurora Seniors\u2019 Centre, two fire halls, and, in his capacity as Director of Parks and Recreation, the development of scores of new parks and green spaces in all four of the Town\u2019s corners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At last week\u2019s Council meeting, many of Downey\u2019s achievements were shared by municipal CAO Doug Nadorozny, who said that there were too many to share in just one evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those that made the cut were the introduction of the first municipal artificial turf field in York Region\u2019s Northern 6 municipalities, the implementation of \u201cnew, ground-breaking, energy-efficient technologies in the design and construction of the SARC, and leading the development of lands that are now home to the head office of Bulk Barn, York Regional Police headquarters, and numerous other businesses \u2013 not to mention two relatively new hotels coming to Aurora, something that has been long-needed in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are many other studies, committees and leadership teams that Mr. Downey has played a significant role on, but I know among his proudest accomplishments are the construction projects he\u2019s led over the years,\u201d said Nadorozny. \u201cOf course, numerous parks have been created during his tenure, but Al has also been responsible for the building of the SARC, the Aurora Public Library, the Aurora Seniors\u2019 Centre, and not one but two fire halls. Also, Al was responsible for the renewal of the Church Street School that is undergoing yet another facelift again, which speaks to how long he has been around, as well as the redevelopment of the Armoury, an award-winning project in Town Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn all these projects, Al has worked tirelessly to deliver the projects on time and on budget. During the past seven-plus years, I have very much enjoyed working with Al. His work ethic, commitment to the job, and his basic can-do approach has never faltered. His contribution to this community and this corporation has been immeasurable and his departure will be felt by many of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week\u2019s meeting also afforded members of Council to pay tribute to the outgoing director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Ward 3 Councillor Wendy Gaertner asked him about some of his most notable projects,  Ward 1 Councillor Ron Weese said Downey could \u201calways be counted upon to be honest and straightforward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s any question that needs to be asked in this community, you\u2019re the guy I go to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 4 Councillor Michael Thompson said he had the \u201cgood fortune\u201d to work alongside Downey for the last 12 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve always demonstrated tremendous dedication and passion to the role,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cI truly believe you loved what you did\u2026. Your knowledge and experience has been so insightful and so helpful and I have always really appreciated the honesty and the candour in which we have had conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 5 Councillor John Gallo said his relationship with Downey went back before his first election, to when Gallo started a ratepayers group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the years, we\u2019ve had our battles, that\u2019s for sure, but it was but it was always in the best interests of the Town and I always respected your opinions and your knowledge and your experience. You have helped me along throughout the years on many different projects and I wanted to thank you for that and wish you all the best in retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 2 Councillor Rachel Gilliland hailed Downey as a \u201cgreat support\u201d to whom she has reached out even before she was first elected in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou guys (Downey and former Parks Manager Jim Tree) have done so much good for the community,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what we\u2019re going to do without you here, and who we\u2019re going to call when we want to know the history or a backstory on [projects and facilities]. You seem to know every nook and cranny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 6 Councillor Harold Kim said Downey wore \u201chis emotions on his sleeve\u201d and hailed his \u201chonesty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re very apolitical in a very political Town and I really appreciated that. We helped save beavers, turtles, trees. We had multiple conversations about the tree bylaw\u2026 and I appreciate you being with us and equipping me as a Councillor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last to speak was Mayor Tom Mrakas who said, \u201cFrom the bottom of my heart, all of Town Council, and I think all the residents in the community, I want to thank you for all that you\u2019ve done because I think if it wasn\u2019t for you, there are a lot of things in this community that wouldn\u2019t have occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Downey said Aurora has been a \u201cwonderful place to work\u201d and the community was \u201cvery embracing\u201d from the start, giving him an opportunity \u201cgrow and do things I never dreamed I\u2019d have the opportunity to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have made a million [mistakes] but learned from every single one and got an opportunity [for] tremendous things in all the communities I have been a part of. I\u2019m lucky. I\u2019ve been supported by family, I have been supported by friends, I have been supported by all my Council partners, and we\u2019re all partners in what we\u2019re doing. We always have been. I always felt I would give you what was the best advice I could give you. As John said, we didn\u2019t always agree and that\u2019s okay, but differing opinions created new opportunities and new opportunities created excitement within the community and I think Aurora has tremendous potential to grow, to continue to grow. I go through the Town, I take a look at all the changes that have happened since I\u2019ve come on board, and the many opportunities that still exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Memories were flooding back to Al Downey on Friday afternoon as friends and team members past and present came by Town Hall to wish him the very best on the next chapter of his life. Downey, a long-time member of the Town of Aurora\u2019s Executive Leadership Team, who most recently served as Director of Operations, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32867","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\/2023\/04\/2023-04-06-02.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8y7","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 13:39:19","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\/32867","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=32867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}