Pelham cleared — again
Ombudsman, municipal affairs minister both rule in town’s favour
The Town of Pelham has again been cleared of allegations of wrongdoing after more than a year of scrutiny regarding its finances.
While a letter from Municipal Affairs Minister Bill Mauro said the province will not conduct an audit of the town despite a petition and Niagara Region motion supporting it, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé has cleared the town of allegations pertaining to a Sept. 5, 2017, in-camera meeting.
Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn said he hopes the decisions — that were to be publicly discussed at Monday’s town council meeting — “bring an end to a sad chapter for our community” and allow the town to “move on and get ready for this very exciting next chapter.”
Mauro’s April 23 letter said municipalities are “responsible and accountable governments with the authority to make decisions on matters within their own jurisdictions, including management of their finances.”
“As such, the ministry will not be proceeding with a provincial municipal audit,” Mauro wrote, while also encouraging the town and regional council to “work together to address these issues locally.”
The request for the provincial audit was based on a 213-signature petition and supported by regional council earlier this year.
Augustyn said Mauro’s decision not to conduct an audit of Pelham’s finances “is very heartening” and “kind of closes the loop on some of the drama that occurred in January and into February of this year,” and recognizes that the town complies with provincial criteria regarding municipal debt, and is well within the limits of using 25 per cent of income on debt payments.
The final report from the ombudsman’s office said the town did not contravene the Municipal Act on Sept. 5 when councillors met behind
closed doors to discuss a consultant’s report, receive legal advice and hear a staff presentation; and the town also did not contravene legislation when its members met informally following that council meeting.
Augustyn said the ombudsman’s investigation was based on “garbled statements about what occurred or didn’t occur,” and the final report “essentially solidifies and reconfirms what we’ve been saying all along about that meeting.”
Grimsby regional Coun. Tony Quirk, chair of Niagara’s audit committee, called it “disappointing that Minister Mauro chose to ignore the concerns of the citizens of Pelham raised in the petition.”
Nevertheless, he said the Region’s efforts have led to the development of a new debt risk framework for dealing with debenture requests from lower-tier municipalities, approved by the audit committee Monday morning.
“I think that we will no longer be a rubber stamp for local debt,” Quirk said in an email, calling it “the best possible outcome.”
The debt risk framework has yet to be approved by regional council, but Augustyn said the Region already determines if municipalities fall within the province’s 25 per cent debt repayment limit.
“Anything else really is beyond the jurisdiction of the Region and the municipalities have been clear on that with their motions.” he said, adding a majority of the region’s municipal councils representing most of Niagara’s population have passed motions calling for the Region to “butt out.”
He said people expect their governments to work together, “and any move away from that by regional council should not be supported.”
Augustyn said the ombudsman’s report and Mauro’s letter — as well as earlier reports from Infrastructure Ontario and KPMG — “close the loop on all of these accusations.”
“I feel sad for members of the public in Pelham that they’ve had to go through this emotional roller-coaster with the municipality, as all these accusations were launched against us. But I’m obviously pleased at the result,” Augustyn said.