10,000 Hits!

As of 4:00 PM, May 26, 2011, our blog has been viewed 10,000 times! And that doesn't included all the pre-election hits.

Our thanks to our loyal fans, especially all the concerned citizens of Kearney who have provided us with great information, photos, video, and well-wishes! We couldn't do it without you. Keep it coming!

Tomlinson Lies About Everything

At the March 12, 2011 "Town Hall Meeting", in his closing statement, Mayor Paul Tomlinson went to great lengths to state that there had never, ever, ever, EVER been any sort of cap/limit/restriction on the number of volunteers that would be allowed on each committee.

But then a Concerned Citizen sent us this:

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Are you surprised?

Tomlinson Still Bamboozling the Almaguin News

In the May 19, 2011 edition of the Almaguin News, Mayor Paul Tomlinson reported to Mary Beth Hartill that the municipal tax levy in Kearney was only going to be increased by 0.1%. This is typical Tomlinson bullshit. Tomlinson used to bamboozle Rob Learn with his fast and loose “facts”, now he’s doing the same to Mary Beth.

On the surface, the budget looks good with a minuscule increase of 0.1%. But if you read lines 302 through 308 of the 2011 budget you’ll see various grants listed under the 2010 column:

302: Roads and Bridges Grant – 175,000
304: Main Street Light Standards – 50,000
305: Build Canada Fund Grant – 400,000
306: Gas Tax Reserves – 50,000
307: Elderly Persons Centres Grant – 3,500
308: Taxes – 232,900

These numbers are pure fabrication. The real numbers for 2010 were:

302: Roads and Bridges Grant – 0
304: Main Street Light Standards – 0
305: Build Canada Fund Grant – 391,000
306: Gas Tax Reserves – 0
307: Elderly Persons Centres Grant – 0
308: Taxes – 0

Proudfoot Economics

So Tomlinson and his cronies tampered with the 2010 budget numbers to the tune of at least  $520,400.00. Why? So that it would appear that the 2011 budget increases the Tax Levy by only 0.1%, instead of reducing it by 9.5%.

But why wouldn’t the Proudfoot Four and their boot-lick Art Murdy want to crow about a 9.5% decrease in taxes?

Because operating costs for 2011 are up and the town’s income is down, creating a short-fall of about half a million dollars and the town cannot afford a 9.5% tax decrease! But the Proudfoot Four’s cottage association masters have demanded a 9.5% municipal tax decrease to offset their 9.5% property tax increase. “We paid to get you elected…”

You see, many of the Proudfoot Four’s fat-cat buddies had their waterfront properties reassessed and their property taxes went up by 38%. The provincial government, instead of hammering them for the increase all in one year, is phasing in the increase over 4 years at 9.5% per year. So by decreasing the municipal taxes by 9.5%, the Proudfoot cottagers break even.

But where will the money come from to make up the lost revenues? The reserves. Money that was saved in previous years through careful spending. And if the Proudfoot Four want to do the same thing again next year, they’ll deplete the reserves by at least another half a million. All so a few cottages don’t feel the pinch in their wallets. Kind of like dipping into your credit cards to pay your monthly bills… Eventually you’ll still have to pay the credit card bill.

That’s when the Proudfoot Four will increase taxes. So the shortfall that paid for the Proudfoot fat-cat cottagers will now be paid back by all residents of Kearney, meaning a much lower out-of-pocket expense for them and much higher out-of pocket expense for the town’s elderly, widowed, unemployed, etc. You might enjoy what appears to be an unchanged tax rate now, but in a couple of years you could see your taxes increase by 20% or more! The damage will be much worse if the Proudfoot Four decide to keep at for all 4 years of their term and leave the mess for the next council to clean up. That way they’ll be able to blame the next council when people start losing their homes. 

But it's not all bad news. Maybe in four years some of the Proudfoot Four's buddies will get to scoop up some cheap foreclosed Kearney properties.

In the meantime, the Proudfoot Four and wannabe Art Murdy will continue to try to baffle us with their numbers games (kinda like Wadsworth and Dingwall did during the election).

And Proudfoot rich get richer, while the Kearney poor get poorer.

Are you starting to see the real reason why the Proudfoot Four wanted control of the Town?

By the way: If you're okay with this, feel free to sit back and continue to do nothing. The Proudfoot Four are banking on it!

Who is Tim Brown

And why should you care?

Well, Tim Brown is a long-standing member of the Grass and Loon Lakes Residents Group (GLLRG) in Proudfoot. The GLLRG has, over the years, been governed by Mayor Paul Tomlinson, Councillor Barry Dingwall, and Councillor Steve Sainsbury. Mr. Brown has even been a guest in Mayor Tomlinson’s home.

At the July 10, 2010 GLLRG Annual General Meeting Mr. Brown asked for donations for the election campaigns of Steve Sainsbury and Barry Dingwall. Both Sainsbury and Dingwall listed Mr. Brown as their Campaign Fundraiser or Chief Financial Officer on their campaign brochures. Tim Brown also signed himself as Chairperson for the Committee to Elect Dingwall and Sainsbury on a flyer mailed out to the citizens of Kearney. (See below)

So what?

This is where the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act comes in. The Act requires that the Mayor and Councillors declare if they have a pecuniary interest in any business arising at council. "Pecuniary" basically means “relating to money”, so the conflict of interest could mean issues of employment, grants, sales, contracts, etc. involving a friend, associate, family member, etc. We’ve seen this happen on several occasions in the past as when then-Councillor Bob Tilley declared his pecuniary interest in the matter of the landfill attendant position because a family member was competing for the job. Or when Johnston and Zummach declared their pecuniary interest related to shore-road allowances. This meant that none would vote, or directly influence the votes of others at the council table. It’s just one key component in ensuring a fair and democratic process.

Again, so what?

Here’s the point of the story: At the Kearney Council Meeting on March 11, 2011, Scott Richards ("Agent/Contractor, Kearney/Timothy Brown, President Ethical Wealth Corporation, Mississauga") asked the mayor and council to waive the $1000.00 rezoning fee for a piece of property owned by Tim Brown (Part Lot 16, Concession 5, Part 3, 42R-11843, located at 4290 Chetwynd Road). The same Tim Brown we introduced above. When a member of the public asked Mayor Tomlinson, Councillor Dingwall, and Councillor Sainsbury if they had any association with Tim Brown of Proudfoot all three vehemently denied any relationship with him beyond mere acquaintance. They knew him, but hey, it’s a small town. The member of the public asked if any of them had ever done any sort of business with Brown, and again all three denied any relationship beyond that of acquaintance. Tomlinson even went to great lengths to skirt the issue of who the actual applicant was. When asked, Tomlinson gave a very vague response about the "Ethical Wealth Corporation". It was only when pressed that Tomlinson begrudgingly admitted it was Tim Brown. But a little public scrutiny from those dumb Kearney hicks wasn't going to slow them down and the Proudfoot Four proceeded to vote in favour of waiving the $1000.00 fee for their chum Tim Brown. So $1000.00 more in the pocket of a loyal Proudfooter - $1000.00 less in the town’s coffers.

Tim Brown: Personal guest, fellow GLLRG member, Chief Financial Officer, and Campaign Fundraiser suddenly becomes Tim Brown: Casual Acquaintance.

Did Tomlinson, Dingwall, and Sainsbury suddenly forget who Tim Brown is? Or did they lie to the public and other members of council so they could pull some strings for their Proudfoot buddy who helped them get elected?

Are you starting to see the real reason why the Proudfoot Four wanted control of the Town?

Footnotes: If you Google Tim Brown's "Ethical Wealth Corporation" you'll get ZERO results. Which makes us wonder about what's going on there...

A search for Scott Richards does bring up Richards Contracting. We'd love to know what Richards Contracting's connection is to Tim Brown and why Scott Richards made the request to council instead of Tim himself.

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Tomlinson Gives DingWall a Taste

Spectators got to enjoy some fireworks at the council meeting on May 13th.

As usual Councillor Barry Dingwall had taken zero interest in reviewing any of the material he had been given for the meeting and demonstrated it to everyone as soon as he opened his mouth. Tomlinson, who hadn't had Councillor Yvonne Wills to slap around (she was absent), popped his cork on Dingwall for "wasting council's time with stupid questions!"

Dingwall, who takes criticism almost as well as Tomlinson, lashed back and Tomlinson had to do a fast back-pedal. All to the delight of the audience who Ooh'd and Aah'd.

Don't worry Paul, Councillor Wills will be back in town soon enough and you'll be able to go back to bullying her.

As for Dingwall; Who can blame him for not reading any of the meeting briefs. What with him so busy volunteering and participating and all...

From the Mayor's Throne

One of Mayor Paul Tomlinson’s promises was to discontinue Mayor Johnston’s “From the Mayor’s Chair” and instead publish a quarterly “Report from Council”. Like many of Mayor Tomlinson’s campaign promises, the report never appeared. So, to help out His Worship, we’re providing a first edition to get him started.

Chief Building Official/Building Inspector

Kearney shared with Perry Township an excellent CBO, Paul Schaeffer, until Mayor Paul Tomlinson arbitrarily decided it was suddenly “the law” that the job be put out to tender. In one fell swoop Tomlinson managed to piss off Perry Township, Paul Schaeffer, and leave Kearney without a CBO/Building Inspector. Now because of Tomlinson’s arrogance, the town will have to hire its own full-time CBO, which will cost the Kearney taxpayer about $65,000 more a year: Paul Schaeffer cost the town about $35,000, minus about $25,000 generated by permit fees, so really just $10,000. But a full-time CBO will cost about $100,000 with still only about $25,000 generated by permit fees. So $75,000 a year of taxpayer money. $10,000 vs. $65,000 per year, or $40,000 vs. $260,000 over the term of this council. Kind of like paying a Financial Consultant $50,000 to do a Data-Entry Clerk’s job at a few meetings, eh Paul?


Volunteer Committees

The town of Kearney had several very successful volunteer committees, until Mayor Paul Tomlinson arbitrarily decided to cap the number of volunteers and dump more work on the Public Works department, or just cancel stuff completely. It was only after the Dog Sled Committee stormed the Bastille that Tomlinson did a quick back-pedal. But, when he was questioned about this at the public meeting in March, Tomlinson decided to insult everyone’s intelligence and lie about the whole affair.

Economic Development and Beautification Committees

Two more committees destroyed by Mayor Tomlinson. In this case the Mayor backed off (sort of) when a petition with hundreds of names was presented to him. The Beautification Committee was restored, but is now “Friends of Beautification” (whatever that means). The Economic Development Committee is now comprised of members of council only and their sole task is to determine whether Kearney needs economic development. Well, DUH. Hey, how about a Roads Committee to determine whether Kearney needs roads, Paul?


Volunteer Appreciation

It’s no secret that Mayor Paul Tomlinson has never attended a Volunteer Appreciation dinner in his life, and his recent decimation of all the volunteer committees sent the message loud and clear about how he truly feels about anyone who might steal some of his glory. But, once again, after public outcry, Tomlinson did a fast back-pedal.

Now, in past years, to show their appreciation for the volunteers, the mayor, council, and members of the public would roll up their sleeves and volunteer their time to prepare and serve food and drink at the dinner. But the Proudfoot Four would never lower themselves to serving those icky Townies (Dingwall didn’t get elected to be a Social Butterfly, you know), so Tomlinson decided to spend $3500 of taxpayer money on caterers instead. But his half-assed effort to cobble together some kind of last-minute appreciation dinner fell through. Oh well, eh Paul?

As for Kearney's Veterans... Well, Dingwall made it very clear how he felt about them.


2011 Budget

We’ve already covered this in detail, so here are the key points:

To create the zero tax increase their masters demand the Proudfoot Four must deplete the Reserve (emergency) Fund, which could bankrupt the town in four years. The next council will have to increase taxes by double-digits. Pay a little now, or a lot later…

And remember Tomlinson’s promise to "give direction to town staff on the 2011 budget within 60 days"? Sounded mighty impressive at the All Candidate’s meeting, but it really amounted to Tomlinson telling the staff, “Hey, cut 5%!” No wonder he wanted a full 60 days to come up with that; it’s pure genius!


Ice and Snow Removal

In January, the Kearney Seniors Club wrote to Mayor Paul Tomlinson asking that the sidewalks on Main Street and Rain Lake Road be cleared of ice and snow. Kearney’s elderly and disabled were being forced to walk on the road as logging trucks rumbled past. Not only did Mayor Tomlinson not bother to have to sidewalks cleared, he didn’t even acknowledge the request until well into April! At last report, Tomlinson was having lawyers (at $300 an hour of taxpayer money) look into whether the town had to do it or not. What Tomlinson doesn’t seem to care about is how catastrophic a slip or fall could be for an elderly or disabled citizen, or how expensive the subsequent lawsuit could be for the town. So will Tomlinson have the ice and snow cleared next winter? Well, there’s nothing in the 2011 Budget. Fortunately, we have Reserve Funds in case the sidewalks do have to be cleared… oh, wait…

Photo courtesy of the Kearney Senior's Club

Fire Safety Board

Mayor Paul Tomlinson restaffed the Fire Safety Board with his pals who have absolutely no fire-fighting knowledge whatsoever, except for the Fire Chief. But wait! To ensure that policies totally lack any intelligence Tomlinson also removed the Fire Chief’s right to vote.

Other “Accomplishments” of the Proudfoot Four

• Revenue-generating initiatives – Score: ZERO
• Participating in community committees, organizations, and projects – Score: ZERO
• Snubbing MPP Norm Miller and MP Tony Clement at the Dog Sled Races – Score: MINUS 1
• Lying about it – Score: MINUS 1
• Cancelling the Economic Development Committee – Score: MINUS 1
• Trying to vote down the Dog Sled Races, Regatta, etc. – Score: MINUS 1
• Not informing the general public of meetings, but personally inviting the Proudfoot Associations (Although some uppity Townies blew the whistle and spoiled their fun!) – Score: MINUS 1
• Same approach for the 2011 Budget meeting, ensuring that no one shows up to criticize their super-awesome-amazing budget. – Score: MINUS 1
• Cancelling the Lord’s Prayer – Score: MINUS 1
• More secret meetings. The latest in an attempt at damage-control over the CBO issue, because even Tomlinson is realizing that paying $260,000 of taxpayer money to have someone sit around twiddling their thumbs is about the stupidest thing you could imagine. – Score: MINUS 1

We could go on, but you get the idea. And the newspapers have certainly covered all this enough times. In less than six months, Mayor Tomlinson has managed to create more damage and destruction, on so many fronts, we can only wonder if besides being an arrogant bully and all around asshole, if he isn’t grossly incompetent as well. Tomlinson never takes responsibility for his actions, blames council for his stupid mistakes, and outright lies.

Petition for Resignation

There’s a petition circulating asking for Mayor Tomlinson’s resignation. Many have felt we needed to give Mayor Tomlinson time to demonstrate his true worth and it was too soon to be demanding his resignation.

But ask yourself this:

If the first six months is an example of what we can expect over the next three and a half years, can the Town of Kearney afford Mayor Tomlinson and his Proudfoot cronies? If your answer is NO, then sign the petition for Mayor Tomlinson’s resignation. But if you like the idea of a bankrupt town, a mayor that caters to the Proudfoot property owners associations, a mayor that opposes events like the Dog Sled Race and Regatta, a mayor who cares nothing for Kearney's seniors, volunteers, or veterans, a mayor who never participates in town organizations or events, a mayor who puts personal loyalties above town safety, and a huge tax increase in four years, then feel free to do nothing.

Hee hee! Stupid Townies!

Kearney Bankrupt in Four Years

Once again we’re seeing Proudfoot fiscal policy in action.

First, a bit of background:

The Proudfoot Four (Mayor Paul Tomlinson and Councillors Steve Sainsbury, Louise Wadsworth, and Barry Dingwall) got into office with the support of at least two Proudfoot residents associations, one of which the Four have, at various times, held executive positions or been members. This was made possible after Sainsbury and Dingwall canvassed the OMB to abolish the ward system, allowing the Proudfoot Four to take control of all of Kearney, instead of just Proudfoot.

While running, their main platform was the “outrageously high” taxes in Kearney. As some might recall, at the All Candidate’s meeting, Dingwall finally admitted that he had really been quoting "outrageously high" Property Tax rates (which are controlled by the province, not the town) and not Municipal Tax rates. It wasn’t much more than a begrudged mumble so most probably missed it. To date, Louise Wadsworth has refused to admit that she just made her tax numbers up. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance...

But now that the Proudfoot Four are in power, they have to make good on their promises to the residents associations who funded them. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be looking past their 4-year term and are planning to make some fiscal decisions that will impact Kearney long after they’ve jumped ship.

Take, for example, the new 2011 budget. In order to allow a zero tax increase, the Proudfoot Four will be drawing on the town’s Reserve Funds. This is the very thing that a municipality must not do! Reserve Funds are created in case of emergency, like a road or bridge washes out, a public works vehicle needs costly repairs or replacement, etc. Kind of an insurance plan. But if the reserves are depleted, the Town would have to borrow money in an emergency.

So the Proudfoot Four are gambling. Gambling in the same way as if you decided to stop paying your home insurance to save money, hoping that nothing bad ever happens.

On paper, a zero tax increase will look great to the average tax-payer, but the Devil’s in the details. If the Proudfoot Four vote to deplete the Reserves just to please their Proudfoot masters the Town will be bankrupt in four years. That means the next council will have to raise municipal taxes by double-digits just to stay afloat!

But on April 8^th, 2011, Mayor Paul Tomlinson wrote:

“Tidied up Kearney budget yesterday - our ratepayers will be pleased!!”

Pleased, until the bullshit runs out and it’s time to pay the cheque in four years.

We all know that Tomlinson is an arrogant bully, but now we have to wonder about his competence. Sorry, Paul. But bullshit will only get you so far…

Are you surprised?

And still waiting...

Remember this?

Further, you should be aware that I have copies of your blog since inception and unless this blog is taken down within the the next 24hrs its contents will be referred to my legal councel[sic] .

Regards

Paul H. Tomlinson
Mayor
Corporation of The Town of Kearney 

And then what, Paul? 

Tomlinson wrote that almost two months ago and we still haven't heard from his legal counsel, the OPP, the RCMP, or anyone else he's threatened us with over the last year or so.

So, what's our point (other than rubbing Tomlinson's nose in it)? We have two:

You can stand up to bullies like Paul Tomlinson.


And if he can't dazzle you with brilliance, Paul Tomlinson with try to baffle bully you with bullshit.

 It might work on most people, Paul, but we're still here and we're not going anywhere. And we're starting to figure out what you and the Proudfoot Weak-enders are up to...

Stay Tuned.

(This is going to get interesting)

Why Kearney Has to Hire Its Own CBO

In the April 28, 2011 print edition (not available online) of the Almaguin News (Page 5), Mary Beth Hartill has written an article on why building services negotiations have ground to a halt. It's a well written article but it can be a bit tough chewing through Mayor Paul Tomlinson's double-talk (or outright B.S.).


So let's see if we can sift out the facts. (Some of this has already been covered.)

Kearney used to share Chief Building Officer Paul Schaeffer with Perry Township.

Tomlinson told council that "it's the law" that the town advertise the CBO position when the contract expires. We've already established that that was total B.S.

Tomlinson, who nobody outside of Proudfoot likes anyway, completely disrespected Perry Mayor John Dunn by not bothering to let him know that Kearney was looking elsewhere for a CBO. (Burned bridge number 1).

Tomlinson, after reading our blog, sees the potential PR fallout of paying triple for CBO services at the taxpayer's expense and starts canvassing other municipalities for shared services.

After realizing that no other municipality will do business with him, Tomlinson goes sucking back to Perry township and Paul Schaeffer. Paul Schaeffer makes it well known that he'd rather quit than work for Tomlinson again. (Burned bridge number 2)

Mayor Dunn, diplomatically, cites the loss of their building inspector as the reason they'll no longer negotiate CBO services with Kearney. 'Cause that building inspector was the very last of his kind, so there are no more... anywhere... forever. Tough luck, Paul.

So Kearney is back to having to hire a full-time CBO at TRIPLE the cost to the Kearney taxpayer.

But according to Tomlinson, MAYBE we'll be able to contract out to another municipality, and MAYBE the CBO can do the By-law Enforcement job, too.

And MAYBE Tomlinson will stop being such an asshole and pissing off other mayors and town staff and bull-shitting the public.

In the meantime, the Proudfoot Four have promised their masters a reduction in taxes this year...

Stay Tuned.