Brampton news outlet to get city funding
Councillors with ties to volunteer-run Brampton Focus vote v in favour of $150,000 pilot
Brampton council recently approved uuup to $150,000 in funding for Neigh- bourhood Watch Brampton, which also includes a “media partnership” with local news outlet Brampton Focus. Brampton council voted on July 10 to
fund both Neighbourhood Watch and Brampton Focus — organizations operated by the same people — for six months. Two sitting councillors — rookie Ward 1 and Ward 5 represent a autonomy tives Paul Vicente and Rowena Santos — are both former volunteer directors of the not-for-profit media outlet.
“Brampton Focus was created, by locals who volunteer their time, and selffinance a broadcast media facility. This is very important in this day of ‘nudge nudge wink wink’ media and politics, particularly in a community that had no real voice,” wrote former Brampton Focus contributor Michael A. Charbon in an op-ed in May 2017.
Mayor Patrick Brown told council that discussions with Brampton Focus bosses Don McLeod and Fazal Khan had been ongoing for six months, or very shortly after Brampton’s new council was sworn in last December. He said they had originally asked for $300,000 in funding. McLeod and Khan have been behind the volunteer-run neighbourhood
watch program and Brampton Focus for years, but the organizations are separate entities.
“Brampton Focus is leading the way in community based media engagement through integrated Social, Web, Broadcast and Print solutions. We are on the front lines of change in the media industry and helping our communities and clients with innovative solutions to reach their audience,” reads the entirety of the “about us” section of the Brampton Focus website, making no mention of Neighbourhood Watch Brampton.
Questions sent to Brampton Focus were not answered by press time.
A city staff report said Brampton Focus is Neighbourhood Watch Brampton’s “parent company.” The city emphasizes the “community safety” aspect of the initiative as a staff report described the partnership with Brampton Focus as an opportunity to use the media outlet to “advance city messaging.”
The city didn’t provide an answer when asked to clarify what “city messaging” means or what access Brampton Focus will have. However, at council’s July 10 meeting, Khan and McLeod asked members of council if they could use the city-owned Rose Theatre free of charge for a federal election debate between candidates from across the Greater Toronto Area, with plans to promote the event beyond Brampton’s borders through its new partnership.
Vicente was among the founding directors of Brampton Focus, which was launched by local politicos and failed candidates after the 2014 municipal election. Santos sat on the online broadcaster’s board of directors. Neither Vicente nor Santos declared pecuniary interests before voting.
“Paul Vicente and Rowena Santos were volunteer members of the board of Brampton Focus until they officially resigned from their positions in December 2017. Neither received remuneration in their roles as volunteers for the organization,” the pair said in a joint statement.
According to the city, the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act states that declarations of pecuniary interest are left up to individual members of a council.
“As mayor, I see no conflict. They are hard-working, passionate community activists that volunteered with a not-forprofit,” Brown said.
While voting unanimously in favour of the partnership, some councillors did raise concerns.
Wards 7 and 8 Coun. Charmaine Williams raised concerns about sidestepping the city’s public request for proposal process for contracts over $100,000. “How do we know we’re getting the best value for money for taxpayers if we have no comparisons?” Williams asked.
According to acting CAO Joe Pittari, the city is allowed to skip the mandated RFP process “in very rare cases.”
He told council this qualified because it’s only a pilot project at council’s direction, which will be re-evaluated in six months.