BATTLE OVER BROCHURES
Ward 10 opponent irate over logo use by incumbent
Does the City of Windsor endorse Ward 10 Coun. Paul Borrelli’s bid for re-election? You might mistakenly think so due to the official City of Windsor logo on Borrelli’s campaign brochure, says one rival candidate.
“This is a sitting council member who is violating rules. It’s very disheartening,” said Michael Patterson, who’s running to be Ward 10’s new representative on city council. “To me, this (brochure) looks like an official release from the City of Windsor.” Distributed earlier this month, the brochure shows a smiling Borrelli beside a prominent City of Windsor logo, under the words “Re-elect Paul Borrelli.”
In a complaint sent to the mayor, all council members and the city ’s integrity commissioner, Patterson said he believes the brochure confuses the public into thinking the municipality supports the re-election of the incumbent councillor, “which, I’m sure you’re aware, is extremely problematic.” Patterson noted that Borrelli’s brochure was distributed around the same time that the City of Windsor issued an official information pamphlet on the Oct. 22 municipal election.
“Even the colours are similar,” Patterson complained. According to Patterson, Borrelli’s brochure violates the city’s own Corporate Visual Identity Standards Guide, which explicitly states that use of the City of Windsor logo “implies endorsement,” and requires written permission to do so.
Patterson believes the brochure is also in violation of the Municipal Elections Act (which prohibits municipal contributions of any kind to election campaigns) and the Code of Conduct for Members of Council (which prohibits use of city-owned materials for personal business).
Asked to comment, Borrelli defended himself in an email message, pointing out that the logo was not digitally added to the brochure: His photo was simply taken by a wall in the new city hall building, and the official city logo is on the wall.
“This location is a public space and is available for photo sessions to any candidate and all members of the general public,” Borrelli wrote.
“In addition, there are other photo possibilities at the exterior of the new city hall complex where the city logo is also present.” According to Borrelli, there is no violation in the brochure, and he considers himself in complete compliance. He noted that in his previous election campaign, he posed for a similar photo using the exterior of the old city hall building.
“There were no complaints from any person or body during that election period,” Borrelli said. But Patterson — a 48-year-old small business owner (Windsor Electric Eel) and married family man — said he remains “unimpressed” by Borrelli. “What really bothered me was his comment, ‘Campaigning is campaigning. Reality is reality,’ ” said Patterson, recalling what he describes as Borrelli’s 2015 reversal on the Windsor auditor general issue.
“It’s one of those things where I shook my head and went, ‘I can’t believe he just said that.’ ” Although Patterson’s candidacy for Ward 10 is his first foray into an electoral race, he describes himself as a lifelong “armchair politician” who follows city hall proceedings closely.
“I’m knocking on doors. Everyone’s telling me they want honesty, integrity and transparency,” Patterson said. “This (brochure) is blatantly breaking the rules.”
I’m knocking on doors. Everyone’s telling me they want honesty, integrity, and transparency.
A similar issue came up earlier this month in the politics of the Town of Essex, where mayoral candidate Katie McGuire-Blais raised complaints about rival candidate Larry Snively’s use of the Town of Essex logo on brochures and wearing of a Town of Essex shirt for photo opportunities. Those complaints led to a rebuke from the Town of Essex solicitor and clerk, and a directive to cease use of the logo.
The City of Windsor’s communications department said municipal officials can’t comment on Patterson’s complaint, as the matter is now in the hands of the integrity commissioner, Bruce Elman. It will be up to Elman what action, if any, is taken.
As far as Patterson is concerned, the damage has already been done. “I just wanted to bring it to (the city’s) attention,” he said.