Questions linger over chief ad

Barrie councilors will be following the money
which paid for a controversial newspaper ad
seeking applications for the next city police chief.

Mayor Dave Aspden was involved in placing the
advertisement, which ran Feb. 6, 10 and 12 in
The Globe and Mail.

Rick Jones resigned as police board chairman
before the second ad appeared, allowing Aspden
to take the chair.

But Coun. Jerry Moore and Doug Jure, the police
board's other members, didn't know about the ad
being placed and say their board didn't approve it.

The question now is who pays for the ads, which
could cost more than $6,500.

"The fact that we have this ad running repetitively
in a national daily newspaper that was approved by
nobody, paid for by a mystery source and void of
any of the typical disclaimers or wording, never
mind the spelling and grammatical errors, is
frustrating and embarrassing," said Coun. Rod Jackson.

"Where does the buck stop? Why won't the mayor
answer the questions without a 'Red Herring'
diatribe? Enough of this nonsense!"

Jackson asked Aspden on Feb. 8 who authorized
the ad and who paid for it.

"He dodged the question then as he continues
to now," said Jackson. "Clearly he knows and
is withholding the information, which is terribly
concerning to me. What is the big secret?
What's he hiding? What is he afraid of?

"If he (Aspden) made an innocent mistake or
poor judgment call, admit it, apologize and
let us move on with the business of managing
the city," he said. "People will forgive
mistakes. They won't forgive hiding your mistakes." "

Aspden could not be reached for comment on
the weekend by The Barrie Examiner.But on Feb.
8 the mayor said he "had something to do with
it (the ad)," and that Jones also knew about it.

Jones himself said he was aware of the ad going
in, but not the mechanics of placing it and its
wording.

He said he takes responsibility for it nonetheless,
although that wasn't why he resigned, Jones said.

Jackson isn't the only city councilor, however,
who wants answers.

"I know the cost of running the advertisement
would run into the thousands of dollars,"
said Coun. Barry Ward. "I don't know who paid
or will pay for it, but I would never support
the city footing the bill since we did not
authorize it."

"I'm sure the police services board will be
talking about that (who pays), but I can tell
you I'll be keeping an eye on how this is paid
because it definitely shouldn't be coming from
the city's budget," said Coun. John Brassard.

"When the bill comes in, then we will know
(who placed the ad)," said Jure, a civilian
member of the police board. "There's no authority
to pay for the ad.

"An expensive item like that would require a
motion from the board."

City staff say Aspden does not have a corporate
credit card on which he could charge the ad's cost.

The Globe and Mail could be sending the city,
or the police board, and invoice for the ad.

"There is no way I will allow the citizens
of Barrie to pay for this fiasco, and I hope
and expect the police board will take the same
approach," said Jackson.

"I am not aware of the cost or how it was paid,
but the Barrie police board never authorized it
or authorized payment of the ad," said Moore.

It asks for applications for the position of
Barrie police chief. Wayne Frechette, the current
chief, retires Sept. 1, 2010. The police board has
a recruitment committee of Aspden, Moore and Jure.
It didn't authorize the ad either.

The ad could only be withdrawn or altered by
the person who placed it. Attempts by the city's
human resources department to determine this
were blocked by the Globe's confidentiality clause.

City councilors have expressed a number of
concerns about the ad, which Moore and Jure
will take to the board during its Feb. 23,
closed-door meeting.

A report on those findings is expected at
council's March 1 meeting.