Editor: The admission by Mayor Darrin Canniff at the March 9 council meeting that he intentionally hand-picked seven councillors for a private meeting with the OHL to avoid reaching a legal quorum should be a wakeup call for every taxpayer in Chatham-Kent.
The mayor’s defense that he was simply following the rules provided by the clerk is a cynical manipulation of the Municipal Act legislation. The Act’s open meeting requirements exist to ensure that when the future of the community is discussed, the public has a seat at the table.
By deliberately keeping the attendance at eight people (one shy of quorum for the 18-member council), the mayor didn’t follow the law, he navigated around it.
We are talking about a project with a potential price tag of $220 million. Deciding which councillors are interested enough to be included in early negotiations is not how a democracy functions. It creates a two-tiered council where a favored few hold the information while the rest of council and the taxpayers they represent are left in the dark.
Councillors Bondy, Jubenville and Storey, yet again, attempted to come to the rescue for taxpayers but were dismissed in their attempt to represent the citizenry.
If a project is good for Chatham-Kent, it should be able to withstand the light of a public council forum. Using secret meeting tactics to build momentum for massive capital projects is not leadership, but an admission the plan might not survive public scrutiny.
Transparency isn’t a hurdle to be cleared by finding loopholes. It’s the foundation of the office the mayor holds.
In this election year, voters should ask themselves, if the mayor and administration are hiding responsible and accountable processes now, what else will they hide when the bills for a $220-million arena start coming due and what costs associated with the Community Hub project have not have been disclosed?
All this, folks, is on our financial backs.
Communities are built on affordability, not high taxes and secret deals. In addition to the mayors’ grandiose ideas, C-K has a $19-million annual shortfall for roads and bridges.
Our 4.63-per-cent tax hike is smothering our citizenry.
When the mayor meets in secret to discuss an OHL arena, he is prioritizing a want (entertainment ) over a need (safe transportation for the agriculture and business sectors and keeping C-K affordable to live, work and play). If this arena is such a good idea, put it to a referendum on the October ballot.
John Cryderman
Chatham
Editor’s note: The mayor discussed the meeting on local morning radio broadcasts.
