Self Appointed WUC Audit Smells Fishy

The whole WUC mess is still spiraling out of control as Eddie Francis’ self initiated audit takes form. Bloggers predicted that this would happen right from the beginning and they cautioned that the Mayor would move quickly to steer the whole process in his favor. It came into clear view when, during the council meeting of August 13, the Mayor rode roughshod over Ward 3 Councillor Halberstadt’s motion to bring in the Ontario Auditor General. Instead, Mr. Francis introduced his own motion to bring in the Minister of Municipal Affairs John Gerretson. Alan Halberstadt put it best in his blog:

"It is becoming clear that the key to the provincial municipal audit of the Windsor Utilities Commission will be how the terms of reference are framed, narrowly or broadly.
One gentleman who called me is referring to the exercise as "Audit Lite." He is urging Council to insist on participating in the drafting of the terms of reference for a full operational audit, and wants to make sure that the review is not limited to WUC, but also includes sister company Enwin Utilities.
Who knew what when? This is the question that is emerging surrounding the dramatic 83-percent water rate increase on August 1st. The present WUC regime, which has been at the helm for almost four years, has blamed the old regime.
Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter told me (if he did the audit) that he would request a list of issues or concerns from the municipality. Once he went in he would have free rein to look under all stones. My motion to bring in the AG at last Monday's Council meeting was trumped by a motion from Mayor Francis to ask the Minister of Municipal Affairs to appoint auditors to carry out a probe.
I will reserve judgment on those unnamed folks. I do sense that McCarter is a guy who takes no prisoners”.

This choice is questionable for a number of reasons but most importantly, this body (Ministry of Municipal Affairs) is one which interacts with Municipalities on an almost daily basis. The players are far too familiar with one another.

A new question also comes into play: The Mayor deliberately withheld news from both the media and the public that Minister Gerretson accepted his offer to conduct the audit last Friday. Mr. Francis refused to say yesterday why he sat on the information for so long. That’s a whole lot of time to get ones ducks in order and it smacks of the same kind of tactics which he has been employing all along. The Windsor Star has questioned this and so have other news sources.

Terms of Reference

Mr. Halberstadt is right. This will have a significant impact on the audit’s terms of reference. Already the Minister of Municipal affairs is saying that the next step is to meet with city leaders to determine the terms of reference and the scope of the audit.
No mention was made about other stakeholders such as WUC customers and taxpayers.
This also means that every City Councillor who has been or is currently associated with the WUC will be a part of the process. That’s like having the fox preside over the chicken coup to determine who raided the coup. This is wrong! The Audit’s terms of reference must be drafted sans any input from current or past commissioners or anyone having conducted any WUC business. This list would include current WUC Chair Ken Lewenza Jr., Councillors David Brister, Ron Jones and Bill Marra, and past Chair and current ring leader Mayor Eddie Francis. Clearly, what is at risk here is PUBLIC TRUST. To regain that, this audit has to be conducted in a fair and extensive manner. It cannot be the “audit lite” which councillor Halberstadt referred to. The public is incensed with the continuous misinformation, spinning and ducking of the WUC and the Mayor. They are particularly enflamed about being perceived as stupid. By now, the Mayor and WUC Chairs should be able to see very clearly that they owe their electorate a great deal more respect.

So what’s next? This has to be the hot topic during this coming Monday’s council meeting. E-mail your councillors and persuade them to second Alan Halberstadt’s motion to bring in the Auditor General (Jim McCarter) to run the audit as opposed to the Mayor’s Minister of Municipal Affairs. We want a full, operational audit! The audit should also include the practices of Enwin. You can find them here:

http://www.citywindsor.ca/002244.asp

If you want to address council personally you can contact City Council Services so that you can speak to Council this coming Monday. (you have to register tomorrow – Friday):

Council Services, 350 City Hall Square West, Room 203, Windsor, Ontario N9A 6S1 Canada
Council Agenda Desk, call (519) 255-6432

clerks@city.windsor.on.ca

Bloggers should get as much info as possible, and right away to both the Auditor General (Jim McCarter) and to the Minister of Municipal Affairs (John Gerretson). They need all background information and the timeline because they probably won’t get this side of the story from city leaders. Finally; Alan Halberstadt has already exploded out of the blocks so he should lead the charge. He has to convince his council peers to do what is right and accountable. Get them to second the motion to bring in the AG. Councillors have to come around on this whether they are in the middle of it or just sitting on the fence. Give us confidence now because the stench of rotten fish can linger for a long time.

For full background please refer to Nooozbitz in the left column: