When John Green first found himself elected to council here in 1976, it was a different era for the small village and its council.
Green took some time last week to discuss with The Community News the past year and also some of the changes that have come about in local politics, particularly in the past decade, when Ontario went through one of its periodic amalgamation contortions.
For Green, 2007 was a watershed year. After serving as county warden representing Drayton in 1989, he was again elected Warden, and two weeks ago he was acclaimed to the post for 2008.
While that might be a personal political triumph, it came with some costs, as Green admitted. For example, shortly after he took the warden’s chair for the 2007 term, county council decided to raise the salaries of councillors and the warden to better reflect the job and the responsibility.
“There was controversy early in the year over [that],” Green said. The warden’s pay, for what is essentially a full time job with plenty of overtime, was less than $40,000 per year. Council hiked it to over $70,000.
While some decried that hefty boost, it is still less than half the salary of the Chairman of the Region of Waterloo, and the positions are essentially the same, albeit the region is larger.
Green said the job is onerous, and he has found himself in Cornwall, Toronto, and Ottawa regularly, speaking and lobbying for municipalities and their finances. That’s one of many of the warden’s jobs, along with working with county department heads and all committees to ensure everything is running smoothly.
As well, he spends as much time as he can in Mapleton Township, missing few council meetings there.
“Locally, we’re busy with sewer and water in Moorefield,” Green said.
As well, there is a new medical clinic for Drayton that is under construction, and there has been “movement of key staff we’re still trying to replace.”
Green said he is pleased with the hiring of Mike Givens as treasurer this year, and called Givens “a real asset.”
And, he noted, council recently opened a new bridge on Maryborough Sideroad 12, at a cost of $1-million.
High tax rates
Like all municipal politicians, Green is used to hearing screams about property tax increases and said in many cases municipalities are barely coping.
“We look after things at the county now that was unheard of,” he said of the good old days. That list now includes garbage (which costs millions of dollars per year), police (which costs even more), land ambulance, and provincial offences – not to mention Ontario Works and social housing. The last two are particularly onerous.
“It’s also meant that county social services spending is $40-million” in costs to taxpayers, which used to be paid by the federal and provincial governments, he said.
When asked how jobs have changed for politicians and staff, Green didn’t hesitate.
“The pressures of additional responsibility,” he said. And those come from two directions: the province and the local municipalities.
“The expectations of the local municipalities and provincial legislation have pressured some local department heads. They find that there are more pressures than they anticipated,” Green said.
That has been seen all over Wellington County since amalgamation. Chief Administr-ative Officers (CAOs) have been fired, or quit. Clerks and treasurers have left, building inspectors have walked away, and road superintendents have been bought out or resigned.
Centre Wellington, for example, now has a different CAO, clerk, deputy-clerk, and parks and recreation director than it did before the 1999 amalgamation. Council also hired a full-time fire chief and fire prevention officer. Those changes are happening everywhere, including Mapleton.
“In the former municipalities, employees could have two or three positions,” Green remembered, noting that many were both clerk and treasurer, or chief building official and road superintendent.
“Now, they are separated.”
The reason is each job has become so complex that only specialists can handle the role.
“They have to do a lot of studying to keep up with provincial laws,” Green said, citing changing water and sewer regulations, not to mention health and safety issues.
And, he said, with the recent change in provincial government, there has been a change in direction “in the way they are going.”
The relationships between the provincial government and its municipalities has always been a difficult one. Municipalities are completely under the thumb of the province. When the province says jump, all they can respond is, “How high?” Anyone who doubts that simply has to look at how Toronto and six boroughs were forced into amalgamation, kicking and screaming, because the provincial government demanded it.
On the other hand, the provincial government used to pay two-thirds of the infrastructure costs in the form of grants for municipal roads budgets in rural Ontario. That is now long gone, and the absence is being felt everywhere.
Green said, “The province has a history of favouring you in one way, to hand over responsibility to the member municipality, but quite often while doing that, they also put in provincial laws and regulations that prevents you from having the full power that you were desirous of.”
And often, what was supposed to be “revenue neutral” when it became local responsibility was anything but, meaning municipal taxpayers are forced to foot the bill while the provincial and federal governments run budget surpluses and offer tax cuts, while and refusing to hand any more money to municipalities, who are, in turn, forced to hike taxes.
Running out
Green said the local responsibility of roads, sewer and water, recreation, and planning have become so costly municipalities can no longer afford them. “With the responsibility we’ve been given, and the powers we’ve been given, municipalities are going broke,” he said.
He noted one of the points of amalgamation in rural Ontario was to blend rural and urban areas together for a larger tax base so local government can cope. It has not worked.
“Bridges are particularly costly,” Green said.
And, he added, nobody even considered that amalgamation would do such things as suddenly blend two or more fire departments, or saddle municipalities with two or three arena systems and community centres.
“Those were not fully considered at amalgamation,” he admitted. “The public wants to protect them, but the municipality doesn’t have the resources to keep them all alive.”
Other difficulties
His own township has seen problems for staff that came about because of changes to provincial law.
There has been strong criticism of top staff in Mapleton this year, but Green defended CAO Patty Sinnamon strongly, and noted that part of the criticism she faced came about because of rule changes that not many people know about.
Green added there seems to be some local prejudice against her, too. “She will do anything for the community, but she doesn’t live in town,” he said. Sinnamon lives in the Mount Forest area.
Then, there was the medical clinic flap.
Tenders were called for work there, and a local Mapleton contractor was the second lowest bid on thousands of dollars worth of construction, by $86. The low bidder was from Mount Forest.
Green said it happened a couple of times like that. “There were certain services we had, strictly by accident, where bidders were from Mount Forest … where she is from.”
That $86 bid particularly bothered people who do not know that the township has no choice but to give the work to the lowest qualified bidder. That is a legal change that comes from recent provincial laws.
Green said in the past few years the provincial government has introduced “best practices” laws, which bind municipal staff to follow strict guidelines. As well, he said, there is a new Municipal Act and it includes tendering laws that a municipality must follow.
So, Green said, “She recommended the low tender.”
Costly favouritism
To favour a bidder strictly because the company is local is inviting huge costs to municipalities that are already strapped for cash.
Green had several examples, not all from his township.
He cited the Clifford library that was built a few years ago as a prime example.
“There was an attempt by certain committee members to accept the bid of a local contractor who was not the lowest,” he remembered. Our committee was contacted by the Grand Valley Construction Association … We were told we would not have a library in Clifford for five years because they would tie it up in the courts.”
More locally, Green remembers the Moorefield water and sewer work that took place before he became mayor. “There was a great desire on behalf of council to award the tender to a local contractor. Another construction association informed the council of the day that they would be spending a lot of time [and money] in court before they could turn sod on that particular project.
“In consultation with council and legal counsel, it was decided they had better accept the low tender,” he noted.
Green said in a third case, council called for tenders for paving, and The Murray Group, a local company, had the second lowest bid. Green said in light of the fact the company has done a lot for the township, and because it located close to the work, “They’re the natural to get the business. I, on behalf of council, questioned what could be done. The same answer resulted. We had to take the low bidder.”
The electrical work at the medical clinic provided the same situation, and Sinnamon strongly suggested council take the low bidder. It is her job to give council advice about issues such as that.
Green said he “approached two lawyers expert in that field, and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs – and one purchasing professional who handles public tenders all the time,” to see if council could award the tender locally.
He said their advice was firm. “The unequivocal answer was, ‘Unless you feel strongly enough to spend time in court defending your decision, you had better take the low tender.’ ”
Accepting a bid for an extra $86 would have been wrong, and cost the township thousands of dollars, Green said residents people were very upset. “People condemned council, and I was no exception,” he said of the fallout.
What was ironic is that Green and Jack Scholten, the local bidder, have known each other for years.
“I have been a friend of Jack Scholten’s for over 40 years,” Green said. “We were guests at each other’s weddings. I coached two of his daughters in baseball, and we had a rendezvous for dinner in the southern United States when on vacation. There’s nobody I respect more than Mr. Scholten and his family. I would do anything to help him in any way – but politically, I’m committed not to break the law.”
Support for CAO
As for Sinnamon and her recommendation, “Patty was doing her job.”
The result rumours flying around the community, and, like many they were untrue.
Green said the change in the provincial law is not yet understood by everybody, and those who opposed council’s decision “don’t understand. I have to take the low tender.”
And, he noted, the difference between how the public sector and the private sector works is “one of the biggest strains on staff today. That type of law; small town Ontario doesn’t like – but it’s made to fit the whole province.”
He said that is understandable, too, because, in the past in some larger centres, staff were re-jigging bids and enjoying vacation condos and other perquisites from grateful bidders.
“So, one law fits all,” Green said.
And, he said of Sinnamon, “Patty’s pretty solid. She’ll stand up to be counted.”
Green is proud of the local staff. He noted they would be leaving the warden’s party early on Dec. 7 to build a float for three local Santa Claus parades in Drayton, Alma, and Moorefield.
Green said that at the county, council has hired a procurement professional to check bids for errors or omissions, and that alleviates a lot of problems there.
As for Mapleton, he said such issues become a learning experience for politicians, “as well as learning to have to have to accept the low tenders … That’s not the way business was once done. At one time, with public tenders, if you made a mistake, you could amend that. That is no longer acceptable in the eyes of the law. When staff and council found they had to accept the low tender, they were doing their job within the law.”
As for Sinnamon, she presented a seminar at a province wide convention in London this year. Green said he was unable to attend, but he heard she did a great job. He noted with a laugh the presentation is easy, but it is the question and answer session that follows that is always toughest.
It is a feather in the cap of any staff member of any municipality to make such presentations to their peers.
The future looks busy.
While Green is looking forward to a third year as Wellington County Warden, he is also looking to the future in Mapleton.
He said there are plans next year for sewage works in Moorefield, and plans for another 250 homes.
First, though, the certificate of approval for sewage is needed, and then come the improvements.
The industrial subdivision in Drayton has three plots sold, and three more available. There have been inquiries about those.
As well, County Road 10 from Rothsay to County Road 109 needs work, and there are plans to rearrange and redevelop the Glen Alan Park.
In Alma, there will “eventually be a community centre in Wallace Cumming Park.”
The township is hoping to have paved all seven gravel roads on the north side of Alma, and then complete that road work on the south side.
There has been requests for more dressing rooms at the local arena.
“Things in Mapleton have moved pretty quickly,” Green concluded. It’s gone from 748 people in a sleepy village to around 1,900. Moorefield and Alma are progressive communities that are really self-sustaining – and we help as much as we can.
And, finally, the county will open a new library in Drayton in 2008, where library use is the fastest growing in the county – and where Wellington has the highest per capita use of rural libraries in Ontario. Green said it is much needed since Drayton has grown by 70% in the past six year, again, the fastest growing community in the county.
And, he said, the future does not stop any time soon. These days, a lot more people are coming to the libraries to use computers.
