Mayor Lou Maieron has launched a $75,000 lawsuit against the Town of Erin, the Credit Valley Conservation authority (CVC) and six other parties.
The statement of claim, filed with the Superior Court on Sept. 23, indicates Maieron is seeking damages related to a 17-acre property given to him in 2006, four years before he became mayor.
“We’re not getting what we bargained for,” Maieron said of the original agreement granting him the property.
The woodlot was given to Maieron as part of an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) decision regarding the Erinbrook Estates subdivision near his Erin home and fish farm business.
For several years taxes went unpaid on the property.
Last September the town told Maieron he would have to pay $38,568 in back taxes – or the town would proceed with a public sale of the property.
Maieron and his lawyer Kevin Sherkin argued at the time that the deed was never officially registered because the terms of an easement on the property were not followed by the developer or the municipality.
They said the developer or the town should absorb the unpaid tax bill.
But the town rejected that idea, as well as a request for a payment extension, and Maieron eventually paid the tax arrears.
Maieron and Sherkin said at the time they would pursue “other legal options” if Maieron was forced to pay the bill, but there seemed to be little action on the matter until last month.
In his statement of claim, Maieron said he is seeking:
– $75,000 in damages;
– an order transferring the easement on the property to Maieron for the sum of $2;
– the costs of the legal action; and
– any associated interest and any further “relief” the court deems just.
“We hoped we could have solved this without going to this level,” Maieron said in an interview on Oct. 22.
“But in good conscience I can’t pay someone else’s taxes to the tune of $40,000.”
It appears both the town and the CVC will fight the lawsuit.
“We’ve passed it on to our legal experts and our insurance company,” Erin councillor John Brennan said in an interview on Oct. 23.
CVC chief administrative officer Deborah Martin-Downs said in statement the CVC “believes the action to be without merit. The case has been referred to [authority] insurers who will be dealing with it through the litigation process.”
Other parties named in the statement of claim, who Maieron said are the principals involved in the original subdivision proposal, are: Ugo Guila, Nadese General Contracting Inc., Security Recycling (Ontario) Ltd., Tical Painting and Decorating Ltd., Vicmarelle Holdings Ltd., and Birdseye Farm Ltd.
Maieron told the Advertiser he sees no conflict of interest in launching a lawsuit against the town of which he is mayor, and against the CVC, on whose board of directors he serves.
“I have not participated in the discussion,” Maieron said. “I was a person before I was mayor. Unfortunately this is the way the matter came forward.”
He also stated, “We’re not asking for any money from the town or the CVC, but we are going to a judge and ask to have this easement removed.”
The statement of claim he filed with the Superior Court of Justice in Guelph states he is seeking “damages in the amount of $75,000 for funds owing pursuant to the obligations running with the lands.”
While it may be rare for a mayor to sue his own municipality while still in office, officials with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing would not speculate on whether or not it is ground breaking.
“The ministry does not track legal cases,” said May Nazar, the ministry’s senior media relations coordinator.
Ministry officials also would not comment on specifics of the lawsuit or whether or not it presents a conflict of interest for Maieron.
“Under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, elected officials must identify and declare a conflict,” said Nazar.
“A person who believes a mayor or councillor’s actions are in a potential conflict of interest should seek independent legal advice.”
She added the Municipal Act gives municipal councils “broad authority to establish codes of conduct and other tools of accountability.”
(Maieron has been accused of violating the codes of conduct in both Erin and at the CVC on unrelated matters.)
Brennan offered his own take on having the mayor sue the town.
“It’s awkward, that’s for sure,” he said. “Is it a conflict of interest? I don’t know.”
In his lawsuit the mayor is also seeking the transfer of property from the defendants – other than the town of Erin – to him without additional restrictions or easement.
“Right now there is no easement,” Maieron contends. “I did not bargain for an easement, that was not part of the deal, so I never accepted the deed.”
He suggested the matter could have been dealt with sooner and placed the blame on council.
Last year, when the town threatened to sell the land if the back taxes were not paid, Maieron petitioned for an extra 30 days to pursue other options.
“They said ‘no’ and I had to pay the taxes to stop the tax sale from proceeding,” Maieron said.
Brennan said Maieron did not meet the very specific set of requirements under the Municipal Act for granting such an extension.
“He came to council at the very last minute, literally,” Brennan said of the mayor’s request for an extension. “And because it had been dragging on for years and years and years, council said, ‘You’re a little late.’”
Besides, Brennan noted, Maieron wasn’t just seeking more time.
“He didn’t just want an extension – he wanted to be absolved from paying the taxes,” said Brennan.
Maieron maintains the other individuals listed in the lawsuit should have continued to pay the taxes until the deed was transferred.
He added he was supposed to receive the block of land “free and clear without any obligations” and that did not include an easement.
Maieron wonders why the easement was sought in the first place, noting the woodlot was to provide protection from the impact of the subdivision.
The easement, he said, allows work to rectify stormwater issues using the woodlot block, but, “There wasn’t supposed to be any stormwater work on that block.”
He is seeking the deed to the property without any obligations and without any taxes owing.
“We just want the deal that was bargained for way back when,” said Maieron.
When pressed again for clarification regarding the $75,000 in damages, Maieron said the taxes he was required to pay to stop the tax sale of the property amounted to over $40,000 (the lawsuit lists those taxes as totalling $38,568 – an amount town officials have confirmed in the past).
Maieron stressed the issue began long before he became mayor.
“Perhaps it should have been straightened out back then, but I was always hopeful the parties would honour the agreement set out by the OMB,” he said.
“If they want an easement, maybe they should talk to me.”
He contends the land was transferred to him in trust and, “I don’t think you can alter those types of agreements.”
Maieron said, “The block of land was given to me as a buffer to protect [my] sensitive trout farm from any impacts of the subdivision.”
He added “tax bills and the MPAC assessments were never sent to me.”
Maieron again maintained he is not suing the town or the CVC for any money, but those parties were included in the statement of claim because the lawsuit could potentially impact their rights for an easement.
“It boils down to what the [original] agreement was,” he said. “If I was given what I was promised, we wouldn’t be here.”
Yet Brennan said the problem with joint and several liability cases, where a number of defendants are named, is that if a party with deep pockets – such as a municipality – is found to be even 1% responsible, it is often forced to pay 100% of the damages.
“How you separate [the parties] out … you can’t, as far as I’m concerned,” said Brennan.
