Barrie council spent $43,000 on expenses in 2017: city report

Fridge magnets, Christmas cards, travel and conferences among the items covered for councillors last year

Yorkregion.com
June 27, 2018
Chris Simon

Tax dollars covered nearly $43,000 in Barrie council expenses -- paying for everything from conferences to fridge magnets -- last year, though that amount is not evenly split among the city’s elected representatives.

The municipality recently released a 2017 honoraria and expense report and Mayor Jeff Lehman spent more than any other council member ($11,007.25) in 2017, up from the $6,543.85 in 2016. However, he does represent the entire city.

Sergio Morales ($5,355.18) topped the list for councillors. He was followed by Barry Ward ($5,347.04), Andrew Prince ($4,652.84), Mike McCann ($4,126.80), Peter Silveira ($3,947.52), Rose Romita ($3,380.14), Arif Khan ($2,643.94) and Bonnie Ainsworth ($2,017.88).

Michael Prowse, who resigned as Ward 6 councillor after being hired as CAO of the municipality about one year ago, had $258.24 in expenses. His successor, Steve Trotter, claimed $244.80.

Coun. Doug Shipley had $9.59 in expenses.

Morales said each Christmas card is hand delivered to constituents, giving him an effective “conversation starter” at doorsteps. He’s also spending more of his advertising budget on social media posts these days.

“I see the value for dollar in (social media and) Christmas cards,” he said. “You get face-time when you physically hand them the literature.”

Lehman’s largest expenses were for attending Federation of Canadian Municipalities ($2,026.08) and Association of Municipalities of Ontario ($1,721.29) conferences. He also travelled to Zweibrucken, Germany ($1,287.72) and the Vimy 100 commemoration in Arras, France ($1,175.94).

But Lehman touted the value of attending conferences -- he went to more of them in 2017 than 2016 -- and cited the city’s conversion of street lights to LED technology and plans to expand public-private partnerships as direct results in recent years.

“You could argue whether it’s necessary to attend these conferences to produce these results, but it’s the opportunity to learn about best practices -- how to do things better and cheaper,” Lehman said. “Of the hundred things we learn, maybe ninety-nine of them are not going to play out, but one of them is. And if it does, it’s going to pay for a lot more than the registration fee for AMO.”

Many council members also spent money to attend conferences, advertise and use printing services. Here’s a look at some of the expenses you paid for:

• Morales -- Christmas greeting cards ($1,185.12), Facebook advertisements ($133.24)

• Ward -- FCM ($2050.33), AMO ($1,976.34) conferences

• Prince -- AMO ($2,606.64), ward newsletter printing and mailing ($1,484.46)

• McCann -- Ward newsletter ($1,989.28), AMO ($1,731.19)

• Silveira -- AMO ($2,350.27), fridge magnets ($543.40)

• Romita -- AMO ($2,896.24), cellphone ($475.95)

• Khan -- AMO ($2,466.29), cell ($169.70)

• Ainsworth -- Ward newsletter ($1,993.88), cell ($24)

• Prowse -- Tablet ($143.24), cell ($84.96)

• Trotter -- Tablet ($184.74), cell ($60.06)

• Shipley -- Cell ($9.59)

AMO also advocates on behalf of municipalities and its annual conference is attended by provincial cabinet ministers, Lehman said.

“It’s a chance to raise the most important issues to the ministers,” he said. “That’s (several) individual trips to Queen’s Park, whereas in two days you can meet with cabinet ministers in between doing other stuff.”

More details on council expenses for 2017 are available at barrie.ca.