Coun. Gary Harvey was Barrie’s big spender in 2021, racking up more than $5,000 in expenses during the calendar year.
Complete city expenses records for all members of council were recently released for the previous year, showing expenses for ward newsletters, Christmas cards, conferences, vehicle magnets, and even ice cream.
After Harvey’s 2021 total expenses of $5,172 came Coun. Sergio Morales at $4,347, Deputy Mayor Barry Ward at $3,675, Coun. Mike McCann at $3,550, Mayor Jeff Lehman at $2,379, and Couns. Ann-Marie Kungl at $1,870, Robert Thomson at $1,806, Jim Harris at $1,567, Clare Riepma at $932, Natalie Harris at $776 and Keenan Aylwin at $755. All figures have been rounded to the nearest dollar.
Harvey topped the spending list, in part, with expenses of $1,952 for Christmas cards and postage, $1,556 for one newsletter, printing and postage, then $1,221 on another newsletter, printing and postage.
“I do send out newsletters with council updates and development application updates from time to time to keep residents informed,” he said. “This particular newsletter ($1,221) was notifying residents of two development applications that I knew would be of interest to them and very few residents would’ve been notified using the 250-metre radius under the Planning Act.
“These developments were in the Mapleview and Essa Road area where there are only four homes east of Essa that would be notified along with a few hundred to the west,” Harvey added. “One development was massive and would change our area significantly, so I wanted to ensure that all my residents were informed of what was proposed. And sure enough, residents raised several concerns about the height and density in comparison to the area.”
The Ward 7 councillor said he’s sent out Christmas cards the last two years and they have been very well received. The past two years he has not received any cards from the mayor’s Christmas card contest, and when he did it was only 40 or so cards.
“This year, to save on postage, I also included my year-end newsletter in with the cards,” Harvey said. “My residents have been kept informed through this type of communication and many have reached out appreciative of the communication.”
Harvey also said each ward has a different budget for expenses, based on population, and that Ward 7 is one of the largest because of its numbers.
It was Morales, council’s second biggest spender, who expensed ice cream. He called the $595 expense tornado recovery support, and it went to Zach from Zach Makes Tracks, co-founder of PopCycle, an ice-cream cart.
“With a cart full of ice cream melting and no customers as a result of the weather, we purchased the cart’s inventory and got to offer it to Ward 9 residents affected by the (July 15, 2021) tornado, as neighbours came together during the cleanup and inquired with me about city efforts to help with the cleanup, including city cleanup dumpster bins, property tax deferrals, etc.,” Morales said.
The Ward 9 councillor's expenses also include $126 for vehicle magnets.
“The car magnets with my name and position made by a local business are an effective identifier during city-related duties, such as the Ward 9 Christmas parade we had,” he said.
Morales expensed $500 for event sponsorship as well.
“Barrie Wrestling was the event this year,” he said. “In the past, I’ve sponsored the Youth Haven prom, Downtown Barrie BIA hockey rink, and Am Shalom calendar. I like to mix up the sponsorships with various segments of our community.”
And Morales expensed $2,080 for Christmas cards and postage.
McCann was the fourth biggest spender, and most of it in one place — $3,358 for a newsletter, printing and postage.
He was asked how that expense can be justified.
“We’ve got lots of issues in Ward 10. Wilkins Beach, Wilkins Park,” he said of crowding and parking issues there. “There’s lots of speeding. I get three or four calls a day, through email or call, or text message from residents and I wanted to let the residents know in a clear and precise manner through a mail-out what’s been going on in Ward 10, what they can expect and that I’m very open to any and all conversations.”
Newsletters go to the entire ward, McCann said, with some overlapping in Wards 8 and 9 because of the postal code.
Kungl’s expenses include $871 for a newsletter, printing and postage, an annual update to all businesses and households in Ward 3.
“While I provide a Facebook page and website, @KunglCares, there is no other effective tactic that supports outreach to all of my constituents — some that may not often use email or social media, and there are many that have lock boxes” she said. “The newsletter serves to highlight activities specific to the ward (What's up in the Ward), resources available to them (SnowAngels) and outreach to see if there are areas of interest they want to engage with me on and to share what I've done in the community as their elected representative.”
Meanwhile, Thomson spent $1,308 on a newsletter, printing and postage.
“When I was elected, I promised to be accessible and communicate proactively with my residents,” he said. “COVID made this very difficult as we were limited in face-to-face meetings because of the public health restrictions.
“In 2019, my first year as the councillor, it was easy to connect with residents. For example, if we were planning to install temporary speed cushions on the street, I would go out and door-knock and speak with the residents and get their feelings on it. We were also able to host in-person town halls to hear from our constituents,” Thomson added.
“Then the pandemic hit and all the health restrictions that were put in place restricted me as the local councillor. We had to navigate through uncharted waters. At one of my virtual town-hall meetings, a few of the constituents had raised some concerns so I felt that a newsletter to the residents would be of assistance to help them navigate through some of the city services and to remind residents of certain things that were raised at the town hall,” he said. “I also thought it would be a great way to highlight some of the great initiatives that were taking place in the city and to promote an upcoming town hall.
“Staying connected to residents through open and regular communication is fundamental to my job as ward councillor.”
Coun. Jim Harris spent $1,350 on a newsletter, printing and postage.
“With the extension of the pandemic, connecting personally with residents continued to be challenging at the end of 2021 and appeared uncertain as 2022 approached,” he said. “With not sending out a newsletter in either 2019 or 2020, the newsletter was sent to provide an update on the items that were important to Ward 8, including a new parking strategy being piloted in the Allandale Waterfront (GO) station area, and to remind residents how they could connect directly with me.”
Barrie councillors had expenses big and small last year.
Coun. Natalie Harris, for example, spent $254 on advertising.
“That was for advertising during the holiday season wishing my ward and the city happy holidays,” she said. “I’m no Coun. Morales with amazing-art Christmas cards!”
Aylwin spent $428 on miscellaneous expenses.
“This was an expense to support the Bright Spot program, which came to be because of the advocacy of a resident named Jasmine Botter,” he said.
Bright Spot provides safe places for members of the public to go if they are feeling unsafe. It also resulted in more lighting downtown and the core’s video surveillance was beefed up.
Councillors also chalked up expenses last year attending the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) virtual conference Aug. 15-18.
Attending at $611 apiece were Lehman, Kungl, Riepma and Ward, who also went to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) virtual conference May 31 to June 4, again for $611.
The council conference account has a budget of $17,000 to permit members of council to attend the FCM annual conference and the AMO annual conference, including related expenses.
So Ward’s $3,675 total expenses included $1,222 for each of the AMO and FCM conferences, along with $2,106 for a second-quarter newsletter, its printing and postage.
“I send out a newsletter every year with an update about what is going on in Ward 4 and the city,” he said. “I try to do so a week or so before I have a town-hall (meeting) so I can also publicize that. That newsletter seemed to be more expensive than what I usually pay, but I’m not sure why. They are always printed and mailed out by the city.”
Barrie councillors earned a base salary of $39,400 plus a $2,100 vehicle allowance last year. Ward earned an extra $5,000 for being the deputy-mayor. His car allowance was also more, at $3,300.
Lehman’s salary was $121,350 last year, along with a $6,000 car allowance. But he also sits on the board of Alectra, the electricity company partially owned by the city, and was paid $47,500 for that duty by Alectra. So Lehman earned $168,850 last year as mayor in total.
The total salaries and expenses paid to or on behalf of members of council and others by the City of Barrie, other bodies and local boards for 2021 was $643,185.
Ontario’s Municipal Act allows council members two types of expenses.
Corporate expenses include payments made on behalf of council members from public funds, which includes payments made directly to suppliers for cellphones, internet charges, office expenses, etc.
Council expenses include costs associated with attending events on behalf of the city, hosting guests, communication materials and travel-related expenses.
