Pelham hopes to clear the air on finances
There is no secret forensic audit of Pelham’s finances, and allegations about $ 17 million in unreported debt by a former Pelham councillor “are false,” says the town’s mayor, Dave Augustyn.
Hoping to clear up misconceptions that have arisen since former Ward 1 Coun. Marvin Junkin disclosed confidential information from a Sept. 5 closed- doors meeting, the town plans to release as much information as possible from that meeting without violating the Municipal Freedom of Information Act.
Junkin, who resigned from his position on Pelham council at the Nov. 6 meeting after making the allegations in a local newspaper and in a Nov. 12 email sent to a regional councillor, has not responded to numerous phone calls from Postmedia.
Augustyn said the discussion at the Sept. 5 meeting was in reference to a report by KPMG commissioned by Pelham’s lawyers in response to threatened legal action by an identifiable individual — it was not about a secret forensic audit.
And Junkin’s allegation regarding $ 17 million in debt that does not appear on the town’s annual audited financial statements, Augustyn added, “is garbled, confused and erroneous.”
Earlier this week, Pelham councillors unanimously approved a motion to ask KPMG to include all financial findings and conclusions discussed during the Sept. 5 meeting as part of a forensic audit of town finances, to be presented at a special council meeting planned for next Wednesday.
Personal information, employee negotiations and legal matters that were part of that report will be removed to ensure the information does not conflict with the reason for holding the Sept. 5 meeting behind closed doors in the first place.
“I don’t want to go into it any further,” Augustyn said. “It’s going to become clear on Nov. 29. Folks will be able to make their own determination. I think that’s the best way to do it.”
The meeting will take place starting 6: 30 p. m. in the E. L. Crossley Secondary School cafeteria, as the subject matter is expected to attract more people than can be accommodated in council chambers.