”It’s regrettable that these circumstances have forged a shadow over the impeccable file of our director-general,” Hampstead city council declared in an announcement.
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A bombshell report by the Fee municipale du Québec has discovered its director-general used taxpayer funds within the tens of 1000’s of {dollars} to pay for journeys to Disney World, Las Vegas and Barcelona in addition to to buy a health club membership and booze at Société des alcools du Québec retailers, amongst different bills.
What’s extra, the report raised questions on an obvious lack of oversight and monetary controls by the city administration regarding using the director-general’s Hampstead-issued bank cards.
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In a letter Thursday hooked up to the Jan. 9 report and addressed to Hampstead director-general Richard Solar, the president of the CMQ concluded “reprehensible acts have been dedicated towards the city of Hampstead … particularly contraventions of the legislation, abuse of public funds and a critical case of mismanagement.”
“We think about that the bank card bills, and the advantages granted to executives, together with those who the director-general granted to himself, are all bills incurred in contravention of the Cities and Cities Act,” CMQ president Jean-Philippe Marois added.
Hampstead city council launched two statements on Friday in response to the CMQ report. Within the first declaration, Mayor Jeremy Levi and the council expressed “full confidence within the city’s director-general and don’t have any grounds to suspect foul play or improper conduct.”
“Our administrative framework incorporates rigorous checks and balances, underscored by annual exterior audits which have constantly revealed no proof of fraud or mismanagement,” the assertion continued.
“It’s regrettable that these circumstances have forged a shadow over the impeccable file of our director-general, particularly as he approaches his beforehand introduced retirement on Jan. 15 after 18 years of devoted and exemplary service to the city of Hampstead.”
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The second assertion attributed a remark, made within the first declaration, on to councillor Jack Edery, who’s in control of the finance portfolio.
“Whereas the bills reported by the CMQ have been licensed by council, we acknowledge that our procedures for authorization might be improved,” Edery stated. “We’re devoted to the continual enhancement of our administrative processes and pledge to bolster all pertinent insurance policies, laws and inside controls according to the suggestions of the CMQ.”
Hampstead, an prosperous municipality of about 7,000 residents, additionally vowed to launch “an unbiased exterior investigation to completely analyze the expenditures in query.”
Neither Levi nor Solar have been instantly obtainable for remark.
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Appearing on a tip it acquired, the CMQ’s investigative unit determined to confirm allegations of “misuse of bank cards by municipal staff and insufficient management of the bills incurred.” Among the many report’s findings:
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- The director-general “recurrently used two metropolis bank cards to make numerous purchases at fuel stations, eating places, a delicatessen, the SAQ, Costco, Staples, Apple, a health club, a medical clinic, airways, motels and to make donations, to call however a couple of.”
- The director-general’s “bills are substantial. They complete greater than $150,000 in 2022.”
- From 2018 to 2023, “restaurant bills amounted to $8,000 and $14,000 in some years.”
The report, which didn’t determine Solar by title, included obvious explanations by the director-general for a few of the bills incurred. “The director-general defined that since there isn’t any house to carry conferences in metropolis corridor, conferences are held within the in eating places. Holding conferences throughout meals additionally saves time, he says,” the report noticed.
The report additionally famous that the “the price of the meals served at these conferences, the place alcohol is usually consumed, is paid for by bank card and the price of alcohol will not be charged to staff.”
The CMQ’s report follows different revelations of questionable bills by the previous head of the Workplace de session de Montréal, Dominique Ollivier, who later resigned as the town’s govt committee chairperson.
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