NPCA CAO questions Quirk flyers
The chief administrative officer of Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority says he has questions about an official NPCA flyer sent to every household in Grimsby that contains election campaign-style messaging about authority board member and regional Coun. Tony Quirk.
The flyers, paid for by NPCA, invite residents to attend a May 31 public meeting to discuss a floodplain mapping program. The back of the flyer contains a seven-paragraph message touting the work of Quirk, claiming he is “leading the charge” on NCPA’s strategic plan and is “one of the most active board members at NPCA.”
Two photos on the back of the flyer are of Quirk — one at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the other his Niagara Region profile photo.
The election for regional council, which appointed Quirk to NPCA in 2015, is this October. Quirk has yet to declare his intention to run for re-election.
Mark Brickell, CAO of NPCA, said in a Monday interview that he has several questions about the flyers and its messaging about Quirk in an election year.
“You’re asking the right questions, and those are the questions that I have,” said Brickell, who is away from work this week.
He said he learned about the flyer on Friday and is working to get answers from NPCA staff and from Quirk.
Quirk did not respond to an interview request from The Standard Monday. However, in an email to local activist Ed Smith — the authority was ordered to pay Smith $131,000 after a failed defamation suit — Quirk said the flyers cost NPCA $848.92 plus HST.
He said the flyers were sent “using the same delivery service I use for my regional flyers.”
In the email, Quirk said NPCA could not get the appropriate mapping information from the Town of Grimsby, and it would have cost almost twice as much as the flyers to buy the required data.
Quirk’s email did not mention the messaging on the back of the flyer.
Recently released regional expense data showed Quirk has spent more than $2,460 of public funds on flyers, flyer deliveries, newspaper ads and other information and promotional materials in the first quarter of 2018. No other regional councillor has similar claims listed in their
expenses.
Quirk, along with Port Colborne councillor and NPCA staffer David Barrick and Fort Erie councillor and NPCA chairman Sandy Annunziata have come in for criticism over similar flyers recently produced and emailed using their regional expenses.
The cost of Barrick and Annunziata’s flyers — they are not related to NPCA matters — do not yet appear on publicly released
accounts.
Asked if NPCA has a policy governing publicly funded messaging by board members, Brickell did not have an immediate answer, saying he needed to consult with NPCA personnel first. However, he did say NPCA board members do not have the same kind of expense accounts as regional councillors.
He said board members get a per diem payment for attending meetings and their expenses are covered when they attend workshops or conferences. He said they do not have accounts to send
out flyers or engage in political messaging.
Brickell, who called politicization of NPCA inappropriate and unacceptable during an October press conference, said he would try to get the bottom of the issue as quickly as possible.
The Standard asked NPCA if similar flyers are being produced for other board members, but did not receive an immediate answer Monday.