Correspondence from the Mayor.
A press release was issued today by GrassRoots Guelph announcing that they submitted a petition to the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) on Tuesday, October 1, 2013 requesting that the province conduct a forensic audit of the City of Guelph’s finances and operations. While a press conference was to be held at Queen’s Park today, we are not aware of any media being present.
Our staff have been in contact with officials at MMAH. While no requests for information have been made, we will certainly provide them with whatever they require, if anything.
Our staff have reviewed the concerns of GrassRoots Guelph and in their opinion there is nothing that warrants provincial intervention or the use of taxpayers’ money for additional auditing.
We will respond to the concerns raised by GrassRoots Guelph. There are inaccuracies in the complaint and we will ensure they are addressed in an open and transparent forum. Members of Council will be provided with the response, as will the public.
I am confident that the City of Guelph is well managed and we have an open and transparent process. Just 2 months ago, Standards and Poor raised our credit rating giving us independent confirmation that the City is well managed. The AA+ credit rating reaffirms the City’s financial position is not only healthy, it’s getting better. That is a reflection of the Council-approved financial policy framework and the discipline of the management team – CAO, Executive Team, Finance team and Direct Leadership Report Team – in respecting these policies.
A few years ago, the CFO of the day remarked to me that it would not be long before we would see the positive benefits to our bottom line from the establishment of a comprehensive financial policy framework. She was right. Mayor Farbridge