THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2023. PAGE 7.
Recreation figures altered, claims Luttenberger Continued from page 1 answer before passing the budget. Evans said the amount being used from the Westario reserve fund, $10,000, is insignificant when considering the bigger picture, a
reply that did not satisfy Wright. Members of the public expressed dissatisfaction with the North Huron budget process during the public comment period of the statutory meeting. Concerns about a
lack of transparency and limited public consultation were voiced. The vast changes in the budget document from the first draft to the final draft left citizens questioning whether or not council was
Getting creative Last week and through the weekend, Blyth played host to the annual NTS Theatre Festival, which brought secondary-school students from throughout the region together in the name of theatre. They participated in workshops and rehearsals at Memorial Hall and Trinity Anglican Church to brush up on their skills. (John Stephenson photo)
‘Poetry in the Gallery’ set with three poets scheduled This year, to complement its return to Memorial Hall’s Bainton Gallery for in-person shows originally scheduled for 2020, the Blyth Festival Art Gallery will be hosting three “Poetry in the Gallery” events in conjunction with its shows. “This year, the Blyth Festival Art Gallery is bringing the spoken word and fine arts together as we host our inaugural ‘Poetry in the Gallery’ evenings in conjunction with our three professional shows,” reads a press release from the gallery, authored by Gallery President Carl Stevenson. Lucknow-based photographer Hannah Dickie will open the season with an exhibition of her farmfocused photography between June 16 and July 15. During her show, Nathanya Field will open the “Poetry in the Gallery” series on July 7 at 7:30 p.m. Field is a poet, playwright and storyteller whose work often explores her “rural and queer roots and all the places they tangle together”. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, earned at the University of Guelph, a Bachelor of Art (Honours) in Theatre and English from the University of Windsor and is the former Windsor Grand Slam Champion and Slam Team Captain. Field, after spending a number of years outside of the community, has returned home to Huron County. London-based Blair Trewartha will be the next artist to host a “Poetry in the Gallery” event on July 28 at 7:30 p.m., in conjunction with Rob Tetu and his collection of potters exhibiting Japanese Shino techniques and more from July 21 to Aug. 12. Trewartha’s debut, full-length
poetry collection, entitled Easy Fix, was published by Palimpsest Press in 2014 and was shortlisted for the Relit Award. He is also the author of three chapbooks - Break In, 2010; Porcupine Burning, 2012, and Human Energy, 2022 - and his poetry has appeared in Carousel, Prism, Event, Existere, CV2, The Dalhousie Review, and Prairie Fire Magazine. While Trewartha now lives in London, he was born and raised on a farm outside of Clinton. To end the season, Blyth-based artist Kelly Stevenson will bring her work to the walls of the Bainton Gallery from Aug. 18 to Sept. 9. Coinciding with her show will be the “Poetry in the Gallery” event featuring London’s Joanne Stryker on Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Stryker divided her time between
Huron County and the United Kingdom before returning to Ontario to live in London. Her poetry has been published in a number of anthologies and journals and has won prizes both in Canada and abroad. After, a sequence of mourning poems, was published in Wales and launched in England in 2018. She currently has work in three collections: The Swedish Death Purge, Here/After, and a series of love poems. The “Poetry in the Gallery” evenings are meant to bring people together in the Bainton Gallery after so many years to take in the art, followed by the poetry events, Stevenson said in the release, and add a new aspect of art to a gallery that has traditionally hosted visual arts.
Easter egg hunt set From Marilyn’s Desk By Marilyn Craig Call 523-9318
Happy birthday to Will Nesbit, who will celebrate on April 8, and Kerry Diebold, who will celebrate on April 13. Happy birthday to both of you and enjoy your day. Happy anniversary to Gerald and Nancy Hakkers on April 7. Don’t forget to come to the Easter egg hunt on Saturday sponsored by Friends of the Village of Blyth and supported by North Huron.
NEWS FROM BLYTH
handling its budget process in a way that respected the public interest. Palmer said he is deeply concerned about $400,000 in cuts from the recreation department’s budget, which he says amounts to around 20 per cent of the total. “My business couldn’t operate with a 20 per cent cut.” He worried that the recreation department budget is underfunded and the result could be a deficit at the end of the year. Palmer questioned Director of Recreation Vicky Luttenberger directly about the concerns he had with potential underfunding. Luttenberger revealed that the numbers she had submitted for the recreation department’s budget had been changed by Townes, saying, “the amount that I submitted was cut, it was reduced by Director Townes.” She went on to point out additional discrepancies between what she had submitted and what was before council. Luttenberger had planned for growth in areas like registration and memberships, a reasonable assumption for postpandemic recreation. “Again, those are not the numbers I submitted for the budget. I had submitted numbers depicting a growth in participation levels… in terms of recreation programs, off the top of my head, I had submitted about $104,000 for projected revenue, and Director Townes reduced it to $95,000,” she explained, which was just one example of the changes made. Palmer found it questionable that projected revenues were being trimmed, and Luttenberger concurred. She went on to point out yet another issue created by this mercurial budget, in regards to the recreation department’s miscellaneous expenses, budgeted at $20,000 every year. “It was for emergencies in the facilities, if we had to do an emergency repair, or replacement of equipment… that $20,000 has been deleted from the budget, and we need to have that $20,000 back in there, because, to
be quite honest, we’ve already spent it.” Palmer expressed additional concern about decreases in maintenance for facilities projected to grow in usage. All of these revelations raised further questions about who would be held accountable in the event of the recreation department going over budget. With Townes absent from the meeting, those questions remain unanswered. Palmer summed up his issues on the subject, saying “if there’s a deficit at the end of the year, it’s not the director’s fault that her budget is different from Director Townes’ budget… we know that there’s going to potentially be a problem, and it could be rectified.” Councillor Wright voiced a similar sentiment, stating “I’m concerned about the process that was used to get here. I think there should be clear accountability with the different budgets… we’re going to be here this time next year, and if people are over budget or under budget, you can look the department manager in the eye and say ‘where did things go well, where did things go wrong?… I don’t know who to hold accountable for the recreation budget.” Wright elucidated the source of his concern, saying “Our Director of Finance is new to the area, I’m not aware of any background that they have in recreation, so what process did he use to come up with the numbers used in recreation to override our department manager on those numbers?” The absence of Townes proved yet again to be a detriment to the proceedings, as he was not available to explain his process. Ready or not, Deputy-Reeve Kevin Falconer motioned to accept the budget as presented, which was seconded by Whitfield. In a recorded vote, Palmer and Wright voted against approving the 2023 budget as presented, but were outvoted by the balance of council.
PRINTING IS OUR BUSINESS • Colour • Business Printing Forms • Posters • Brochures • Letterheads • Flyers • Envelopes • Carbonless • Business Forms Cards • Labels WE CAN DO IT ALL!
BLYTH PRINTING INC. BLYTH 523-9211
