Ratepayers’ group non-partisan: Westlake

Highest-scoring councillor rents home to association founder

The president of the Peterborough Ratepayers’ Association says it doesn’t matter that he’s a noted Conservative who rents his home from a longtime friend, Coun. Andrew Beamer, who was the highest-graded council member in the association’s new council report card.

The group, Jeff Westlake says, was objective in its evaluations and is staunchly non-partisan.

Westlake laughed when asked if he can flunk Beamer, his friend of 12 years, despite their friendship and financial relationship.

“Sure I can,” Westlake said. “Trust me: If I thought he was underperforming, I’d call him out on it.”

Beamer said Wednesday he doesn’t think tenancy should prohibit anyone from participating in public life.

“I think it’s bizarre that people’s housing situations is newsworthy,” Westlake added.

Beamer got 96 per cent in the association’s new council report card, which measures:

á How fast councillors respond to constituents’ concerns;

á Attendance at council, committee and board meetings;

á How they voted on a pay raise for themselves in late 2018;

á How they voted on a tax increase of 2.5 per cent for 2019.

These are “objective” metrics, Westlake said, and they left Mayor Diane Therrien with a grade of 21 per cent.

But Therrien tweeted Wednesday that it didn’t worry her, considering the association is so conservative.

“I would actually be concerned if this right-wing partisan group gave me a high grade,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, a petition was posted online Wednesday calling on citizens to speak out against “blatantly partisan” articles in The Examiner (in reference to Tuesday’s reporting on the association’s report card).

Coun. Keith Riel (grade: 17 per cent) also wrote to The Examiner Wednesday to say the newspaper was “pandering to some fringe group” in its coverage. The Peterborough Ratepayers’ Association has Westlake as president plus seven directors, two of whom — Wade Hamblin and Les Kariunas — endorsed Peterborough-Kawartha Progressive Conservative MPP Dave Smith in the last provincial election.

Director Derek Andreoli ran as a contestant for the Conservative candidacy against Smith.

Westlake ran unsuccessfully for council in 2014 and in 2018, and he managed both Smith’s campaign and former Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro’s campaign.

He was also on a citizens’ committee that reviewed council’s compensation in 2017.

But Westlake said the association, which has more than 70 members, includes people of all political stripes — and many members have never voted Conservative.

He also noted that other groups such as Sustainable Peterborough and For Our Grandchildren size up council on environmentalism yet don’t get called partisan.

Finally, Westlake said the association’s next two highest grades were given to Coun. Lesley Parnell (95 per cent) and to Coun. Henry Clarke (94 per cent) — and both have been Liberals.

Clarke noted Wednesday that the association measured council members by narrow criteria.

“They obviously had certain points that are very important to them and I was fortunate that I was very well-aligned with them,” he said.

All members of council were asked Tuesday to respond to the report card, and by Wednesday evening there was no comment available from Coun. Kim Zippel, Coun. Don Vassiliadis, Coun. Dean Pappas or Coun. Stephen Wright.

Coun. Kemi Akapo said Tuesday she’d respond later in the week.

Coun. Lesley Parnell said reelection is the only assessment that matters.

Coun. Gary Baldwin said he would not be offering a comment.