Despite a string of auditor reports castigating him for poor management of Trade Centre Limited, it appears increasingly likely that TCL president Scott Ferguson will be hired to manage the new convention centre—without applying for the job. And he’ll probably get a big raise, too.
The existing convention centre is owned and operated by the province, through TCL. But last July, when the city and province signed an agreement for owning and operating the new convention centre, they agreed to split ownership—and losses—50/50.
Given the potential for huge liability—in 2011, the province had to bail out TCL to the tune of $4.8 million—the city quite correctly demanded a governance role for the new convention centre. To that end, the July 2012 agreement called for the creation of “a new entity” to manage the new convention centre, with the city appointing half the board of directors.
But it’s been almost a year, and that “new entity” hasn’t been created. Neither city nor provincial spokespeople will explain the delay.
Meanwhile, as the new convention centre is slated to open in January 2016, Ferguson is actively contracting for events to be held there.
Ferguson can’t really be faulted for this: somebody has to be booking events and as The Coast reported last week, the province and city have given TCL over a million dollars to market the new convention centre.
But should Ferguson be hired to manage the “new entity” that will operate the new convention centre? Consider:
• The concert scandal had its roots in a city-owned, but TCL-managed, bank account for the Metro Centre. An auditor had specifically told Ferguson that having done so for the International Hockey Championships, he could no longer make loans to promoters from advance ticket sales. But despite that instruction, Ferguson suggested to then-mayor Peter Kelly and then-CAO Wayne Anstey that the city make exactly those sort of loans through the bank account. Those improper loans totalled $7.4 million, and the city lost nearly $400,000.
• In November, provincial auditor Jacques Lapointe lambasted TCL as an out of control organization, with “very poor” financial management practices that are in need of a “major overhaul.” Further, Lapointe documented that Ferguson had personally submitted thousands of dollars in undocumented entertainment expenses, for which he was reimbursed by TCL.
• Last week, city auditor general Larry Munroe suggested that TCL’s management of the city-owned Metro Centre is top-heavy, with on average just 1.23 full-time employees reporting to each administrative position. Moreover, TCL-hired managers at Metro Centre appear to be overpaid.
Mayor Mike Savage tells The Coast the board of the new entity should determine who gets hired to run the organizaiton, and no one should assume that Ferguson will be hired. “On the other hand, there’s no reason to believe that Scott Ferguson wouldn’t be a senior candidate for it.”
Ferguson was paid $174,494 for the 2011/12 fiscal year, plus all those entertainment reimbursements. But arguably, since the new convention centre will be bigger than the existing convention centre, its manager should be better paid. Will Ferguson get a big raise when the new convention centre opens?
“I expect that’s possible,” says Savage.
Ferguson did not return a call for comment.
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This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 3, 2013.
The ins wring their hands and the outs shake their heads.
And most of us are outs.
How many regular Nova Scotians could get away with one tenth of this at their jobs?
How does this happen?
Leave Ferguson at TCL and leave TCL to manage the existing property. Call for proposals for management of the new convention centre and with luck one company will also manage the new hotel; most likely a large US company or another multinational. Ferguson can then apply for a job with the new managers and explain to them his financial wizardry techniques.
And then we can all sleep safely.
Well I was always of the opinion that arse sucking was the lowest of the low. However when you compare it to what the Ferguson kid is hauling in for doing the very same thing I guess that there is money to be had all you have to do is to get down on your knees to get it. Much lke the hookers do.
this has been one of my questions about this convention centre debacle from the start:
if we already have a convention centre, and staff keep telling what they can’t do with it (it’s too small, it’s too old, it’s got too many levels, using its biggest room means losing ice time, etc etc etc), why is our first resort to get a new building instead of new management? why not to put the management of the WTCC out to tender? can we not find someone who approaches their job differently than these executives who think graduating school should be the hardest part of their career plans? why the “can’t-do” attitude while asking the rest of us to believe in this vision of “world-class city”?
and if and when we build a new building to house a convention centre, why would we hire back people -and for more money- who admit they sucked at booking conventions in the old building? what is the track record for scott ferguson that warrants giving him the management job of our newest, biggest investment? will someone please ask him to his face? with your sticky history with respect to the concert scandal, and your continued inability to make a perfectly good convention building profitable, what makes you the best candidate for this job? and as a follow-up, if none of the predictions about expected revenue generated by the new convention centre, where should the blame fall? how should the city respond to a failure to make this new centre profitable as the cheerleaders insist it will be? who should lose their job for incompetence?