Frank Scarpitti questions expenses claimed by Maddie Di Muccio while she was Newmarket councillor
YorkRegion.com
April 2, 2015
Lisa Queen
What started out as a pitch by the fledgling York Region Taxpayers Coalition for York Region council to adopt measures to boost public accountability disintegrated into a standoff between coalition president Maddie Di Muccio and Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti over a newspaper advertisement for which she is being investigated.
The coalition is pushing the region to appoint several positions it says will improve accountability and transparency, such as an ombudsman, an integrity commissioner, a lobbyist registrar and an auditor general.
It also wants a whistleblower hotline for residents and regional staff to call if they suspect public money is being wasted.
With an annual operating budget of $2 billion, the region should implement such measures, Di Muccio said.
“York Region has done some things well, but we believe there is more that can be improved upon,” the former Newmarket councillor told regional council last Thursday.
Given the advertisement Di Muccio placed in The Era April 10, 2014 and expensed to the town, Scarpitti agreed it might make sense to have more government oversight.
Newmarket staff is now investigating the $1,225.19 spent on the ad, which criticized former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak for rejecting Di Muccio as an election candidate.
Staff was asked this month to prepare a report on whether or not claims filed by Di Muccio in the fourth quarter of 2014 for the cost of the ad and for $1,541.49 for legal advice from Kinahan Professional Corporation are permitted under the town’s expense policy.
Earlier this month, Di Muccio told The Era senior town staff said her claims were justified, although town CAO Bob Shelton said councillors can approach staff for advice but it is up to them to verify whether or not claims violate municipal policy.
When Scarpitti began to question Di Muccio about the ad, she cut him off.
“Mr. Scarpitti, I’m going to interrupt you there. We are here as an organization to speak on behalf of our (taxpayer coalition) members, not to speak on behalf of Maddie Di Muccio or her history with council,” she said.
“If you want to discuss with me personally, then fine, but please do not make our deputation political.”
There was a bit of verbal jockeying between the two before regional chairperson Wayne Emmerson said Scarpitti had the floor.
Di Muccio then argued she had a point of personal privilege, but Scarpitti pressed on.
“You can define it however you want. It’s a very simple question. I’m not taking issue with the content of the ad because it’s well done,” he said.
“I just want to know if the taxpayers of Newmarket paid for this ad. Yes or no, did the taxpayers of Newmarket pay for this ad?”
When Di Muccio said she would not answer the question, Scarpitti continued.
“I would just say every municipality knows what the provincial requirements (for oversight) are, every municipality responds in their own way,” he said.
“I would just say I couldn’t agree with the comments more. It does look like we do need more oversight because, I’ll tell you, if this happened in my municipality, where something like this (ad) was paid by local taxpayers, I would certainly have an issue.”
A report about the province’s Accountability Act, or Bill 8, which was passed by the legislature in December, but has not yet been proclaimed, so is not yet in effect, will come to the region’s finance committee meeting in April, Emmerson said.
At a Richmond Hill panel discussion about municipal government transparency in February, of which Di Muccio was a member, Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin slammed most municipalities in the province for failing to appoint an ombudsman, auditor general, lobbyist registrar and integrity commissioner because they want to avoid criticism and public scrutiny.
He also specifically criticized York Region for holding a private three-day retreat in January, which cost taxpayers between $12,000 and $15,000.
