‘I don’t need your permission to speak, I am still the mayor of this town’

Angry words and sarcastic remarks dominated what was supposed to be a brief update on the town's 2010 budget.

Chief administrative officer (CAO) Normand Beaulieu provided council with an update on the budget, which included some additional requests for financial support from community groups such as Centre Culturel Le Chenail, Friends of Feral Cats and the Prescott-Russell Coalition Against Drugs.

"There are some items council needs to consider, particularly if we want to keep the tax increase at zero per cent," Beaulieu commented.

Councillors were largely in favour of denying the requests from these local groups, noting their requests for financial assistance should have been submitted much earlier in the budget process.

Councillor Gilbert Cyr suggested the town take $100,000 from its reserve fund to assist with keeping the tax increase at zero per cent, a suggestion that did not sit well with Mayor Jeanne Charlebois.

"I have a serious problem with this," she began. "We're turning down assistance for several community groups that do a great deal for our town, but we seem to have no problem approving $120,000 for the Hawkesbury Commercial and Tourism Development Society. What is wrong with this picture?"

It is no secret that Charlebois has strongly opposed any amount of financial contribution to the society since she took over the mayoralty. She said the town has given nearly $1 million to the society since its inception in 1998 and continues to "line the society's coffers" every year, despite the fact that the society has not kept the municipality abreast of how it uses the town's annual financial contribution.

"No other municipality I know of would do something like this and continue to do it, year after year," Charlebois stated. "We haven't received a single report from the society in more than two years. We have no idea how they spend the money we give them. We don't know what they do, period. We are completely in the dark but here we go again, giving them $120,000. This defies logic, I don't understand this at all."

Charlebois went on to express her disgust with council for denying "worthwhile" groups such as Le Chenail and the youth centre funding, when these groups "actually do a tremendous amount for our community and we know about it.

"We give the youth centre a lousy $12,000 and tell them, there you go, do something with your pittance," she said. "It's criminal."

She highlighted the fact that the town completed a $25,000 paving job for the society, in addition to spending $5,000 to clean up Place des pionniers, work which was supposed to be done by the society.

"We never received one letter or phone call thanking us for the work," the mayor remarked. "I think we should deduct that $30,000 from the $120,000 we're giving them. Our taxpayers paid for that job, 100 per cent. This isn't right."

She said council is obviously unhappy with the service, or lack thereof, being provided by the society and, if it is not happy with the service, it shouldn't be paying for it.

"We entered into a service agreement with these people, did we not?" she asked.

Cyr responded that he did not remember what the terms of the agreement were, to which Charlebois retorted, "That's right Mr. Cyr, you have a very short memory, don't you?"

Councillor Gilles Roch Greffe stepped in, noting the mayor was being rude and disrespectful. She apologized and asked to continue her comments, which Greffe and Cyr kept interrupting.

The mayor slammed down her gavel to regain control of the meeting and told councillors they could speak once she was finished making her point. Cyr told the mayor to continue, at which point she angrily commented, "I do not need your permission to speak, I am still the mayor of this town at this time."

Cyr said it was "not council's job to make community donations," while councillor Gilles Tessier sided with the mayor, noting, "We have never heard a word from the society, no updates, absolutely nothing. I fear they have this council in their back pocket and I don't believe this is right. When you don't get the service you pay for, you stop paying and get rid of the service."

Councillor Michel Beaulne, who originally supported thehad a meet $120,000 commitment, said he had "rethought my position on the issue" and suggested council consider turning the responsibility for economic development and tourism over to Matt Mault, who was recently hired as the town's economic development director.

"We could give the society $60,000 and then be finished with them," he suggested. "Then, next year, we turn the responsibility over to Mr. Mault."

Charlebois said that was a good suggestion, but it still involved giving the society money they "don't deserve."

Councillor Gillies Roch Greffe did not support Beaulne's suggestion, noting Mault had enough on his plate with trying to bring new industry to the town. He said it costs money to "sell the town" and suggested council may be partly to blame for the society's lack of accountability and transparency.

"There is a cost to promote the town and we need to pay for it, that's reality," he stated. "I don't think we've been severe enough with them and we should take some of the blame for the situation we're in. We have a part to play in this, too."

The mayor strongly disagreed with Greffe, stating, "If you want to take the blame for this, go right ahead, but don't put it on me. I've been telling you to stop this for the past three years. The blame for this will not rest on my shoulders."

Cyr pointed out that council already passed a resolution agreeing to the $120,000 financial commitment to the society.

"It's done, and now we have to live with it," he concluded.