After a grueling 4 years of legal gymnastics, I am pleased we were able to finally resolve this matter. I think the withdrawal of all charges says it all and is in the best interest of justice.”
From day one, I acknowledged there were some minor errors and omissions in my 2014 Election filing. I still firmly believe the Compliance Audit Committee erred in approving the Compliance Audit in the first place as the nature of my minor filing errors did not warrant it. The costs to the Township is well in excess of $310,000 today. I expect that when all the bills are paid it will be much more. Just think of what could have been done with that wasted taxpayer money.
To my surprise, certain actors inside and outside the Township were able to use the Municipal Election Act as a weapon and succeeded in having me defeated in the 2018 election by 82 votes which was their ultimate goal.
Most people know I do not dwell much on the past. Going forward, I plan to be a loud voice for the people of Springwater as I have been for the last 15 years. I enjoyed my term as Mayor and I am very proud of the initiatives we were able to launch in that 4 year time frame. The last council under my leadership set a clear vision and foundation for the future.
My wife and I have supported the Elmvale and District Food Bank in recent years. Lorraine hosted an afternoon tea during the 150th Anniversary in 2017 and raised over $1,000 for the cause. Lorraine has also donated gift cards to the Food Bank at Christmas, so it is appropriate that to bring this matter to an end, that the Elmvale and District Food Bank be the recipient of my $2,000 donation as a gesture of my goodwill.
And since I purposely asked for God’s blessing on everyone at the many functions I attended as Mayor, I today also thank God for staying close to me, my family and friends and giving us comfort through what can only be considered a very interesting journey.