Which Cleveland will we see on Tuesday evening in the Council chamber? The magisterial persona of an experienced and mature Mayor or the rabid protestations of a Mayoral candidate trying to prove a point – that is that he is the only person who knows what went on in the Town’s transfer of Treasurers in the month of October 2023? This may be a real issue for a candidate but totally incompetent for a Mayor.

The saga of the Department of Finance in Cobourg in the last years of the previous Director and the ‘suspicious’ circumstances of his retirement have only been hidden in closed meeting minutes and reports, surrounded by legal advice. Mr. Cleveland, becomes Mayor Cleveland on Monday and is determined to ‘out’ those circumstances because, we think, he believes that the previous Treasurer had been lax in his duties and recording the financial affairs of the Town incorrectly. His motive for doing so at this time is suspect as a Mayor but perfectly normal for a candidate  – Mr. Cleveland. Unfortunately for Mayor Cleveland he has had three years of closed meetings, reports and legal advice to report what he thinks and knows to the Citizens of Cobourg. Why is he doing it now?

Mr. Cleveland, the candidate for Mayor is now trying to prove that Mayor Cleveland was slow in reacting to the problems and is now pushing Mayor Cleveland to expose it all!

The way of exposing this is peculiar, firstly he has called a Special Meeting of Council – putting the boots to a Mayoral debate at the YMCA – it was set up for the same time as this meeting, secondly he has produced four motions (read them here) to be debated, if he gets a seconder, that are designed to show the Citizens of Cobourg that once again he is the ‘smartest man in the room’ and also is designed to lay the blame on other people.

The first motion is directed at the Police Services Board (PSB) and questions historical accounting decisions. These decisions have nothing to do with the Town but Mr. Cleveland, the candidate who gets Mayor Cleveland who writes the motions, wants to score political points for his campaign and embarrass the Chair of the PSB – Cllr Adam Bureau, in public by, in the words of the motion “FURTHER THAT Council request that the Chair of the Cobourg Police Service Board, Councilor Adam Bureau, answer in open session the following question: “To the best of your knowledge today, what budget increase can the Cobourg public expect from the Cobourg Police Service Board for 2027 knowing what you know today.” That should be very short answer – “No the budget isn’t ready yet!” Also the motion directs the PSB to hire forensic auditors to examine the books for the last two years the question is – “Who will pay for this?” The PSB’s complete Board is also “requested” to appear before Council to explain their budgeting.

The second motion is more complicated but boils down to ordering the CAO to produce every single piece of paper the previous Council should have been aware of about the Town’s finances in the last two years of their term and this has to completed and posted in ten days. I just hope that the massive increases in pay that the CAO has received in the last five years makes her stick around long enough to be able to take this kind of crap being dished out here.

The third motion chastises the present Treasurer for being slow in producing the information that was requested in the September 23rd meeting of Council, he is now ordered to give the answers to nine questions to the CAO who will present them in public by November 1st.

The fourth motion is even more insidious than all of the others.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council allow the CAO, if she chooses, to speak in public about closed session matters on the Town’s finances and finance department staffing from October 5, 2020 to the day she speaks, including her recommendations to Council and the findings of the KPMG service review; and

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT before she speaks, the Town Solicitor advise the CAO in writing how much she can lawfully say about any current or former employee, and that she may speak to the full extent that advice allows; and

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT if she chooses to speak, she may answer any or all of these questions, in person, in writing, or both:

1. When and how did you first learn about problems with the Town’s finances, and how did your understanding change over time?
2. What did you recommend to Council about these problems, and when? What did Council do in response?
3. When the Treasurer position became open in 2023, what did you do, and why?
4. Why did you bring in a part-time, temporary person to help the new Treasurer, and what did they do?
5. What steps have you taken since this Council was made aware of the issues in November 2024?

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT she may not share legal advice the Town received; and

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT she may decline any question without giving a reason, may get her own legal advice first, and nothing be assumed if she chooses not to speak; and

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT any written answer she chooses to provide be published with the meeting agenda.

A note to Mr./Mayor Cleveland this is not the “Star Chamber” (wiki ref here) albeit being in public.

Think about this – The CAO is the number one person in the Town that the Mayor (whomever is the Mayor) relies on implement the agenda. Conflicting with the CAO in public and embarrassing the position is the last thing a leader should be doing. Even if the Mayor fires the CAO, using strong mayor powers, just who would want the job? Another sideways move for his former assistant and now Director of Development – Chris Challenger? 

It appears to the BR that Mr. Cleveland the candidate is now trying to both influence the election and prove to his ‘enablers’ that he is digging out the dirt that Mayor Cleveland should have done in the last few months of office.