July 27, 2011
Deputy mayor
challenges mayor's decision
by Vance Gutzman
Deep River Mayor David Thompson had his cheque-signing acumen called
into question last week.
Deputy Mayor Mary MacCafferty accused the mayor of low-balling the
town's support for the nuclear industry by not signing a $3,000 cheque
for the municipality's registration with the Ontario East Economic
Development Commission's (OEEDC) Advanced Manufacturer's Group (AMG).
MacCafferty made that accusation at last week's council meeting,
stating that earlier this month the mayor "decided unilaterally not to
sign" the $3,000 registration cheque despite her contention that the
funds had already been approved in this year's budget.
MacCafferty said she brought the matter up with Thompson, who, in turn,
suggested she bring it to the council table for discussion, which she
did at last week's regular council meeting, where she pointed out the
benefits of belonging to the AMG.
The AMG is an offshoot of the OEEDC, a 125-member organization with a
mandate to promote Eastern Ontario as a preferred location for business
investment.
Maintaining registration, MacCafferty stated, "would have confirmed
Deep River's continued commitment to promoting this community to
potential partners within the nuclear industry," and would also have
confirmed economic development director John Walden's continued role as
a member of the nuclear industry sector of the OEEDC - a sector he has
chaired for the past two years.
MacCafferty said the town's registration as a member of the OEEDC has
been a standing arrangement with past councils for several years, and
was recently discussed at a joint economic development committee with
its municipal neighbours, prior to being presented to Deep River
council as part of its 2011 budget.
"The mayor reversed this council decision on his own," MacCafferty
argued.
The fall-out, MacCafferty went on, from not being a member of the OEEDC
is that there is an Organization of CANDU Industries' (OCI) suppliers
event scheduled to be held at Chalk River Labs (CRL) this coming
September, to which Walden had been invited to attend for free, due to
his membership with the AMG.
"The mayor's decision to pull Deep River's registration was read by the
OEEDC as a loss of interest by Deep River in promoting nuclear industry
opportunities and business development for our community, despite being
the key nuclear community in Eastern Ontario," MacCafferty said.
The deputy mayor also claimed that the mayor's actions prompted the
OEEDC to opt out of the upcoming suppliers event, and that two days
after that the group pared its $10,000 budget down to just $1,500.
"This could not have come at a worse time for our community, with so
much speculation about AECL's future," MacCafferty said.
The deputy mayor was recommending that the mayor go ahead and sign the
cheque, but Mayor Thompson defended the way he uses his cheque-signing
authority.
"It's a role I take very seriously," he said.
"I look at each and every one."
Thompson said there are usually two or three cheques he asks staff for
more information on before signing them, and the one for the OEEDC was
one such cheque.
In the same cheque run, Thompson added, there were a number of cheques
attributed to the economic development department, including $500 for a
magazine ad, more than $8,000 consultants fees for Expo 150 and
$2,500 for posters.
"I chose not to sign the (OEEDC) cheque," Thompson said, after
deliberations with both staff and budget chief Councillor Chris Carroll.
"It's not about joining organizations, it's about getting results."
That being said, Thompson said he would sign the $3,000 cheque if
council were to decide to do so by form of formal resolution.
Other council members then joined in the discussion, including some
blood-curdling remarks made by Councillor Ron Desrochers.
"I have a problem with every single purchase where there's no value for
money," Desrochers said.
"My blood curdles when someone is given a budget and they piss it away."
That prompted the mayor to, in turn, defend the integrity of his
economic development officer.
"I know Mr. Walden very well, and I would never accuse him of pissing
it away," Thompson said.
And the mayor, himself, received support from Councillor Terry Myers,
who questioned the integrity of the OEEDC itself.
"It makes me question their commitment to the nuclear industry," Myers
said.
"This isn't something that should depend on us signing a membership
cheque."
Walden, in turn, who was also in attendance at last week's meeting,
defended the need to be a member of the OEEDC.
"They respond to the needs of the people who pay to be part of the
committee," Walden said, adding that the OEEDC is a well-respected
voice at the provincial government level.
"That's a real plus for the nuclear industry," Walden said.
"I would not want to see that go by the way-side."
The deputy mayor, meanwhile, went on to chide her fellow councillors
into supporting the town's continued involvement with the OEEDC.
"You vote for $10,000 worth of furniture for the downstairs (lobby) and
that's three times as much as this to sustain our community in a time
of complete uncertainty," she said, while looking around the council
table.
"We're turning our backs on the nuclear industry."
Later in the meeting MacCafferty introduced a resolution calling
upon the town to continue its participation with the AMG of the OEEDC.
The motion was seconded by the mayor, for the purposes of getting it to
the table, but council tabled the resolution until its August 17
meeting, in order to obtain more information
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