A new report that’s brought back into focus well-publicized shortcomings in the way Stratford officials have handled closed meetings shows an “unfortunate lack of transparency and accountability from our city council,” mayoral candidate Robert Ritz says.
“It also concerns me that not a single member of council thought anything was wrong with this,” Ritz said Friday, the day after Stratford city hall received a second slap on the wrist for contravening transparency rules in the Ontario Municipal Act. “No one seemed to understand the basic rules, something that is a basic job requirement for any elected representative.”
Stratford city council broke several rules at nearly five-dozen closed-door meetings throughout an 18-month period beginning in January 2020, according to the report from Cunningham Swan Carty Little & Bonham. The 85-page document can be found in the accountability and transparency section of the city’s website, where it was posted Thursday shortly after being released by investigators.
According to the report, 28 agenda items were inappropriately discussed behind closed doors and, in 10 cases, city council’s agenda cited the wrong reason for moving into closed session. On eight occasions, discussions strayed beyond what was cited on the closed-door agenda to issues that should have been discussed in public.
One misstep cited in the report happened in November 2020, when council appointed its deputy mayor during a closed session. The matter, cited on the public agenda as “personal matters about an identifiable individual(s) including municipal employees or local board employees,” did not fall within that exception, the investigator wrote.
“Two members put their names forward, and a poll was taken,” the report said. “There is no indication in the minutes that any discussion was had, much less that any personal information was provided.”
Though its scope is wider, the recent investigation – triggered by complaints by Get Concerned Stratford, a local citizens’ group – comes to many of the same conclusions as a similar effort reported last summer. The first investigation, also triggered by Get Concerned Stratford, was narrower in focus but led to numerous changes to the way Stratford reported items on its open and closed agendas.
Mayoral candidate Kathy Vassilakos, a city councilor, noted on Friday that council’s ongoing efforts to make those changes are highlighted in the most recent report.
“From my perspective, that was a really good thing to see, that the bulk of the issues have already been addressed,” she said. “The current report does have additional recommendations for council to consider … and I think it’s really important to actually take a look at those and make sure we operationalize them.”
Martin Ritsma, another city councilor in Stratford’s mayoral race, pointed to a recent resolution to make orientation mandatory for new councilors, a remedy suggested in both closed meeting reports.
“Orientation is so very important,” he said. “It sets the table for good leadership by councilors as we move forward and equally important is orientation that takes place during the four years of council. Re-training is important.”
Get Concerned Stratford has been raising alarms about transparency issues at city hall since the group was formed in opposition to a controversial glass factory proposal city officials unveiled in late 2020. Discussions between city officials and Xinyi Canada Glass began at least two years earlier. A desperate search for more information about the project – eventually scrapped after significant public backlash – is what lead the group to question what was being discussed behind closed doors at city hall.
Issues raised during Stratford’s months-long glass plant saga have followed members of council into the municipal election. Get Concerned Stratford has recycled some of its protest materials in an attempt to remind voters about the glass plant scandal, some of which caused an issue this month after being flagged by city hall for allegedly violating third-party advertising rules.
Has the glass plant episode affected voter’s feelings about incumbents in Stratford?
It depends who you ask.
Ritz, a local architect running as a city hall outsider, has made transparency a key piece of his mayoral bid. The failed glass plant is among the reasons he’s running for office, and Ritz said voters have been eager to discuss its fallout.
“What went on was completely unacceptable,” he said. “They (councillors and staff at city hall) either didn’t know the rules, or worse, they ignored them.”
Ritsma and Vassilakos both said Friday transparency has not been a major focus in their conversations with voters.
“The number one piece is, in my books, in my discussions, is housing,” Ritsma said.
“I’ve had hundreds of conversations and probably four or five people have brought up the (first closed meeting) report,” Vassilakos said.
This week’s report hasn’t yet been presented to city councilors. That will happen in November, when councilors will discuss at their next meeting whether or not to take further action.
Early voting opened in Stratford on Oct. 14. Election day is Monday.