Vaughan
November 27, 2008 12:03 AM
Caroline Grech
An ongoing war of words between Vaughan Mayor Linda Jackson and Regional Councillor Joyce Frustaglio is escalating.
Both council members are calling for separate investigations related to city cheques signed by Ms Frustaglio in the mayor’s absence that landed in newsrooms around the city by a source who remains anonymous.
But each politician wants a different issue investigated by city staff.
The mayor released a harshly worded statement Friday evening citing a number of problems she has with the cheque situation.
The issue involving Vitriflex, a company once owned by Steve Frustaglio, Ms Frustaglio’s son, was brought to her attention in September, Ms Jackson said.
She also said the issue came to her attention via a confidential source, and she took it to both city manager Michael DeAngelis and the commissioner of legal services Janice Atwood-Petovski.
“They came back and said there was nothing wrong. My thing is I’m not happy with that. The concern remains the appropriateness of it,” Ms Jackson said after council Monday afternoon. “The concern is the fact that there is the perception of interest, that a member of council’s son is doing a lot of work for the City of Vaughan.”
Ms Jackson alleges that while the jobs done by Vitriflex were always small $2,000 and $3,000 jobs, she noted that in 2006, almost $100,000 was paid to the company and in 2007 almost $70,000 was paid to it.
Among the mayor’s questions were whether the work was approved through the proper procedures, if the price was accurate and if all the work done was in fact an emergency, despite a lot of it being labelled that way.
“I’m concerned,” Ms Jackson said, adding she would be speaking again to the city manager.
In her statement to the media Friday, Ms Jackson said the need for an investigation is pressing.
“The urgency of a thorough investigation has now escalated in order that the interests of the public, the City of Vaughan and Councillor Frustaglio herself are served,” Ms Jackson said.
The mayor even questioned the number of cheques Ms Frustaglio signed.
“In this instance, Councillor Frustaglio received no more than 12 cheques and not the “wad” she is quoted as saying she received,” Ms Jackson said.
But Ms Frustaglio is concerned about what is really at play here.
“It smacks to me of being a set up job. I’m very, very suspicious that this is a set up job, Ms Frustaglio said Tuesday, not wishing to elaborate further.
She disagrees the mayor is acting out of concern for the city.
“It’s nothing but a witch hunt, she is trying to deflect attention from herself onto someone else. If she’s really concerned with doing her job as mayor, she should first and foremost make sure that she responds to fully and co-operates fully with the auditors so we can get on with her investigation of the campaign expenses and all the other investigations she’s got going.”
Ms Frustaglio is also incensed about the timing of the package that was delivered.
“We’re dealing with more than meets the eye here. I’m starting to feel that this whole thing is a set up. They (the cheques) were photocopied in August 07, how convenient that it was three days after I was exonerated in my compliance audit that they hit the public,” Ms Frustaglio said.
Ms Frustaglio insisted there was not a personal problem with the mayor on her part and said she helped her get elected.
“I was the only member of council that helped her get elected the very first time, when she ran in the byelection. I never had a personal issue with her. She’s the one who forgot who helped her along the way,” Ms Frustaglio said.
The long-time councillor’s concerns still remain how the cheques were made public.
While the mayor was calling for an investigation into how much work was done and determining whether the process was the proper one, Ms Frustaglio’s lawyer Robert J. Howe fired a letter off to the city manager as well.
Ms Frustaglio is concerned and wants an investigation into how the city cheques could have made their way to the public.
In the letter, Mr. Howe wants several issues looked at including, who in the city prepared the cheques for signature and who handled the cheques from the time they were printed to when they were delivered.