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Written by Gordon Prentice

Published: 02 April 2019

Morad Dadgar’s monster house at 1011 Elgin Street is up for sale at an eye-watering asking price of $3,998,888. 

Dadgar says he is:

“Proud To Offer The Biggest Home In Newmarket, 80' Lot, Incredible Architectural Design, 10,000 + Sqft, Living Area, Finished W/O Bsmnt 11' C/L, 3 Big Dome Skylights, Nice Elevator, 4 Gas Fireplaces, 2 Wet Bars, Crown Molding & Ceiling Speakers Throughout. Grand Foyer, Office, Library, Great Rm, Formal Dining & Living, Open Concept Kitchen, Large Island & Walk-In Pantry, High-End Thermador Appliances.Gorgeous Lighting System, Extremely Bright, 400 Amp Service**** EXTRAS **** Party Rm With Music Stage, Entertaining Area, 3 Entrances To Bsmnt, All Elfs, 6 Burner Gas Stove, 48"" Fridge, Two B/I Dishwashers, Washer, Dryer, B/I Oven, B/I Microwave, Two Bar Fridges, B/I Coffee Maker, Hood Fan With External Motor.”

The ”single family home” has 5+1 bedrooms and an astonishing nine bathrooms.

The annual property taxes are shown as $0. 

I don’t think so.

1011 Elgin Street, dwarfing its Lilliput bungalow neighbours, was cleared as an appropriate development by Town’s ineffective Director of Planning, Rick Nethery, when everyone else with a pair of eyes knew it was grotesquely out of place.  

As construction progressed and the scale of the development became clear, councillors found they were powerless to act. Nethery, their top planning adviser, who warned about inappropriate development in stable residential areas way back in 2012 had done nothing in the intervening years to address the issue.

And the result? Elgin Street with its modest bungalows is now home to the “biggest house in Newmarket” overshadowing its neighbours.

It’s yours for only $4 million.

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The Town is now taking steps to regulate Monster Homes in residential neighbourhoods. And the Director of Planning, Rick Nethery, is in charge of the process.

And this is how Newmarket Today covered the story.

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Written by Gordon Prentice

Published: 31 March 2019

Only the cold-hearted and mean-spirited would begrudge the $95,631.11 severance payment to Newmarket’s former Mayor, Tony Van Trappist, who stepped down from office last October.

Over his three terms as Mayor he selflessly consumed countless “business lunches” where the tab was picked up by grateful Townsfolk. He was, after all, conducting important Town business.

The 2018 Statement of Remuneration and Expenses tells us Van Trappist billed taxpayers for business lunches at the Cachet Restaurant, the Goulash House, Joia Ristorante, Bagel World, Hungry Brew Hops, Villa Risi Ristorante, The Buttery Restaurant, Boston Pizza, Ristorante Orsini, Astoria Shish Kebob House, The Crow`s Nest Pub, Pho Fusion, Ground Burger Bar, Arthurs Landing, Lot Six Restaurant & Bar, Brick N Fire Restaurant, Cora Breakfast and Lunch, The Courtyard Restaurant, Sunset Grill, Cardinal Golf Club, Aqua Grill, Reef and Beef Steakhouse amongst others. He liked to spread our largesse around.

Dining on our dollar

Unfortunately, in all those years when he has been dining on our dollar we have never been told the purpose of these business lunches nor the names of his lunch companions. I am told there are “privacy issues” about disclosing this information.

Personally, I think that’s a load of old cobblers. If the quaint Van Trappist tradition of billing the Town is to continue then the purpose of the lunch should be given as a matter of course together with the names of the other diners. “Business lunches” are our business too, especially when we are paying.

As an old banker, Van Trappist will be aware of business lunch etiquette as promulgated by the charge card people, American Express. 

Spaghetti can be tricky

Dress appropriately and arrive early. Go before you go. Put your phone away (difficult for Van Trappist) and order something easy to eat. (“A big splotch of spaghetti sauce on your lapel isn’t easy to overlook.”)

You have only one chance to make a good first impression. Remember, elbows off the table and cut up your food. And don’t talk with your mouth open!

Instead of commemorating the Van Trappist years by naming a street after the great man (very boring) why not think outside the box? 

Perhaps a bronze statue of Van Trappist, furrowed brow and deep in conversation, seated at a restaurant table, transacting Town business. A marble plinth and a location in the old downtown would be appropriate.

Van Trappist has of course always been economical with the actualité. Over his years in office he regularly danced round the issue of his total remuneration. His $10,000 a year from the Hydro company was always conveniently forgotten about until I forced the issue a few years ago and it is now reported as a matter of course. 

Sunshine List fairy tales

And last week’s Sunshine List put him on a salary of $111,387.93 with $7,024.99 in taxable benefits. This excludes his Hydro cash and the “stiped” he got from York Region – both remunerated positions linked directly to his position as Mayor. A fact picked up and publicised by Newmarket Today. Good on them.

To be clear, I have absolutely no problem with people in the public sector being fairly remunerated for the important work they do. And, whether you love them or loathe them, we can’t do without politicians either. They too should be treated fairly.

But the Sunshine List - in its current fraudulent and misleading form - is well past its sell-by date. 

A bit like free “business lunches”.

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Photo above shows Tony Van Trappist (left) with developer-duo Bob and Colleen Forrest

Van Trappist's pay and benefits in 2017 were closer to $200,000 and not the $212,000 reported in my blog of March 2018. I have discounted the expenses he claimed from the Region and Town.

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Written by Gordon Prentice

Published: 29 March 2019

This morning (29 March 2019) the Newmarket Downtown Development Committee will consider an application from developer Bob Forrest for improvement grants for his derelict properties on Main Street which have been left empty for years.

The Town promised grants of up to $100,000 if Forrest kept to his side of the bargain.

Fat chance.

On 4 May 2018, Forrest’s wife, Colleen, promised we would have sight of the New Development Concept in the “near future” and we are still waiting.

Clearly, the Forrests take us all for fools. 

Bob Forrest’s brass neck is in a league of its own.

The report tells us Forrest’s application is being made

“in accordance with Section 31 of the Minutes of Settlement negotiated for these properties… Note the funding is outside the scope of the annual budget of the NDDC.”

In these circumstances not a single cent of public money should be paid over.

The ball is in Forrest’s court and he should immediately make available the New Development Concept that we were promised almost a year ago.

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Written by Gordon Prentice

Published: 27 March 2019

I am a member of the splendid Oak Ridges Trail Association and I enjoy getting out and about into the countryside when I can. Though the idea of bumping into a bear still freaks me out.

These days it doesn’t seem remotely controversial to say that people should have the right to roam over open uncultivated country. But that wasn’t always the case – at least not in England and Wales. 

Only 20 years ago huge tracts of mountain and moorland were out of bounds to walkers. Over 4 million acres in a small densely populated island were effectively no-go areas. 

Way back then many of us were involved with the Ramblers in trying to get the law on access changed and, after a huge struggle, we were successful.

Class hatred

I was regularly accused of "class hatred and class warfare" which is absurd. I like Downton Abbey as much as the next person. And people who know me will testify that I always defer to my elders and betters. 

Speaking of which… The photo above left was taken at a rally on Shirburn Hill in Oxfordshire on 14 March 1999. And that’s me standing on the right holding a microphone addressing a cast of thousands. 

Viscount Parker, the heir to the eighth Earl of Macclesfield, had banned access to the rolling downland but there was a public right of way across his land.

People squeezed on to that narrow ribbon of a footpath, stretching away into the distance as far as the eye could see. They were making a point. Very effectively.

It was the weirdest experience imaginable as I heard my words echoing around the hills even as I spoke.

And there were no bears for me to worry about.

The photo was taken by my old friend Andrew Bennett who was president of the Ramblers’ Association at the time. It was later turned into a postcard. The terrific Kate Ashbrook who was the campaign’s driving force is again chair of the Ramblers - for the third time.

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