Details on Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell’s limo use elusive
Absence of standard records — spelling out how Brampton mayor’s second vehicle was used — baffles industry boss.

TheStar.com
Aug. 19, 2014
San Grewal

Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell billed her city $530,000 over 10 years for an untendered private limousine service that has not produced records to show when or for what purposes she used the car.

The Star asked Fennell and her chief of staff Ian Newman a number of questions about why no reports detailing the car service’s use were submitted for a recent forensic audit of the mayor’s spending, such as what she uses the car service for, and why the contracts over 10 years have never been tendered. (On top of her $50,000-a-year on-call limo service, Fennell also has a $23,000 car allowance for her personal city vehicle — a luxury Lincoln Navigator SUV that she picked out at the expense of taxpayers, who cover its $1,400-a-month lease.)

“Since 2004, the Mayor’s Office has contracted out a driving service re-approved annually by Council, most recently during budget 2014 — for when Mayor Fennell has an exhaustive schedule of community events and business meetings. This also allows Mayor Fennell to work in the car; respond to emails; return phone calls; and review briefing materials. I personally answered questions from members of Council who sought information about the service during the public budget 2014 deliberations. Since 2004, the Mayor’s Office has worked with staff to procure the service, as per corporate policy,” Newman stated in an email Monday. Newman was the original administrator of the contract in 2004.

The recent probe of Fennell’s spending by auditor Deloitte Canada is now being sent for a police investigation. The audit, which included the spending of all councillors, found Fennell broke the city’s spending rules 266 times, totalling $172,608, over seven years.

At the Aug. 6 meeting when councillors decided to send the audit to the police, they also zeroed in on Fennell’s use of the private car service. The audit reviewed the service over three years, from 2010 to 2013, and found 38 transactions totalling $144,150 that may have broken the rules, on top of the 266 instances of misspent money that did break rules. Deloitte said neither Fennell nor staff could provide proper records for the car service to determine what it was used for and whether rules were broken.

“We asked the Mayor and her office staff about reports provided by Total Eclipse Limousine Service, and we were advised that they have never asked for reports nor have they been provided with reports by the service provider,” the audit stated.

A statement from the city’s spokesperson provided to the Star this week said Fennell’s limo contract was originally sole-sourced because Newman indicated the company was “the only one who could provide the specialized services required” — that is, 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week availability. The spokesperson said therefore the city permitted the untendered contract.

Without trip reports, which are standard in the industry, both the auditors and the Ontario Limousine Owners Association (OLOA) said there is no proof that the car was actually being used for city business. The Star called the limo company, Total Eclipse Limousine Service — once named after its owner, Fennell’s limo driver Carmine Vani — numerous times to find out why no trip reports were ever provided. They did not respond.

The president of the OLOA — a non-profit and voluntary organization which helps set practice standards and advocates for the industry — says he doesn’t understand why the contract wasn’t tendered or why trip records were never produced.

“This is now the police’s job to investigate the limousine company,” said John Dahdaly, whose organization’s website states it represents 175 companies and 1,600 vehicles. “A reputable limousine company has everything recorded on computer — when and where did you go, who went, all the details. You submit your expense report, your billing with that detailed itemized report, just like a credit card statement.”

Total Eclipse, which still provides the limo service for Fennell, is not listed as one of the current 114 members of the limousine association across Ontario.

Asked about Fennell’s limo contract being sole-sourced since 2004, Dahdaly said, “Obviously, when it is for city hall business, or any government business, they should put it out for tender. I wish we got it,” he added, referring to his own limo company.

Responding to Newman’s claim that the limo budget was approved each year, Brampton councillors said that while Fennell’s overall annual mayor’s budget was approved, prior to 2014 they were given no detailed breakdown of her expenses.

“There has never been a specific line-item in the mayor’s budget for limousine services. And when we started asking, we were never given details,” said Councillor Elaine Moore, who moved the motion to have the recent audit sent for a police investigation, which will include the spending of all councillors.

In 2013, the city report that listed Fennell’s direct cost to taxpayers for the prior year (2012) listed $23,524 for her car allowance. That amount represented expenses for the Navigator SUV, and did not include the cost of the limo service, which was not in the report.

The cost for Fennell’s local transportation is more than four times higher than Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion’s. When asked to explain why, Fennell did not respond.

“She (Mayor Fennell) expenses $23,000 every year for her own city vehicle, including the $1,400-a-month (the lease cost) luxury Lincoln Navigator SUV that she picked out which the taxpayers pay for,” Moore said. “And we did not know that her limo contract was sole-sourced. So we have no clue what she uses it for because she never thought to keep any bookkeeping for half a million dollars’ worth of limo rides, and now we find out the contract has never been tendered.”

Councillor John Sprovieri wants to know if Fennell bills the city for the limousine’s use to reach family events hosted by Brampton residents, concerned that she might be using it “for weddings, anniversaries, engagement parties.”

“That’s not city business. She’s just trying to get votes for the election,” Sprovieri charged. “Why should taxpayers pay for her electioneering.”

Fennell tweeted last month, in response to mounting anger over her expenses, that, “The mayor is invited to many weddings, engagements, significant family events. I do my best + am proud to attend as many as I can.”

When asked if she uses the limousine for these events or if it has ever been billed to the city for personal use, Fennell did not respond.