{"id":33566,"date":"2023-09-15T12:33:59","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T16:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=33566"},"modified":"2023-09-21T17:37:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T21:37:08","slug":"strong-mayor-powers-raise-questions-around-council-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/strong-mayor-powers-raise-questions-around-council-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong mayor powers raise questions around Council table"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Local lawmakers are hoping to have more information on what impact \u201cStrong Mayor\u201d powers might have on the community before signing off on a housing pledge at the end of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council last week took their first formal look at a draft housing pledge that will commit the Town of Aurora to facilitating the build of 8,000 new housing units by 2031.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon approval and submission to the Province, the Ontario Government will bestow new powers on the mayors of several communities, including Aurora, that will give heads of Council the authority to veto bylaws that are seen as contrary to the Province\u2019s housing goals, as well as the power to hire and fire key municipal officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Council largely agreed with the principles of the housing pledge, the resulting \u201cStrong Mayor\u201d powers that come with it gave some lawmakers pause, requesting a report with further information on its impacts come before Council before ratification at the end of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward Councillors expressing concerns over the \u201cStrong Mayor\u201d powers said handing over additional powers to the Head of Council would be to go against commitments made to their constituents, while those who were more supportive of the plan said it was a decision made by the Province that is unlikely to change, and suggested that opposition might be politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you go to what the Strong Mayors\u2019 powers are, they\u2019ll result in the ability to choose and appoint a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), hire certain department heads, establishing and reorganizing departments, proposing a municipal budget, which would be subject to Council amendments and a separate head of Council veto and override process, vetoing certain bylaws that interfere with provincial priority are also included,\u201d said Ward 1 Councillor Ron Weese. \u201c[Voters] trusted me to represent them on Council and for me to vote to abandon those interests would be undemocratic, in my mind, and may have long-term consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor that reason, I really hope something can be done to separate these two issues so that we can get these houses built and that we will not interfere with the democracy that already appears here with our electoral processes right now. The Mayor\u2019s campaign last election included him not supporting the Strong Mayor\u2019s powers and I trust he will continue in this direction, but I think we should all seek a compromise that gets homes built for our vibrant and growing community while protecting this democratic process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 5 Councillor John Gallo had similar issues, putting forward an amendment that the Town\u2019s commitment to the housing pledge come with Strong Mayor powers limited only to areas relevant to the Province\u2019s housing target and construction-related matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pressed by Ward 4 Councillor Michael Thompson to \u201cgive a little bit more detail\u201d on why he was in favour of ceding some powers to the Head of Council and not others, Councillor Gallo said it was a matter of compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI realize that there may be times where under the guise of provincial housing targets that the Mayor might need to move things forward and I am okay with giving those. The alternative, and that is the compromise I am having, where the other items in that long laundry list, to me, don\u2019t relate to provincial housing targets: being able to hire or fire a CAO doesn\u2019t relate to provincial housing targets, being able to veto doesn\u2019t do that\u2026. Some [powers] do, and I am okay if he has that [but] to me there is no rationale to give the authority to one person on Council.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Thompson, on the other hand, was supportive of both the housing pledge and \u201cStrong Mayor\u201d powers moving forward because \u201cat the end of the day the Conservative government who is in power\u2026put forward legislation they felt was both fair and equitable\u201d in achieving their goals \u201cand went through a proper democratic process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow we\u2019re asked to play within the rules that have now been set,\u201d he said. \u201cWe all talk about accountability and accountability for our decisions, and those of us who have been on Council for many years we\u2019ve had to explain why we voted for something, why we voted against something, and ultimately we stand by our records and are accountable for those decisions. It is no different, I assume, than if the Mayor were to exercise these Strong Mayor powers in whatever that situation that were to occur, he would also be called upon to explain his decision and it would fall upon him to respond to the residents and explain why he felt the need to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re opposed to the legislation as a whole, by all means. If you feel that it is wrong not just for Aurora but for everybody, then put forward a motion to strike the legislation down itself. To just say, \u2018just do it for us\u2019 feels a little more political than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 6 Councillor Harold Kim agreed, stating he would prefer the debate to be around the housing pledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the years, many of us, if not all of us, have always said, time and time again, that we are creatures of the Province,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are creatures of the Province and the Province [has] made that legislation and we have to abide by it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 2 Councillor Rachel Gilliland, on the other hand, was less than convinced, abstaining to vote for or against Councillor Gallo\u2019s motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand in the spirit of democracy, especially a small Council like this, that Strong Mayor powers could affect some of the outcomes of why we were elected as individuals to represent the community on things such as boards, committees, hiring or firing staff and I totally support this housing pledge and the intent of moving things along and allowing the mayor to have those powers to put forward supporting evidence to address the housing targets and support of the pledge,\u201d she said, before addressing Mayor Mrakas. \u201cFor me, I believe you campaigned on not wanting the Strong Mayor powers and believing that it wasn\u2019t something that you required. I believe you also released a statement as such and I think what this Council is really looking for as well is that you would reinforce the powers that you intend on using in light of democracy, were intended for the purposes of this housing pledge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe there are a lot more powers that are being offered within this that don\u2019t really [apply to] that. Some constituents have [concerns] because we are a rather small Council. It is kind of like a minority coalition and it doesn\u2019t necessarily strike a good pose with some people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Mrakas reiterated his previous position on Strong Mayor powers, stating he shared his views on the matter not only during the 2022 municipal election campaign, but also in a statement last month in response to Premier Ford\u2019s decision to grant the measures to nearly 30 further municipalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of us are going through this, so these are tools that are being provided to us, but at the end of the day, as I have said in my statement, we\u2019re going to continue working together to try and get things done for our community, for the betterment of our community. If we all follow that logic and do what is best for our community, in the best interests of our community, then we move forward in a positive manner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added he was happy to wait until this month\u2019s Council meeting to get a \u201cproper legal opinion\u201d on whether or not the powers are a done deal, but said the housing pledge also entailed financial incentives for the municipality in meeting the prescribed targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have no problem waiting until Council gets a more firmed up legal opinion, if that is what everyone feels more comfortable with it. As far as whether you use the powers or not, those are all hypothetical questions and what ifs, and I am not going to [deal in] hypothetical questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Local lawmakers are hoping to have more information on what impact \u201cStrong Mayor\u201d powers might have on the community before signing off on a housing pledge at the end of the month. Council last week took their first formal look at a draft housing pledge that will commit the Town of Aurora to facilitating the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"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_feature_clip_id":0,"_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-33566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8Jo","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-14 11:58:18","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\/33566","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=33566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}