OPEN LETTER TO MIKE HARRIS

A black eye for municipal politics

In public office perception is everything. Why then did Municipal Affairs Minister Tony Clement miss the boat on allowing convicted felons like former Metro Councillor Mario Gentile back into next November's election race?

Council voted 40 to 10 requesting the province to pass legislation to bar people like Gentile from running for re-election. Some of the same councillors who voted against allowing Gentile back into the fray are the same ones we have seen toadying up to him when he turns up at regular council meetings.

Councillors, who went out of their way to lay out the welcome mat, must have made Gentile feel like he was coming back to Old Home Week.

The argument of allowing Gentile another run for municipal office on the basis that he has served a jail sentence for his crime just doesn't wash.

Perception by John Q. Public is one thing. Think of perception inside the council chamber. Increasingly, municipal councillors are showing a lack of respect for the public purse. They have the attitude that if the money is there, they should be allowed to spend it.

If former councillors, who are convicted on charges of accepting bribes from developers and found guilty of municipal corruption, are allowed back into the electoral race, what message does that give municipal councillors everywhere?

Unlike their peers at the provincial and federal level who must garner large numbers of voters in advancing to or regaining public office, many municipal politicians traditionally get elected on voter turnouts of less than 10,000.

With the combination of public apathy and a scenario that largely favours the re-election of incumbents, it is much easier to manipulate a municipal election.

Given these circumstances, it would not be all that difficult for Gentile, who showed up at City Hall to file nomination papers with a ring of cheerleaders in tow, to win his seat back.

Name recognition is a big part of municipal politics. Indeed, it could be argued that the publicity surrounding Gentile’s attempts to return to the municipal fold will be an advantage to him come election day.

Your municipal affairs minister has given a black eye to municipal politics.

Tony Clement was not around back in 1994 when Gentile was sent to jail for municipal corruption and bribery.

To our way of thinking, there is no guarantee Mario Gentile was the only councillor who was not playing by the rules He was the only councillor caught.