An Open Letter to the Almaguin News

From: Jeff Johnston [mailto:___________________]
Sent: May-11-12 16:56
To: Mary Beth Hartill (mhartill@metrolandnorthmedia.com); Rob Learn (RLearn@Metrolandnorthmedia.com)
Subject: Kearney Budgetary Advisory Meeting
Importance: High

Hello, Mr. Learn and Ms. Hartill,

You missed an interesting meeting in Kearney today, and as it turned out so did I.

The Kearney Budgetary Advisory Meeting had been quietly advertised with very short notice and being scheduled for 1PM on a Friday, most people were at work. Council seemed to be expecting a very small turnout as there were only 6 chairs set out for the public. When I arrived, 2 chairs were already occupied by Louise Wadsworth’s husband Cam and Mayor Tomlinson’s friend Jim Skelton, and council was expecting 2 guest speakers, so it was obvious they only really expected a maximum possible attendance of 2 other people to show up. I only attended because I was in town and tagged along with my father, former mayor Jeff Johnston.

I hadn’t intended on recording the meeting but after about 20 to 30 minutes it became apparent that some very bad accounting had gone into the 2012 budget and the consultant was pointing out error after error. Mayor Tomlinson sounded as though he was blaming many of the errors on the town’s previous treasurer. Given that Tomlinson and several others on council have a tendency to deflect blame and whitewash their mistakes, and the consultant was laying a lot of blame, I thought the meeting should be recorded for the benefit of taxpayers who could not attend. Mayor Tomlinson has videoed and photographed members of the public at town meetings, so I saw no reason why I couldn’t video public officials at a public meeting on public property.

Mayor Tomlinson responds to concerns about Kearney's finances

Initially, when Councillor Wadsworth (who was chairing the meeting) realized I was videoing, she did not object but simply wanted everyone to be aware. Jim Skelton and Cam Wadsworth jumped up and started yelling at me although I was only videoing public officials. Councillor Wadsworth didn’t seem to think it was out of order for her husband and the mayor’s friend to be jumping around and yelling. At one point the town clerk (I believe) said she didn’t want to be videoed so I assured her, and council, that I would only video the public officials. Mayor Tomlinson objected and I pointed out that he had set precedence himself by videoing others at town meetings. Things escalated with members of the public and council shouting at each other and Councillor Wadsworth ordered me to stop videoing. I respectfully declined citing the precedence set by Mayor Tomlinson on more than one occasion. She then ordered me to leave the meeting. My father argued that there no bylaw or anything in the code of conduct that prohibits the recording of meetings and I respectfully declined to leave. Councillor Wadsworth accused me of disrupting the meeting, even though I was just sitting quietly in the public gallery, unlike Cam Wadsworth and Jim Skelton. Councillor Wadsworth called a recess and phoned the OPP. In the meantime, Mayor Tomlinson walked up, stuck his tongue out at me and sneered that I didn’t even live here. “I’m a Kearney property owner and taxpayer”, I replied from my seat. “Yah, but you don’t LIVEhere!”, he responded. “Neither does your councillor”, I said, gesturing to Councillor Barry Dingwall, “and that doesn’t seem to be a problem.” So ended that discussion. Shortly after the OPP arrived (2 constables and a sergeant, so Councillor Wadsworth must have really played things up).

The OPP constable I spoke with was very sympathetic and polite and we chatted and worked out a game-plan: I would return to the meeting where I would resume videoing. We expected that Councillor Wadsworth would order me to stop videoing and I would again politely refuse. We expected that Councillor Wadsworth would order me to leave and I would politely refuse. The constable would tap me on the shoulder and I would leave the meeting under his escort. This was ultimately what transpired and the OPP sergeant outside politely cautioned me that if I returned to the meeting I would be charged with trespassing. As I left, I could hear Councillor Barry Dingwall asking the OPP to search my father for any hidden recording devices. As far as I know, nobody complained about Messrs. Skelton and Wadsworth. As I write this, my father has not returned from the Community Centre so I will assume that no secret recording devices were found at he was also permitted to stay. According to the OPP, the Town of Kearney will be issuing me a “trespass notice” barring me from attending the Community Centre.

You can try, but you'll never be as creepy as this.

This is what Kearney has become: A police-state (no fault of the OPP) where our public officials will only be as minimally transparent as the letter of the law requires and will fiercely crush any attempts to publicize their mismanagement of town affairs. If you oppose Mayor Tomlinson you will be barred from his meetings. Certainly if Kearney’s Mayor and Council were proud of the their efforts and conduct they would have no qualms about the rest of the town being able to see a record of their meeting.

I would be more than happy to provide my video if you feel the incident is noteworthy.

Yours,

Jeff Johnston Jr.

Mississauga

Thanks for your letter, Jeff. 

An interesting note: The previous council always allowed photography and videotaping. They even looked into setting up cameras and web-casting meetings for distant residents. But then the previous council had nothing to be ashamed of.