July 26, 2022
(Photo: Self-appointed Deputy Mayors Pat Forini and Martin Medeiros)
In a desperate effort to cling to power, Councillors Martin Medeiros and Pat Fortini boycotted their own scheduled meeting yesterday.
The self-appointed Deputy Mayors, refused to go to meetings last week that were called by Mayor Patrick Brown, citing that the Mayor had purposefully selected dates when they were on vacation. However their hypocrisy was on full display when Medeiros and Fortini failed to attend their own scheduled meeting the following week.
When Medeiros and Fortini (and their allies Gurpreet Dhillon, Jeff Bowman and Doug Whillans) boycotted meetings called by Mayor Brown, they issued a joint media release, stating they “…all had informed the Mayor’s Office they were unavailable to meet this week, as they had other personal and family commitments, understanding as there was no prior scheduled Council or Committee meeting this week”.
The self-appointed Deputy Mayors did not mention that they had their own meeting pre-scheduled the following week, where the City had posted July 25th as a Special Meeting of Council. Even though Medeiros and Fortini were well aware of their own scheduled Council meeting, they failed to show up for work. As the cabal refuse to attend Council meetings, city business and decision making is delayed.
To date, Councillors Medeiros and Fortini, supported by Gurpreet Dhillon, Jeff Bowman and Doug Whillans, have all failed to show up to work for six Council meetings.
When the Ontario Superior Court ruled this month that the appointment of their political friend Elaine Moore was illegal, the cabal lost their majority vote. Without their controlling power, they could no longer set the agenda of Council, so they purposefully stayed home. As a result, city business has come to a grinding halt.
On the day that Medeiros and Fortini boycotted their own meeting, Mayor Brown and other members of Council released a media release of their own, “We strongly ecourage our colleagues to come to Council Chambers to move City business along as these personal vendettas are ultimately hurting residents of our city”.
One of the reasons Fortini cited in his illegal selection of Elaine Moore to Council, was the vast amount of city business required in Wards 7 and 8, which he could not do it alone. With Fortini boycotting Council meetings, apparently no one is doing the work in Wards 7 and 8.
Even though Medeiros and Fortini fail to show up for work, they continue to receive their Council pay. This includes Gurpreet Dhillon, Jeff Bowman and Doug Whillans.
