Want free education? Send your requests to Oshawa Mayor John Gray, he’ll find a loophole.
The city corporate training and financial assistance policy states that any request exceeding $2,000 a year or $5,000 over three years must be approved by the city manager and a department head.
Requests made by Gray’s assistant, James Anderson and Councillor April Cullen were both approved by the mayor.
The requests? Each asked the city to pay for a $23,000 MBA from Cape Breton University.
Gray signed the request, despite the fact that he is not the city manager.
When the issue arose, Gray told the Oshawa This Week that as CEO he had the authority to approve the requests.
But even as our prime minister has shown, powers can be misused.
The city auditor general, Ron Foster, says that Gray didn’t comply with policy, which states the city manager must sign the request.
It’s hard to believe that council has voted down motions to look over the policy and to have the money paid back.
Cullen won’t even be a councillor anymore by December and Anderson may find himself without a mayor to assist.
The councillor and staff member should have to pay back the money. The basis on which they were approved was an abuse of power.
But not only was there questionable behaviour, it was defended and now it’s joked about.
Instead of admitting fault, apologizing and trying to reintroduce a motion to council, Gray jests that he’ll make sure to take requests for $100 typing classes to a council vote.
If council isn’t going to force Gray, Cullen or Anderson to pay back the money, they should at least re-examine the policy so future mayors can’t exploit the wording.
