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An Ottawa city councillor has no money in his ward’s special account for park upgrades because his predecessor, Maria McRae, emptied the account in her final year in office, spending more than $600,000 in 2014.
And while much of the money in River ward was spent on park improvements such as new play structures and games tables, a chunk of it went to more than two dozen commemorative benches — many of which feature bronze plaques emblazoned with McRae’s name. Each plaque cost $570, plus tax.
Coun. Riley Brockington said he learned about the situation late last month after all 23 councillors received a memo notifying them of their ward’s cash-in-lieu of parkland balance.
While some councillors have balances of more than $1 million, River ward’s account was in the red by $500 as of Dec. 31 (the account is no longer in a deficit, according to the Feb. 24 memo from John Moser, who, at the time, was general manager of planning and growth management).
Brockington was elected last fall to succeed McRae, who retired after 11 years at city hall. He says it could take several years to build the account back up to a level that it could be used to address community needs.
“I have no issue with the needs that were being addressed, but many people have noted that a lot of money was spent in 2014,” Brockington said.
“It would have been nice to have had a little pot of money left.”
Coun. Riley Brockington said, ‘It would have been nice to have had a little pot of money left.’
Brockington said he has not been given an itemized list from city staff yet to show what the money was spent on and what projects are set to be completed this year.
But, sometime after he was sworn in on Dec. 1, he did receive an email from a senior city official advising him of a purchase request McRae made in the final week of November for benches and plaques (McRae’s term expired Nov. 30).
Brockington says he told staff that whatever McRae requested during her term in office should be respected.
“Those were monies raised during her term of office … she had every right to divert those funds to the projects she identified, so who am I to overrule that?” he said, adding the need for more benches along some pathways in the ward was an issue raised during last fall’s campaign.
All of the spending in River ward in 2014 fell within the cash-in-lieu of parkland program guidelines, the city says.
McRae did not respond to numerous calls for comment.
The cash-in-lieu money comes from property developers: when they build something new, they have to hand over either land for parks for the new residents to whom they’re selling homes, or cash for the city to use on parks instead.
In new suburban subdivisions, giving up the land is usually the easiest thing, so it’s no surprise that a ward such as Gloucester-South Nepean has only about $129,600 in its fund despite all the construction in Riverside South and south Barrhaven. But downtown, the builder of a new condo tower on a tight lot will more typically write a cheque.
The city used to keep one big fund for these projects, rather than reserving money for the individual wards where the money was raised. But now, 60 per cent of fees go to the ward in which the development will occur and 40 per cent are is directed to a city-wide account.
There are tight rules around how the money can be spent. It is OK to buy land, play structures, splash pads and site furniture, as well as cover the cost of preparing a new park site and build and expand community centres, indoor pools and arenas.
Non-capital costs (including studies and ongoing maintenance), any costs related to lifecycle replacement of equipment and any work associated with facilities or property the city doesn’t own are not eligible.
McRae was not the only outgoing councillor who spent cash-in-lieu dollars last year. Former Somerset councillor Diane Holmes spent $1.3 million in 2014, while former Rideau-Rockcliffe councillor Peter Clark spent $465,000.
But at the end of the year, the Somerset cash-in-lieu account still had a healthy balance of about $1.1 million, while the Rideau-Rockcliffe balance was $479,000.
Holmes spent $6,000 of her cash-in-lieu money on commemorative plaques for Jack Purcell Park, which was just redeveloped. But the plaques don’t name the longtime city councillor and instead focus on the man for whom the Centretown park is named for.
Given that the pace of development in River is slower than it is in wards such as Kitchissippi and Somerset — where the balance grows quickly — Brockington said it could take several years for his cash-in-lieu account to be replenished.
If he has an urgent need in the meantime, he said he may go to a council colleague to ask them to transfer money into his account, if such a practice would be allowed.
He’d also like to see council adopt a new rule that would prevent future councillors, in an election year, from dipping below a pre-determined amount of money in the cash-in-lieu account in order to ensure that if there’s a change in office, the incoming councillor won’t be left with no money to address community needs.
“They would at least have something to hit the ground running and to work with the community,” he said.
The cash-in-lieu parklands accounts numbers
Collectively, Ottawa’s 23 city councillors have $9.5 million in their cash-in-lieu of parklands accounts, while the city-wide balance is $3.6 million.
Biggest ward balances, as of Dec. 31, 2014
Smallest ward balances
*This account is no longer in a deficit
Source: City of Ottawa memos
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
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And while much of the money in River ward was spent on park improvements such as new play structures and games tables, a chunk of it went to more than two dozen commemorative benches — many of which feature bronze plaques emblazoned with McRae’s name. Each plaque cost $570, plus tax.
Coun. Riley Brockington said he learned about the situation late last month after all 23 councillors received a memo notifying them of their ward’s cash-in-lieu of parkland balance.
While some councillors have balances of more than $1 million, River ward’s account was in the red by $500 as of Dec. 31 (the account is no longer in a deficit, according to the Feb. 24 memo from John Moser, who, at the time, was general manager of planning and growth management).
Brockington was elected last fall to succeed McRae, who retired after 11 years at city hall. He says it could take several years to build the account back up to a level that it could be used to address community needs.
“I have no issue with the needs that were being addressed, but many people have noted that a lot of money was spent in 2014,” Brockington said.
“It would have been nice to have had a little pot of money left.”
Coun. Riley Brockington said, ‘It would have been nice to have had a little pot of money left.’
Brockington said he has not been given an itemized list from city staff yet to show what the money was spent on and what projects are set to be completed this year.
But, sometime after he was sworn in on Dec. 1, he did receive an email from a senior city official advising him of a purchase request McRae made in the final week of November for benches and plaques (McRae’s term expired Nov. 30).
Brockington says he told staff that whatever McRae requested during her term in office should be respected.
“Those were monies raised during her term of office … she had every right to divert those funds to the projects she identified, so who am I to overrule that?” he said, adding the need for more benches along some pathways in the ward was an issue raised during last fall’s campaign.
All of the spending in River ward in 2014 fell within the cash-in-lieu of parkland program guidelines, the city says.
McRae did not respond to numerous calls for comment.
The cash-in-lieu money comes from property developers: when they build something new, they have to hand over either land for parks for the new residents to whom they’re selling homes, or cash for the city to use on parks instead.
In new suburban subdivisions, giving up the land is usually the easiest thing, so it’s no surprise that a ward such as Gloucester-South Nepean has only about $129,600 in its fund despite all the construction in Riverside South and south Barrhaven. But downtown, the builder of a new condo tower on a tight lot will more typically write a cheque.
The city used to keep one big fund for these projects, rather than reserving money for the individual wards where the money was raised. But now, 60 per cent of fees go to the ward in which the development will occur and 40 per cent are is directed to a city-wide account.
There are tight rules around how the money can be spent. It is OK to buy land, play structures, splash pads and site furniture, as well as cover the cost of preparing a new park site and build and expand community centres, indoor pools and arenas.
Non-capital costs (including studies and ongoing maintenance), any costs related to lifecycle replacement of equipment and any work associated with facilities or property the city doesn’t own are not eligible.
McRae was not the only outgoing councillor who spent cash-in-lieu dollars last year. Former Somerset councillor Diane Holmes spent $1.3 million in 2014, while former Rideau-Rockcliffe councillor Peter Clark spent $465,000.
But at the end of the year, the Somerset cash-in-lieu account still had a healthy balance of about $1.1 million, while the Rideau-Rockcliffe balance was $479,000.
Holmes spent $6,000 of her cash-in-lieu money on commemorative plaques for Jack Purcell Park, which was just redeveloped. But the plaques don’t name the longtime city councillor and instead focus on the man for whom the Centretown park is named for.
Given that the pace of development in River is slower than it is in wards such as Kitchissippi and Somerset — where the balance grows quickly — Brockington said it could take several years for his cash-in-lieu account to be replenished.
If he has an urgent need in the meantime, he said he may go to a council colleague to ask them to transfer money into his account, if such a practice would be allowed.
He’d also like to see council adopt a new rule that would prevent future councillors, in an election year, from dipping below a pre-determined amount of money in the cash-in-lieu account in order to ensure that if there’s a change in office, the incoming councillor won’t be left with no money to address community needs.
“They would at least have something to hit the ground running and to work with the community,” he said.
The cash-in-lieu parklands accounts numbers
Collectively, Ottawa’s 23 city councillors have $9.5 million in their cash-in-lieu of parklands accounts, while the city-wide balance is $3.6 million.
Biggest ward balances, as of Dec. 31, 2014
- Ward 12, Rideau-Vanier, Mathieu Fleury: $1,744,425.99
- Ward 14, Somerset, Catherine McKenney: $1,093,308.19
- Ward 9, Knoxdale-Merivale, Keith Egli: $733,476.06
- Ward 17, Capital, David Chernushenko: $685,183.21
- Ward 21, Rideau-Goulbourn, Scott Moffat: $664,323,85
Smallest ward balances
- Ward 16, River, Riley Brockington: -$518.65*
- Ward 5, West Carleton-March, Eli El-Chantiry: $69,077.62
- Ward 20, Osgoode, George Darouze: $97,291.20
- Ward 22, Gloucester-South Nepean, Michael Qaqish: $129,591.07
- Ward 6, Stittsville, Shad Qadri: $138,682.07
*This account is no longer in a deficit
Source: City of Ottawa memos
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
