Donationgate: Ethics … Situational: QUOTABLE
“This is the new standard of Ottawa Council. They were morally outraged all along indeed. The only reason councillors didn’t keep the money, in the end, is that the developer withdrew the donation.”
Ottawa writer Mohammed Adam on councillors taking money that “didn’t pass the sniff test”
Capital Councillor Shawn Menard accepted $300,000 from a developer for his ward, not himself.
City council was outraged by this unusual gift. Some councillors who take money from developers for their campaigns said this was a bad practice. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe took money from the developer in question yet he accepted $1,000 from that very developer for his campaign. He returned it.
The solution by council? Keep the $300,000 but divide it among the outraged council. So much for ethics … real or imagined.
The smart person in this passion play … the developer … the firm took the money back.
Ken Gray
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According to Horizon Ottawas effort in publishing the donation list, the Mayor took money from dozens of developers, their family members, and senior employees.
Development Industry Contributions: $104,170 . That is 19.4% of his total campaign funds.
In this list here is just two examples:
Claire Greenburg (OSEG/ MINTO) $1,200.00 Dev. Industry (yes Lansdowne 2.0 applicant)
William Karson $1,200.00 Dev. Industry Org Karson Group Construction/Development/Pro
As well, Amy Tomlinson, Cindy Tomlinson, Ron Tomlinson, Joanne Tomlinson all seemed to take time out of developing to cut a cheque for our mayor for a total of $4800.
Should we stop the influence of our city elected officials with donations to campaigns?