Let me first start off by saying that this blog post relates to speculation, and at the time of this posting I don't have solid proof, but rest assured it's being investigated.
How many voters in Wasaga Beach even know that the town has land which is slated as light industrial? How many voters know that while the town owns the land, they don't control the land?
Mario Cortelluchi the owner of Zancor Homes, controls the land which is owned by the town, and Mr. Cortelluchi is entitled to any and all monies from the sale of this land. Say what!!! The taxpayers own the land, and a developer is entitled to the proceeds of the sale of the land!
So after a bit of digging, I was able to find out that the water and sewer lines were installed by Zancor and it ran over budget by close to 1.6 million dollars. The town for whatever reason did not want to pay for it, so it seems that a deal was struck whereby Zancor would receive any monies from the sale by the town of such land.
To me it sounds like a great deal for Zancor, and a bad deal for the town, and the taxpayers. So here are a few more questions.
1.) Who approved this deal?
2.) Where are the minutes from a council meeting where the deal was approved? (I could not find it)
3.) Cortelluchi has donated money to each of Patterson's campaigns for the past several elections, and is this not a conflict of interest?
4.) Cortelluchi has also donated money to Carly's Angles, which is a good thing, but as this is a charity which is ran by the Patterson family, is this not also a conflict of interest?
This all goes back to one of my previous posts about how the developers in town are in the back pocket of the Mayor. Yes I know that developers have always donated to election campaigns, and will continue to do so until the laws are changed. But why is it that these same developers always seem to get great deals from the town?
Yes it's time for a change at town hall, and we need a leader who has promised not to accept donations from developers. We need a leader who won't be making back room deals, and who's transparent and accountable to the taxpayers.
So in closing if anybody has the answers to my questions above please feel free to post your comments, and I will NOT block any comments either positive or negative.
Until next time!
Dear Mr. Fishman, Your blog is so inaccurate it should never have been posted! First of all this Industrial Park transaction took place so many years ago that Cal Patterson was not even the Mayor of Wasaga Beach. When the Industrial Park was created the decisions made at that time would not have been made by just the Mayor, the whole council would have weighed in on it as would have the Town's Legal advisor.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first comment I have made during this election as you have struck a cord with me. The Carly's Angels are made up of 10 woman from Wasaga Beach who care very much about the youth of Wasaga Beach. Cal Patterson's daughter Carly was a lovely young adult who golfed with us during the local ladies league. When she passed away of Cancer I approached Cal and Debbie Patterson and asked them if we could hold a Golf Tournament in Carly's Memory to raise money for CMN Sick Children's Hospital. At the time Debbie Patterson and myself decided to co-chair the event through our places of employment as her employer the TD Bank and my Re/Max office both heavily supported CMN and still do. After the first couple of years we decided to have the money stay in Wasaga Beach to benefit the Youth of Wasaga Beach. In the last 17 years we have raised over $695,000 and it would take me a long time to tell you everywhere we have helped out around town. The Carly Patterson Memorial Golf Tournament and Carly's Angels as we have been nicknamed over the years are in no way a Patterson Family run Charity. You are also wrong about Zancor's involvement.
Do you even know what Zancor stands for? The ZAN stands for Zanardo and the COR stands for Cortellucci. Dennis Zanardo was the driving force behind Zancor's involvement with the Carly Tournament. Why you may ask? Because Dennis Zanardo was my boyfriend when we started the Carly Patterson Memorial Golf Tournament and he was a big supporter. Dennis Zanardo really cared about Wasaga Beach and contributed to the welfare of the town numerous ways and still would be today if it wasn't for his untimely death from cancer. As for 'Developers' we should be welcoming them with open arms. The Developers have helped our town grow and our tax basin expand over the years. The subdivisions on the south side of Mosley Street, the south side of River Road West and to the east of town have all been built by Developer's as have Stonebridge Mall and the Parkbridge Communities.
I am very hurt that you would drag my girlfriends and I, known collectively as the "Carly's Angels" into your inaccurate blog post. If you would like to meet a few of us we are getting together tomorrow morning (Friday October 10th) at 8:15am at the Wasaga Beach Food Bank on Mosley Street to present them with a $5,000 check followed by a $5,000 check to the YMCA Strong Kids Program and then we are going to drop off a check to the Wasaga Beach Youth Group also for $5,000. In the future you should check your facts before you publicly post such accusations. Proud Carly's Angel - Marilyn Ruttan.
First off thank you for your feedback. I think you are missing the point of my post. I'm NOT attacking "Carly's Angels", and in fact I love the work that you and the rest of the group has done over the years in Wasaga Beach and the surrounding communities. My point is, and has always been that some, not all of the developers in town donate to political campaigns, and causes that are near and dear to the people they donate towards. In exchange for these donations, these same developers seem to receive special treatment and consideration by the people they support when it comes to zoning of projects, doing business with the town, and so on.
DeleteSome of the candidates who are running for office have refused to accept donations from developers, because they don't want to end up owing any favors, or give them special treatment when a matter comes before council. One just has to look at who has donated to candidates, and once elected, the voting record of the same candidates to see that there's a pattern. This is not just a Wasaga Beach issue, it's an issue across the Province, and Country. Donations buy influence, and that's just wrong.
I again want to be very clear, I support all the work that any charity does, and the work that you have done with "Carly's Angels" over the years, but I don't support any developer using a charity or candidate to advance their own political agenda.