Where's Pauldo?

While Mayor Jubilee is strutting his medal around Europe, the biggest economic news to hit Kearney in a century makes the Toronto Star, the Almaguin News front page, and national television. This, of course, is the announcement that the Graphite Mine has overcome all obstacles and is beginning production this November. While Mayor Doughty of Huntsville and the Town of Kearney get good mention, the only mention of Kearney’s mayor appears in the Toronto Star as “the local mayor”, in the same sentence with the Grass & Loon Lake Residents Group. The Almaguin News references the Town of Kearney from many angles but our local mayor isn't mentioned once. 

It appears everyone has caught on to what most of us have known for a long time; our local mayor is a nonentity.

Are you surprised?

Jim Skelton writes the Almaguin News

Click to enlarge

Proudfooter Jim Skelton fancies himself as an expert on almost everything, whether it’s firetrucks, accruals, municipal finances, size of council, or what colour drapes would look best with your carpet. He is almost always proven wrong and shown up for his self-serving, pontificating arrogance. 

Remember Poor Mom, who lives in an upscale condo in Kitchener and can’t afford to pay a few extra tax dollars on her Sand Lake waterfront cottage and stingy old Jim who lives in an upscale condo in downtown Toronto, plus a waterfront cottage on Sand Lake, can’t help out Poor  Mom with a few dollars to make ends meet. 

Now we read Jim’s Letter to the Editor in the May 16th Almaguin News (above). In Poor Jim’s “Poor  Mom” email to members of council he pleaded with them to reduce taxes, not raise them. Well, Council ignored Poor Jim and voted in a 3.9% tax levy increase. Only Councillor Yvonne Wills voted against the budget and the accompanying increase of 3.9% in the tax levy.

So, does Poor Jim praise Councillor Wills for her tough stand? Nope. 

But Poor Jim, if your buddies Tomlinson, Dingwall and Wadsworth had voted against the budget with Councillor Wills, the budget would have been defeated and you would have gotten your tax cut for Poor Mom. 

But, Poor Jim is so busy being an expert at everything, he can never remember if he wants taxes raised or lowered.

Give it up Jim. Every time you send something out, you make yourself look more foolish, if that is even possible.

Is anyone surprised?

Updated Draft Budget Now Available.

It's funny (not HA-HA funny) how the Proudfoot bunch on council make a point of telling everyone that they never lower themselves by reading our blog. Yet, there always seems to be an immediate response from them when we write stuff.

Take for example, the lack of availability of the draft budget we wrote about on May 5th. Two days later: An updated copy of the draft budget appears on the Town of Kearney website. Ta-da!

Probably just coincidence.

Proudfoot's Jim Skelton writes to Council

Dear Councillors:

Mom turned 96 last December.
The property at Sand Lake is hers…

Earlier this year Mom misplaced (lost) her hearing aid.
She has one good ear in which a hearing aid works. It’s essential to replace.

Recently (last month) she had a cataract removed and needs new glasses.

And, now Kearney is about to ask her for another 4% or $210.
Money she desperately needs for glasses and a hearing aid…
Money, mostly not needed by Kearney, that will sit in a bank gathering rust.

Please excuse the above ‘personalization’ but perhaps it may help make the point.

Easy to say “Working Capital Surplus”…
However, there is no such justifiable financial requirement.
An unallocated surplus is just that “unallocated” or in other words “unneeded”!!

Please adjust your thinking and planning somewhat.
Use short term borrowing to manage timing of cash requirements.
The modest interest expense is both prudent and a legitimate operating expense.

Also please give your collective heads a shake and get realistic with your proposed tax increase.
Or, if you prefer each of you could send my Mom $30 so she can afford her share of the money not needed!

With Kearney’s elderly population the above story may well be repeated in many similar forms.
Let your conscience be your guide….
Thanks for listening.

Sincerely,
Jim Skelton
416-367-1400
25 George Street #703,
Toronto, ON
M5A 4L8

It brings a tear to the eye, doesn't it? So selfless, isn't he? Poor old Mrs. Skelton, huddled in her tar-paper shack, eating dog food out of a can...

Except that Jim Skelton's mother lives in Kitchener and Jim lives in a condo in downtown Toronto, so their properties in Kearney are lakefront cottages. 

So what Jim is really saying is that even though he and his mom own homes and cottages, and even though tax cuts are already killing student jobs, library funding (do we really need to make another list?), he and mom don't want to cough up $200. If you're so upset about poor old mom, just sell your cottage, Jim. 

Mind you, Jim might be a bit strapped for cash now that Henry Hess knows that Jim's septic is hooked up to his mom's on the adjoining property and he'll have to get his own septic bed. Tsk, tsk, Jim. It's nice that you're not leeching into the lake anymore, but it's still against the law.

Meanwhile, mom's cataracts are so bad she can't even drive Jim's Mercedes. 

And if you're wondering what 25 George Street looks like:

And here's a virtual tour of one of Jim's neighbour's condos. It's truly tragic what those poor folk in Proudfoot have to suffer through, isn't it?

A Reader Kindly Corrects Us

pogo p possum

Mon, May 6, 2013 at 11:39 AM

To: "kearneyconcernedcitizens@gmail.com"

Put your name behind this anonymous pile of uniformed [sic] crap and perhaps an open and transparent dialogue might ensue. We know where this is coming from and tire of this endless repetition of the same old WRONG story. Tick tock though the chickens are coming home to roost. Hope you got deep pockets .

pogo p possum

Mon, May 6, 2013 at 5:29 PM

To: "kearneyconcernedcitizens@gmail.com"

People of Kearney demand openness and transparency of the Blog

pogo p possum

Mon, May 6, 2013 at 10:16 PM

To: "kearneyconcernedcitizens@gmail.com"

Actually its [sic] YOUR not You're and like your understanding of the Town's finances you FAIL in both regards.

Apparently, our take on the current Draft Budget is a "pile of uniformed* crap", but the only error Pogo corrects us on is a typo in the title of one of our articles. Thanks, Pogo (if that is your real name)! Error corrected.

And if our understanding of the budget is so flawed, why not demand that the draft be made public so the people of Kearney can decide for themselves?
 

*It should be "uninformed", not "uniformed". And "have deep pockets", not "got deep pockets". And "it'sYOUR", not "its YOUR". We won't even mention your punctuation. Good effort though. Write us again; That was fun!

Make Sure Your Voice Is Heard

Kearney's Town Council will be voting on the 2013 Budget on Thursday, May 9th. No one has been allowed to see the budget and there are numerous problems, as we outlined in the previous article (below).

Contact members of Council and tell them that we have the right to see this budget before it's rammed down our throats! Tell Council to vote NO until the budget draft is made public and the people of Kearney have been heard.

Tell Wadsworth, Tomlinson, and Dingwall that the People of Kearney demand openness and transparency!

And speaking of the 3 Stooges...

What’s wrong with this picture? 

What happened to the commitment to openness and transparency? 

Traditionally, prior to approving the Annual Budget, Kearney's Council has always had a public meeting. Usually at a time when most of us can be available, like a Saturday, on a long week-end like the upcoming May 24 weekend, which is just a little over a week after Council intends to pass a budget that nobody has seen. 

Is it because the 2013 budget is fraught with financial mismanagement, depletion of the Reserves, continuing patronage to Proudfoot buddies, and an inability to meet fundamental operational needs, or is it just an administrative oversight? 

It could be argued that a public meeting was held, way back in February, on a Monday morning, in the middle of the winter, with a draft budget being handed out just 15 seconds before the meeting started. But, if the public meeting - which four people were able to attend - was to review the 2013 Budget, why did it take almost three months for Wadsworth, Tomlinson, and Dingwall to present it? 

Simple answer: The February version was such a load that even a cursory review by four members of the public pinpointed all kinds of irregularities. So what has changed and why isn’t a real public meeting being called? 

What are Louise Wadsworth, Paul Tomlinson, and Barry Dingwall hiding?

So much for openness and transparency.

Well, we don’t know all of what is being hidden, but here are some things that stick out like a sore thumb:

1) The version of the 2013 draft Budget presented at the Feb. 18th public meeting was dated Jan. 4th, 2013 and done prior to knowing any actual expenditures for 2012. Knowing actual expenditures helps to better predict future expenditures. During his campaign, Paul Tomlinson naively bragged that he'd have budgets out before the beginning of each year, but we all watched that blow up in his face last year.

2) At the Feb. 18th meeting, the Financial Consultant advised the committee to defer passing the 2013 Budget until the 2012 audit has been completed. The 2012 audit has not yet been presented to Council for approval and likely won’t be before July. See also point #1. 

3) There is a deficit of almost $60,000 (that we so far know of) coming out of 2012. That means Council must raise taxes 2% if they to balance just 2012.

4) The Feb. 18th version of the budget forecasted a 3.95% increase in our property tax rate to balance the budget but that’s a phony amount. Wadsworth set this before she knew about the $60,000 deficit from 2012, and she's fudging the numbers on the amount the town will need to pay in Education Taxes. 

5) The $100,000 CBO (plus an increase of 63.71% or $3872.00 for the CBO’s travel allowance) is still in for 2013, while Perry Township’s CBO is only costing them $40,700. 

6) Then there's the $10,000 deductible the Town of Kearney pays for every lawsuit (insurance pays the rest). $20,000 was paid out in 2011, $10,000 in 2012, but for 2013 nothing is budgeted. We already know of at least two lawsuits that will be settled in 2013 so where will the (at least) $20,000 to pay the deductibles come from? 

7) Wadsworth, Tomlinson, and Dingwall killed the Summer Student Program to save $5500. Sorry kids, but we hear Perry is hiring.

8) Tomlinson isn't replacing the vacant Public Works position while our roads continue to crumble. That saves $9500, but a lawsuit because of bad road conditions is already costing a $10,000 deductible so this savings won't even cover that. Brushing of our roads has been cut, saving $11,728,  but now Public Works will have to do it. With one less worker. Bad potholes on your road? Sorry, PW is busy brushing.

9) It gets better: Wadsworth, Tomlinson, and Dingwall also chopped Roadways Maintenance by $34,142. There’s a good one since our roads are already in such great shape. DUH!! 

10) And there's still no money for a 2013/2014 rink attendant. Enjoy the Port-a-Potties. Maybe if the ice is thin enough you can wash your hands in the Magnetawan.

11) Wadsworth, Tomlinson, and Dingwall cut funding to the Kearney Library by $20,360 or 80%. To make ends meet, the library will need to use ALL of its reserves, which means no reserves in 2014. Then what?

12) Wadsworth, Tomlinson, and Dingwall have approved another loan, this time for $112,500. How high is high for our municipal debt?

13) Budget Line 407 – Wadsworth, Tomlinson, and Dingwall are still planning to pay $3000 of taxpayers’ rapidly disappearing money to repair a private dock for their Proudfoot Island Lake chums. Wadsworth says it's on a public shore allowance so it's a public dock. Then so is virtually every dock in Kearney! Are we going to fund repairs on those, too? Or just the ones in Proudfoot? How about we finish work on the Town's ACTUAL PUBLIC dock, huh?

There is much more but we hope you get the picture. Normally we provide links to back our statements, but all that Wadsworth has made available is the minutes of the December 2012 meeting and some agendas. And no updated Draft Budget. 

[Addendum: We did find a copy of the old February 18th DRAFT budget here.]

So much for openness and transparency.

Kearney doesn’t have enough money to meet basic operational needs but Mayor Paul H. Tomlinson sits on his fat ass when he should be out there working with the Province and Feds to get financial or partnership assistance. The previous council proved that there's all kinds of funding available. Why isn't Mayor Jubilee out there getting it?

Public Works is being cut by $25,862 while our main roads continue to crumble and we fund obscure roads like Lawson Drive. Where the heck is Lawson Drive? Why that’s a dead-end road where some of Wadsworth’s buddies live. Probably just a coincidence.

Wadsworth, Tomlinson, and Dingwall are forcing this outrageous budget through on Thursday, May 9th without the public getting to see or comment on it.

So much for openness and transparency.

And why push it now when the 2012 audit may not get reviewed until July?

The answer: On Friday, Mayor Jubilee heads out on a one month, much needed vacation to England. Remember, bullying and harassing consumes a lot of energy. Wanna bet he takes "his" medal with him? 

We can say more but this gives you enough information to be outraged. Show your outrage by contacting your “trusted” members of council and tell them DO NOT PASS THIS BUDGET ON MAY 9TH. After Tomlinson is out of town and in England (presumably telling Her Majesty how he single-handedly deflected that asteroid in February through sheer awesomeness), Council has an opportunity to turn things around. 

Step 1: Get rid of Wadsworth as the Budget Committee Chair.

Step 2: Tell Jim Skelton to shut the !#?% up.

Thank you, Your Queenliness,
your hat is pretty, too.