Today’s review of a previous discussion looks back at discussion 300 of 365.

Why review this one? Well the Town is announcing another concert. That’s right everyone… it’s another “PARTY”. The party-on group of seven has decided to move forward with more risky entertainment spending.

Or, have they? It’s possible they have discussed this behind closed doors, as I don’t recall any public discussion about dates or entertainment selections, but it is more probable, Council has NOT actually made the decisions. What is possible, (and probable) is that the seven members of our Council who also form the board of directors of our new entertainment corporation made the decisions instead.

What is the difference you might ask? Well as the entertainment corporation, they have unrestricted use of $500,000.00 of casino revenue funds that they have (as a council) allocated to themselves (as a board) with little or no public accountability.

I just don’t know what to call them anymore.

Now don’t forget what we mentioned back in discussion 300… Profit has been assured by our CAO’s who convinced our Council to create this Party Planning Corporation. As we dive into a year where we will probably suffer a budget increase in excess of 6%, is there any method in place to provide oversight of ALL OF the spending? What will the cost of staff cutting off the protective shrink wrap, moving the arena floor out of the snow, installing it, tearing it apart, returning it to the snow and shrink wrapping it again be? Will that cost simply be absorbed by a few departments or rightfully charged to the Party-on Corporation? Will beer and food sales be tendered, insured and operated by the Town, or by the Entertaining Corporation? Will the Council insist that the Corporation provide their own insurance policy? Wait, it’s the same people that run that board right? Will the TPAL have renovations or modifications provided to accommodate the needs of this concert? Who will pay those? Will the concert corporation pay s rental fee to the Town and also absorb lost revenue streams from regular ice bookings? Has the advertising I have featured here been paid for by the corporation or by the town?

Now, I know I have mentioned before that once the original Board of Directors actually incorporated the corporation, there was nothing compelling them to inform the public to any changes they may have made to their bylaws and the composition of their board, but they wouldn’t make major changes without notifying the public would they? I don’t know the answer to that. Maybe Gerry Marshall can answer that. He is one of the Towns CAO’s and according to the promotional posters, he is now also a “Director” of Wasaga Beach Sports and Entertainment”. Looks like the hiring has begun.

Cool! Two jobs! One has to wonder if they both pay or if the Town is paying his CAO wages so that the upcoming concert he appears to be planning will look profitable? Or… perhaps the new party corporation is paying the wages to split the yearly income and avoid the sunshine list. So many questions, but we are stuck wondering such things because our Council has set everything up to be a big secret. That’s okay, a private corporation should not share the remuneration of its board or employees…. Right??

I’m guessing the concert will have the appearance of profit assigned to it in a power point presentation to Council after the event, with bullet points that highlight the gross ticket sales, the parking revenue and even advertising / sponsorship they may sell. But, will that power point have all costs in it, or will we have to discover them months after the event by scouring various entries in the public cheque registers. (Like we did for the previous concerts/parties).

Hey… if you like concerts, get ready for a really hefty tax increase in 2026, as the final year for this Council will be FILLED with campaign styled parties/ concerts. Hopefully by then, the public will at least be aware of how many employees the party corporation has, what remuneration the board of directors get and how costly it will be for the next Council to tear it all down and get out of the party business.

But, this begs the question… what is Stonebridge role? Are they “profit sharing”? Who gets the cash only parking revenue? The Town, the Party Corporation, Stonebridge, a shared pool?

Having said all of that… get your tickets early. Locals should capture some of the tickets, after all… we are all subsidizing yet another party. Might as well attend!