Tomlinson Admits He's No Leader

"I'm only one voice, y'know!"

On August 27th, Mayor Paul Tomlinson concluded the Town Hall meeting by washing his hands of any leadership and responsibility as mayor of Kearney. Tomlinson claims that he is but one voice out of seven at the council table and takes no responsibility for any of the council's decisions. If the public don't like the way the town is being run, they should blame council, not him.

So why did you become mayor, Paul? So you could strut around wearing the Chain of Office to impress your UK visitors and nothing more? Did you not realize that the mayor is Head of Council and is supposed to be a community leader? All the glory without the guts, eh?

And funny how you claim that as mayor you have no power, yet last term you repeatedly, and publicly, declared that Mayor Johnston was a "dictator". So are you lying now when you say you, as mayor have no power over council, or were you lying last term when you kept calling Mayor Johnston a dictator? Wasn't Mayor Johnston just one voice of seven?

So, which one is the lie, Paul?

Applying for a Building Permit, Proudfoot-Style

Hot on the heels of our last article, "Tim Brown is Back... Again... For the Fourth Time", a reader sent us a copy of the Town of Kearney's guide to applying for a building permit. The guide lists the various things you must have when applying for a permit, including the site plan, which is to be reviewed and approved by the Chief Building Officer. There's nothing in the guide about coming to council as a delegation to get your site plan approved by your buddies.

What should happen is this: Brown files his site plan with the town, and staff (including the CBO) review it and makes a recommendation to council. If the site plan is overly complex or controversial, then council should seek public input through a public hearing. Having someone address property development through "delegations" to council is not the proper process.

So why is Mayor Paul Tomlinson illegally avoiding proper procedure... Again?

Footnote: This abuse of process has also had another side-effect; Because there are only three "delegations" allowed per council meeting, many legitimate concerns are not being brought to council. As long as Mayor Tomlinson keeps clogging the meetings with his friends (Tim Brown and Jim Skelton this Friday), other legitimate groups are forced to wait months to be heard. Not that Tomlinson gives a rat's ass about anyone but himself and his buddies.

Are You Surprised?

Tim Brown is Back... Again... For the Fourth Time

Remember Tim Brown, Dingwall and Sainsbury's campaign manager and fund-raiser? We first introduced him here and spoke about him again here.

Well this Friday (August 26th), Tim will be back before council as a "delegation" to get the Proudfoot Four's approval on his revised site-plan for 4290 Chetwynd Road.

Must be nice to not have to file this stuff with the Chief Building Officer like everyone else. Heck, if this has to be dealt with at a council meeting, he should at least be on the agenda under "Public Hearings". A public hearing allows council and the public to ask the petitioner questions and express any concerns they might have. But Brown and the Proudfoot Four don't want questions asked or opinions expressed, so they've scheduled him as a "delegation" (for the FOURTH time). Under council meeting rules, the public and members of council are not allowed to ask questions (except for clarification) or express opinions. Convenient, huh? Do you think the Proudfoot Four will allow everyone who is applying for a building permit or building plan changes to come to council as a "delegation" and by-pass the CBO and the regular permit process? 

Yah, right...

Proudfooters: Get council, which is controlled by the Proudfoot Four, to approve your building plans.

Townies: Get stuck with CBO Henry Hess who will declare your permits invalid and your building inspector unqualified so Tomlinson can make up the budget short-fall on your backs.

Are You Surprised?

Tomlinson is at it again

We didn't really expect Mayor Paul Tomlinson to defer to us; That was just a bit of fun on our part.

So it's no surprise that this just popped up on the Town of Kearney website:

But there's a couple of problems with this announcement:

First: It says "CALLED BY THE COUNCIL". Council cannot (legally) call a meeting without a resolution first being passed at a prior council meeting. The mayor is the only one with the authority to call a Special Council Meeting otherwise. So this is yet another illegal meeting or Mayor Tomlinson is trying hide the fact that he called it.

Second: Tomlinson's campaign included changing the meeting times to Friday nights to make them more accessible to cottagers and working locals. But this meeting is at 8:30 AM. Like the last illegal meeting, it looks like Tomlinson is trying his best to discourage the public from attending.

Third: Why schedule a Special Council Meeting in order to hold a closed session when there's a regular council meeting that evening at 7:00 PM? Just have the closed session during that meeting and save the taxpayers $350.00 in honoraria for the morning meeting. Maybe they could donate the $350.00 to the Food Bank instead.

So it's back to the Ombudsman's Office.

Or is it?

After getting their wrists slapped by the Ombudsman's Office, the Proudfoot Four are planning to table a motion at the regular council meeting at 7:00 PM that would allow them to hire a private "Ombudsman" (at the Kearney taxpayers' expense). So instead of having their shenanigans investigated by an objective (and free) provincial Ombudsman, they're going to buy... er... hire their own. 

So there's no money for the Food Bank, but lots to spend on thwarting the efforts of those who try to bring justice to Kearney.

Are You Surprised?

Council Defers To Concerned Citizens

After the Concerned Citizens of Kearney published an article on August 18th about the illegalities of the council meeting scheduled for Friday the 19th, Mayor Paul Tomlinson cancelled the meeting.

Just doing our civic duty, Paul. You're welcome!

Good News!

Remember when we reported that council will be implementing a 9% municipal tax decrease to offset the 9% provincial property tax increase for the property owners in Proudfoot, and how this would necessitate drawing on reserve funds and bankrupting the town?

Well, good news!

Chief Building Officer Henry Hess, who's already been raking in the cash with his ridiculous building permit "violations", is now the By-Law Enforcement Officer. So now our full-time CBO will have to put in at least 20 hours a week to earn his 40 hours of pay! And Evil Prince Paul has given the Wicked Sheriff of Kearney the thumbs up to ticket and permit the crap out of everything that moves and bring in those big bucks. Except up around Grass and Loon Lake, Henry. Paul has already personally checked those properties and everything there is just tickety-boo (wink, wink)!

So mow your lawn, pull those weeds, clean out that septic tank, hide the dog, tell the kids to keep "the damn noise down", and dust off an old Vote Tomlinson sign to "accidentally" leave leaning against the front porch, cause there's a new sheriff in town.

Resistance is Futile

What Goes Around, Comes Around... As If Tomlinson Cares

During the last term of council, then Councillor Paul Tomlinson and his Proudfoot cronies ran crying to the Ombudsman's Office at every opportunity demanding openness and transparency from Mayor Johnston and council. Fast forward to August 5th, 2011 and Mayor Tomlinson has to read out to the public a letter from that same Ombudsman's Office chastising him for 2 breaches; One breach of town by-laws, and one breach of the Municipal Act.

Tomlinson scoffed at the Ombudsman's findings saying it was "much to do about nothing". But Tomlinson's new-found disdain for the Ombudsman, by-laws, and the Municipal Act didn't stop there. This week Tomlinson called a "Special Council Meeting" without specifying the reason, which is a violation of Kearney's by-laws. And this "Special Meeting" will include a "closed session". But Tomlinson's not telling the public the reason for the closed session, which is a violation of the Municipal Act and the very thing the Ombudsman just finished chastising him for.

But Tomlinson doesn't give a rat's ass about the Ombudsman. He doesn't want the public coming out to this meeting and he's trying to advertise the meeting like there will be nothing to see, even though council will have to start the "open session" by explaining the reason for the "closed session" and then report again in an "open session" once the "closed session" has completed. 

And so the Ombudsman's Office will issue another admonishment and the Almaguin News will implore us all to just "Gee Whiz! Give them a chance, will ya!", 'cause Tomlinson's only been a member of council for the last five years and is still figuring things out, right?

Tomlinson and his Proudfoot cronies have been running slipshod over the rules, regulations, and the law since taking over council. And they're doing it with virtual impunity because the Ombudsman's Office is really all bark and no bite. They'll investigate this latest breach and write another polite letter, but in the end The Proudfoot Four will continue to do as they please and the people of Kearney will grumble behind closed curtains and do nothing.

Are You Surprised?

Would You Like A Second Opinion?

So few people want to incur the wrath of Mayor Paul Tomlinson or the other members of the Proudfoot Four, for fear they would suffer repercussions, that the Concerned Citizens of Kearney often stands out as a lone voice, at least publicly. And because we are just one voice, it's easy to dismiss us as a minority, or a bunch of cranks.

But with increasing frequency we are seeing the main-stream media reporting on issues very similar to ours.

Back in October 2010, Paul Tomlinson set the tone for the next four years in his negative and ungracious statements as he bragged to the press how he "built his electoral success by sowing and nurturing the seeds of anger amongst seasonal residents". Even the editors of the Almaguin News were disgusted that he pitted Kearney residents against Proudfoot residents and said so in this article.

Then in March 2011, the Proudfoot Four were making the papers when this article appeared about Dingwall's motion to council, divvying up the community events so the Proudfoot Four wouldn't have to rub elbows with the Kearney Townies all the time. Dingwall also managed to be blasphemous, insult Kearney's war vets, and make it perfectly clear that he ran for the job "to be a councillor, not to be a social butterfly". We did notice that he showed up for Regatta, but spent all his time sulking in his lawn chair (except for the 5 minutes he spent spying on the Chalk Art contest for Tomlinson).

Then there was the article on the Town of Kearney hiring a full-time Chief Building Officer (to replace the part-time CBO they lost when they dissed Perry Township) who "comes in a couple of times a week". Nice gig for a guy who was fired from his position as Magnetawan's CBO. Triple pay for a Magnetawan reject who shows up twice a week. More Proudfoot economics in action.

And on July 28th, the Almaguin News ran this article and this article on the bureaucratic mess the Proudfoot Four have created in Kearney (but not in Proudfoot where you get your zoning fees waived) and the nightmare it's creating for small business investors in Kearney (but not in Proudfoot where developers/campaign managers get to build all over the place without environmental, water, or sewage surveys and self-proclaimed tree-hugger Louise Wadsworth won't say "boo").

 
So are we really "a small bunch of small-minded people" as Councillor Barry Dingwall would have the newspapers believe? Or are we just the most vocal (as is the Almaguin News) of a much larger group? Either way, at least we're not trying to %@*! our neighbours.