Tag: renfrew-council

RECUSALS AND LAME DUCK COUNCILS

Comments made by Councillor Andrew Dick in a previous council meeting resulted in an investigation by the town’s Integrity Commissioner, an investigation resulting in a recommendation that the councillor offer a public apology and receive a censure from Council.

I’ve seen Councillor Dick’s comments in text form, but have not reviewed the YouTube record of the meeting in question.

In question at the time was a contract tendered for renovations undertaken at the Town Hall, a project that ballooned in cost and went significantly over budget.

At issue was the fact that a councillor at the time, one Arlene Jamieson, owned a decor business in town, Venture Interiors, that had put a bid in to undertake some of the work on the Town Hall.  It’s important to point out that Councillor Jamieson declared herself to be in conflict, and did not participate in any approvals specific to her business. It should also be noted that former Councillor Jamieson did nothing wrong, nor anythng illegal or untoward.

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INTEGRITY COMMISSIONER REPORT

I’m going to hate writing this.

Mostly because it will fly in the face of what everyone else likely thinks.  It’s not like I’m looking to be contrary for the sake of being contrary.  And I don’t do it lightly.

This has been percolating in my mind for 36 hours now, and I know I could have left it alone and see it wash downstream, but then again, I also knew I couldn’t.

No offence intended towards anyone.

Tuesday night, Integrity Commissioner Tony Fleming attended Council via Zoom and delivered his findings on two separate complaints filed under the Council Code of Conduct.  His presentation was professional and coherent, and everything you’d want to see from someone tasked with the resolution of these complaints.

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THIRD PARTY REPORT: SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

In a previous article I referred to the Third Party Report by WSCS Consulting into the Ma-Te-Way situation as a flawed document.

I should be clear that in no way am I questioning the integrity of the authors of the document, nor am I diminishing the level of rigour, depth, and detail that was put into what was, essentially, a very difficult job.  I want to make sure that I come across as applauding the work done, and the report proffered.

There can be no such thing as a perfect document because there’s no such thing as a perfect investigator, author, or subject matter, all involving three heavily involving human elements.  In the case of this report, it’s the third part, the subject part, that made the compilation of information and the cobbling together of that information more than just your average challenge.  It made it virtually impossible to get down to the absolute brass tacks of the issue, although the authors did successfully pull back the curtain on much of what transpired in what has to be the Town of Renfrew’s biggest debacle ever.

One needs to be careful when bandying about allegations regarding others, and that need for care can often lead to an extraordinary level of caution when attempting to report on items that may involve measures of incompetence, negligence, and malfeasance.  And sometimes that can lead to a report that hovers around the periphery rather than drilling into the potentially dangerous areas.  This report navigates those difficulties about as well as one might hope for.

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COUNCIL BACK IN CHAMBERS

It’s been a long layoff, with council stuff sort of taking a back seat here over the course of the holidays, but with the arrival of the second full week of the month, open council meetings are now part of the crunch.

And they’ll start with a bit of a crunch if the most recent agenda is any indication of what may happen when we all convene in chambers this evening.

Two cases being investigated by the Integrity Commissioner will have reports delivered, one involving Councillor Andrew Dick, and the other Reeve Peter Emon.

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LISA ROBINSON: UGLINESS IN MUNICIPAL POLITICS

There’s probably a lot of different ways in which to view somebody like Lisa Robinson, and I have made that attempt, but in the end, it’s always pretty much the same for me.  That is to say that, if I were to ever meet the woman, I’m fairly confident I wouldn’t like her.  And I’m equally confident she wouldn’t be lining up to join my fan club either.

Lisa Robinson is a councillor for the City of Pickering, just northeast of Toronto.  When I see or hear about people like her, it makes me want to offer up prayers of thanks for the elected members of Renfrew Town Council that we have.  As critical as I can sometimes be, there is nothing on offer here in Renfrew that can be considered as approaching what Robinson is to Pickering.

In a charitable rendering, I’d put her on the same footing as your Marjorie Taylor-Greenes, or your Lauren Boberts, Sarah Palins, or Kari Lakes of the political universe.  Maybe even a Cheryl Gallant type of figure, although that’s cruel.

A mean-spirited, sneering, and unnecessarily provocative human being bent upon one thing and one thing alone, that being the political chaos she sews that serves as her preferred working environment.  There is nothing sacred when it comes to these women, in that they’ll attack you at the drop of a pin yet cry indignant persecution if ever confronted or challenged.

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RADIO STATION DEAL REVIEWED AFTER FIVE YEARS

In four years, the deal a local radio station signed with an apparently unauthorized and unsupervised member of Renfrew Town staff will come under review, with the town having the opportunity to back out of the deal.

It’s my opinion the town should do just that.

I won’t get into the ins and outs of it, but that radio station should not have their name on that building, Ma-Te-Way, nor should they be allowed to refer to it as they currently do, like it’s theirs.  Because it’s not.

This will become an issue in the next municipal election, whether the status-quo types like that or not.  The sun shines for us as it shines for them, and I’d like to see God’s will and testament where he bequeathed all of that to any fast-one artists who think they run the place.  You may read into that the possibility of town elites, town staff, or town politicians.  Those running outside their lanes need to be shown their lanes, or disqualified from the event altogether.

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MOVING FORWARD WITH A DEBENTURE

 A debenture is a financial product.  More specifically, it’s an investment product where an investor or investors lend their money out over a fixed term and containing a fixed rate in borrowing costs.  In English, that means money is lent by people who have it to people who need it, but the people who need it can’t pay it back in full or in lump sums other than the agreed upon yearly payment.  So, with a thirty year debenture, the borrower has to pay the agreed upon allotment every year for the entirety of the thirty years.

It’s good and bad for both parties, or pro and con if you like that better.  For the lender, you get steady payments every year that you can count on, and at a rate of interest that’s locked in.  So there’s some security there that the investment will continue to yield the anticipated returns.  There is no change to the interest rate and no change to the term.  And the borrower can’t pay it off early and rob you of potential earnings.  If the interest rates in general go down, your investment is protected and secure because it’s locked in at the fixed rate.

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HURRICANE BONNIE RIPS THROUGH COUNCIL

For some reason, I looked up and back towards my right.  And there she was, Battleship Bonnie.  Or Hurricane Bonnie to some.

She was looking right at me.  “I know you,” she said, at a volume that startled a couple of others in the self-check out at No Frills.

The War Department that is my brain kicked into gear, sweeping the area for threats, making assessments, analyzing inputs, recommending possible vectors of response.  All this buying a dozen eggs on a Friday.

“You’re the guy from the council meeting,” she said, which had people looking back over at me, possibly judging.

So much for my carefully laid strategy of blending in with the gallery furniture at Renfrew Town Council meetings.  I was exposed, right there in the harsh light of day, as “the guy.”

Then I got the report from the War Room.  It was her!  The woman from the council meeting!  I said as much.

And then for the next thirty minutes, we got to talking.

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SEEMING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANOTHER’S WEAKNESS

What do you call it when one party of a deal profits from the misfortune or disadvantage of the other party?  When one party enters into the agreement with eyes wide-open, with intent, and full knowledge that the other party is in a vulnerable situation, or the other party is misrepresenting their authority, or not having the full approval of a superior person or body to exercise that authority with respect to the deal in question?  When one party knows, or ought to know, that they are perhaps fleecing the other party, or the third party that person ostensibly represents?

What do you call behaviour like this?

Exploitation comes to mind as a start.  Taking advantage of someone else’s stupidity or possible malfeasance or misrepresentation, recognizing the advantage you possess, and seizing the opportunity to do just that.

Maybe opportunism is the correct word instead, just for the fact that you saw the opportunity, recognized it for what it was, and looked like you jumped on it to your advantage, possibly to the disadvantage of others.

What about predatory?  Where you may have recognized the situation, inserted yourself into it knowing that an unfair advantage could be obtained, and pursued that unfair advantage for your own benefit.  Where maybe you actively worked in concert with the weaker party all along, creating the situation where your advantage and their disadvantage would be cemented by contract, knowing that once signed, that contract would be considered valid except for very rare circumstances.

In business, they might call this business savvy, good business acumen.  They might say a deal is a deal and the other party should have known better.  They might say it’s not their fault the other party was stupid, or didn’t follow the proper rules, or that the people above that person didn’t exercise their proper due diligence.  They might say it’s not their fault everyone on the other side of the contract appeared to be asleep or intimidated.  Business is business.  If you can’t play with the big boys, get the hell out of the ring.

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SCOTT’S HARDWARE DELIVERS CHRISTMAS AFTER ALL

I knew when I saw the boys working in the window, there was going to be trouble.

The calendar had just turned, and the march towards Christmas was on.  Yet it wasn’t.  Because the window at Scott’s Hardware in Renfrew was still decidedly not Christmasy in appearance, which was pretty odd because Scott’s has an iconic Christmas window, one known far and wide, a fixture along Renfrew’s main drag.

But on this day, nothing.  Except the two employees, Connor and Jackson, rifling through some boxes in the window, Connor holding up a forlorn Santa who didn’t look as happy as the one at the mall.

“Jeff, what’s up with the window?” was the best I could come up with as I passed by on my Saturday morning walk.  Jeff Scott is the owner of the place, the guy who’s been setting up a fabulous chunk of Christmas in his store window for years.  I guess I just figured he’d know what I was asking about, and I was right, he did.

He told me that he felt a little tired this time out, that maybe he didn’t have it in him to put up the beautiful display that I’ve seen at this location for the thirty plus years that I’ve lived in this place.  I still remember my first Christmas in Renfrew, and part of that memory was the window at Scott’s.  It just gave you that ultimate warm feeling of what Christmas is all about.  It was wonderful.  

And now he’s talking about not putting it up at all.

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