Was there really an election?

RE: D’ANGELO SAID HE IS VICTIM OF ‘PROXY WAR,’ FEB. 12; AND GRIMSBY MAYOR, NIAGARA FALLS COUNCILLOR IN HOT WATER AFTER CALLING FOR ACTING NPCA CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER TO BE REPLACED, FEB. 12

Recent stories in this newspaper regarding recently departed Niagara Region chief administrative officer Carmen D’Angelo and the unexplained appointment of the NPCA’s current “interim” chief administrative officer David Barrick should be raising all sorts of concerns.

The actions of our new regional councillors, some of whom are also NPCA board members, makes it quite clear that far from these new councillors wanting to change the way Niagara is governed and bring some “transparency” back to the process they are instead intent on keeping Niagara within a system where any elected politician is not permitted to publicly express the wishes of a majority of their constituents. It is business as usual with all decisions being made behind closed doors.

The two gentlemen referred to in the first paragraph both figure in the Auditor General’s report, the manner of their hiring by both the NPCA and the Region being questioned. We already have former chief administrative officer Mark Brickell suing the NPCA, D’Angelo suing Niagara Region, and who knows how many other discontented ex-public servants may be waiting to follow suit?

Just how many millions of tax dollars will be wasted by a regional council and NPCA board whilst they claim existing protocol means taxpayers, who will ultimately pay for it all, are not permitted to have their views publicly expressed and their questions answered.

Whatever happened to that short-lived dream of a better Niagara?

Andrew Watts

Wainfleet