What started as a relatively uneventful and calm Council meeting turned sour awfully quickly under the ‘New Business’ portion of the meeting. Councillor Bradley addressed Council, but specifically the two members who hold seats on the Police Services Board (PSB), Councillor Campbell and Mayor Williams. Her concern was a recent story that was published in the Orangeville Banner on September 18th in regards to a settlement being reached in a lawsuit filed against the Orangeville Police Service related to the tragic death of Heidi Ferguson.
Councillor Bradley cited concerns with members of Council not being notified of this settlement (which according to the Banner’s article, was reached in November 2016), whether or not the taxpayers of Orangeville are paying for this settlement, as well as why it is only being published now, rather than 10 months ago when it happened.
Mayor Williams began his rebuttal stating that perhaps her questions were better suited for a PSB meeting and that often in cases of this nature, part of the settlement agreement prevents the information from being made public. Mayor Williams repeatedly said that all of the relevant and public information was part of the press release.
Councillor Bradley, unsatisfied with this answer, again asked Mayor Williams about the press release…when was it sent out? The settlement was almost a year ago…why would a press release be issued now? At this point, Mayor Williams became noticeably frustrated. and replied “If you’re looking for exact dates, which seems to be your question, I’m not an encyclopedia. I would really refer you to the police service board’s secretary. She could give you exact dates and a copy of the press release, which I think is on the police website as well.”
**Sidebar** I receive all press releases. There was no press release issued. And there was nothing posted on the Orangeville Police Services website. But, I immediately did my due diligence and double-checked my emails as well as the website in case I did miss something…Nope…nothing there. I also have since reached out to the Chair of the PSB, Ken Krakar, who confirmed with this reply….“Per your request, and at the advice of counsel, we can confirm a settlement was reached, on November 15, 2016. Any and all terms of the settlement are confidential pursuant to a non-disclosure provision. A press release was not issued in accordance with this non-disclosure provision.”
Integrity Commissioner
The portion of the meeting for bylaws became very strange as well. Typically motions to pass bylaws are a formality as all of the discussion leading to the enactment of a bylaw have already occurred. On Monday night, Councillor Kidd asked to vote separately on the bylaw that would officially renew Guy Giorno’s term as Orangeville’s Integrity Commissioner. After voting on the other bylaws, Councillor Kidd spoke out stating that he could not support this due to the cost of having an Integrity Commissioner. Town Clerk, Susan Greatrix interjected to inform Council that as of March 2019, it has been made mandatory for Ontario municipalities to have an Integrity Commissioner.
Councillors Kidd and Garisto along with Mayor Williams voted against the motion. With the absence of Councillor Wilson from the meeting, that created a tie – hence the motion failed.
Following the vote, the Mayor asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting which was supported by all of Council with the exception of Deputy Mayor Maycock. As members of Town staff and Council were packing up their belongings, the Deputy Mayor was obviously frustrated. He stood with papers in hand exclaiming that he just didn’t understand what happened. He held the minutes from a previous Council meeting held on August 21st, 2017 where the motion to renew the appointment of the Integrity Commissioner was carried unanimously!!!
The Deputy Mayor was obviously flustered, as was the clerk. With that motion already carrying at a previously meeting, can this even happen? I am eagerly awaiting a response from Susan Greatrix to confirm with her what happens now and I will provide an update as soon as I receive it.
UPDATE: I received the following response from Susan Greatrix in regards to this item:
“Although the August 21st motion was unanimous, Mayor Williams and Councillors Garisto and Campbell were absent from the meeting.
Just to add fuel to the fire, Councillor Don Kidd then says to the Deputy Mayor; “I think it’s time for you to retire.” Deputy Mayor Maycock proceeds to walk towards the door but instead turned and walked towards the gallery and walked up behind me. He then announces that the biggest mistake he has made through this term of Council was not complying with “this young lady’s” request to resign. (This was in reference to the Open Letter that I wrote to Town Council back in September 2016 requesting resignations from all members of Council.) Unfortunately, because the motion to adjourn had already carried, Rogers TV had already ceased filming and everything after the adjournment was not caught on camera.
The Good Stuff
There were a few good things that came out of this meeting as well. For starters, congratulations to the Communities in Bloom Committee! Ted Zarundy spoke and presented Council with the 2 awards that were won at the National level – ‘5 Bloom Bronze’ and ‘Community of Gardeners’! Way to go!
Members of the Orangeville Legion were present to request that the Lorne Scots Memorial Monument be placed in Alexandra Park. Despite Councillor Kidd’s objection to their request, stating that he would like to see it placed in Greenwood Cemetery or at ODSS instead, their request was carried.
The 2017 Accessibility plan was presented to Council. Councillor Gail Campbell along with the Director of Parks and Rec, Ray Osmond, highlighted some of the great things that are coming including the completion of a walkway around the cenotaph to ensure that the area is accessible for everyone in time for Remembrance Day.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of Council is scheduled to take place on Monday October 16th, 2017 at 7pm inside Council Chambers.
So well written and reported. Thank you Lisa.
Is it just me noticing this, but whenever we have ‘drama’ at our town hall the exact same two people are behind it.
Sylvia Bradley and the Mayor.
This is why council is a circus and can’t get nothing done. Too much time fighting over drama.
Voters have an easy fix. Fire them both in 2018.
Thks so much Lisa For keeping myself and so many informed on these meetings. Top Shelf Lisa as allways.??
The arrogance and inaccuracy in the response to Councillor Bradley’s questions asked of the Mayor regarding the legal settlement with OPS, was astounding! (however consistent). Dreadful example of leadership.
Thanks Lisa, I always look forward to your summaries of the council meetings.
I have had enough of Bradley’s antics. She is vindictive, and she is much more interested is sniping at the OPS because her ego is hurt, then moving on and doing some great things for our town. She reminds me of a sad story from my hometown council. We had a councillor who had been on council for 20plus years, she had an awesome reputation and was well respected. In her last term she became the exact same as Bradley, vindictive, had personal agendas, and wasted town resources and money. This once beloved councillor has now become an embarrassment, and a disgrace to the town. Very sad legacy to leave.
I agree Kelli. Bradley’s antics are out of control. It’s clear her only objective is being vindictive. She can’t get over the fact that OPS is here to stay. Move on Bradley.
Since she loves going to the fake news banner for her vindictive behavior, and being so concerned about cost’s to the town, perhaps Ms. Bradley could answer my questions. I posed it to her before but she never answered. So I will pose it again.
I’m waiting for her to provide a costing for all the money she has wasted over all the years on council. Not this term. All terms on council.
Here are the questions again in case she lost them.
1. How many complaints have you filed against fellow councilors? How much did that cost?
2. How many ‘staff reports’ have you request. How much has that cost?
3. How many ‘consultants’ have you requested. How much did that cost.
4. How many ‘pet projects’ have you been instrumental behind? How much has that cost.
These are just a few to get started 🙂
I am in agreement here. While I have been super critical of the Mayor in the past (for things I still believe are warranted), I can also recognize that in his own way, even if it doesn’t look how I feel it should look, he has attempted to do a lot of good for this town. Yes, there are a lot of things he has done that are unprofessional, but Sylvia has had plenty of opportunities to be the bigger person. Over and over and over again.
She’s made mountains out of moleholes, and as you’ve said has pursued vendettas. Even if I question some of the Mayor’s intentions, I have not seen him pursue anything even remotely like a vendetta since the initial chaos after the election.
Of course as the public, we are always going to be extra critical of our leaders, and that’s necessary. But it should be merely to nudge them in the accountable direction.
There was a time I had a great deal of respect for Sylvia, and I’ve watched that slip away over the past two terms of council.
Personally, I think it’s time we started with an entirely new council. Get rid of the bad blood, get rid of the status quo. Let those who have done well retire in peace, knowing they fought as well as they could in the midst of several people who just simply couldn’t act like adults, and bring in a fresh perspective.
Our town simply can’t go on like this.
I hope to see some new names on the next ballot!
Our town can’t survive much more of the current council!!
Multi Million Dollar Settlement to Family of Heidi Ferguson for OPS negligence buried by Police Services Board including Mayor Williams and Councillor Campbell – SINCE NOVEMBER 2016. So that negative light did not shine on OPS – interesting.
Sandy, how do you know the details and apparently nobody else including council has? Obviously it wasn’t “buried” or you couldn’t call it a “multi million dollar” settlement. Much too accurate to be just an educated guess ….
Interesting Sandy when you made the statement “multi million settlement”. Do you have specifics of this? If so, please tell us. If you don’t, why did you make that statement?
@Political Watchdog – Sandy will take any opportunity to try and paint the Orangeville Police in a negative light. There could be valid reasons for something and he would still try and make them seem evil and nefarious.
Interesting now that the Police Board has explained it was not paid for by tax payers money, but by insurance which pays for a lot things Town related, and all we here is crickets ….. making assumptions before the facts makes for bad town council, and bad candidates for the next election. People are tired of current council antics, if you are thinking of running for council Sandy, you might want to try a different strategy.