City council selects Samson
City may gamble on new casino
By Greg Kielec Cornwall city council has chosen Gerry Samson to replace Councillor Leslie O’Shaughnessy who resigned his position last Tuesday. Samson, a former city police officer who finished 11th in the fall 2010 municipal elec- tion in Cornwall, was appointed councillor at a meeting late Monday afternoon at city hall. Not one councillor opposed the appoint- ment of Samson to the vacant council chair. Mayor Bob Kilger also supported the deci- sion. Council was given three options by city ad- ministration to replace O’Shaughnessy, who quit over the way city council and adminis- tration has reacted to personnel issues dog- ging city hall since the October 2010 municipal election. Council was given the option of appointing the next eligible non-elected candidate, hold- ing a by-election or appointing a person who did not run in the election but who was an eligible elector. A committee comprised of councillors Bernadette Clement, Denis Thibault and Maurice Dupelle recently revised the city’s procedural bylaw which would appear to allow the appointment a voter who did not necessarily run in the election. The previous bylaw, drafted in 2010, clearly lays out the step-by-step process for filling a vacancy on council, requiring council to go down a listed of failed municipal election candidates in order of vote totals to fill the councillor position. In the newly amended procedural bylaw passed last Tuesday evening, a provision has been added allowing the city to “fill the va- cancy by appointing a person who has con- Candidate who finished 11th in 2010 election to replace O’Shaughnessy
council. “How do you prepare that person or how do you go about asking that person?” he questioned. City clerk Denise Labelle-Gelinas, who helped revamp the bylaw with councillors Bernadette Clement, Denis Thibault and Maurice Dupelle, said at last Tuesday’s coun- cil meeting any appointment would be a public process with involvement form the mayor’s office. At Monday’s meeting, a number of council- lors lamented the controversy caused the the bylaw’s amendment. Some, like councillors Syd Gardiner and Denis Carr, accused the media of fomenting controversy through misinformation. There has been “a great deal of misinforma- ton” surrounding recent changes to the city’s procedural bylaw, Carr said. Gardiner deplored the amount of time wasted by Kilger and Labelle-Gelinas dealing with the controversy. “I wish people would do their homework,” he frothed. Labelle-Gelinas, in a email reply to The Journal, wrote there is no minutes or record of motions from the procedural bylaw com- mittee which met on Feb. 15 and on March 5. She said a copy of the revamped procedural bylawwas not posted on the city website, nor was it included in the media package the pre- vious two meetings because she quite simply “forgot”. She wrote that it is customary for council to review its procedural bylaw once every term. “This has been an item of discussion since the beginning of last year, however because of circumstances, the committee was identi- fied only at the beginning of 2012. The clerk usually recommends that the review be con- ducted. “ Labelle-Gelinas also denied that the 2010 procedural bylaw had been changed signifi- cantly by the committee. “Although the changes seem significant, they are in reality the same choices they had in the past, simply written in a different for- mat.” Dupelle said committee members largely relied on Labelle-Gelinas when formulationg the new procedural bylaw, but added, “we questioned some things.” He did not believe the changes would open the door for Kilger to appoint a successor should he step down due to health issues. “All decisions are made at the council level.”
By Greg Kielec
Cornwall city council wants to revisit the possibility of bringing a casino to the city. City administration was asked by council last week to investigate the possibility of landing a casino after a moratorium on new gambling facilities was lifted by the province. Councillor Glen Grant, who proposed the city look into landing a casino, said “for many years” he was against the idea of a casino in Cornwall. But speaking to city res- idents, he realized people are still gambling, just not in Cornwall. He suggested a Cornwall casino would be a way to generate revenue to “assist house- holds” in the city. Councillor DavidMurphy said the casino in Gananoque has generated $30 million for that municipality over 10 years. He is aware there are social issues associated with gam- bling. But he said some of the revenue gen- erated by the casino could go toward social programs. And he reminded council members that the city is essentially already in the gambling business. It handed out 264 gambling licences last year, reaping more than $100,000 in li- censing fees. “So we are already in that busi- ness,” he said. Councillor Denis Thibault said the city is al- ready dealing with the social consequences of city residents gambling in other commu- nities, but it is not receiving any of the rev- enue associated with the gambling. He also dismissed concerns that a casino would bring organized crime into Cornwall. To those worried about organized crime, he had a message: It’s already here. Councillor Elaine MacDonald warned her colleagues not to rush the issue. “I think we are getting a little bit ahead of us. Let’s slow down and see if we want to go this route first.” Councillor Syd Gardiner said the city missed its opportunity for a casino when they were offered by the province in 1999. “Now we’re playing catch up to everybody else.” City residents are going “everywhere else to gamble,” he lamented. Gardiner’s comments were echoed by Councillor Andre Rivette. “I think we missed the boat when we didn’t get it the last time.” Councillor Denis Carr said “it’s worth
sented to accept the office if appointed.” The clause has been added to two separate subsections of the new bylaw, one dealing with the appointment of a replacement for mayor and the other for the replacement of a councillor. There was some confusion at Tuesday night’s meeting over recent changes to coun- cil’s procedural bylaw. The bylaw was passed at the meeting. While the previous bylaw lays out the step- by-step process for filling a vacancy on coun- cil, the newly drafted version is more ambiguous. At issue is a clause which would allow the city to “fill the vacancy by appointing a per- son who has consented to accept the office if appointed.” The clause has been added to two separate subsections of the new bylaw, one dealing with the appointment of a replacement for mayor and the other for the replacement of a councillor. Councillor Glen Grant was befuddled by the new language addressing appointments to vacancies at Monday night’s meeting of Special photo Gerry Samson is pictured in this photo from his Facebook profile. Samson was se- lected to fill a vacancy left by the resigna- tion of former councillor Leslie O’Shaughnessy.
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checking out”, but Councillor Maurice Dupelle worried if it would affect relations with Akwesasne, which already has a casino. In other news, city council last Tuesday gave the waterfront committee the okay to proceed with an open house either next month or in early June. The committee was tasked late last year withdeveloping a plan for public input on its proposal to develop a piece of land just east of the Cornwall Civic Complex. But the com- mittee has proposed it consult the public on a broader vision for the waterfront.
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