During a raucous special council meeting tonight, a group of Aurora councillors were unsuccessful in overturning Mayor Tom Mrakas’ veto of a motion regarding a proposed men’s transitional housing and emergency shelter proposal on Yonge Street.
Councillors Ron Weese, Rachel Gilliland, Wendy Gaertner and John Gallo voted in favour of overturning the veto, while Mrakas and councillors Michael Thompson and Harold Kim voted against it. Overturning a veto requires a two-thirds majority, meaning five council members needed to vote in favour.
The group of Aurora councillors had called for the special council meeting on Tuesday, March 18 in a bid to overturn the mayor's use of strong mayor powers to veto the motion regarding the proposed housing and shelter. Mrakas used his strong mayor powers last month to veto Gallo’s motion, which had passed at council meeting on Feb. 25. The motion called on York Region to resubmit its proposal for 14452 Yonge St.
The crowd broke out into applause and bouts of booing several times during the meeting, punctuated by frequent calls of “point of order” from council members. After one outburst Gallo asked if the mayor would “clear the chamber,” with the mayor having to bang his gavel and call for quiet repeatedly throughout the meeting.
Some residents break out into cheers after Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas’ veto did not get overturned @AuroraTodayca pic.twitter.com/KFsBTlQ4GZ
— bailey (@moreton_bailey) March 19, 2025
Mrakas held a town hall meeting ahead of the special council meeting tonight, answering questions about the shelter proposal and the veto process. Many of those in attendance held signs and placards that read “Our Mayor, Our Choice” and were part of a group called Aurora United.
Speaking during the meeting, Gallo said he thought the mayor’s veto set a “dangerous precedent."
“We must respect the will of the majority of council,” added Gallo.
Several residents spoke in support of the mayor’s veto, including Ki Kit Li, who called the meeting “redundant,” while pointing to improvements made to the site, including restoring the Tamarac Green park north entrance at the site.
“Many of us don’t understand why we have to come here,” said Shaheen Moledina, another Aurora resident who spoke in favour of the mayor's veto, adding she thought council was dividing the community.
Others spoke against the mayor’s veto, with resident Steve Fleck calling it “undemocratic,” adding that the strong mayor powers were “warping and distorting the governance in Aurora.”
“You do not speak for me or many of the residents watching at home,” said Susan Shaw to the mayor.
Another resident, Joe Vesia, pointed to an ongoing York Region review of region-owned properties, which aims to find potential sites for transitional housing options.
“Let them do their job,” said Vesia, adding he would prefer to see existing regional buildings re-purposed rather than money spent on a new shelter.
Patrick Casey, spokesperson for York Region, said previously in an email statement that the Henderson Sewage Pumping Station “alleviates capacity constraints at the existing Aurora Sewage Pumping Station and allows for an additional servicing capacity of 4,500 persons, supporting current and future servicing needs for growth in the Town of Aurora.”
Gallo pointed to this and questioned the mayor’s stated reasoning for his veto. The mayor had previously stated the site “is critical for current and future infrastructure needs" as the reasoning behind his veto of Gallo's motion.
“Construction was successfully completed in January 2024; no further construction is required at this time,” added Casey in a statement.
Ultimately, the vote to overturn the mayor’s veto did not carry, meaning the veto stands.
Speaking previously to AuroraToday, Weese said that "there may be other legislative processes that we can go through, should we choose to do that," but did not go into more details at the time.