City finance director Cathie O’Toole has tendered her resignation, effective April 9.
I wrote the below blog post this afternoon, and it was sitting in the queue to go live on our website as I learned that O’Toole has quit. I just had a long conversation with O’Toole, and will write more tomorrow. All the below, and more, still stands.
The Common concert financing scandal is tainting the reputation of nearly everyone involved: mayor Peter Kelly, now-former acting CAo Wayne Anstey, Anstey’s predecessor Dan English, Trade Centre Limited’s Scott Ferguson and the city itself.
But one person will come away from this scandal with her reputation intact. That’s Cathie O’Toole, the city’s finance director.
O’Toole was hired into her present position two years ago. In that time, she has completely revamped how the finance department operates; processes are now spelled out in policy documents and budgets are clear and understandable. Among other initiatives, she has marshalled in a debt policy and a capital replacement policy that have brought sense and direction to financing, and firm oversight procedures spelling out exactly how new programs and expenditures are to be implemented. From a fiscal management perspective, the city has better control over its financial situation than at any time since amalgamation.
As an example of O’Toole’s sensibilities, some months ago she told me that she thought the city should make its expenditures completely available to public inspection, just as the province does through Public Accounts. Were council to embark on such a policy, the city would go a long way to improving public trust.
As for the present scandal, O’Toole did exactly what she was supposed to do. My understanding is events played out like this: Anstey showed up sheepishly in O’Toole’s office with an invoice from Trade Centre Limited for $359,550, and explained what had happened. O’Toole then 1) immediately castigated Anstey, 2) next, called city attorney Mary Ellen Donovan and alerted her to the improper loan program, 3) arranged a meeting between herself, Donovan and auditor-general Larry Munro and 4) brought the issue to council’s audit committee.
I’m also told that O’Toole has been having a rough time of it in City Hall, that some bureaucrats have disparaged her for calling out the financial irregularities. Undoubtedly she must feel bad that Anstey has lost his job, but she has demonstrated that her professional reputation, and doing what’s right, come before these other concerns.
It’s too bad, really, that we have to praise someone for behaving like a responsible civil servant, but such is the world we live in.
The saddest thing about this scandal is that O’Toole has done much to improve the reputation of the city’s financial management, only to have it sullied by a handful of petty actors advancing their own agenda by by-passing the financial controls she has implemented.
For The Coast’s complete coverage of the Common concert financing scandal, click here.
This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2011.
Hats off to O’Toole, credit where credit is due.
Shs is off to the Water Commission which means she’ll be on a lower salary and less heartache in a smaller oganisation and less money to watch over.
No more shagging around at City Hall on a Tuesday night and the extra bonus of being well away from the Bedford Buffoon.
Good luck Ms. O’Toole
PS Take your pension money out of the HRM plan and put it in a locked in RRSP. I am sure you can manage it better than a bunch of union representatives.
This just goes to show what I’ve been saying all along, that somewhere, that it’s the chief of the city staff which has been fucking up. Tim summed it up perfectly here:
“she has demonstrated that her professional reputation, and doing what’s right, come before these other concerns.”
THAT is what has been lacking at City Hall. The CAO should be the one with the most passion and concern for his professional reputation, guiding and leading his staff, creating a culture of transparency, having a passion for the community and doesn’t what it’s right.
It’s a sad day when qualified, honest and engaged staff leave because of the shit which has been running downstream, and I don’t blame her a bit. They’ll be kicking their ass when they see what they’ve lost.
Sorry to see a good employee go.
Sad and amazing how the unhonourable take the honorable down with them.
HOW as CFO did she not know about the monies moving around? Too many coincidences for my liking. WE hire an Auditor General and out top internal auditor scurries away.
Unfortunate, one of the few senior staff at HRM with a brain and the right attitude, now what are we left with in charge, Mike Labrecque and a old Toronto City Hall toss off, great, and a council composed of a sneaky underhanded Mayor, leftie nutjobs and drunks (we all know who those are). Pretty sure somewhere out there other muncipalities are having a good laugh at HRM expense.
Wally, didn’t you read all the articles? She didn’t know the money was being moved around because it was all done at t a distance through TCL and the Metro Centre. Until the bill didn’t get paid back, the $359,000, it didn’t go through city hall. Then she’s presented with this bill, and she does a little research into the unethical money lending (no interest, high risk loans to a PRIVATE business), and shit hits the fan. Appropriately.
This was such a shock. Cathie was the best thing to happen to the Finance department. She will be missed. As usual, when we get something or someone good, we lose it.
I bet she could tell a few stories.
I bet George McClellan, former CAO could tell a few stories.
Kelly wouldn’t like any of disclosures.
Any chance of a ‘Kelly out’ demo in Grand Parade next Tuesday ?
I wish I knew she was available. I know a place that could really use someone good like her. Good for her to get away from our disgraced, lying mayor and buffoon councillors.
RALM. You are right. MY bad. All the monies were outside HRM bank accounts. HRM has little access to HRM owned Metro Center Financials for some reason. Likely because it is managed by TCL. All seems odd that you have one entity managing your asset and you do not look at the books.
Sort of reminds me of the term ENRON made famous of the “Off Balance Sheet” transactions and resulting liabilities.
Seems she may have been challanging the status quo more than I gave her credit for.
Wally321- you write ” All the monies were outside HRM bank accounts. HRM has little access to HRM owned Metro Center Financials for some reason. “
You could not be more wrong. I suggest you do more reading, in the proper place of course.
As for the Enron situation – the two issues are not alike. Unless you think you and an octopus are similar.
JOE BLOW – ON HRM having no access to Metro Center Financials that is well documented. The HRM receives audited financials only and no access to anything deeper than that. According to Media
Wally321 – don’t believe everything you read/hear in the media. here is one example : Rick Grant at ATV/CTV keeps referring to the Municipal Government Act aka MGA.
The MGA does not apply to HRM, except in very speciific issues.
HRM and the issue of spending is governed by the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter not the MGA.
Go off and do more reading because the information is out there, you just have to know where to look and understand financial statements.
JOe – there is no oversight of metro center financials by HRM even though HRM owns it. There is a loosely worded 1982 original agreement. Its painfully obvious there is no oversight as these half million dollar transactions were flowing freely in and out of the Metro Center bank accounts without and HRM finance knowledge. So if there is more reading to do please be so kind as to point me in the right direction. I have been through every document on the HRM TCL and NG government sites. There is nothing that covers this. If there was this may have never happened