Wasaga Beach council meeting “belongs” to Mayor

Today, September 12, 2024 our Council had their regular Council meeting. I say “their” meeting as Mayor Smith emphasized at the end of the meeting that it is not “our” meeting and he says a lawyer told him it never was.

One item on the agenda of today’s meeting was the 8 month Library Update. I was DELIGHTED to see the massive increases in library usage since the new library opened. Kudos to the library staff and the library board for all that they do. But, Deputy Mayor Snell had many financial questions for the Library. She even called herself a broken horse (whatever that is). It sounds like she will be pushing for budget cuts as she was suggesting charging children $5.00 fees for some of the programming presently attend free.

One had to know this day would come. Of course, the budget cuts she will obviously push for, come during a year where she voted for her own raise, but we should just forget that.

The Mayor made a few comments then joked about the coming budget. Sounds like all departments will be sharpening their pencils. Well… Most departments.

As I said earlier… good luck to the legion at their new location out at the Sports Park. It will be interesting seeing how this all pans out. It sounds like the legion will be running the concession stand out there for all events. I’m not certain if this may mean that you can slip in for a beverage and a hot dog while the kids are playing soccer, but it does sound like the legion will be taking on the entire facility. Looking forward to seeing how it will all come together. Mayor Smith did say the Legion will also be moving remembrance ceremonies to the actual 11th, which he has always said should be the way. Sounds like local service members and others will be choosing between municipalities as Stayner typically held their ceremony on the 11th and Wasaga on an alternate date for logistical reasons.

We shall see… I look forward to attending regardless of when and where the ceremony is held.

Next… Skipping over the integrity commissioner report, but only so that I can address it separately on another discussion post in a few days.

So that takes us to the item where our Council is voting to establish the new Entertainment Corporation.

WOW! Mayor Smith shut down Councilor Dileo immediately and warned her about code of conduct rules. Which prompted what appeared to be a planned response from the clerk. It appeared that Councilor Dileos objection had possibly been discussed prior to the meeting.

Here is the issue: This agenda item / motion is to execute the shareholder agreement. Now when I read it over quickly yesterday, It appeared that council members were simply endorsing the incorporation as the sole shareholders.

It seems however, after listening to the Mayor and a couple of others that they (our entire Council) will also be on the Board of Directors.

Councilor Dileo does not support the concept of the corporation and never has, so she did not want to be a director or have her name associated to it. Good for her! (But wait) First… Shame on others for saying she must cooperate because they voted to form the corporation and that motion won, so they feel she is to be forced to “align” herself and be a director and listed on the incorporation documents. WOW!

In the end… they actually convinced her that rshe should be on the board to be able to voice her opinions. She agreed and withdrew her objection.

So, the motion to incorporate passed unanimously. It sounds like our Council is now the new board of directors for a corporation that will be organizing all kinds of great concerts. Our Mayor Brian Smith will be the Chairman of the Board. This is truly bizarre.

I’m curious… will they have to publicly disclose their complete financial dealings, or spending specifics?

By virtue of being on Council, the same people who organized concerts that appear to have cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars this past year are now in charge of operating a new incorporated entertainment company.

These same seven people approved a loan from our tax coffers to provide their corporation $500,000.00 in operating capital. They also previously approved all startup costs to come out of Wasaga Beach Municipal budgets.

To paraphrase a blatantly overused term our Mayor throws around, “let’s be perfectly clear”;

I hope this corporation does not turn into a financial, emberasment or “train wreck”. But the secrecy that is built into its evolution does not give me a lot of confidence.

Ask yourself a few interesting questions I have never heard our Council Members ask;

Will employees hired by the new corporation be subject to “Sunshine List” rules, or will they be excluded because they are not members of Municipal Staff?

Will the new corporation establish its own Human Resources department or will the payroll, benefits and HR oversight be an extension of the Town?

Will this entertainment Corporation have a code of conduct as it relates to VIP treatment of elected officials at their events?

If the corporation organizes a concert like Smiths 2014-18 Term “Shawn Desman” concert, who insures those losses? If a disaster like this occurs, will the corporation simply borrow more money from the town? This is a VERY valid concern as we are talking about a historical blunder that could easily repeat!

Will the corporation pay the town of Wasaga Beach their published rates for all event supplies and services regardless of their ticket sales?

Will the new corporation establish its own insurance policies to eliminate liability to the town for all potential litigation?

Will the new corporation have spending policies that align with all municipal financial regulations, OR as a separate corporation could they contract to whomever they like with no concern for transparency and fairness.

Most importantly, will ALL costs associated with this shell company be reflected in Wasaga Beach Municipal Budgets or would some eventually label it as a large legal slush fund?

To be fair, I said earlier that Council had not asked these questions. That may not be accurate. They may have asked and even have answers to these questions. But I would assume if they did ask… it was behind closed doors. I don’t recall ever hearing these discussions.

A very basic (in my opinion incomplete) report was presented to Council and most simply nodded. Voila…. An entertainment Corporation is born!

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to questions about open and transparent government though. Many of the same questions are valid and should be considered in discussing the “Development Corporation” we have also heard about.

Next…. Another WOW moment in the meeting:

In discussing support for a letter written by the City of Brantford regarding improving code of conduct enforcement, our Deputy Mayor Tanya Snell,said she thinks it’s important to strengthen powers to “limit harassment”. Cool! She specifically mentions social media in her comments. Perhaps she forgets when she called my wife a very derogatory term using her social media account. I guess it’s different when she is the one being criticized by the public?

Then Mayor Brian Smith said he couldn’t agree more, and that he found that social media today was unbelievable in regards to council. Now… for those who remember… stop laughing. For those unaware, Brian Smith spoke at a public meeting after losing his seat previously and called upon his followers to take up their pitchforks and hatchets to go after the 2018-22 Council. Those same supporters attack anyone today who dares to speak out against Council.

Honestly… I don’t make this stuff up.

Go to the letter from the City of Brantford. It is in tge PDF version of the modified agenda. Read it. The irony in all of this is the comments from our Mayor and Deputy Mayor relate to social media. The letter from the city of Brantford actually says very little about social media. It addresses a more robust, regulated Integrity Commisioner process with standardized investigation processes and even the power to remove elected officials from their seats. I say bring it on! It couldn’t happen soon enough.

The next item discussed was the requested letter of support from the Simcoe County District School Board for the public high school being requested in the recent funding requests. They just couldn’t help themselves and repeated that it was largely due to the school board recognizing the pressures the town had made in their efforts.

Only one Councilor put credit to Trustee Mike Foley, so way to go Councilor Dileo. I suspect we will hear many more conversations about this in the next few years. It is great news that we are one step closer to having a full curriculum high school right here at home!!!

There were two very important issues discussed at the Sept.12, 2024 meeting that every taxpayer should review and truly seek the details by reading and deciphering the evidence on their own. Whatever you do, don’t rely on comments made by this vindictive Council.

One issue is the now public integrity commissioner report, made public in this meetings agenda. Several members and the Mayor turn this into a misguided attack on my wife and I. At one point, the CAO even offers to write a report about us for a future meeting. I will be preparing a detailed summary of this entire situation sometime in the next week. Until then… please note that even the Councilors that did comment, contradicted themselves. Councilor White even pointed out that Councilor Belanger’s comments were misleading.

More on this topic later, including the Mayor contradicting HIMSELF and actually breaching his own code of conduct, just to demean those who question him.

Finally in regards to the second agenda item I want to reserve for another day;

I will prepare a detailed discussion post regarding Councilor Dileo’s “Notice of Motion” regarding the public being able to resume making comments at the beginning of meetings.

This is probably the most important discussion and for those wanting to listen, it is at the very end of the meeting. EVERY member of Council speaks on the issue. They had plenty of time to reflect, plenty of time to bounce the topic off of other community members, and they all chose to speak!

Their comments should make it very clear to everyone interested in maintaining a true democracy, that there are clearly 6 members of Council that should NEVER get your vote again if you did put them where they sit.

I will dissect each of their comments separately at a later date, but I will share that I now feel that Councilor Sasha Dileo is the ONLY member interested in open and transparent government.

Her notice of motion should have had 100% support.

Sorry to have such short posts lately. (Lol). Still truly enjoying the opportunity of being a tour guide to my sister in law and their husband. Tomorrow (tonight actually) dinner at the top of the CN Tower.

A place to live. A place to grow…. Ontari ari ari Ohhh!