Category Archives: Amherstburg Vote 2022

A Look Back – Candidate Aldo DiCarlo on OPP Costing

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From a reader in 2014:

Question 6. If elected, will you commit to council obtaining an OPP costing and if appointed to the police services board, will you commit to removing the OPP takeover clause in the police contract? If running for re- election, why did you not consider doing the above?

2014 then-candidate Aldo DiCarlo

With my labour background, and expertise in contract negotiations, this question is not difficult. For the record, I have negotiated 4 major contracts and facilitate workshops, related to bargaining preparation and successfully negotiating contracts. That said, I spoke with the major stakeholders related to this issue. The information I received was both confusing and frustrating. The current board has had 4 years, at least related to this contract, to request and obtain a costing to switch to OPP services. To my knowledge, no such costing has been requested to this date. Further, such costing has been free of charge to the municipality, but may actually require costs in the future. As a tax paying citizen, this particular point downright infuriates me. Why would the board not acquire something free that could help the Town decide what’s in their best interests. They might tell you that doing so could cause morale problems. However, I now know that they never bothered to even ask the Police Association, so this is just a speculative position. Now the final logic. For those who look at the current demographics of our current Police Force, they’ll notice that the average age is on the young side. Since there is a grandfather date in the contract, this clause wouldn’t apply to most of them. If you see where I’m going, now is the time to successfully remove the takeover clause. I’m sure there would be a minimal cost compared to the cost of implementing the clause, but that’s why it’s called negotiations. There has to be give and take. I can’t honestly say which I’d prefer, municipal or provincial policing. What I can say, what I know, is that the current board didn’t do their due diligence in acquiring the information for us to make an educated decision on what would be best for the town…information that would have been ‘free’. I would definitely acquire this information, if given the chance, and then work with the appropriate parties to achieve what’s best for the Town, or more importantly, what the Town feels is best for them.

Amherstburg Vote 2022

A Look Back – Candidate Aldo DiCarlo on Heritage District

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From a reader of the burg watch 2014:

Question 5. Towns need to differentiate themselves in order to compete for potential residents and businesses to relocate to their locale. Studies show that tourists who visit areas for History Tourism spend twice as much as an average tourist. Heritage Districts have popped up all over the country bringing much needed jobs and tourists. The current town council has stalled the implementation of a ready to go Heritage District in Town. Will you work with Town Administration and Heritage Committee to bring a much needed Heritage District to Amherstburg.

2014 then-candidate Aldo DiCarlo

I have always felt that Amherstburg’s heritage has been understated. I would look forward to working with the Administration and Heritage Committee. My research has shown me that most of the problems with heritage buildings are related to excessive repair costs due to neglect and lack of planning. The first thing that I think should be done is to designate which buildings are heritage, their current conditions and expected costs of maintenance and/or repair. Something like a 10 year plan should be established to address the known issues. For areas that require extensive repair, hard decisions will have to be made. Ideally, repairing buildings and then setting out a long term maintenance schedule should keep the Heritage District a viable option for the Town. All of this, of course, is just my ideas and I would definitely need ideas and input from those who understand the Heritage District better than I. Solutions that work are generally developed from multiple ideas, not just one. The current approach seems to be ineffective, otherwise, I don’t believe this question would be here.

Amherstburg Vote 2022

A Look Back – Candidate Aldo DiCarlo on Agenda Preparation

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From a reader in 2014:

Question 4.  Council members currently receive their notes on the Friday before the council meeting, just days before to digest a large amount of information. In other municipalities council receives much more time to digest and are actually briefed on the several pages of documents they are responsible to read. Is it any wonder that there were several disagreements on partially understood information? How will you change the process at Town Hall to bring them in alignment with other municipalities? How will you design the process so it is less of a speed read and more of a conversation based on information that is well understood?

2014 then-candidate Aldo DiCarlo

This is a pretty easy question to answer, as it was also an issue with the members of the University Of Windsor Board Of Governors when I was a member. Everyone digests and understands at different rates and levels. I don’t believe that there is any concrete timeframe that applies to everyone. The next council should discuss and agree on what a ‘reasonable’ amount of time is. Then, they should stick to it. If information is not available within the prescribed time, post pone the meeting. I know there are those who might argue the inconvenience to those who have planned for the date posted, but then I ask, “Would you rather have a meeting with councillors who aren’t prepared to properly address issues now, or would you rather they deal with the issues when they fully understand the agenda, and have had time for proper consultation with any citizens necessary?” As a final thought, a mayor and council who are abreast of issues, and stay informed with ongoing issues, won’t likely be presented with much they don’t already understand. This is not to say that I, nor anyone else, can know everything or anything all of the time, but part of the job of council is know their municipality’s issues, citizens, concerns and needs. No one person can know the whole town, but if everyone on council knows something, collectively they can know quite a lot. This would include what they don’t know, and need to find out. I’m not someone who is afraid, or opposed, to admit when they need more information.

Amherstburg Vote 2022

A Look Back – Candidate Aldo DiCarlo on Full Audit

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From a reader in 2014:

Question 3. There is no shortage of stories of lottery winners who go broke within 5 years of their big win. One reason they go broke is because they have not learned money management skills. With only a partial audit to learn from Amherstburg Town Hall and Administration are risking a repeat of their past mistakes. There has been a herculanian effort to avoid a full audit, how can we learn what really went wrong without a full audit? Do you support a full independent audit of the town’s finances over the past 5 years?

2014 then-candidate Aldo DiCarlo

This is a difficult question to answer with the understanding that the cost would not be cheap. On one hand, I agree wholeheartedly that a full audit should have been approved and done by the past council, since they were the elected representatives at the time, and they should be held accountable for whatever may have come from a full audit. Some reports and investigations have been done that elude to the lack of understanding of the past councillors when it comes to finances and budgets. It is not fair to say all councillors, but some, and I’m sure everyone has some in mind. What seems to be coming to light is that there really is no smoking gun, to coin a phrase. The trouble the town is in can only be explained by what appears to be a complete lack of understanding of what was going on, who was doing what, what they were supposed to be doing and what they were supposed to know. Outside of my bid for the mayor’s seat, as a tax paying citizen, I can’t believe that we had paid, and unpaid, people in town hall with so little understanding of what was going on. I believe this can begin to be rectified with a new council. If new councillors are elected who actually understand finances, budgeting and oversight, I’m not sure that we need to spend any more money on the past. The town still has plenty of issues to address, issues that will require money to fix, and that money would be better served going towards those issues. With no disrespect to all of the previous councillors, I don’t understand why it is being proposed that no one could have known what to ask or do. There were those who did, yet they were silenced. If a mayor and councillors are elected that were part of those who voted in favour of issues without the proper understanding, or at least accepting that they weren’t educated with the issue enough to proceed without more information, then I’d be demanding a full audit so they can see what went wrong more clearly. If a new council is elected with a proper balance of backgrounds, backgrounds related to the Town’s issues, I believe they can move us forward without having to spend money, as they would already understand most of what went wrong in the past.

Amherstburg Vote 2022

A Look Back – Candidate Aldo DiCarlo on Toxic Town Hall

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Question 2. Generally when an organization has many Senior Management Team leave, transfer or get terminated there is a deep culture problem in the organization. So much staff turnover costs the organization money several thousand dollars and devastates employee morale. Do you believe that there is a toxic work culture at Amherstburg Town Hall and if you do how will you work with town Administration to make sure the work culture is fixed?

2014 then-candidate Aldo DiCarlo

This question seems to stem from question 1. To start, I believe there is likely a toxic work culture at Town Hall. If there isn’t, there’s definitely something wrong that needs to be addressed. As I stated in my answer to the first question, I believe the environment stems from the top. As mayor, I would definitely bring a new perspective and foster an environment of openness and congeniality that will hopefully trickle down. I believe in leading by example. Only by allowing people to share ideas, without fear of repercussions, can there be any movement to a positive and productive work environment. I can’t see dealing with this issue without a detailed review of the Town Hall staff structure.

Amherstburg Vote 2022

A Look Back – Candidate Aldo DiCarlo on Town Hall

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The burg watch created an historic first when it facilitated residents’ questions to the candidates during the 2014 municipal election. Since 2022 is another election year, I thought it would be worthwhile to revisit then-candidates’ answers.

Question 1. Amherstburg Town hall has been losing senior employees at an alarming rate. It seems pretty obvious that there is a negative culture at Town Hall. If the culture is not changed we will continue to waste taxpayer dollars paying to resolve conflicts and re-train employees when adults can’t get along. How will you unearth the root causes and fix the toxic culture at Town Hall and save Amherstburg from this costly mess? We can no longer afford the costs of discontinuity.

2014 then-candidate Aldo DiCarlo:

In order to answer this question, I will assume that Town Hall does indeed have a toxic work environment. The first thing I would do is confirm this to be true. It has been my experience that toxic work environments originate from the top, at least more often than not. A good leader, regardless of their title or position, should always be aware it exists. Assuming competence and awareness of the environment, it has to be then that the toxic work environment is being allowed to fester. The alternative is that those who lead, that should know, don’t actually know the environment exists, and that becomes a question of competence. Therein lies the answer. Were/are the senior administrators aware of the issue and what are they doing about it? It is my position that the Council, like a board of directors, is an oversight body that governs and holds accountable those whose job it is to address such issues. If the issue is actually originating at the ‘top’, then the ‘top’ must be held accountable, whatever that means for the circumstances at the time. Hiring and/or retaining is the best way to stop the revolving door of staff, regardless of their position. With the recent hire of the latest CAO, hopefully the toxic environment will be dealt with. Unearthing the root causes of the toxic culture is the job of the CAO, that’s what they get paid for. As mayor and a member of council, I’d hold the CAO accountable for doing their job. If it turns out yet another CAO has been hired that can’t address this issue properly, sadly I don’t know that there would be any other alternative but to embark on the search for another. If this worst case happens, as mayor, I’d make sure the next hire isn’t hired the way the rest have been.

Amherstburg Vote 2022

Another Resident’s Wish Granted, Along With An Apology

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Imagine the agony of having to wait nine months to have your wish granted. Resident Linden Crain proposed a rainbow crosswalk in June 2021 and had to wait until March 14, 2022 for Council to unanimously approve the installation of one.

Amherstburg Councillor Donald McArthur said he was sorry it took so long and acknowledged, “The wheels of government can grind excruciatingly slowly at times.” Whose fault is that?

Compared to the very short timeframe in Ask And Your Wish Might Be Granted and Mayor DiCarlo’s lone decision to grant that wish and extend the River Lights, this did take some time.

All things being relative, I hold the record of waiting two years for a Routine Disclosure Policy, to date, and tolerating the ten years of silence from the Town of Amherstburg in response to my requests to make the library accessible.

But, it’s an election year and hey, if a crosswalk that cost the town nothing creates the appearance of inclusivity, everyone’s happy.

Request For Routine Disclosure Policy Now Two Years Old

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One might conclude there is a lack of willingness to be more open and transparent, given the lack of agenda reports, the lack of in camera resolutions, the incomplete information recorded in the minutes, the lack of reporting out from in camera information.

My request to council that a protocol for requests for information be created for taxpayers is now two years old.

Former CAO Miceli advised, in February 2020, that the Town of Amherstburg was in the process of creating a Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy and that I might wish to review the policy when it appears on the agenda for Council’s consideration and approval in the near future.

I repeated my request in April 2021 and council, instead of creating a policy, received the item under consent correspondence.

How long does it take to create a Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy that the Information and Privacy Commissioner revised in SEPTEMBER 1998?

What will it take for council to commit to being more open and transparent?

VOTE October 24, 2022 – hold candidates accountable.

No Response, No Response and No Response

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In the spirit of accountability and transparency, questions were submitted to Amherstburg members of administration. No responses were received.

January 11, 2022 to interim CAO Tony Haddad: i’m writing to inquire what the decision making process was to extend the river lights display through January 2022.

January 11, 2022 to Anne Rota: how many calls did you/the town receive from the community requesting the displays be left on? in what way do you think the extension could “help just one person with that seasonal affective disorder?” what would the extension cost?

January 12, 2022 to interim CAO Tony Haddad: i requested copies of the Annual Accessibility Status Update Reports for the past 3 years. mr. fox emailed me “a list of the committee’s accomplishments” for each of the 3 years, which is not what i was seeking. the town’s website link to the town’s Accessibility Compliance Report to the province is broken. i’m also writing to inquire about the status of the Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy that former CAO Miceli advised, in February 2020, the Town was in the process of creating.

No Response From Mayor DiCarlo Re In-person Voting Comments

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January 3, 2022 to Mayor Aldo DiCarlo: you stated residents have made it clear they prefer to cast their ballot in-person. how were you informed of this? when were public consultations held? you also said mail-in and internet voting are not as secure as people coming in and submitting a ballot right there. can you cite the authority you relied on to make this statement?

January 5, 2022 from Mayor Aldo DiCarlo: You didn’t mention where my comments were made.  I would need to know what you are referencing, in regards to my comments, so that I can provide the appropriate context.

January 5, 2022 to Mayor Aldo DiCarlo Your comments were made during an interview with am800 regarding town council’s decision to conduct in-person voting for the 2022 municipal election.

EDIT: January 29 – Mayor DiCarlo emailed, “I did indeed respond to you regarding comments in the media, requesting information for the article you were referencing.  Since you did not provide that information, I could not respond further.”

Response to Mayor, “you are incorrect that i did not provide you with the information referenced. you may not have received it, but i have a copy of it in my sent and inbox folders. i’m resending it below for you to answer.”