‘Very biased opinion’

Dear Editor:

On March 25 my wife and I attended an information session at the Wellington County Museum and Archives for people considering running for council.

The presenters were Kelly Linton, a former Centre Wellington mayor and county warden, and John Mascarin, a lawyer who specializes in municipal law.

Mr. Linton’s presentation was a useful insight into what it’s like to be a councillor, its demands and the limitations of municipal power.

Mr. Mascarin, however, was another story. He stressed the need for a politician to be unbiased and open to ideas and input from all sources and to respect the staff and structure of the institutions while making decisions on behalf of residents. He also spoke about the legal structures of government and noted the province creates municipalities and they are therefore creatures of the province; what the province says goes.

Then he proceeded to go off on a pet peeve of his about the Ford brothers and strong mayor powers brought in by the current provincial government. I found it to be a very biased opinion and not helpful to prospective or current councillors who were in attendance

I think it should have gone more like this: “Doug Ford has had three consecutive majorities and therefore is a premier with a mandate from the majority of Ontarians. Like him or not, he’s the premier and municipalities have to work with the province’s directives.”

We were later informed that Mr. Mascarin is both legal council and acts as the integrity commissioner for our town. I have a feeling he was playing to the clerks and politicians, knowing that’s how work is gotten in the world of municipal contracting.

It seemed like another example of the revolving door spoken about recently in the Wellington Advertiser opinion piece by Mike Barcz (The consultant class – how municipalities outsource judgment, March 19).

I would have liked more Kelly Linton and less playing to the bureaucrats and gatekeepers.

Tom Carroll,
Erin