Approval of Meaford CAO Frank Miele's community services report and recommendations has been stalled after council voted at the July 26 meeting to table the report until September.
The move came after Deborah Thompson appeared before council as a delegation to express displeasure with Miele's report. Thompson was a member of the citizen's task force that reviewed all of the community and cultural services within the municipality after which a report was presented to council that included an extensive list of recommendations to improve the services and facilities operated by the municipality.
That task force was divided into several sub-committees, and Thompson who was a member of the committee charged with reviewing the operations of Meaford Hall, said in her opening remarks that she was speaking on behalf of six of the nine members of that sub-committee.
Two members of the Meaford Hall sub-committee disagreed strongly with some of the recommendations being put forward by the group as a whole- in particular the recommendation that a board be established, and submitted a separate report to council that was dubbed the 'minority report'.
In his report to council on July 12 Miele, who is currently on vacation and was not present for Thompson's delegation, said that staff had given clear direction to the task force members that governance not be a focus of their deliberations- a comment that Thompson and her fellow committee members take exception to.
“Mr. Miele states that we were told not to consider governance, however, we do not find anything written in the directive to the Task Force to this effect and the very first objective we were to fulfil is to 'Engage the community in a positive dialogue concerning the future of these municipal services and that promotes change for the betterment of all of the taxpayers of our community.',” Thompson told members of council, “This can mean nothing more than developing formal, reliable, integrated avenues and procedures through which citizens can interact with and contribute to the Hall. The only structure we know of which is recognized to affect this kind of citizen input and contribution is a board.”
Thompson went on to suggest to council that the recommendations that they did provide to the CAO in their final report have been misunderstood or mis-communicated by Miele when he submitted his own report to council.
“I would ask you to read our report closely. You have been given an interpretation of our recommendations, not what we intended,” she said.
Though Miele did not agree with the task force members that a board should be established, he did extend an olive branch in his own report suggesting that a 'Friends of Meaford Hall' could be developed which would allow for members of the community to become involved in some form in the operations of the hall- a concept that Thompson said was roundly rejected by all nine members of the sub-committee.
“We did however strongly advise the CAO that a “Friends of Meaford Hall” would not work – the Sub-Committee – all nine members were unanimous on this. Yet, this is what he recommends, without details or an organizational structure. Why?” asked Thompson.
With Miele absent and therefore unable to address the concerns being raised, Council accepted a request from Thompson to table the report and delay any vote on the matter until more discussion could be had.
That decision according to Michael Anderson, one of the two authors of the so called 'Minority Report' will only further delay what has already been a long road to get to this point.
“I don't know what the value of tabling it is frankly,” Anderson told The Independent by phone on Tuesday, “I don't know what council will hear that is new.”
Anderson said that he is disappointed with the delay, and stated that he had hoped that a chapter had been closed in the long running debate over how the hall should be operated, and he had also hoped that the municipality and it's residents would have now been able to move forward.
Additionally Anderson expressed concern that the focus that has been placed on the Meaford Hall aspect of the community services task force has meant that much of the work done by task force members in other areas is being overlooked.
“It is really bothering me that the fuss is taking away from all of the good work that everyone else on the task force did,” said Anderson of the project on the whole which covered all aspects of community and cultural services including parks, the harbour, and athletic facilities like the arena and the Blue Dolphin pool.
Anderson also suggested that 'if it ain't broke, why fix it?'
“Meaford Hall is a success,” offered Anderson, “If true then why do we need to change? If you want to change how the hall is governed then you have to say how it will change success,” he said adding that he has not seen a business case that would support the establishment of a board.
For her part, Thompson and her fellow committee members disagree with the suggestion that Meaford Hall is a success.
“If the Hall is enjoying such success why was the Task Force assembled in the first place? If the Hall is on track to accomplish its financial objectives, why did we spend hundreds of hours of our time? Apparently it was not necessary,” she told members of council.
Thompson also suggested to council that establishing a board for Meaford Hall would allow the hall to apply for a variety of grants available to cultural facilities that are not currently available under the current management structure.
“Without a Board they [Meaford Hall] cannot receive other cultural grants. This is important for Council to consider. As the Hall develops, does the Municipality not wish it to tap other levels of government funding where possible? If so, there must be a Board,” she offered.
Deputy Mayor Michael Traynor moved that any decisions with regard to the CAO's final report be tabled until Miele returns from vacation and further discussion could be had.
Councillors Jim McPherson, Harley Greenfield and Gerald Shortt agreed and the report was tabled after a 4-3 vote.
