Public Money Paying for Self-Promotion?

Do you think that your property taxes should pay for self-promotion by elected Councillors?

This was the issue at our last Regional Council meeting when I brought forward a motion to end the practice of some Councillors using public funds to send self-promotional flyers to residents.

You see, this year Councillors Annunziata (Fort Erie), Barrick (Port Colborne), and Quirk (Grimsby) used Regional staff resources to prepare self-promoting flyers and public tax dollars to mail them to residents in their Towns/City. Councillor Quirk mailed something in January and again in May, when the others followed his lead.

These flyers told a story they wanted to tell about their work on the Regional Council. The flyers included their pictures and spoke to only their efforts. To many, the flyers read like re-election material.

In the case of Councillor Barrick’s flyer, it drew the ire of Port Colborne City Council because he tried to contrast the tax increases and water rates between the Region and that City. Many pointed that out as a false comparison because both have different roles and responsibilities. For instance, since the Region sells wholesale water to Niagara’s cities and towns, the City’s water rates also include the increases from the Region. Further, the Region makes up approximately 50% of the blended property tax bill and takes advantage of tens-of-millions of dollars of “uploading” by the Province for their programs and services; Cities and Towns represent 30% of the final tax bill, cannot use that uploading advantage, and provide totally different local services and programs.

The tax rate comparisons they touted weren’t even correct. They quoted “1.4%” or “1.48%” as the four-year average tax rate increase; it is actually a cumulative total of 6.02% for the four years and therefore an average of 1.50%.

(Ironically, despite their self-congratulations, the flyers fail to mention that this term’s cumulative tax increase is actually 4% higher than last term’s 5.77%, when I chaired the Region’s budget.)

Each of the flyers also mention infrastructure work or other initiatives by the Region in the specific city or town represented by the Councillor. And, while there’s the photo of the Councillor, the flyers contain no mention of the other Regional representative for that City or Town – the Mayor. It’s as if the Councillor were acting alone and that the projects and initiatives were their work alone.

Responding to my motion, the Councillors stated that they need to be able to communicate directly with residents about improvements by the Region. They state that local media does not always carry the information that they shared and not all households follow them on social media.

The three Councillors complained about my motion to disallow future self-promotional initiatives; they also stated about me that “His arrogance is astounding, that he would assume how best we should communicate with the residents of Fort Erie, Grimsby and Port Colborne…”

Most people who have spoken to me about this issue see their flyers as an improper use of public resources and funds for self-promotion. Some have even called it electioneering.

Others wondered why they didn’t include their respective Mayors on the flyers as the other representative for the community; aren’t the Mayors also responsible for the great things that they highlight in those Towns and City?

A few others wondered what it would cost if all 31 Regional Councillors did this same type of mailing – and if it were done every quarter as Councillor Quirk has done this year. I estimate that it would be over $100,000 per year if you included Staff time, printing, and distribution.

Since the matter was deferred to a future finance committee meeting, I would like to share your feedback during the debate. It this practice wrong, a misuse of public funds, and something that should be stopped? Or, is this an important way of communicating with you and other members of the public and should be funded by your property tax dollars?
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Should public funds be used to pay for these types of self-promotional flyers?

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You may contact Mayor Dave at mayordave@pelham.ca or review the fliers at www.pelhammayordave.blogspot.ca.

What do you think about developments toward Niagara Transit?

I am wondering about your thoughts on the work toward a seamless and integrated transit system for the Niagara Peninsula.

You may recall that after working on an inter-municipal transit system for a few years, Staff presented a plan in 2010 for the Region to begin operating transit. As a response, the Cities of St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland made a counter-proposal that the Region fund a system that the three services would operate. Regional Council approved this Niagara Region Transit for three years with the intent that if successful, the group could take further steps.

That’s why the first Niagara Regional Transit buses started rolling-along in September 2011 and began making connections between municipalities. The next steps discussion took some effort, and since it was growing and working, the Region extended the pilot for another year.

Then, in May 2015, Regional Council “endorsed in principal creating an inter-municipal transit system in Niagara,” extended the pilot to December 2016, and requested that the three Cities work together to provide options on how best to provide Inter-Municipal Transit. After Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, and Welland approved similar motions, the group began meeting in earnest in January 2016. They hired Dillon Consulting to develop a high-level plan and receive public input and the Region again extended the pilot. Since January 2017, Dillon presented their report – “Niagara Transit Service Delivery & Governance Strategy” – and each of the three City Councils approved it unanimously.

In March 2017, Regional Council approved the report’s recommendations: endorse (again) the principal of a consolidated transit system; direct staff to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the three major transit providers by the end of 2017; form a Transit Working Group with representation from all 12 Niagara Cities and Towns. Finally, since the Region funded the pilot for five-and-a-half years beyond its “sphere of jurisdiction” in the Ontario Municipal Act, the report recommended a “triple-majority” process to sanction the funding.

Shortly afterward, by June of last year, the majority of local Councils approved this direction, allowing the Region to legally operate conventional transit.

While work continues towards a truly integrated system, the partners have made changes like: aligning customer service polices, using the same digital mobile platform – a transit app, using the same after-hours customer service call center.

Then, in March, because of their renewed commitment to transit, the Federal and Provincial government announced nearly $22 billion over the next 10-years for transit and related projects in Ontario. Niagara’s share of that funding – $148 million over 10 years – was also announced in March. St. Catharines will receive $86 million, Niagara Falls $38 million, and Welland $13 million. The remaining funding goes to Thorold ($5.4 million), Niagara Region ($3.4 million), Fort Erie ($956K), Port Colborne ($426K) and Niagara-on-the-Lake ($270K). (Pelham received a commitment of $500K over 5 years from the Province under another program.)

So, what happened recently? As the Region’s 29 May 2018 news release stated, “Regional Council approved a three-year extension of Niagara Regional Transit, after achieving unanimous approval of the agreement by the service operators. This action keeps the current inter-municipal system running while the Region and local area municipalities continue to work on a new integrated transit service for Niagara.”

Some people tell me that they are delighted with the progress and especially that the various transit providers are working together; they see this work as a huge victory and that only good can come from that. They recognize that transit changes take time but remain convinced that an integrated system can develop over the next three years.

Others express regret that not much is different for riders since the pilot was first launched in 2011; they lament the last four years as not moving an integrated system forward and renewing the pilot just shows the Federal and Province governments that Niagara still doesn’t have its act together. They recognize that there’s much work to do, but those that need and want transit have been waiting too long for a functional and integrated system.

How do you see it? What do you think about the recent changes? What do you think are next steps toward integrated transit in the Niagara Peninsula?


You may contact Mayor Dave at mayordave@pelham.ca and see past columns at www.pelhammayordave.blogspot.ca.