The Windsor Star reported, in an entertaining article, that DiPasquale will not seek re-election to Amherstburg town council as deputy mayor.
Category Archives: Accountability
Police Costing – The Best Deal?
As mentioned in the post, Meloche Wants Deputy Mayor Seat, Meloche referenced the deal with Windsor Police to take over policing Amherstburg.
According to the RTT article, Meloche said Essex had $3.9 million in policing costs in 2018 compared to Amherstburg’s $5.8 million.
The article continued, “Overall, we thought it’s a good deal for Amherstburg as a whole,” he said, noting there are $14 million in potential savings over the next 20 years.
Here’s my math:
Essex paid $1.9 million less on policing than Amherstburg.
Amherstburg’s $5.8 million minus $700,000.00 potential annual savings for 20 years will cost taxpayers $102 million.
Essex’s $3.9 million will cost taxpayers $78 million in 20 years.
While Amherstburg is expected to save $14 million, Essex taxpayers will spend $24 million less than us over the same time period.
I maintain that because Amherstburg did not obtain an OPP costing, despite carrying two motions to do so, Amherstburg taxpayers missed the opportunity to know if more savings were possible.
Commentary by Linda Saxon
Meloche Wants Deputy Mayor Seat
The River Town Times’ write up on Current Councillor Leo Meloche states Meloche believes he has the leadership skills and decision-making ability to be deputy mayor.
Like DiCarlo, Meloche acknowledged the controversial policing issue; Meloche voted to have Windsor Police takeover policing the community.
According to the RTT article, Meloche said Essex had $3.9 million in policing costs in 2018 as compared to Amherstburg’s $5.8 million.
“Yes, we get a higher level of policing but what we need to look at is are we really getting value for the difference,” he said.
“Overall, we thought it’s a good deal for Amherstburg as a whole,” he said, noting there are $14 million in potential savings over the next 20 years.
DiCarlo’s Objectives For Second Term
The River Town Times started reporting on the candidates that have registered so far. Current Mayor Aldo DiCarlo’s write up mentions some objectives, along with the controversial 20 year policing contract with Windsor Police.
The article concludes with this quote, “My simple message is if you like what you’ve seen the last three-and-a-half years, expect more of the same,” he said. “If not, don’t vote for me because plan to continue with what I’ve been doing.”
Municipal Candidate And Voter Resources
Commentary by Linda Saxon
Being locally born and raised is not a qualification; it is merely a fact and not necessarily a positive one if it means local interests, traditions, persons, etc. are preferred and objectivity is difficult.
Hopefully, candidates will be knowledgeable if they intend to persuade ratepayers they are worthy and capable of representing the community.
There are free online resources:
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Ministry of Housing site has:
and Election guides for voters, candidates and third party advertisers:
- 2018 Voters’ guide for Ontario municipal council and school board elections
- 2018 Candidates’ guide for Ontario municipal council and school board elections
- 2018 Guide for third party advertisers – Ontario municipal council and school board elections
Other free online information regarding the AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) is readily available and applicable to everyone in the province; it applies to municipal planning and procurement policies, including the Bellevue House renovations. If council’s practice is to provide funding to not for profits with barriers impeding access, would that contradict the goal of legislation to prevent and remove barriers?
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New Accessibility Amendments to Ontario’s Building Code
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Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, S.O. 2005, c. 11
Additionally, the Town of Amherstburg’s Election page lists an online AMO course, So You Want to Run for Council 2018; it cost $66.37.
$50,000 for staff accommodation review
The River Town Times reported, Town approves $50,000 to fund implementation of staff accommodation review.
Councillor Leo Meloche questioned why the study was not a budget item during 2018 deliberations with CAO John Miceli admitting it had been missed. He said “for full transparency, we came to council” regarding the matter.
Petition To Stop Windsor Police Takeover
Not everyone is happy about council’s decision to have Windsor Police provide policing duties in the community.
Residents are still adding their names to an online petition to stop the unique proposal.
Amherstburg Taxpayers Losers In Policing Decision
Commentary by Linda Saxon
Council’s motivation to compare policing costs was the level of municipal debt and it was committed to obtaining an OPP costing; it carried two motions to do so.
There were also other cost-saving options to reduce the police budget’s share of municipal taxes.
Council could have established the police budget and maybe taxpayers wouldn’t have been burdened with items like body worn cameras that large police services couldn’t afford because of data storage.
Despite claims over the years that the board was autonomous, according to the Police Services Act: Upon reviewing the estimates, the council shall establish an overall budget for the board for the purposes described in clauses (1) (a) and (b) and, in doing so, the council is not bound to adopt the estimates submitted by the board.
Council could have decided the taxpayers should only pay for a three member Police Services Board instead of the five recommended for a large police service.
Had council elected the OPP in 1998, when the OPP communication system was province wide, taxpayers might have realized $1 million savings annually, or $20 million by now, that could have been put toward infrastructure.
Instead, Amherstburg depended on others for dispatching and switched services a number of times from LaSalle, to Leamington, back to LaSalle, then to Windsor.
The proposed benefits of the 1998 amalgamation were identified as follows:
- operating costs would be stabilized through efficiencies;
- human resources would be deployed more efficiently;
- specialized police units would become financially viable due to the economics of scale;
- labour relations matters would be simplified;
- larger pool of human resources available to deal with major incidents;
- communications and computer systems would be enhanced; and
- several other benefits both to the service and to the public.
Amherstburg had access to the OPP specialized units and did require them on occasion, but will taxpayers now pay for specialized Windsor units 365 days a year whether they are needed or not?
The OPP’s mandate is to patrol the waterways so how necessary was an Amherstburg Police marine unit? Will a Windsor Police marine unit continue to be an unnecessary municipal expenditure?
The Police Services Board could have put an end to the OPP ‘poison pill’ clause in the police contract that seemed to inhibit the town obtaining an OPP costing.
The Windsor Star reported that Taxpayers in Windsor pay more per capita for policing than all other parts of Essex county, sometimes double that of its county neighbours policed by the OPP.
Given those verified figures, and because Amherstburg did not obtain an OPP costing as it was committed to doing, twice, Amherstburg taxpayers lost an opportunity to know if a better cost saving option was possible.
Consequently, no one can claim we got the best bang for our buck, despite that being the goal.
For the past twenty years I have maintained the Amherstburg Police hierarchical structure was costly and unnecessary; after all these years Windsor Police’s proposal to save money will see the hierarchy change.
ONTARIO CIVILIAN POLICE COMMISSION’S DECISION ST. MARY’S
The Ontario Civilian Police Commission’s Decision on St. Mary’s request to contract policing from Stratford Police Service.
Role Of Police Service Advisors
Commentary by Linda Saxon
I inquired if any Police Service Advisors were involved in the police costing process because Advisors are readily available: see page 3 of the OACP (Ontario Association Chiefs of Police), A Process Guidebook for the Review of Policing Options 2012, the guide referred to by CAO Miceli:
“During any consideration of policing options, the initial responsibility of the advisor is to outline for the Board and Council their options and responsibilities under the Act and the potential implications of each. During a review of Policing Options, the advisor is available upon request to provide information and advice to participants in the process. Their advice is based on the legislation contained in the PSA, its regulations, and Ministry guidelines, as well as best practices that arise from other similar restructuring experiences.”
Requesting Ministry Advisors might have been productive and might have saved ratepayers from paying for a private firm like MPM Consulting.
the burg watch 