Tomlinson and Dingwall Find "Blind-Judging" Workaround?

When Mayor Paul Tomlinson and his wife Joan were selected to judge the children's sidewalk chalk art contest on Saturday several citizens complained that Tomlinson is well known for playing favourites and would likely judge against children of those who don't tow the Proudfoot line. So it was decided that the judges would stay away from competition and judge the artwork without knowing the identities of the artists.

But while the artists were still working on their pieces, Councillor Barry Dingwall, who hadn't moved from his spot next to the rock-climbing wall all day, went over, watched the artists for about 5 minutes, then returned to his seat where he entered into discussions with Tomlinson.

An innocent coincidence? Maybe. But the Proudfoot Four are not known for playing by the rules and why would Dingwall choose that event alone to take note of, and no other?

Are you surprised?

Mayor Paul Tomlinson loves the Volunteers!

Or does he?

On July 23rd, after much pushing and prodding, Mayor Tomlinson finally hosted a Volunteer Appreciation dinner for a group of about 150 attendees, which sounds noble…

BUT, instead of volunteering their own time and effort, the Proudfoot Four (Mayor Tomlinson, and Councillors Sainsbury, Dingwall, and Wadsworth) had the event catered to the tune of $3,500 of taxpayers' money. In past years, members of town council (and often their families) would roll up their sleeves and really show their appreciation by themselves volunteering. This year, Tomlinson had to do something to woo back the volunteers he’s been treating like dirt since getting elected, but the Proudfoot Four would never lower themselves to serving anyone who is clearly beneath their station, so they simply threw a lot of taxpayer money at it.

BUT, the dinner was by invitation only and a huge number of volunteers were snubbed.

BUT, Proudfoot property owners association members (GLLRG and SLAPOA) all received invitations. Maybe because they volunteered (wink, wink) to raise funds and campaign for the Proudfoot Four?

BUT, here’s the real hypocrisy:

At the July 15th Council meeting, Councillors Dingbury & Sainswall tabled a motion to deny the Burk's Falls Food Bank any further donations from the Town of Kearney. Nice. You guys are all heart. There are dozens of families in Kearney who use the Food Bank to make ends meet. These same families struggle to pay their property taxes, which Mayor Tomlinson had no qualms in using to host a dinner where all his fat-cat Proudfoot buddies could belly up to the buffet table for a free feed.

Wine and dine your buddies, waive rezoning fees for your campaign manager, but let those icky Townies go hungry.

Are you surprised?

You are Cordially Invited to Tim Brown's Pity-Party

In the July 7th edition of the Almaguin News (page 3), Kearney Councillor Steve Sainsbury and his conjoined twin Councillor Barry Dingwall do a pretty good Proudfoot Sidestep as they whine about how their campaign manager Tim Brown has been treated by us and others who took exception to the shenanigans at the council meeting of March 11, 2011. You can read the original story here.

Sainswall and Dingbury are trying to get the public to come out to their pity-party for Tim Brown, who they claim has had his reputation "attacked".

But if Tim Brown's reputation is suffering, let's look at the facts:

• Tim Brown didn't petition council in person. Instead he recruited a local to do it for him.
• Tim Brown also petitioned using the name of his "company" Ethical Wealth Corporation. If you Google "Ethical Wealth Corporation" you'll get ZERO hits outside this blog.

Two layers of concealment, but no smoking gun so far. But...

• Mayor Paul Tomlinson had to be asked more than once before he admitted that the petition was Tim Brown's. And it was blatantly obvious that Tomlinson didn't want to come clean.
• Tim Brown is/was a member of the Grass and Loon Lakes Residents' Group (GLLRG), as are/were Mayor Paul Tomlinson, Councillor Dingwall and Councillor Sainsbury.
• Tim Brown has been a guest in Mayor Paul Tomlinson's home.
• Mayor Paul Tomlinson, Councillor Dingwall and Councillor Sainsbury all failed to declare that they had a pecuniary interest or conflict of interest when their friend Tim Brown came looking for a $1000.00 favour. Even if Brown was fully entitled to the fee waiver, the Proudfoot Three were required by law to declare their conflict.
• Mayor Paul Tomlinson, Councillor Dingwall and Councillor Sainsbury all failed to declare that they had a pecuniary interest or conflict of interest AGAIN when they were asked point-blank, by former mayor Jeff Johnston, if they had any sort of relationship with Tim Brown. (Damn that Jeff Johnston and his vigilance!)

So if Tim Brown's reputation has been sullied, perhaps he should thank Mayor Paul Tomlinson, Councillor Barry Dingwall and Councillor Steve Sainsbury for breaking the law and attempting to deceive the public, effectively casting a cloud of suspicion over Brown in the process. Instead, in typical Proudfoot fashion, they'd rather take pot-shots at the messengers instead of taking ownership of their own unethical behaviour.

Are you surprised?