Newmarket election candidates leak confidential Glenway memo

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 2, 2014
By Chris Simon

Town staff may investigate a breach of confidentiality following the leak of an internal memorandum between CAO Bob Shelton and members of council.

The memo, scheduled for release by the town as part of a more extensive report Friday, was published on the website of Ward 7 councillor candidate and husband of Ward 6 Councillor Maddie Di Muccio, John Blommesteyn, Tuesday afternoon.

It was also published on mayoral candidate Chris Campbell’s Twitter account later in the day.

“It’s unfortunate the memo is out there without that context; it may not be in the best interest of the community,” Shelton said, in an interview with The Era yesterday.

“Confidentiality is really paramount for a council and staff working for a municipality or business. It’s one of the fundamentals we have to be able to rely on. I’m having discussions with staff to determine what, if anything, we should be doing about this apparent breach.”

The memo discussed the potential acquisition of land in the Glenway West area. According to the document, Shelton approached the owner of the lands, Marianneville Developments, with a request to purchase a 22-acre stretch designated for development. The owner turned down the proposal, but offered to sell part of a nearby 30-acre section proposed for development.

Marianneville does not plan to push forward with the Glenway West lands until later this year, or sometime in 2015, according to the memo.

Campbell said he made use of the memo after it was published on “a candidate’s website”. However, Campbell suggests the community’s best interest is served by the release of the memo.

“It is clear Marianneville intends to develop on land that was originally earmarked for a golf course,” he said. “The timing of this is no coincidence as there is an election in less than a month and the contents will be embarrassing to the council and (Mayor Tony Van Bynen) and call into question his handling of the town’s challenge at the OMB. The memo has no commercial confidential information contained within it and it is significant to Glenway residents, as more development on top of what was originally proposed may have an impact on their quality of life and property values.”

However, the memo is in compliance with the confidentiality provisions within the provincial Municipal Act because it addresses a possible land purchase by the municipality.

“(It) was only one of a number of options under consideration by council,” Van Bynen said. “The document circulated by Campbell and Blommesteyn without proper context now prejudices and taints any negotiations we may consider in the future. On its own, it misleads the reader to think that a purchase is the only option being considered. That creates an expectation to purchase and, in my mind, will end up costing our taxpayers substantially more if we were to go forward. (They) are lacking in professional ethics and find it convenient to compromise the principles of confidentiality for their own political gain.”

Van Bynen also accused Campbell and Blommesteyn of purposely misrepresenting the contents of the memo.

“If this breach of confidentiality occurred in the private sector, they would be suspended from their jobs immediately until a full investigation was complete,” Van Bynen said, noting he’s asked Shelton to proceed with an independent investigation into the breach, if necessary.

Campbell disagrees. He said council was patronizing during a debate on the issue Monday night.

“The release of the memo and its apparent suppression in isolation is significant,” he said. “(Region Councillor John Taylor) intimated that council would decide when and if information would be made public, as they were there protect the public on the basis of ‘We know best’.”

But the information would have become public in due course, Taylor said.

“This is a very serious issue,” he said. “Confidentiality often involves litigation or potential land purchase and taxpayer dollars are at risk through improper disclosure. This is not a political game, it is the business of the town. Council (keeps) information in private not to keep it from our residents, but to keep the information from people we may end up in court, the (Ontario Municipal Board) or negotiations with.”

Blommesteyn suggested any report released by the town would contain “spin”.

“This land could possibly have been retained as a golf course. Now we’re learning that’s not the case,” he said. “It looks like the town made at least an overture to purchase the land. We don’t know the cost. At the end of the day, it looks like the developer has plans to put in new houses. If you read the memo, I disagree with the idea that people are stupid. The memo is self explanatory.”

Blommesteyn would not reveal who leaked the confidential memo to him.