Cornwall Ontario – One of most crucial gigs on council is being on the police board. It’s meaty. It’s one of the biggest budget items. Yet it’s been used in a corrupt and abusive manner (last term under Kilger and Pat Finucan) and as a rubber stamp for police budget raises this term.
The board is made up of five members, two from council. This term it’s conflicted Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy and Councilor Andre Rivette. Rivette is an odd pick as he got into trouble last term, allegedly flashing his police board card to get out of a late night traffic stop, and of course his history from the Ice Storm where it was alleged that while clearing brush from the storm he backdoored some firewood.
He was quoted in other media:
“We are here to basically oversee and I think we should remain in that job.” “I would like to leave it in the chief’s and deputy chief’s hands and they know the day to day operation.”
The problem is that while Andre may wish this, its the board that oversees the CCPS.
And that’s a big money issue because the board has to power to tell the CCPS to cut its budget by say…a Doug Ford like 4% which would erase this years tax hike which is at a near historic rate even with a motion to cap it at 4%.
All it would take is the will around the council table to ask its two members to get one more vote on the police board and that could happen. Would Manon Deschamps really defy the will of the City Council and block direction to the police force to trim its budget?
This is the ugly truth behind this years budget process where Cornwall CAO Maureen Adams and her management team give council brutal options for budget cuts instead of the clear areas.
It’s also a reason why it’s so important to support real journalism that hasn’t sold out because if the public isn’t aware of issues like this then they can’t make clear decisions of where they wish to vote and how their community should evolve, and the voters, the people that pay the freight for this hot mess, get to make decision every four years.
And this is an election year.
So feel free to email councilors@cornwall.ca and let them know how you feel about the budget and please click that donate button below on this page so we can have more resources to send more journalists to cover meetings like the police board and so many other important meetings that need to be covered so we can build a better Cornwall.
As the saying goes the more things change the more they stay the same. It’s sad really. Arrggghhhh!!!!!
I cannot believe Rivette’s quote ! The biggest budget in the City (Police) & he rubber stamps what the Chief & Deputy puts forward ? Therefore, apart from eating free meals, what does he accomplish ? By his own admission, we (taxpayers) have no one, overseeing the biggest budget ! This is pathetic ! Is anyone on Council listening ? I now understand, why you all want a strike !