For the second time the Integrity Commissioner system has cleared an Elliot Lake City Council member - this time Mayor Dan Marchisella - of any wrong-doing in connection with a complaint filed by City Councillor Chris Patrie.
In an 8-page written report - to be submitted to Council next week - Investigator Sean Sparling and Consultant Peggy Young-Lovelace of E4M, a consulting firm in Sault Ste. Marie, found that Marchisella, who has known Elliot Lake music promoter Corey McKenzie since they were in school together in Elliot Lake as children, stood to make no financial gain in supporting McKenzie's plans for a summer heavy music festival in the city.
They concluded that Mayor Marchisella made no financial gain from supporting McKenzie's company AstroRabbit Entertainment at Council, in its now-failed plan to present a Heavy Metal music festival which had been set for Elliot Lake's city-owned Mount Dufour Ski Hill this summer.
McKenzie asked for and gained City Council endorsement for the outdoor show originally set for Aug. 9 to 11. This past week, McKenzie announced the festival was cancelled due to logistical and financial issues. McKenzie promised full refunds for ticket holders by the end of September.
The report's authors noted, "Persistent complaints were made by Chris Patrie ( "Councillor Patrie") wherein he alleged Dan Marchisella ("Mayor Marchisella") breached the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (MCIA) to the point that it became apparent the matter would not be resolved in the mind of the Complainant unless it was addressed as an alleged breach of the MCIA and investigated and reported on as such."
They continued, "Unfortunately, over the course of our investigation, Councillor Patrie has not been a willing participant (which in and of itself is a breach of the City's Code of Conduct and the Municipal Act (2001)."
The basis of Councillor Patrie's complaint was that Marchisella had several times promoted at Council a private sector company which had contributed to his 2018 campaign and that he provided preferential access to city resources to the private sector company AstroRabbit Entertainment and its owner Mr. Cory McKenzie.
The E4M report further states, "The Code of Conduct allegation surrounding Mayor Marchisella's relationship with Mr. McKenzie and AstroRabbit are not analyzed in this report."
Last month Elliot Lake Councillor Luc Cyr was cleared of another complaint launched by Councillor Patrie, regarding an allegation that Cyr had failed to declare a conflict of interest when he took part in a council debate on the purchase of the former Algo Centre Mall lands at 151 Ontario Avenue from a numbered company, this year.
In that case Young-Lovelace for the Integrity Commissioner ruled that Councillor Cyr did not benefit monetarily from taking part in the debate on the purchase issue. The sale was approved on a 4-3 Elliot Lake Council vote in which Councillor Cyr voted in favour and Councillor Patrie voted against.
On the latest ruling, the consultants also noted, "Councillor Patrie alleged that Mayor Marchisella was in a conflict of interest but failed to properly file his application as a breach of the MCIA."
The consultant's report on the complaint against Mayor Marchisella will be presented at next Monday's meeting of Elliot Lake City Council.