SERVING THE MAPLETON COMMUNITY
THE
COMMUNITY NEWS VOLUME 51 ISSUE 26
DRAYTON, ONTARIO
1 Year GIC - 2.72% 3 Year GIC - 3.15% 5 Year GIC - 3.32% Daily Interest 2.40%*
638-3328
THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2018
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Council appears poised to avoid lame duck status By Patrick Raftis MAPLETON – With four of five current members having declared candidacy for the Oct. 22 election, it appears unlikely municipal council here will turn into a lame duck on July 27. Mayor Neil Driscoll has filed nomination papers to seek re-election and councillors Lori Woodham, Dennis Craven, Marlene Ottens have all filed nomination papers at this point. Incumbent Ward 2 Wellington County councillor Gregg Davidson has filed nomination papers. The nomination deadline is July 27. A lame duck period will occur if, after that date, less than three quarters of the current council are running for re-election. A lame duck period can also occur between Oct. 22 and Nov. 30 if the election results in less than three quarters of incumbent councillors returning. If council is in a lame duck period, councillors will
not be able to: - appoint or remove township staff; - hire or dismiss municipal employees; - dispose of real or personal property of the municipality, which has a value exceeding $50,000; and - make any expenditure or incur any other liability that exceeds $50,000. Minto status There will be a race for the position of mayor in Minto, with Terry Fisk, a former deputy mayor, challenging incumbent George Bridge. Incumbent councillor Dave Turton is seeking the deputy mayor’s position vacated by incumbent Ron Faulkner, who has stated he is not running for re-election. Only two candidates have filed nomination papers to seek council positions in Minto: incumbent councillor Ron Elliott and Geoff Gunson, who is currently a member of Minto’s Harriston revitalization committee. Incumbent Ward 1 county councillor David Anderson has also declared candidacy.
Birkstead breakfast - Denver Koeslag and his dad Trevor Koeslag of Saskatchewan feed hay to livestock at the Breakfast on the Farm event near Alma on June 23. The Koeslags were visiting family in the area and took time to enjoy the second annual event hosted by the Fergus Fall Fair board at Birkstead Holsteins, which is owned and operated by the Wantenaar family. The Alma Optimist Club prepared and served the breakfast. More photos on page 8. Photo by Caroline Sealey
Baron seeking fall trial date for breach of public trust case By Community News staff SARNIA - Mapleton CAO Manny Baron is expected to request a trial date this fall for a breach of public trust charge.
Baron was not in court on June 20 but an agent appearing on his behalf waived a preliminary hearing and selected a judge-and-jury trial. Baron is expected to request a court date on Sept.
28. Lambton OPP filed the breach of public trust charge against Baron on March 26. It relates to Baron’s leasing of property he owned to the Town of Petrolia while he
was CAO of the town. He did not disclose his ownership of the property to council. Baron resigned from his position in Petrolia on Nov. 14, 2017. He was hired as CAO of Mapleton in January.
Mapleton appoints integrity commission for four-year term Council may review code of conduct in new term By Patrick Raftis MAPLETON – The township has officially appointed an integrity commissioner through a shared arrangement with five other Wellington County municipalities. On June 12, Mapleton council approved a recommendation in a report from clerk Barb Schellenberger to appoint Guy Giorno, a consultant with Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP, to a four-year term as the integrity commissioner for the township and to proceed with an agreement with the firm for his services. Under Bill 68, the Modernizing Municipal Legislation Act, all municipalities will be required to appoint an integrity commissioner by March 1. Previously, municipalities were allowed to opt for the job to default to the provincial
Office of the Ombudsman. Wellington County clerks discussed the appointment of an integrity commissioner last fall and agreed to a joint approach to share the services, similar to the arrangements currently in place with most county municipalities, excluding Mapleton, for a closed meeting investigator. Mapleton currently uses the ombudsman for closed meeting investigation. Wellington County council appointed Giorno as integrity commissioner in November. “Mr. Giorno practices public law with an emphasis on accountability and ethics laws,” stated Schellenber in a report to Mapleton council. “He has significant experience in public sector ethics, conflict of interest, codes of conduct, accountability legislation, lobbyist registration law and election and election
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finance law. He also serves as the integrity commissioner for 20 municipalities in Ontario.” Giorno will be paid $300 per hour for investigations, but will not be on a retainer. The timeline to start using an integrity commissioner will be different for Wellington municipalities, based on whether a code of conduct is in place. The county, Minto and Wellington North plan to have a code in place and to appoint an integrity commissioner for March. Mapleton, Centre Wellington, Erin, Guelph-Eramosa and Puslinch all plan an earlier start date, as they have a code of conduct already in place. In Mapleton, the agreement was set to begin on June 12. The integrity commissioner will report to council and be responsible for:
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- application of the code of conduct for members of council and local boards; - application of procedures, rules and policies of the municipality and local boards governing the ethical behaviour of members; - specified provisions of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act; - requests from members of council and local boards for advice respecting their obligations under the code of conduct; - requests from council and board members for advice respecting their obligations under a procedure, rule or policy governing ethical behavior or conflicts; and - provision of educational information to members of council and local boards, the municipality and the public about the code of conduct and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
WEEKLY WAG
“Most good relationships are built on mutual trust and respect.” - Mona Sutphen
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The report notes integrity commissioners will have new powers to conduct inquiries about whether members have contravened the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. An elector or a person “demonstrably acting in the public interest” could apply to the commissioner for an inquiry and upon completion of an inquiry, a commissioner may forward the matter to court. Costs of applying to a judge will be paid by the municipality. Integrity commissioners can also conduct an inquiry as they consider necessary, including (into) public meetings, and can elect to exercise powers under the Public Inquiries Act, 2009. Mapleton council adopted a code of conduct in June of 2013. Adoption of the code was a reaction to two harassment complaints heard by council during the latter part of 2012. At the time, council also directed the CAO to proceed with recruiting a
BILL’S
municipal integrity commissioner. However, hiring an integrity commissioner was later delayed as pending provincial legislation on municipal accountability (Bill 68) worked its way through the system. Councillor Lori Woodham asked if the new legislation would mean Mapleton will be required to review its code of conduct. “We’re pleased that we are one of the municipalities that have theirs in place, but I know that (in) Bill 68 there’s some requirements that need to be done before March 2019 and I wonder if it might be a good opportunity for us as council to review that code of conduct?” she said. “We absolutely could. Probably the best time to do that exercise would be in the new term of council,” said CAO Manny Baron. “So you do feel that we are complaint with Bill 68?” asked Woodham. “Yes,” Baron replied.
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