Township council has opted not to re-appoint the municipality’s current closed meeting investigator, meaning the job will fall to the provincial Office of the Ombudsman.
John Maddox, operating as JGM Consulting Inc., has been the investigator for the township since 2014 through an agreement between the County of Wellington, JGM and six of the county’s seven member municipalities.
As of December 2017, Maddox will no longer operate his consulting firm, but will continue to provide services as an independent contractor.
In October, Wellington County council supported a county administration, finance and personnel committee recommendation to re-appoint Maddox as the county’s investigator.
Under the agreement, the county would continue to cover an annual retainer to Maddox of $1,000 for the county and $300 for each member municipality. An hourly fee of $100, plus expenses, would be paid by the municipality in which an investigation is conducted.
A staff report from deputy clerk Barb Schellenberger recommended retaining Maddox “given his extensive municipal experience,” which would “provide a consistent method of investigation throughout most of the county.”
Maddox is a former municipal CAO and regional director with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Councillor Michael Martin, who first objected to Maddox’s appointment in December of 2016, pointed out council could avail itself of the Ombudsman’s services at no cost to the taxpayers.
“I guess I’ll get back up on my soapbox on this issue again like I did last year,” said Martin. “I think this is a perfect opportunity for our municipality … we’ve had a strong philosophy of transparency right since the very start of this council and I think to use the provincial Office of the Ombudsman is the perfect way to demonstrate this to the public.”
Under the Municipal Act municipalities have the option of appointing their own investigator. The Ombudsman’s office is the default investigator for any municipality that doesn’t make an appointment and does not charge for the service.
“There’s lots of theories that are out about the Ombudsman’s office, right, and the fear of the province and all that sort of stuff, but I really think this is a great opportunity,” stated Martin.
“I don’t know Mr. Maddox. I have nothing against him or his services, but to retain our own closed meeting investigator when there is an opportunity to use a provincial entity that is free … I would love this municipality to sign up to use the Ombudsman.”
While Martin noted the current council has not required the services of a closed meeting investigator, the municipality twice used the services of previous investigator Norm Gamble – once in 2011 and again in 2013.
In both cases, Gamble concluded the meetings in question were handled appropriately.
A motion to re-appoint Maddox as Mapleton’s closed meeting investigator was defeated with Martin and councillors Lori Woodham and Marlene Ottens opposed and councillor Dennis Craven in favour.
CAO Brad McRoberts told the Advertiser council will probably pass a resolution confirming the decision to utilize the Ombudsman’s services, but Martin confirmed the office automatically handles closed meeting investigations in the absence of another appointment.
