Timed out!
That was the decision by Judge Sweeney regarding Strawman Tim Whitfield's application against The Four for conflict of interest. It's over - all but the costs, which should be borne by the appellant (Whitfield and his backers.) That issue will be heard around the end of July as the lawyers prepare the paperwork.
I should have taken it as a sign when I pulled into the parking lot at court and a woman offered me a one hour ticket she had just purchased and could not use (library closed.) As it turned out, despite a delay while the court reporter arrived, the decision was short and oh-so-sweet. Tim Whitfield should have done his "due diligence" when he first heard of the firing of Heather Salter. Instead, he, by his own words "put his head in the sand" until many months later and, at the behest of Doug Martin, filed a lawsuit against The Four.
According to Section 9.1 of the Act, there is a 6 week window of opportunity from the perceived breach of conflict of interest. Judge Sweeney cited numerous newspaper articles published at the time of the firing of Salter in April 2012 and the agreement that was accepted in late June of the same year.
Whitfield claimed in his affidavit and filing papers that he had no knowledge of the possible violation of conflict until much later that year, which put him in the 6 week window to file the lawsuit.
Judge Sweeney did not buy Whitfield's assertion that he knew nothing of the firing for several months after it happened. Not for a former councillor and golf buddy of Salter's husband. Whitfield's lawyer further put the case in the dumper by freely admitting that Tim was a mere "straw-man" chosen to be part of "Doug Martin's Lawsuit."
So, now it comes to money. Truthfully, there is no amount of money that can pay The Four back for what they have suffered at the hands of a bunch of sore losers. More on that later.
BTW, the "press" showed up at court today. I say "press" in quotes because Sarah Ferguson is not a legitimate example of the press. She came in and sat down with Doug Martin and chatted with him before court and after. No effort was made by her to present herself other than an ass-kissing toady for Martin and his gang. Just in case anyone has any doubts, there is no such thing as neutral in any description of the local news media. Not with toadies like Sarah Ferguson and James Culic around.
Another aside: Asshats like Dan Strugar who on one hand proclaim themselves as proud Kinsmen, then write nasty and disgusting things about people on Facebook are an example of what is wrong with Fort Erie. He is real quick to disparage others but he fails to realize that many know some very damaging things about his own life and family. I used to have a lot of respect for the Kinsmen but, if he and a couple of other loudmouth crap-spewing fools are any indication of the group, then it should be noted for others to see.
I am not jumping for joy over this decision; I am relieved. I still cannot undo the damage this whole campaign against The Four has done to their lives. This is bullying at the municipal level. Disgraceful.
All those involved including Doug Martin, Butler that instigated this vexatious lawsuit should pay the bill occurred, NOT the Tax payer or the Four councillors that have been harassed by them!
ReplyDeleteVERY happy that THE FOUR have been vindicated at the legal level.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely correct Madam Editor about the personal cost borne by not only them but by their families as well. Nothing can repay them for what they have endured for only trying to do what is right and best for the town. Little did they realize the wrath that they would endure for trying to clean up this bucket of filthy crap as insider toes would be stepped on and lucrative side deals brought to light. That list is long and only distinguished by arrogance and greed. If the local press won't do their jobs and expose this filth (and they won't as they are directly complicit), bring in the big city press for an expose on how not to run a town. The people need to know if for no other reason than they are paying for it all.
Take a look at your tax bills people and pull your heads out of your respective nether regions as you've been duped and f@cked with for the ol boys bank accounts and egos for a long time. You should be very pissed off and looking for some pay back.
There is only one person totally responsible and that is the vindictive and petty Doug Martin. He started the ball rolling because he could not get his own way. He got to the dupe Winfield, assembled the financial group, included JT and the lawyer and has hid behind his actions. I hope his loyal suck ups pay big especially BUTTler who gained her seat on Council by total subteverge. She lied about her involvement...should she be removed from Council as a coconspirator? Three men were not elected as planned from day one. Take Martin to task. It was his idea.
ReplyDeleteMartin was a coward, plain and simple. I thought/hoped the case would be dismissed when the judge asked Hurren: "Was there any reason why Martin could not have made the application (filed the lawsuit)? Hurren answered: "No". Game, set and match. Martin was too chicken shit to file his own lawsuit so he gave out confidential information from closed meetings to Mike Cloutier who then printed the accusation of conflict of interest in the hopes that someone would come forward before the August 2012 window of opportunity closed. Even Marina Butler, a later financial supporter of Whitfield's lawsuit, spoke at council about it, again hoping that someone would come forward. When time ran out, they went looking for their straw-man and found Whitfield. They attempted to finesse the time frame by having Whitfield claim ignorance of anything until he could open a new window of opportunity for the lawsuit. Hurren further torpedoed his client's case by stating that Whitfield was a straw-man for Martin's case.
DeleteThere was no case to begin with. Martin, Thibert, Marina Butler and others got on board the idea to bring the case forward and then stall it over and over until it ran until the election (another point that the judge brought up against such lawsuits and why there was a 6 week window to protect elected officials from such vexatious lawsuits.) The truth is that the case should have never gotten this far but for the previous judge who is now dead. He was near retirement and did not do his due diligence as this judge apparently did. All this angst and expense for The Four could have been over when the suit was filed had the judge made a ruling on the law and precedence. Instead, he went on to gather depositions, which he apparently never read (it's all there in black and white) and continued the case until he died. Then it took a while to give it over to a new judge.
I hope that Marina Buttler is exposed for her part in all this. She certainly got a lot of mention in court because of her possible "ulterior motives" in supporting Whitfield's claim. Shows that she was angling for the Ward 4 seat as she joined the fray to remove Hill and the others.
As we have said before, the timing of this lawsuit and the one by the Molinaros just before the election is a prime example of misuse of the legal system to seek revenge against those with whom one does not agree.
Three years taken away from the lives of four honest men because a megalomaniac with a very thin skin is afraid of exposure. (Yeah, that happens when the Emperor has no clothes.)
Now that things are really going to shit for "the martinets" past practice would dictate that it's time for them to REALLY jam it up our collective ying yangs !
ReplyDeleteGrab your ankles folks. Dougie gonna drive it home!
On another burning topic, $15,000 falls out of the sky, to be shot back into the sky for 15 minuites of oohs and ahhhs. What a place. Maybe the horse nuts at Pellagrino Downs threw the kiddies a bone? The new leaner meaner Canada day fire works display hillbilly style, while 20 miles north at the falls half a million or so spent for the effort. Hmmm..which to choose.
ReplyDeleteI think we can all agree the time has come for a collective F U to the ninjackasses and their idiotic leaders. I think it is also time for the residents of Fort Erie who have turned on these 4 individuals, due to this joke of a lawsuit, to give a collective apology to these 4 men and their families. As was their right; I hope the 4 hired the most expensive lawyers money could buy. While I would love for the financiers and leaders of this lawsuit to be held financially liable for all the legal fees, at this point, perhaps all the taxpayers that believed in this B.S. also deserve to be held financially liable for supporting this fiasco. Apparently it is okay to piss away over $55,000 on an unecessary by-election and fireworks (please think of the children!), but this whole lawsuit was started over $50,000...which I wouldn't be surprised is now going to cost us up to half a million dollars in legal fees. I'm surprised all the keyboard lawyers out there didn't see this coming!
ReplyDeleteSure did love seeing the little hissy fit posts by some of the ninjackasses today! I guess that's what happens when you destroy your own personal/professional lives in an attempt to see others suffer. Well done boys!
And seriously...do the Kin not have a code of ethics? It is a shame to see what they have become...what a waste of a legacy.
I wonder what would have happened in the election if none of these ridiculous lawsuits were brought forward...perhaps that's up to another judge to figure out! Hah
Guess we are all thankful those 2 didnt get together sooner (less than 6 weeks) and put the show into early review. Could it be that the legal help knew all along the whole thing was soggy but good to go if the clients didnt know any better? There have been other examples of "wind em up and watch em go", while the money is good, lawyers are not usually the ones to say no, win, lose or draw. As usual, aint over yet, the best part, the money, is still to come. Aint over till the rich lawer sings.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't win on a technicality. If that were the case, then the Judge would not have awarded costs against anyone, they all would have paid their own freight. The 4 got exactly what they asked for in the Motion "Dismissed with costs".
ReplyDeleteFE has been robbed says the Nonja site in its typical use of old catch phrases. The town has been "robbed" and will continue to be "robbed" as taking tax money and giving it to people who use it to thier own ends is outright dishonesty. With so little to say and such a long period of time to say it some would wonder why cant they come up with something more original. Must be annoying to try to sway logic in the judicial system with postings from old court settlements then see the bozos they have been backing forgot to check the fresh berore date on their court documents. These arnt Ninjas, they look more like web donkeys.
ReplyDeleteIn another life, I was in charge of filing certain documents with the National Labor Relations Board. We had a 60-90 day window at the end of the contract in order to file for a representation election. Thousands of dollars were at stake. I had OCD about the dates, constantly checking and rechecking until the day to file came. Always within the time period.
DeleteAfter I left, another person was put in charge and he missed the filing deadline. Union had to wait three years and lost a lot of money because someone didn't pay attention to an important detail.
Martin was too much of a coward to file his own lawsuit and his 6 week window of opportunity timed out. So he searched around for a patsy/straw-man to do it and found Whitless. Then they tried to say that Whitfield was oblivious to the situation (firing and monetary settlement with Heather Salter) to squeeze in under the 6 week window.
Before anything else, The Four's lawyers made a motion to dismiss. That issue had to be dealt with before anything else. The judge was not interested in guilt or innocence of The Four. He dealt only with the motion before him. Each side had a chance to make its case to dismiss or proceed. Hurren lost the case for his clients by offering up Doug Martin as the owner of the case who "added" Whitfield afterwards. I could not believe that Hurren was so stupid as to do this.
So, the judge ruled a dismissal. Game over for the case. The decision was based on the fact that Whitfield did not meet the criteria for the 6 week window he claimed in his application. The judge decided that Whitfield must have known about the issue long before he claimed he knew. The judge also cited other cases where the window claimed did not hold up and that the underlying reason for the precedent-setting lawsuit was to sway an election. Remember, Judge Sweeney had all the affidavits and previous court documents to peruse before he made his decision. It's all right there in the affidavits: the real reason for the lawsuit.
Now this case will serve as precedence and a warning to other sore losers.
While you may be taken aback by the following, obvious adolescent name calling the fact of the matter is these dirt bags have spent YEARS destroying the lives of some very good men, so yeah I'm pretty pissed off.
ReplyDeleteAfter wasting 3 minutes of my life reading the blubbering bullshit as slung from the mouth of JT's personal hand job (aka ninja-boy) all I can say is I hope Martin, Whitfield and the rest of these "spastic colons" all get what they really deserve as we'll no doubt be on the receiving end of a temper tantrum the likes of which FE has never seen before.
Mark my word folks... Ya ain't seen nothing yet.
Well until the damages & costs are decided in July, there really shouldn't be any
ReplyDeletemore slander comments from the unwashed on Facebook or Ninja site. They can complain & blame the stupid court system all they want but the fact is the case was dismissed - no substantiation for further court proceedings. I guess when JT finally proceeds with his suit against Lubberts we will find out if the courts
will decide whether it is frivolous or not ( my opinion frivolous) . Hopefully the same result as this one & who is going to pay the legal costs & damages. Should be an interesting year. The anti CB group still complain about the $50,000 to Salter but where are their complaints on other expenses approved by this council- gee no comments.
Anyone check out the Fort Erie ( Rag ) ? Quote "According to court documents, Whitfield said he became aware of the alleged breach of the act when former Mayor Doug Martin contacted him April 9, 2013 and “requested he attend a meeting that day to discuss matters of municipal politics.” Two days later Whitfield filed the claim." Does anyone have to wonder what " municipal politics " Douggie had to discuss with an X-Council member? My God people, do these people watch to many soap opera's and are know acting them out themselve's? Doug Martin should be charge with Breach of Trust and those who have supported this who are currently council members should do the respectable thing and resign from office!! It was so obvious that this was done to sway the voters, including the molonario's Bogus suit!
ReplyDeleteThis lawsuit was part of Project 4-2-0, a plan hatched shortly after the 2010 election. First came the slander lawsuit against me, paid for by the taxpayers on Jim Thibert's behalf. Next, a series of billboards, fliers and blogs that savaged the four councillors. Then came the fall-out from the justified firing of Heather Salter. Martin was too chicken shit to file a lawsuit for conflict of interest, so they cast around and found Whitfield as their dupe/straw-man. Mike Cloutier revealed confidential information in his rag as per the plan and Marina Butler looked upon the lawsuit as a way to levy herself into the Ward 4 council seat. It all worked very well, until Friday.
ReplyDeleteKarma is a bitch.!! The bullie gang are talking about where is Dave. Who is Dave?
ReplyDeleteI am thinking the Lawyer for the suit but maybe some else, they carry on like the looking for Waldo skit/ TOOO Funny.
It's an inside joke of the gang, based on some old joke. Like they are probably conversant in Romulan in their basement netherworld domain.
DeleteMeanwhile, we will remain patient as the monetary phase of the case moves to the forefront. It will be interesting to see how that breaks down. Thankfully, the difficult financial burden the guys have been under for a couple of years will be over.
This lawsuit should never have seen the light of day; it was a revenge piece, brought forth by Doug Martin and Jim Thibert. It was admitted in court by Dave Hurren that Whitfield was merely a "straw-man" in the case. He lost it right there. Of course I need to throw this in: Greg Bonito was only in court for the morning session on Thursday. He missed a great deal because he has no idea how courts work. There was to be no discussion of guilt or innocence of The Four until after the main motion (to dismiss) was dealt with first. Once that issue was resolved with the judge's decision, the case was closed; ended; over. If Bonito had paid attention, he would have understood why it was so stupid for Hurren to throw Martin under the bus by saying that "It was Martin's case; Whitfield was added." There are laws and sections of the Act to prevent that kind of vexatious lawsuit. Too bad the previous judge didn't see it as such.
Of greatest importance is it was NOT dismissed without prejudice but was dismissed WITH costs. .Interpretation would say the judge saw the malicious intent of Doug Martin in orchestrating this charade. He got Whitfield to be his frontman, he got JT and the EDTC lawyer and got the financiers and pulled off the attack. Why would he do it> Because he could not bully his way at Council and decided to be vindictive. The judge saw this and also was influenced by the information at Court that Coucilor Marina Butler had dirty hands in the dealings. Therefore WITH PUNITIVE COSTS.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Marina Butler's name came up numerous times because she was part of the set-up. She spoke at council about conflict of interest based, one could assume, on confidential information supplied to her by someone (cough-cough) who had a personal grudge against The Four for the firing of Salter.
DeleteThis is where it will be very interesting. Lawyers for both sides will present their proposals for payment. You can just about bet that the lawyers for The Four will be basing their submission on the relentless attacks on The Four that culminated in the lawsuit. There is an established pattern of vindictiveness going back to shortly after the 2010 election. Both Marina Butler (compliance audit on John Hill) and Kimberly Zanko (fliers and billboard) stood to gain from their efforts against The Four.
All that is very important in the money/repayment situation.
And the timeline is running again for future lawsuits.
Butler should absolutely be removed from council immediately. Zanko and Pissaro should be closely scrutinized as they have both had their dirty mitts in some if not all of it as well .
DeleteBring in the Integrity Commissioner now.
What bothers me the most and why I hope the collaborators get heavily financially slammed, is the precedence this has set. Hope the lawyers jump on this aspect. What if I followed this case and decide to run for Council in a certain ward. I issue an unfounded conflict of interest charge against the sitting Councilor , hope the bad publicity works and I then run successfully for that seat. Certainly something a judge should take into consideration in awarding a huge settlement to deter this kind of dirty politics.
DeleteActually, the judge cited a case where a conflict of interest case was brought against a sitting councillor just prior to an election. It formed part of Sweeney's decision as the Conflict of Interest Act does have safeguards (6 week window) to protect elected officials from vexatious lawsuits designed to harm their reputations. This lawsuit did just that; stalled until months after the election. It had a direct effect on the election of two (John Hill and Paul Collard) of the respondents in the lawsuit.
DeleteThere will be consequences for that.
The court is dealing with dozens of cases in various stages of procedure. If someone didnt do his or her homework on any case (especially one where it looks like a "spite case" ie; wasting the time of the court) they move on. Now its only left to determine where to send the bill(s), and to whom. Have to agree with the judge on this one. Letys hope upcoming judgements are presented just as sloppy. Then we can get on with trying to get this council back to the must needed business of creating some employment, (be it ever so humble) and to stop wasting so much time and money on unnecessary wastage.
ReplyDeleteI personally love the logic from the illiterate ninjackass that if they were really innocent, then they should have defended themselves to the full charges. For what? So they could go to trial, spend tens of thousands more than they already have for the exact same outcome? You think their lawyers should ignore the stupidity of the plaintiffs and their sorry sack of a leader and force a trial for the sake of making more money? Sorry but there is this thing called ethics in the world that some people follow. I realize that the ninjackasses don't understand that term...but clearly they have it all figured out so why should they! I wonder if it hurts being that completely stupid all of the time...walking on the street knowing that people are laughing at you all of the time. But hey, go enjoy the fireworks, it's making the kids happy!
ReplyDeleteAs to the fireworks: everyone knew that the money was gone after last year's fireworks. So, why didn't someone come forward and begin collecting, lobbying and trying to find sponsors for the event? Oh, that is not how things are done in the Chamber of Council these days. Wait until the last minute and the town will come through because the spend-happy new council thinks the town treasury is a bottomless pit. Close to a million dollars set aside for the theatre from reserve funds. No problemo. Half a mil to the track. Sure thing. Fireworks? we got that covered too. One night of fun for the babies; paid for by the taxpayers.
DeleteAny bets they'll be back next year, hands out for more? BTW, who fronted Passero the money to make him look good? Uncle Va-jay-jay?
Hey, how's that Kinsmen Pool coming along? Should be open by July 11, right?
Kinsman pool open soon? Lets hope so. Last time by bundles of shingles on the decaying rooftop. Nothing else. Looks like they need to put a new lid on the old "changehouse", the pool itself?, still full of dark water, and junk. An old running shoe on the edge of the mirk where it has been for the last year or so. It seems, not even someone with a garbage bag to pick up the trash. It looks like the "Kins " are now the "Has Bins" as far as their pool /Centenial project is concerned. What a legacy. Across the road, the old KoC hall, so long for sale its hard to read the for sale sign. Two old friends past their prime. Kids in the neighborhood have grown up looking at these eyesores. No community centre for them, just rotten old structures that used to be a great place to get together with friends. It seems strange it would take such an effort to get an existing pool back to some level of use. The hall across the street? Well, if the for sale sign could be read, someone might show some interest. Whos ward is this? Never mind.
ReplyDeleteDoes Twitfield realize he is now on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees? Wonder how long his wife will stay with him when he loses his new house? The insurance company for the town also has the right to sue to recover ALL of the costs associated with this farce. Butler, the Miller boys, and all the other funders better get ready to bend over, because karma is coming. And lets not forget Doug Martin, the real person behind this action. He is liable for damages from the four for this malicious lawsuit that damaged the reputation of four good men.
ReplyDeleteAnd this drives directly to my point.
DeleteIf there's one thing we've learned it's Dougster will leave "no stone un-thrown" when it comes to acting out in his "glass house".
His pattern of complete disregard for citizens, taxpayers and the negative impact imposed on both are a harbinger of things to come.
Let's just hope he has no "nuclear option" at his disposal.
Facing (well deserved) humiliation, (self imposed) financial hardship and suffering from the "treadmarks" ala Whitfields barrister, I can't imagine one more likely than he to "press the button".
Being as self control nor judicious wisdom have NEVER been part of his demeanor it would seem we can look forward to a little "Mutual Assured Destruction".. Martin style
Hell
You wanted fireworks eh?
For those who think that "Fort Erie Was Robbed" there's always Facebook. In the fevered brains of those with PhDs in Facebook, the "guilty" got off on a technicality. This whole lawsuit was contrived on the barest of reasons, the main one being Doug Martin and Jim Thibert and their hatred for The Four. All others were merely pawns in their plan to destroy the reputations of four men with whom they disagreed. Now that the current council is back under "control" of JT, the beat goes on.
DeleteOnce again, Thibert will try to get the town to buy a now $600,000. piece of the racetrack property that Paladino does not want. The lawsuit against Don Lubberts, filed by Jim Thibert and probably being paid for by the taxpayers will bring to light JT's involvement in Project 4-2-0. The whole reason for this lawsuit is that Thibert was miffed when Donnie suggested that the town could be liable for bonusing if it bought the property when it was for sale the first time. So, he sued Donnie. Just like he sued me because he didn't like what people were saying about him on this blog. He was successful in that lawsuit (paid for by the taxpayers) because I could not afford to defend myself. The lawsuit against Donnie will be challenged as a local business has been named and its reputation put on the line. Much different story. Just wait.
View from the Beach..........I think the ol boy's mutually assured destruction is well underway. Bay Beach up for the sleaziest developer's grab once again and the now almost certain destruction of a fine historical school and it's bell tower. Ridgeway Public. Rumour has to be re named Fort Erie West Public or some such crap. I say have a referendum now and separate from the bucket of filth to the east(my apologies to the good people of ward 1, 2, 3 who try)....... either as a separate entity or open up negotiations with Port Colborne or the Region.(contract road works etc, I bet taxes go down) The new town could be called FFFE. "Free from Fort Erie", if it includes all of CB, Ridgeway and Stevensville. Or just return to Bertie Township...... It worked well up until 40 years ago or so.
DeleteLet the ol boy's destroy their home turf(they're already doing a great job) and the west end of town be master's of their own domain. Much more feasible than you would think.
Does martha's buddy's house have four bedrooms?
ReplyDeleteThe industrial properties for sale - are 2 pieces one listed at $695,000 for I think 14 acres & a smaller parcel for less than $200,000. It is currently listed with DZT real estate, so why on earth would the Town want to purchase a property now available on the open market. There is no lack of Industrial land now as the Track purchased according to a newspaper article with Thibert saying there is 50 plus acres available. This council needs to realize it is not the Towns responsibility to buy vacant industrial land when there is a surplus. Besides the Town can't afford it, there are certainly more important things to spend taxpayers money on. It should be interesting if this rumor is true & a presentation to council for the purchase of said lands occurs. Hopefully sanity will prevail & the answer will be a resounding no!!
ReplyDeleteI think that the point is that we don't know if the actions of the 4 were inappropriate or not because the case was dismissed. Dismissed on an issue of timelines - not on the merit of allegations themselves, because they were not heard or ruled upon by the court. They were not cleared of any wrongdoing, nor were they found guilty of anything. This leaves both sides to continue to speculate about their guilt or innocence. A dissatisfying result for all in my opinion. What we do know is that the case was bungled, which is not surprising.
ReplyDeleteWhat part of "case dismissed" is giving you trouble?
DeleteUsing the term "technicality" is about as genuine as a "Lockwood Survey"
What you fail to realize is that anyone, with the right amount of money/backing can bring a suit against someone for totally bogus reasons. It happened against me by Jim Thibert who used taxpayer money to sue me. Meanwhile someone like Mike Cloutier writes in his blog that The Four were thieves and gets away with it. (However, it was a very important fact brought out in court on Thursday and helped sink the assertion that Whitfield knew very little about the case until months after.) The Four were too busy trying to save their reputations from being further destroyed by a charge, brought up by Doug Martin alone, that they were in conflict. With the help of his "friends" Dougie was able to continue the destruction of the reputations of four men based totally on his opinion of the men. When the original time line ran out and Dougie did not file a application for a lawsuit, he cast around, looking for a Straw-man and found Whitfield. Hurren actually admitted so in court during his defense of the Motion to Dismiss. Please understand, this was not a technicality that ended this case; it was the admission that the case was brought forth in a vindictive manner, designed to destroy the reputations of The Four, aided and abetted by Jim Thibert, Marina Butler and others. It was duly noted in the remarks of Siegel, the lawyer for John Hill and Bob Steckley just how Martin himself brought up the issue of conflict of interest in an open council meeting and was supported in this by a later presentation to council by Marina Butler.
DeleteThere is no need to guess as to guilt or innocence. If Martin truly believed The Four were guilty, he should have brought the lawsuit against them (The judge actually asked Hurren if there was any reason that Martin could not have brought the suit himself and Hurren had to admit: "No.") or it would have been filed, not a year after the firing of Salter, but within the six week period from June 2012 when the settlement was reached with Salter's attorneys. Instead, months later, affirmed by Whitfield's own sworn affidavit, Martin found a straw-man. The judge saw right through it.
Hurren obviously did not do his homework as there are a number of precedents that cover this sort of vexatious law suit.
That is the real crime here: that there was concerted, well-funded campaign against The Four starting shortly after they were elected. This is not how democracy is supposed to work. A few people don't like whom the voters chose, so they plan a detailed campaign to run them out of office. The lawsuit eventually failed and now, they will pay.
If you still don't "get it" after all this time, then you are beyond help. Enjoy your delusion.
And you may continue to enjoy your delusion that they were vindicated.
DeleteChe, How is all this so difficult to understand? Donny, Bob, John and even Paul were being railroaded from almost day one after they were sworn in! It's beyond Criminal what was happening to them! The Lawsuits were done to make them look bad to the public. The Fort Erie Times did not write all the facts and it seemed as thought purposely skewed them for their friends Doug and company! There will be no Delusion when the Tax payer has to pay the court cost, but no doubt that too will be blamed on the four! Also, Our Tax Dollars should NOT be paying for Jimmy T's Bogus suits!
DeleteGet a gripe man. Case Dismissed means
DeleteIT DIDNT HAPPEN. UNWARRANTED.
WASTED EVERYONES TIME.
It is the ultimate vindication.
You simply choose to deny reality.
Yet you speak of delusion.
Have you given consideration to joining the C of C or Kins?
I would have liked to have had a ruling on the allegation of conflict of interest but we didn't get that. The case was dismissed but it was not a verdict of "not guilty". Take it as a victory if you like but it is not vindication.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWE doubt if Doug the jeweler (would you buy a used watch from this man?) knew anything about time limits in regards to his getting Tim to act as paper boy for his little experiment in the legal fish bowl." Hey! everyone else is doing it". Dont suppose James Horsebutt might have told Douglas what to do. Nahhh.. that never happens.The frustrated mayor by 5 or so votes in on the basics of an expencive law suit? Somthing that can be resolved with one phone call (if you call the people that dont stand to profit from such behavior), Doug, the watch fixer? Better put a new battery in that fool, it looks like he was running a little low on charge. Tim? Nitwitfeeld? Those two make such a cute couple. Its too bad the judge didnt agree.
DeleteSo your ok than " Che " with the cost involved in this suit, even though Doug Martin Must of known that it was past the date to file it? Well I'm not ok with it, nor are many others! Maybe those that stand behind this with Doug, Tim and even Jimmy can pay all the lawyer fee's and Court Cost? If Douggie, Tim are so smart - shouldn't they of known better? This Suit was only done to manipulate the election, and the other suit from the developer was to push people over the edge, know the council is stacked in Jimmy's favour, NOT the Tax payers!
DeleteNot at all. Those that brought the case did not perform due diligence and should bear the costs. They should have either done it properly or not at all.
DeleteHad they done so we would have a decision on the conflict of interest allegations. I haven't said that I believe they are guilty but I do have questions, as many do. We will continue to have a town divided with, I believe, good arguments on both sides of the divide. It would have been good for the town to have had an answer.
At the end of the day I'm willing to move forward. Many in this town will not.
I wish there was a like or well said button Che.
DeleteFort Erie HAS been robbed, but not by some court case being dismissed (much to some vindictive types disapproval), but a number of times starting last winter with money being taken to fund such wastage as an unnecessary byelection, a half million lump sum "gift" to a mismanaged horsetrack (already receiving millions from the provincial government), a request for a million or two from a cash fat school board for something we didnt even want, with a rushed timeline for approval. Who knows what else slipped by while people were watching the Tim, Doug and Don show. Yah , Fort Erie has been robbed, but it wasnt in some stuffy courthouse.
ReplyDeleteI can understand the feeling by the ninjabots that they were robbed. They were. They were lied to by certain people who promised that The Four would "hang" and the town would be better off without them. The idjits believed everything they were spoon-fed by Thibert, Martin and others who used them to continue their defamation of four decent people. Now that the ninjabots have served their purpose, they will be served up or dropped like the liabilities they have become. The Ole Boys have probably been laughing up their collective sleeves over how easy it is to get people riled up based on nothing but a vague phrase thrown out to the fish, who greedily grab the bait. Now they feel lost because they can't pile on The Four. As someone said, "the internet has a good memory." And so do screenshots. All this is available to those who might pursue further legal action against the losers in town.
DeleteSpeaking of robbery, $100,000 for a "study" on what to do with among other things beachfront, already owned by the people of the town? By people that dont live here and probly wouldnt visit much (unless of course they want to come and see what it is they are supposed to "study"). Dont hear much about how that "study" is going. For 100,000 beans you might expect an update once in a while. Dare the Times or Post publish such news? Or interview some of the main characters in such an endevor? Even by E Mail? Or is this thing going to fall out of the sky when theyre good and ready? For $100,000 this better be good. Weve been robbed a lot lately, lets hope this thing isnt more of the same.
DeleteThe court affidavits that you posted in The Conflict of Interest pre-trial testimony had the section in Mayor Martin's statement that senior staff told him that Heather Salter didn't have grounds for an harassment charge against the councillors, didn't it?
ReplyDeleteSharon can you post that part again? It is unfortunate that the local media didn't report it.
True that here was no conflict (per staff)) and there was no tort brought forward against any of The Four. Had there been, a conflict of interest would have been declared by The Four. They did consult with their attorneys and were told there was no conflict and were backed up by staff.
DeleteThat is the truth of the case. I will post relevant portions of the affidavits later.
Theres a new shingle roof on the Kin pool, (black, not the best colour for a hot summer envoroment), a few garbage bags half fillid laying around for all to see (could it be that someone has been reading this blog?). Water level way down. Is this "refurbish" project inching ahead? There are glaciers in the mountains that move faster than this effort. Could have forgiven to use the $15,000 about to be shot into the sky to get this thing further along.
ReplyDeleteOh, but the babies will cry without their fireworks. Just like the kids from the East End need their swimming pool. All at the cost of the taxpayers, along with the half mil to the racetrack and close to a mil from reserves to be set aside for the dance moms' theatre. Can't wait for the first dance recital. definitely worth a million!
DeleteThe timing for the request for extrs money for a theatre to be added to the plans for the new high school was interesting. It had only been a short time after the election. An election where the newly minted council get together on a stage somewhere and commiserate with one another. It must have occoured to some of them, there they were in the smelly community centre, and hey...wouldnt it have been nice to be up on a real stage somewhere with the lighting and music just like happens in bigger centres. After all this is 2015 and the town should be able to move up into the 1970's at least, for events of this type. It was mentioned with the wastefull acceptence of the school boards "kind offer" that this sort of thing will be held in this venue when available. Think that little opportunity to dazzle the plebs with this type of stage show every 4 years had anything to do with their decision? I think we bet a couple of million on it, even if most of us really didnt want to see that money used like that, especially in such large amounts, given to a tax funded government department already flush with cash.
ReplyDeleteagain I say let the west end separate from the east ..........taxes would go down as would the bs..............let the ol boys destroy their home turf and no one else's
ReplyDeleteThis is all because of a bad case of sour grapes and a person who likes to stab anybody who stands up to his vile agenda in the back, his 30+ years in office was unmemorable and when a voice was needed to support the people, he was missing in action the "Golden Boy" of the Chamber of Commerce will be remembered for what he is , a mean spirited person , with some nasty cronies and taking the bows for other peoples hard work. The Town Hall was paid for by every volunteer and none profit group in our Greater Fort Erie , who spent thousands of hours running bingos and paying an illegal surcharge on their bingo licences , $150 plus another $65 so called road tax .the road tax paid for most of our Town Hall Doug Martin and Russ Wilson bragged about that when Doug finally got out of office. as usual no fact checking, by our Fort Erie Pravda.
ReplyDeleteCalling a skating rink a "community centre" should be your first clue. What part of the centre of the community is this in reference to? Senior citizens need their own seperate place to meet. The librarys are in their own expencive buildings seperate from the "community centre" for the most part. When new schools are being planned, then built, they too are seperate from any close connection from the "community centre". Rental space in a well designed venue for music events or other presentations? Sorry, we only had some hockey games in mind while designed, those other spare rooms are for whoever can stand the lousy acoustics and the old smell of boiled food from last week. Even after all this stupidity, the towns council still decided to support a seperate theatre in a place where none of the already existing infrastructures could be tied in to the concept of a real "community centre". What is it going to take?
ReplyDelete3.5 years, new blood and a few brains thrown in for good measure.
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