{"id":9895,"date":"2025-02-26T10:31:27","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T14:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/?p=9895"},"modified":"2025-03-03T10:36:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T14:36:04","slug":"updated-aurora-mayor-indicates-hell-veto-vote-paving-way-for-controversial-mens-shelter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/updated-aurora-mayor-indicates-hell-veto-vote-paving-way-for-controversial-mens-shelter\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATED: Aurora mayor indicates he\u2019ll veto vote paving way for controversial men\u2019s shelter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted On: February 26, 2025, Posted By: Lisa Queen, YorkRegion.com, Original Article.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas is indicating he may use his strong mayor powers to override Tuesday night\u2019s council decision to pave the way for a controversial men\u2019s emergency and transitional housing shelter at 14452 Yonge St.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a notice sent out to councillors on Wednesday, Mrakas asked them to \u201cplease accept this as notice of my intent to consider vetoing part of the confirming bylaw, specifically the decision regarding the Request that York Region Resubmit the Application for a Men\u2019s Shelter at 14452 Yonge Street, that was adopted at the February 25, 2025 Council meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrakas\u2019s notice came following Tuesday night\u2019s reversal of fortune, which saw council pass a motion to ask the Region of York to resubmit its application for the shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That came after a year ago, when council voted against the controversial location in a split 4-3 vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was another 4-3 split vote again Tuesday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only this time, Coun. John Gallo, who had voted against the location in 2024 because there\u2019s a sewage pumping station on the land, was successful in getting council to support his motion to ask the region to resubmit its plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt its core, this is a matter of compassion, responsibility and community well-being,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can no longer allow the search for perfect to become the enemy of doing what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For weeks, Gallo has been questioning why no new potential shelter locations have been brought forward, as directed by council a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m well aware that my actions one year ago has delayed the provision of safe and stable shelter for our most vulnerable. I cannot change that decision. I truly felt I was doing the right thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA shelter is not just a place to sleep. It is a foundation for rebuilding lives, fostering stability and helping individuals regain their independence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns from some residents about the site continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Mike Zelyony told council that while it\u2019s important to be compassionate, the community has been put through enough over the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallo said he\u2019s committed to working with residents, staff and support agencies to ensure the shelter is properly integrated into the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillors Rachel Gilliland, Ron Weese and Wendy Gaertner supported Gallo, while Mayor Tom Mrakas and councillors Harold Kim and Michael Thompson voted against asking the region to resubmit its application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Mobbs, founder of Aurora Cares, Housing for All, a residents\u2019 group created after the shelter site was rejected a year ago, was visibly moved following council\u2019s decision Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m inspired. We saw our community come together to support people who truly need help,\u201d he said, praising councillors who took a \u201ctough stand\u201d to move the proposed shelter forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s still lots of work to be done but our community, they\u2019re up for the job, they\u2019re up for the fight and they\u2019re up for bringing something forward because it\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the meeting, Mobbs urged councillors to help York Region\u2019s most vulnerable residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany people in our country are in trouble. We see them struggling around us. We see them, keep walking and we tell our kids to do the same. We sometimes pretend they don\u2019t exist. But they do. They exist here, in Aurora. I see them, because I see choose to see them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople in trouble can rebuild themselves with some help. Some real help that sets them up to rejoin their communities as people with dignity and pride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mobbs argued Mrakas and council had initially indicated their support for the shelter site in 2021, before there was an outcry from some residents leading up to the 2024 vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was proud of (Mrakas\u2019s) leadership in 2021, today I am not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mobbs also pointed out that following last year\u2019s rejection of the site, the Ontario Human Rights Commission wrote the town to say people\u2019s fear of homeless residents is not a legal reason basis for planning decisions and warned denying the project may be discriminatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last emergency housing Aurora approved was Yellow Brick House for abused women and their children 47 years ago, said Aurora Cares member, Kimberley McLean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the past several years, regional emergency and transitional housing needs have been addressed primarily in Newmarket, followed by East Gwillimbury and Richmond Hill. Aurora has put forth nothing, in spite of its commitment to do so. We expected and deserved a result,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAurora has not done its share.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resident Steve Fleck spoke about encountering a homeless man as he walked home last winter at 1 a.m. follow council\u2019s rejection of the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought it rather ironic and cruel that in the warm and comfortable confines of this chamber, his fate about the possibility of finding a warm place to sleep that night with professional help available to him on-site to help him get his life back in order had been denied,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMeanwhile the general crisis in housing and homelessness in York Region and Aurora becomes worse by the month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Michael Braithwaite, CEO of Blue Door, the largest provider of emergency housing and support services in York Region, which hopes to operate the shelter, called a public outcry against the facility and council\u2019s rejection of the site \u201cNIMBYism at its worst.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was thrilled with Tuesday night\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to see the community stand up and push forward to say that Aurora is not a community for some but for all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted On: February 26, 2025, Posted By: Lisa Queen, YorkRegion.com, Original Article. Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas is indicating he may use his strong mayor powers to override Tuesday night\u2019s council decision to pave the way for a controversial men\u2019s emergency and transitional housing shelter at 14452 Yonge St. In a notice sent out to councillors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9896,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t