Friday, April 10, 2015

PASSERO DIVES INTO THE DEEP END

However, his election for mayor financial report has a lot of holes in it.

Passero took over the late Rick Shular's Fort Erie Council Ward 2 seat and waded right in to the business of council as though he had never left. He was the recipient of a council decision to ignore a staff recommendation and won a by-election that cost the taxpayers around $40,000. Now he has the platform from which he will continue his quest for mayor. He has a strong bloc of votes from the Chamber Maids, George McDermott and Chris Knutt. Mayor Redekop will find that his power will be greatly diminished and sabotaged under the current regime.

Stephen floated into office on a wave of nostalgia for a pool that some claim will be open this summer. What Stephen and his followers fail to mention is the hundreds of thousands of dollars that will be needed to bring the Kinsmen Pool up to health and safety standards. Part of the strategy by pool supporters is to publish a registration form for children's swimming lessons. Soon council will hear that the children of Fort Erie need to learn to swim at the Kinsmen Pool (forget about the "Y") and that it is the town's responsibility to make those classes happen: taxpayers will pay for the rehab of the pool. According to a 2011 Study, it would cost well over a half a million dollars to bring the pool to code and that would only be a temporary fix. In light of the diminishing attendance at the pool and a staff recommendation, council voted to do nothing about the pool and it closed for the 2012 season. It has since fallen into further disrepair. The Underwater Recovery Social Club (not to be confused with sanctioned underwater recovery units) will soon take over the lease on the pool. The forty plus membership will run the pool. Does anyone else see a problem here?

Council will, no doubt do a synchronized swimming routine and vote to fund the rehab of the pool. Stay tuned.

As to Passero's financial report for his unsuccessful mayoral run, there are a lot of interesting details and omissions, like what bank held the account. I suggest that people read his statement as well as all the others. Marina Butler's was also interesting.

Considering that Marina Butler called for a compliance audit for former Ward 4 Councillor John Hill after the 2010 election, she should welcome close scrutiny of her own financial statement.

PAST ISSUES