City Hall in Cornwall Ontario Bails Out Chamber of Commerce Spring Show by Renting out Space for TEN CITY DEPARTMENTS While Raising TAXES!

chamber logoCFN – Emails from irate tax payers and businesses flooded CFN this afternoon after news spread that the City of Cornwall has bailed out the Cornwall and Area Chamber of Commerce Spring Trade show by renting out space for 10 departments!

The unprecedented expenditure comes after Chamber Prez Kevin Hargreaves, owner of the local Kelsey’s came hat in hand asking the City to chop 30% from the terribly reasonable fees that the City charges for the salons at the Civic Complex.

Emails and calls to Norm Levac, CAO of Cornwall asking the amount spent by the city at this years show were unanswered as of press time.

Residents can now spend $5 entrance to learn about city departments such as :

 Building permits and requirements for fences, pools and sheds.
•        Rules for outdoor fires.
•        2013 planned road, sidewalk and bike lane projects.
•        The City GIS System.
•        The City Budget, taxation and purchasing services. Residents will be able to request a five-year comparison of the property taxes for their property.
•        Garbage, recycling, leaf and yard waste and hazardous waste day programs.
•        The Spring Clean-Up Challenge (registration will be taken on the spot).
•         Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade project.
•        Volunteer water meter program.
•        The emerald ash borer (an invasive beetle that destroys native ash trees). Parks and Landscaping Supervisor Jim Althouse will also be making presentations at the         show on Saturday at 2 pm and Sunday at 11 am.
•        Cornwall Transit routes and schedules.
•        On-the-spot bicycle registration (serial number and model is required).
•        Emergency management and public access defibrillators.
•        Programs and services at the Cornwall Public Library.

All of which of course could be discovered for free by either visiting City Hall of the departments, or their websites.    CFN will also be asking Mr. Levac how much in staff and overtime will be spent by having City staff man booths at the show in Cornwall?

In addition the City wrote and sent out a press release to media pimping the show and their participation.

What do you think Cornwallites about the City burning through cash after raising taxes 2.88% to support the chamber show to the tune of thousands?

You can post your comments below.

Cornwall Free News

18 Comments

  1. That is disgusting!! They (Cornwall Chamber) should pay the fee just like every other user.

  2. If I recall right, the Chamber collects $348,000.00 rent for the participants for this weekend event.

    Now if the city is picking up the 30% as requested, that amounts to $104,000 tax payer dollars.

    What city pool of money is that coming out of. What have we not been told about a blind fund account for such occasions where such monies can simply be written off for such disposals.

    Is this such a case in which ‘no real monies’ change hand but rather just a slight of hand trade-off for appearance of a funded usage is taking place and that possibly staffers are being requested to participate voluntarily or in lieu of time off so ‘0’ or no remuneration is actually coming out of city coffers? are there such employees available for a fun weekend on the job? Would their union allow such exchange of time, if in fact this is what is being done.

    Another mountain being made out of yet another mole hill or yet another boondoggle where the taxpayers yet again take a useless and unnecessary hit.

    Does anybody really know or worse, does anybody really care?

  3. Yep the city is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. It seems they just can win……

  4. Author

    How do you figure that Stella? This is just a complete lack of transparency. Do other groups get this kind of support? It’s pretty ugly. Ten City Departments with the public having to pay $5 to chat with them? Does that make any sense for the city or the public?

    Whoever signed off on this should be fired. It’s a gross waste of tax dollars.

  5. And oh what heights Cornwall hits……

    On with the show this is ittttttttttt!

  6. Jamie…the city making themselves available to the citizens is a sign of transparency…..is it not? They will be faced with many questions and should be ready with answers. Is it not a good way of reaching out to the public?

    If they did not get involved they would be accused once again of a lack of transparency. They make themselves available to answer question and listen to complaints and still people aren’t happy. In order to sell themselves and our city, they have to spend.

    Like I said….damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

  7. Once again, amazing!!!!

    Any wonder that with this kind of municipal administration and council leadership our population growth has been virtually stagnant over the past 25 years?
    (see: http://www.cornwall.ca/en/planningandpermits/resources/DATA%20BOOK%202010.pdf)

    The population growth may have been stagnant over that timeframe but the increases in costs to taxpayers has been staggering!!

    Give your head a shake!

  8. Author

    Stella the city has to deal fairly with entities coming for support; not just the ones they like or drink with. What benefits the city most is what should count. The rates for the Civic Complex are quite reasonable. The only reason for the chamber asking for a break is because of their lack of success in putting on a show. The fact that the city has booked space for ten city departments showed that there were a lot of empty rental spaces.

    It’s not up to the city to make up with tax dollars what any private group has failed to achieve on its own. A Chamber of Commerce is something that should be a celebration of the best of what a business community is. This group has practiced cronyism, corruption, and exclusion and now truly paying the price.

    Surely taxpayers should not be forced by our elected officials to write cheques for the chamber’s failure.

  9. Jamie you said it best in the last blog. When people cannot make businesses in Cornwall without corruption involved then it is impossible to make businesses to employ people and every time a business leaves everything falls on the backs of the tax payers. Cornwall has not grown since 1956 just like Mr. Pat Finnerty said such a funny and interesting man. He is so right in what he said. Cornwall has seen so much corruption but the very worst one of them all is Bare Ass Bob Kilger – they don’t come any worse than that so far.

  10. The City is taking lessons from Neville Chamberlain. Appease, appease, appease. Capital letter, F{MODERATED}U, you are out of touch and should be {MODERATED} investigated like a liver toxicologist on Rick Shaver’s nose.
    .

    please feel free to edit this as you must

  11. I am glad I live and pay taxes in South Stormont and the last place I would spend my 5 bucks is at the Chamber’s worn out Spring Show. I would prefer to give it to charity.

  12. I have to admit that the chamber has failed already in trying to get citizens to spend their hard earned money to come out to this show,especially knowing that the city has already wasted their hard earned tax money at a time when taxes are being raised.This city really has to get its act together & get rid of this council starting with bobble head bob.Cornwall is sinking faster than Atlantis did….We can still pull this city up by the same bootstraps that should be kicking council out!!!

  13. Perhaps the City could set up their booths outside the complex entrance and greet visitors before they shell out cash… (you know, next to the RVs and BBQs). This way, the citizens of Cornwall could get answers to all those burning questions, without having to shell out $5 to get answers. 🙂 he he

  14. The problem is the Queen Bee, the one who needs to leave is her, good at barking orders, smoking up a storm and walking around like she is all that, pay attention to what she does in a days work, “we do” you will see, many smoke breaks outside or extended lunch hours away from her office. The Chamber is old, with old ideas. Your time is done Leslie.

  15. Cornwall needs new, younger people to run the city like a profitable business. Retire all these corrupt dinosaurs who think that the taxpayer is a bottomless bank account.

  16. @CornwallLaughter…Who is Leslie?

  17. Yet another reason to question the way you/we voted last municipal election ! Fortunately we will get another shot at getting it right ! Realistically we can only improve next go around.

  18. Author

    David the Municipal act and province should also have a fairly simple process when a mayor/council have crossed lines. If the President of the United States of America can be impeached so should a local mayor be able to be recalled for being a naughty boy.

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