Category Archives: Accountability

January 29 Council Meeting RECAP And Awards

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I don’t usually do recaps since the media reports on what happened at council meetings, but occasionally I feel compelled to share my opinion about inefficient meetings and the lack of decorum.

There were rationales for using reserves for pickle ball, a want, comparisons to other municipalities, blaming past councils, claims they did their best, blaming upper levels of government, a debate over the $28 million cost of the new fire hall, personal anecdotes, long winded speeches, three members spending time on their computers and some checking their watches.

Erroneous Minutes

‘Deputy Mayor Pouget’ moved or seconded four motions in the special council budget meeting minutes on the agenda; that should have read Councillor Pouget. (pages 35 and 36).

Delegation Dialogues

Mayor Prue said it can’t be a dialogue when Deputy Mayor Gibb addressed Dorothy Thrasher’s comments about an am800 interview with him. Prue then allowed plenty of dialogue for the delegates that spoke about the effect of the 6.44% budget increase and even participated. Prue asked the treasurer about figures, following Donna and Geoffrey Hibbert’s delegation.

Members of council use to full advantage the lack of specificity and time limits in the procedural by-law to drone on when they should be limited to asking questions of the delegate only for clarification. After all, the procedural by-law is a by-law ‘to govern the proceedings of Council, the conduct of its members and the calling of meetings.’

AWARDS

The Most Representative Award goes to Councillor Pouget

Pouget isn’t primarily motivated by self-interest; she cites emails and phone calls from constituents and consistently acts on their behalf on a wide range of issues.

The Tough Love Award goes to Deputy Mayor Gibb

Toward the end of one of Gibb’s speeches, he said he wasn’t going to apologize for the budget, and said he believed this is what Amherstburg needs. He pointed to the audience and said what it wants is sitting there, what it needs is sitting here, pointing to council’s horseshoe. Noise could be heard from the audience and at that point, Prue used the gavel to call the meeting to order instead of his usual passing of the gavel just to speak.

The Melodramatic Moment Award goes to Prue

Following Sue and Roger Hudson’s delegation, Prue passed the gavel because he wanted to acknowledge that something was said that no one else said today and this is really important. The levels of money coming from senior government to this town has declined and declined enormously. Nobody is factoring this in. Just as an example OCIF funding has gone down and it’s gone down the last two years enormously and in fact, the local MPP was so proud he put out this ad, which Prue held up to display and read, two weeks in a row saying that in 2022 our OCIF funding was $3,194,879. In 2023 it went down to $3,007,975 and in 2024, it went down to 2,556,779, which just in the last year was about $450,000 dollars which is just a little bit under 2%. So that’s 2% we have to pay before we do anything else. Then to compound that they set up an asset management that they have to do. But that is new funds that they have to pay for approximately 1.6% of the budget. So they have to add that 1.6 before they get into anything, and then they took away development charges for new apartment buildings and condos. And that is approximately 1.6% as well for a total of about 5%. So before they even look at the budget they have to make a 5% cut from the Ontario government and if they use that 5% and the 5%, which you are saying is the average between the two indexes, then that’s 10% and then everybody’s angry that we come in at 6.44. Everybody’s angry. What do you expect the council to do?

Most Positive Spin Award goes to Councillor McArthur

Bill Seagris, Greater Amherstburg Tennis League stated they’ve organized events and tournaments for seven years. McArthur explained why he voted in favour of pickle ball courts. There’s tennis courts in CoAn, which is an Amherstburg jewel, there’s tennis courts in Anderdon; capacity is going to be freed up on those courts as soon as there’s courts built at the Libro. The selling point for him, why he voted in favor of pickle ball courts is that in order for them to have tournaments, to host tournaments, which they really want to do for economic tourism, to bring people to Amherstburg is they needed eight dedicated pickle ball courts and for folks listening at home, eight dedicated pickle ball courts is not eight tennis courts. It’s just two hard court surfaces. It’s not eight it’s just two. Pickleball takes up a smaller space. And when they made a motion to dedicate it for pickle ball his reasoning was a) they’re going to fund raise, they actually have a GoFundMe, they raised $750 just on the weekend, and they’re going to continue raising money for it so it will help pay going forward. And they can host tournaments.

Admin’s Biggest Fan Award goes to Councillor Linden Crain

Following Dorothy Thrasher’s delegation, Crain asked for her thoughts on admin’s recommendations; administration can definitely chime in when they feel necessary; and he spoke on the ‘From Vision to Results 2023 Municipal Accomplishments Report.’ Reading through this comprehensive list, it’s very, very clear that they have a lot to be proud of. There are really too many accolades to list out but they accomplished a lot in 2023 and he believed they’re delivering on each of those categories set out in the community strategic plan. Really, Council directs but it’s administration that executes and delivers and he thinks they have a great number of staff, all staff, to be proud of. He’s energized by where our municipality is going and he’s really grateful to be working with every member of council and every staff member. He just wanted to give an immense thank you to staff for their passion and hard work.

The Curiosity Award goes to Councillor Molly Allaire

Prefacing questions with just out of curiosity is a regular occurrence. This meeting Allaire was just curious about what the Golden Age Club does with the dues collected, was just curious about the water and waste water rate increase, just out of curiosity when the fire hall tender is coming back, just curiosity about the boat ramp and was just curious if anyone on council had the appetite to sit down with administration before next budget.

The Longest Answer Award goes to Fire Chief Montone.

Montone spoke for almost 7 minutes in answer to Prue’s question when one word would’ve sufficed. Prue asked when the report would be forthcoming. Montone did say April twice: once in the middle and again at the end.

What’s More Important – Planters Or People?

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Although I predicted the answer, I asked council members anyway due to a report to council for the January 29 meeting regarding Richmond Street sidewalk repairs. Also predictable was that only Councillor Pouget answered she would definitely question this issue and she did. More on that later.

email to council: I urge you to embrace the spirit of the AODA and consult the public regarding Richmond Street sidewalk repairs even though the report to council does not mention public consultation in accordance with the AODA’s Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation regarding exterior paths of travel, rest areas:

‘Designated public sectors when constructing new or redeveloping existing exterior paths of travel that they intend to maintain, shall consult on the design and placement of rest areas along the exterior path of travel and shall do so in the following manner: 

  1. the public and persons with disabilities.
  2. a municipal accessibility advisory committee if one exits.’

The report to council concludes with Financial Matters and admin’s recommendation to use Accessibility Compliance Reserve Funds that are ‘intended for repairs and improvements designed to reduce or remove barriers and promote greater access to public spaces, goods and services.’ 

Planters may create barriers for people with disabilities who rely on visual cues and space to travel along the sidewalks. Another concern is that there is no mention of what standards will be specified in the tender. 

Some of you voted to keep the loading/unloading zone on Dalhousie Street for accessibility reasons, so why not commit to accessibility and persons with disabilities in this instance and hold public consultations?

Comparing Amherstburg To Other Municipalities: Routine Disclosure And Active Dissemination Policies

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In February 2020, former CAO Miceli advised Amherstburg was ‘in the process of creating a Routine disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy’ but one has still not been created.

“Open Government is based on the core belief that the public has the right to access the records and proceedings of government to enable greater openness, accountability, and engagement.” 

Information and Privacy Commissioner ontario

Townships to large cities commit to open government in by-laws, policies or a simple statement on the municipal website.

Blandford Blenheim proactive without formal policy endeavours to provide as much information as possible to the public without the necessity of submitting a formal Request under the Act.

Brockton endeavours to provide as much information as possible to the public without the necessity of submitting a formal Freedom of Information Request.

Wasaga Beach policy
April 19, 2016 

North Perth by-law
September 14, 2015

Northern Bruce Peninsula by-law
January 20, 2021

Grand Valley Most of the time, a formal request for information under the Act is not required to access information from the Town of Grand Valley.

Mono contact first for information

Orangeville contact first for information

Shelburne promotes open government and encourages the routine disclosure of information to the public without requiring a formal Freedom of Information (FOI) request under Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).

St. Thomas The Act does not interfere with the present open disclosure practice of the City and cannot be used to access information already available to the public

LaSalle
October 9, 2018, reviewed October 1, 2022

Oshawa policy is committed to ensuring the public is provided with Official Records and Information easily and informally, supporting a culture of open and transparent government. 

Delegation Request Denied

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Utterly ridiculous.

Do you remember when the Michael Prue working for YOU campaign website listed some of his priorities?

‘Municipal government affects us all. I am committed to ensuring all citizens to have a say on the issues affecting their lives in Amherstburg. To be fully informed. To participate in review processes. To provide and share their opinions. I believe in local democracy.’

‘Promote citizen participation in municipal affairs and allow full deputation rights at town meetings.’

During his November 28 inaugural speech, Prue mentioned some changes, including, publishing the agenda a week before the meeting so that would give everyone an opportunity to know what’s happening and to be part of the process. He hoped Council would agree to allow more public deputations without having to all put their hands up and waive the rules every single time; he thought people should have the right to make a deputation before Council when the item is on the agenda.

I wanted to speak to a January 29, 2024 agenda item, AMCTO Advocacy Update – Looking Ahead: A Proactive Submission to Modernize the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, so I completed the online delegation form and Deputy Clerk Sarah Sabihuddin emailed:

Thank you for your email expressing your intention to speak on agenda item 17.1 – “AMCTO Advocacy Update – Looking Ahead: A Proactive Submission to Modernize the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.” 

I would like to bring to your attention Section 9.4 of our Procedural By-Law. This section states that delegations during Council proceedings are permitted in relation to matters listed on the agenda stemming from all Administrative reports and by-laws. While your request is valid and important, it does not directly relate to a report or by-law, and therefore, it does not qualify as a delegation under the procedural framework.

In light of this, I would like to suggest an alternative method of civic participation for your concerns to be raised. You may submit written communication addressing your concerns and recommendations regarding the AMCTO correspondence you are advocating for to Members of Council. This written submission can be circulated among Council members for their knowledge and awareness. Should a member of Council wish to bring this up during New Business and make a request for an Administrative Report on this item then once this report comes back onto the public agenda then you would be able to delegate at that time as per the procedural by-law.

In relation to your other concerns noted, I want to assure you that we redact all personal information (except for names) on the delegation forms as a standard best practice before placing on the public agenda.

In relation to your other concern regarding the method for which someone wishes to delegate to Council, once their delegation request form is submitted and approved there is a process undertaken to reach out to that individual to discuss the method for which they are requesting their appearance to take place.

If you have any further questions please let me know.

I replied,

thank you for the information. the refusal to allow me to speak to an item on the agenda is duly noted and confirms my position that the procedural by-law council passed is very restrictive. members of council should recall that in june, following nancy atkinson’s delegation, council supported Councillor Pouget’s motion and passed a resolution directing administration ‘to bring back a report regarding a Routine Disclosure Policy.’ Admin has not yet provided a report as directed. The Unfinished Business list stated a report was coming to council in Q3, but it’s been 7 months and no report has materialized. if or when an admin report appears on a future agenda, i will be happy to speak to it.

Candidate Michael Prue On Budgets 2022

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During the 2022 mayoral portion of the Chamber of Commerce candidate night, Michelle Maluske of CTV reporter asked, The Town of Amherstburg has a $54 million budget and as mayor, you may hold a unique role as the chair of a council of six elected to govern and lead our town. What makes you uniquely qualified and the best person for the job? Why do you want to be mayor?

Michael Prue’s answer: (listen to the audio).

Thank you. And first of all, the mayor is an absolutely unique role in every municipality in Ontario and indeed in Canada. The mayor’s job is not only to lead, but the mayor’s job is also to try to seek consensus from amongst the seven individuals who sit around the table and also to listen very carefully to the staff and try to come together so that a common decision can be made so that the entire council can go out and support it. I have spent a lifetime working on budgets 17 years as as a municipal politician and 13 years in the province of Ontario, I’ve been on the budget committees, I’ve been on the audit committees in all of them. And I will tell you, it is a difficult task, but it’s made easier if you have a resolve. And my resolve has always been that we have to start every budget with no increase. And in the past this this town has come in and the CAO has said we want eight and nine and 10% and council’s had to beat it back. But I believe that we should be coming in at no increase or whatever inflation is and work from there. And if you do a zero based budget, you’re going to get far better results than if you do it the way that it’s been done in the past. And I believe my experience coming in with 17 budgets municipally with no tax increases, save and except the last one, no tax increases at all will will allow this town to go forward and assured that there will be that there will be sufficient money and we will make it we will make it work. I know that people are saying we’re broke, but we’re not really broke. There is enough money in in the in I’ll deal with that later. There is enough money in our budget and in our coffers to make sure that there is no necessity for a tax increase this year.

Where Is The Routine Disclosure Policy?

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Another farcical item for council’s January 29 meeting is a recommendation for council to support AMCTO’s submission regarding MFIPPA, which includes a recommendation to require municipalities to adopt a Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy (RD/AD).

The submission even includes a graphic: ‘Did You Know? AMCTO has a guide offering considerations for establishing RD/AD’ with a link to the document: Considerations for Establishing Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination.

During the June 2023 meeting discussion of an RD/AD policy, Councillor Pouget stated the AMCTO, the association of municipal clerks and treasurers of Ontario, do give guidelines for this policy and asked, has that been taken advantage of? Do you know if you’ve tapped into that resource?

CAO Critchley responded, as I said earlier, if this is something that council wants us to do, then we will look into it if that’s what Council directs.

Pouget then made a motion and council passed a resolution directing administration ‘to bring back a report regarding a Routine Disclosure Policy’ and the Unfinished Business list stated a report was coming to council in Q3. No policy exists.

It’s been almost four years since I requested council create a protocol for requests for information and on a few occasions I was advised that a policy was in the process of being created.

A Brief History

2020: former CAO Miceli advised, the town is in the process of creating a Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy and respecting the MFIPPA process is best for all parties.

2021: former Clerk Parker stated, the Town does have a draft of the policy in progress.

2021: I asked if council directed administration to create this policy.

2021: Former Mayor DiCarlo advised, this policy is being created as part of ongoing policy review of all of the town’s policies, not from a specific council direction. 

2021: I asked then-Councillor Prue if he would know the status of the policy; he did not answer the question.

2022: I emailed Interim CAO Haddad to inquire about the status of the policy; no answer.

February 7, 2023 CAO Critchley advised the town has not adopted a specific policy.

June 13, 2023 Nancy Atkinson, on behalf of the Amherstburg Residents Forum, raised three items including the Routine Disclosure Policy.

June 13, 2023 Councillor Diane Pouget’s motion to direct administration to bring back a report regarding the disclosure policy was carried.

December 1, 2023 I emailed council again requesting the status of, and report on, the routine disclosure policy. 

December 13, 2023 follow up email requesting the status of, and report on, the routine disclosure policy. 

December 18, 2023 CAO Critchley advised, we continue to work on the Routine Disclosure issue and expect it will move forward in the new year.

Downtown Sidewalk Issues

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Another paradox. One of the interesting items on the January 29 agenda is a report to council to remove trees in the downtown core sidewalk and replace the interlocking bricks at a cost of up to $31,000 to be transferred from the AODA Compliance Fund.

Admin also recommends four advisory committees be consulted:

  • Heritage Committee – Regarding Historic Interlocking Brick Sidewalks
  • Environmental Advisory Committee – Regarding Carolingian Species 
  • Accessibility Advisory Committee – Regarding Barrier Free Routes of Travel
  • Economic Development Advisory Committee – Regarding Streetscape Beautification

There is no mention of public consultation in accordance with the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation regarding exterior paths of travel, rest areas. Designated public sectors, like the Town of Amherstburg, when constructing new or redeveloping existing exterior paths of travel that they intend to maintain, shall consult on the design and placement of rest areas along the exterior path of travel and shall do so in the following manner: 

  1. the public and persons with disabilities.
  2. a municipal accessibility advisory committee if one exits.

The same committees would be consulted for proposed planters to be introduced into the Richmond corridor only being placed where significant sidewalk space allows for such installations for the following reasons:

  • Heritage Committee – Regarding Historic Interlocking Brick Sidewalks
  • Environmental Advisory Committee – Regarding Carolingian Species
  • Accessibility Advisory Committee – Regarding Barrier Free Routes of Travel
  • Economic Development Advisory Committee – Regarding Streetscape Beautification

editor note: I think that should read Carolinian Species.

The committees’ discussions should be interesting. I predict an in-depth discussion will take place with the Heritage committee to consider the colour, shape and size of the bricks and the overall aesthetics of the downtown core.

The report to council concludes with Financial Matters and admin’s recommendation to use Accessibility Compliance Reserve Funds that are ‘intended for repairs and improvements designed to reduce or remove barriers and promote greater access to public spaces, goods and services.’

One of my concerns is that, once again, planters will create barriers for people with disabilities who rely on visual cues and space to travel along the sidewalks. Another concern is that there is no mention of what standards will be specified in the tender. Where did the $31,000. price tag come from?

Who Are ‘You People’?

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Someone started a rant to me with ‘you people just want to complain’ and included ‘wheelers’ in response to a Facebook conversation about inclusivity of an event.

‘You people,’ like ‘those people’ implies, to me, that people with disabilities are a separate segment of society. And, historically, people with disabilities have been disadvantaged, not by disabilities, but by a society where ableism prevailed and the identification, prevention and removal of barriers hasn’t been a priority.

As a person with disabilities, the barrier that I encounter the most is the attitudinal barrier; it’s usually based on stereotypical beliefs that people using wheelchairs make up the majority of the disability community or that people are demanding extra.

Do you know anyone that has or has had cancer? diabetes? arthritis? MS? lung disease? heart disease? dyslexia? low vision? hearing loss? ADHD? depression? anxiety? Then you know someone that has a disability.

While there are legislative definitions of ‘disability,’ there are also various models of disability that describe attitudes toward people with disabilities and I can usually quickly spot and categorize where people fit in.

There is a longer list, but briefly, the medical model where members of the medical community need to ‘fix’ an individual. The charity model; I see photo ops of politicians at charity events where people with disabilities are depicted as victims of tragedy and are pitied. What I sometimes hear are political comments related to costs and how things take time. The social model, and more recently the human rights model, emphasizes that it’s the environmental and attitudinal barriers that prevent people with disabilities from equally participating in communities, even though everyone has the right to equality.

There is also preferable and inclusive language but people still use the outdated ‘handicap’ and other euphemisms.

Ignorance is no excuse in 2024. It’s also unacceptable to personally attack people with disabilities on social media for ‘complaining’ about a lack of access or pointing out attitudinal barriers.

Amherstburg Website AODA Compliance Revisited

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SHAMEFUL. This feels like a lack of commitment to accessible goods and services, again.

Brief History

An accessible town website was relegated to year 3 of the town’s first accessibility plan, then listed as a priority for 2005, then 2006 and a 2007 report informed council that the website was compliant with W3C accessibility standards. But it wasn’t, according to an external expert. In 2009, a newly designed website was unveiled and problems continued. In 2011, I commented regarding difficulty navigating the website. In 2014, Amherstburg was invited to hire esolutions when the County redesigned its site to meet accessibility standards; Leamington and Essex had already hired the web design company but Amherstburg declined. According to the town’s site, esolutions redesigned Amherstburg’s site in 2016, although it still had issues.

Deadline Extension Requested

Thousands of dollars and redesigns later, in a September 2020 Report to Council, Administration recommended, and council agreed, to request the Province of Ontario to extend the AODA website compliance January 1, 2021 deadline to at least January 1, 2022 due to COVID-19.

The report claimed COVID was the reason, then administration explained at the council meeting that it was due to third parties. Did no one on council realize the town is also responsible for third party vendors?

Compared to the 2005 AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act), COVID-19 only existed for a short time but, suddenly, in September 2020, the town needed more time? 15 months more time?

Present Request

Following the January 1, 2022 deadline extension the town requested, a Report to Council for the January 15 Special Council meeting states: ‘The Ministry has approved of this approach and the Town and Ministry have agreed all associated work shall be completed prior to the end of 2024. As such the Town’s work plan expires on December 31, 2024; there are risks that users may encounter barriers in accessing information on Town websites; and the cost to perform a website redesign and refresh not to exceed $70,000, excluding HST.’

My 2020 question stands, why are we not compliant by now?

Related posts:

Town of Amherstburg Requests Website Compliance Deadline Extension

Amherstburg Requests Website Compliance Deadline Extension – The Recommendation.

Amherstburg Requests Website Compliance Deadline Extension – The Resolution

Amherstburg Requests Website Compliance Deadline Extension – The Vote

Amherstburg Requests Website Compliance Deadline Extension – Follow Up Questions to Council

Amherstburg Requests Website Compliance Deadline Extension – Circulation of Resolution

Amherstburg Requests Website Compliance Deadline Extension – Essex County Council Does Not Endorse It

Amherstburg requests Website Compliance Deadline Extension – Third Party Vendors

Amherstburg Mayor’s Levee – Foster Community Spirit?

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‘The levee (from the French word lever, meaning “getting up” or “rising”) was traditionally a daily moment of intimacy and accessibility to a monarch or leader, as he got up in the morning.’ Wikipedia

Amherstburg’s Facebook page announced ‘A Mayor’s Levee is a festive event hosted by the Mayor to greet citizens and foster community spirit. It often includes refreshments, entertainment, and a chance to meet local leaders.’

Foster community spirit? Residents are welcome to informally discuss whatever issues they may choose for 3 hours.

Mayor Prue’s 2022 campaign website included, ‘Municipal government affects us all. I am committed to ensuring all citizens to have a say on the issues affecting their lives in Amherstburg. To be fully informed. To participate in review processes. To provide and share their opinions. I believe in local democracy.”

Prue’s campaign brochure’s slogan was: WHEN PEOPLE TALK…Michael Prue LISTENS.

But the Procedural By-law that used to, in part, reflect the intent of local democracy drastically changed in August of 2023 when it was revised and passed unanimously. Residents are no longer allowed to speak to an item unless it’s on council’s agenda or unless council unanimously votes to hear a resident.

Residents must now hope with bated breath that a member of council will raise an issue on their behalf so it may appear on a future agenda and then residents are allowed to speak on it.

But until next council meeting, feel free to take advantage of the invitation to meet local leaders who represent you and ‘foster community spirit’ from 5 pm to 8 pm.