Richmond Hill councillors divided over loss of town planner

yorkregion.com
May 15, 2017
By Kim Zarzour

The Town of Richmond Hill remains tight-lipped about why the head of planning has been fired, but several councillors are making it clear they aren’t happy with the decision.

Longtime planning commissioner Ana Bassios was relieved of her duties in a private session of council May 8.

Town clerk Stephen Huyke said he could not publicly release the results of the vote taken by councillors behind closed doors that evening. Reached by phone, Bassios would not comment.

However, in the days following the vote, some members of council expressed disappointment on social media.

“It is a very sad day for Richmond Hill,” Regional Coun. Brenda Hogg said on Facebook.

“Ana Bassios was not just a great asset to the town, she was probably the best asset,” added Ward 5 Coun. Karen Cilevitz. “Her loss is deeply felt.”

“I am deeply disappointed,” said Ward 4 Coun. Dave West. “I fully believe this move does nothing to strengthen our town's position and does not serve our community well.”

Bassios had been commissioner of planning and regulatory services for 11 years and gained a reputation for going head-to-head with developers.

“I expect that developers will be quite pleased,” Hogg said, after rattling off a list of projects credited to Bassios, including the precedent-setting court victory protecting parkland and OMB battles over the official plan to protect the natural environment and historic downtown.

The work Bassios did to protect the DDO lands alone was spectacular, Hogg added.

Cilevitz, agreed, pointing to a “remarkable legacy, most notably with regard to our official plan, secondary plans, tertiary plans, the strategic plan, the people plan, the civic precinct”.

West said the town, which is facing intense development pressure, needs a strong planning department to enforce the official plan and Bassios demonstrated strong leadership in this area.

But Regional Coun. Vito Spatafora voiced a different view.

“The commissioner had done her job. She is an excellent policy planner, probably one of the best, but ... it’s time for a change and I voted for the change,” he said in an interview.

Intensification may not be popular, he said, but the province has mandated it and now that plans are in place, implementation requires a "delicate approach", focused on customer service.

Ward 2 Coun. Tom Muench said the decision to fire Bassios came after a one-hour debate.

Rogers, Magna, Scholastic, Honda, Suzuki and Enbridge have all left town last few years, he said, and there has only been one new building built in the downtown core in the last 15 years — compared to booming development in Markham and Vaughan's downtowns.

“Ninety per cent of all businesses in Richmond Hill on Yonge Street are angry right now because some people believe in property rights and we’ve taken away their property rights," he said.

“I’m concerned about quality of life and I’m concerned about competitiveness. Richmond Hill has a good hand on parks, maybe more than our share, but I’m saddened we don’t have money for mass transit, roads, bridges and transit.”

The remaining councillors and mayor declined to comment.