A former controversial local politician has been selected to provide counsel to Springwater Township council.
Coun. Anita Moore introduced a motion during Wednesday night’s council meeting to retain the consulting services of Tony Guergis, a former Springwater Township mayor and Simcoe County warden.
In her motion, Moore said she wanted to retain Guergis’s services “to provide training and education in order to assist Council with relevant background information relating to the history of the Township, to be conducted in a closed session as permitted under Section 239(3.1) of the Municipal Act, 2006.”
She was also looking for council support to pay Guergis $10,000 for his services, which would be taken from the Tax Rate Stabilization Fund.
In 2009, Guergis was named the worst municipal councillor in Canada by the Mad River Institute for Political Studies. A Feb. 3, 2010 article in the Barrie Advance newspaper noted Guergis picked up the dubious award “for flip-flopping on the issue, then ignoring overwhelming public sentiment and attempting to force the construction of a landfill, Site 41, on top of a watershed that supplies fresh drinking water for as many as four million people.”
As Moore was explaining why she brought the motion forward, a map appeared on the screens in council chambers. It was the City of Barrie’s boundary expansion map, showing the parts of Springwater and Oro-Medonte townships Barrie was interested in acquiring.
Council chamber visitors and some councillors were left to wonder what the map had to do with engaging a former mayor to give council a history lesson. There was nothing in Moore’s motion that referenced Barrie’s proposed boundary expansion so it was a confusing companion graphic to Moore’s talk track.
It soon became clear.
Moore was looking for council’s support to hire Guergis to provide counsel to council on how best to deal with the City of Barrie and its boundary expansion plans.
“It’s not meant to be personal but meant to be helpful and encourage this council to present a real coordinated effort in navigating uncharted waters and a possible annexation,” she said. “Mr. Guergis is a 30 year resident of Ward 4, a three-term warden of Simcoe County and past Springwater mayor, deputy mayor and councillor.
“I believe he has the experience, history and knowledge that can help get us started in the right direction,” she added.
Moore said she didn’t know Guergis very well but she was impressed with his credentials - extensive media and public relations experience, moderator on Rogers TV for municipal, provincial and federal election debates, hosted Political Speaking tv show, and his consulting business provides strategic advice in navigating the complex world of government policy and procedure.
Mayor Jennifer Coughlin was visibly upset with the direction Moore took the motion.
After providing council with a list of past mayors, deputy mayors and councillors who would be willing to give the current council a history lesson for free, Coughlin addressed Moore directly.
“Nowhere in this motion does it mention the City of Barrie,” Coughlin said. “As we said earlier, about making sure when we put something out on Facebook it holds truth and weight, when this council puts something forward in a resolution or notice of motion it should also speak truth.”
Moore said she reached out to Jeff Schmidt, the township’s chief administrative officer for advice when she wrote her motion.
“It was requested of me to rewrite it and make it simpler and that’s what I had to do,” Moore said. “If you have any questions about that, I would suggest you ask the CAO.”
That statement didn’t sit well with Coun. Matt Garwood.
“I felt our residents have been misled,” Garwood said. “Regardless of who wrote it, your name is on it.
“I see this motion as an attempt to say one thing publicly while using the curtain of a closed session meeting to disguise this delicate discussion,” he added.
Garwood said he is not in favour of bringing in a consultant who does not have the trust of the community or bringing in someone who was not elected to represent the community.
He said the current council was elected to make those decisions and that’s what council should be doing.
“This is passing the buck to somebody else,” Garwood said. “We can have a conversation in closed and say whatever we want in closed and then we can’t say it out of closed to then get back to the table with the City of Barrie.
“When I make a mistake, I know I've made a mistake and I say it at this table that I've made a wrong turn and I correct myself.
“Maybe that’s what we should be doing here,” Garwood added.
Identified by Moore as a contributor to the motion, Schmidt clarified his role.
“I did not recommend,” he said. “This is not a staff recommendation to council so there is not a recommendation from myself or any member of my staff as it relates to this matter.
“There was advice and guidance provided. It does not mean that we agree or we are recommending what’s in front of council tonight.
“I just want to clarify that as much as there was conversation with Coun. Moore regarding this, and there was clarification sought as to whether or not this was dealing with the City of Barrie, it is not my notice of motion,” he added.
Coughlin said she received a phone call from Guergis last week where he asked her if she would be open to listening to his advice. She said she would welcome any former member of council to give advice to the current council.
According to Coughlin, Guergis said it would be more of a formal presentation to council and he would provide advice on negotiations with the City of Barrie.
“I assured Mr. Guergis at that time, that under no circumstances could this council resolve into closed to discuss something that in open we have said we are not entertaining, we are not going to do.
“To have something where we have told the public we are not going to consider boundary adjustments, it is not a consideration, we are not going to negotiate it, it’s off the table and then resolve into close to discuss it.
“Even talking about it is so wrong,” Coughlin added.
Despite the mayor's concerns, council soldiered on.
Deputy Mayor George Cabral supported Moore’s motion.
“To sit here and do nothing, that's what we’ll get folks - nothing,” Cabral said.
Coun. Phil Fisher, who represents Ward 5 residents in Midhurst, said everyone in the township should be taking Barrie’s boundary expansion plans seriously.
“We’re the first domino that will fall but eventually all of the dominoes will fall and we won’t have a Springwater,” Fisher said. “This is putting our municipality on the butcher’s block.”
In the end, council voted four to three to support Moore’s motion in a recorded vote.
Deputy Mayor Cabral and councillors Moore, Fisher and Alexander voted in favour of the motion. Mayor Coughlin and councillors Thompson and Garwood voted against the motion.
It was further clarified that Guergis would be paid on an hourly basis up to a maximum of $10,000.
Moore said Guergis’ hourly rate is $300.
