Since the inception of Council Events, Richmond Hill Members of Council have been required to fund their event through sponsorship however Regional Councillor Carmine Perrelli doesn't think it should apply to his June 2021 Enviro event where he exchanged damaged blue/green bins. Read Staff Report here.
Perrelli has a deficit of $83,914.30 in his Events Account from costs incurred from his multiple-day Enviro Day Events. Now he says that his event is exempt from the Council Event Guidelines and the revenue of $55,709.00 in the account from sponsors is not for the Enviro Day event.
He spent $139,623.30 on this event!
According to the Staff report the annual blue/green bin program costs are $31,000 so Perrelli's event cost 4 1/2 times more than the City's regular program.
At the October 13th Council meeting Council members will be asked to confirm that in providing an exemption from the Council Events Policy, approved on May 5, 2021, for Councillor Perrelli’s Enviro Day Event, Council’s intent was that the Enviro Day event would follow the Council Event Guidelines in place when the planning for the Enviro Day Event was commenced.
If this recommendation is approved by Council then Perrelli will be required to acquire sponsorship to cover the costs of $139,623.30.
If this recommendation is not approved by Council then the only funding source available is from YOUR TAXES.
Call to Action!
Send an email to Council Members with your thoughts about this. Should Councillor Perrelli find sponsors to pay for this event or should taxpayers foot the $140K bill?
Make sure to mention that you want your email to be included in the revised Agenda for the October 13th meeting, and to become a part of the public record.
To contact all council members and the Clerk copy and paste the email addresses below:
officemayor@richmondhill.ca,joe.dipaola@richmondhill.ca,carmine.perrelli@richmondhill.ca, greg.beros@richmondhill.ca,tom.muench@richmondhill.ca,castro.liu@richmondhill.ca, david.west@richmondhill.ca,karen.cilevitz@richmondhill.ca,godwin.chan@richmondhill.ca,
Was Perrelli not being truthful with Richmond Hill residents about having sponsors?
The staff report seems to indicate that Perrelli had no sponsors for this event albeit that he told Richmond Hill residents that he did. He himself said that the $55,709 was not for this event.
But Perrelli told a different story last April. Listen to the clip from the April 14th Council Meeting where he says "I've already basically spent the money I've already raised".
April 14th Meeting video timestamp 1:25:55
On April 18th on NextDoor he told residents that "No tax dollars will be spent for this event. I have raised the money from generous donations from the public".
So where is all of this sponsorship money?
According to the Staff report Perrelli had intended to run more Enviro Day Events; thankfully, staff halted any further commitment of staff time and purchase of bins until the deficit of $83,914.35 is funded otherwise this could have been much much worse.
Was he ever planning on using sponsorships to pay for this event or was he hoping to recoup $$ by collecting the damaged bin exchange fee that was recently passed by council? If so those hopes were squashed thanks to Councillor West's amendment. Read this post
Was this all an elaborate scheme to get your contact information and a self promotion campaign using taxpayer money? It may have very well been.