Councillor tried to suppress Email story

Ward 4 Councillor Neil DelBianco tried unsuccessfully to keep the Rowswell/Fratesi Email controversy out of the papers, according to City Hall records obtained by SooToday.com.

The new documents, supplied by City Solicitor Lorie Bottos in response to a SooToday freedom-of-information request, show DelBianco lobbying both the Sault Star and fellow councillors to sit on the story.

"I ... hope we all will be level-headed about keeping this out of the press until we hear both sides of the story and get all the facts straight," the councillor wrote.

The records, mostly Emails exchanged by City staff and councillors, provide a fascinating inside look at the reaction to Star reporter Elaine Della-Mattia's efforts to get the story.

How much Della-Mattia really knew at the beginning was a matter for debate.

The following are full-text versions of some of the Emails we obtained regarding media efforts to verify the story. Material within square brackets has been added by SooToday.com for clarification.

**************************** FROM: [Councillor] NEIL DELBIANCO SENT: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2002 8:08 AM TO: JOE FRATESI CC: [Councillors] TONY RYMA; LOU TURCO, JAMIE CAICCO, DERIK BRANDT, DEBBIE AMAROSO, DAVID ORAZZIETTI, [Mayor] JOHN ROWSWELL SUBJECT: TRAVEL EXPENSES Dear Joe

I hope we can deal with this issue in caucus. I also hope we all will be level-headed about keeping this out of the press until we hear both sides of the story and get all the facts straight. Councillors should be advised against comments or choosing sides before all facts are before us. Council should be the one to deal with this and advise staff. I can't see any benefit at this time of leaking this to the media. This would only hurt our community. We should present the facts to the community once they are confirmed. The people of Sault Ste. Marie deserve better. Since this is a reflection on all of us, let's stick to the facts and deal with them at the appropriate time.

Neil **************************** FROM: [Councillor] DERIK BRANDT SENT: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 09, 2002 1:15 AM TO: JOE FRATESI, [Councillor] NEIL DELBIANCO CC: [Councillors] TONY RYMA, LOU TURCO, JAMIE CAICCO, DEBBIE AMAROSO, DAVID ORAZIETTI, BRADY IRWIN, [Mayor] JOHN ROWSWELL SUBJECT: RE: TRAVEL EXPENSES

Neil:

Before we deal with this in caucus, can someone tell me what the heck just happened. Was there something lost in the translation?

Thanks Derik

**************************** FROM: [Councillor] NEIL DELBIANCO SENT: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2002, 9:59 AM TO: JOE FRATESI CC: [Councillors] DUANE JONES, LOU TURCO, JAMIE CAICCO, DERIK BRANDT, DEBBIE AMAROSO, DAVID ORAZIETTI, BRADY IRWIN, FRANK MANZO, [MAYOR] JOHN ROWSWELL SUBJECT: TRAVEL EXPENSES

Dear Joe, To my disappointment in reading Brady's e-mail last night, Febuary 12, 02, it seems that the Sault Star has all copies of the travel expenses e-mails. In talking to most of the councillors, I was under the impression that the best way to handle this unfortunate issue was to wait until John returned and hear all the facts before passing any judgments. Knowing that this issue deals mainly with yourself, and you haven't demanded an immediate apology as of yet, you probably have many unanswered questions yourself, which must be answered, before any comments should be made. I must admit after yesterday's council meeting in which our acting mayor Peter controlled in an accomodating, mellow tone, I felt staff and council truly accomplished a great deal for this community - the biggest being the physician recruitment allocation. You could not feel anything but pride after a meeting such as that one. And now, we must deal with this issue with John in Russia and without knowing all the facts and the stories that will surface because of not knowing all the facts, will once again put council and the city in a bad light. I will be contacting Elaine Della Mattia tomorrow and requesting her consideration to hold all stories regarding this issue until we understand exactly what has happened and we receive all the facts. Then, and only then, will we give her all the facts so the public may read precisely what happened. If I do not hear from you in the immediate future, I will proceed in this manner.

Respectfully, Neil

**************************** FROM: [Councillor] PETER VAUDRY SENT: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2002 2:59 PM TO: JOE M. FRATESI SUBJECT: SAULT STAR Joe: just talked to Ellaine D. She is on to the E-Mails about John running out of monet etc. She does not have a copy - in fact asked me if I would send her a copy - but she has the gist of what has transpired,

Also asked about Transpolar - Japn - Russia - etc.

**************************** FROM: [Councillor] BRADY IRWIN SENT: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2002 5:41 PM TO: JOHN ROWSWELL CC: {Councillors] DAVID ORAZIETTI, DERIK BRANDT, DUANE JONES, FRANK MANZO, JAMES CIACCO, LOU TURCO. NEIL DELBIANCO, PETER VAUDRY, TONY RYMA, SUBJECT: MEDIA REQUEST

FYI - I received a call from the Sault Star about this e-mail at 4:40 p.m. (1 hour ago). I confirmed receipt of it, but have indicated that I would not disclose it. From an [Freedom of Information] perspective, I believe that, despite its sensitivity, it may in fact be a public document subject to disclosure.

Brady

**************************** FROM: [Councillor] DERIK BRANDT SENT: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2002 12:00 PM TO: JOE FRATESI, [Councillor] NEIL DELBIANCO CC: [Councillors] DUANE JONES, LOU TURCO, JAMIE CAICCO, DEBBIE AMAROSO, DAVID ORAZIETTI, BRADY IRWIN, [Mayor] John Rowswell SUBJECT: RE: TRAVEL EXPENSES

Hi Neil: I essentially agree with everything you said in your email. However, based on Brady's email one can infer that Elaine DOES NOT have all the emails. She has some of the information, but not the emails. She called me shortly before she spoke with Brady, and apparently had been trying to reach me all afternoon. I provided comments to the information she already had, and also mentioned that we still need to hear the Mayor's side of the story. She asked me if I would provide her with copies of the emails and I told her no. Based on Brady's comments it is clear that she still had not received copies by the time she reached him.

Thanks, Derik

**************************** FROM: [Sault This Week news editor] SANDRA PAUL SENT: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2002 8:58 AM TO: JOE FRATESI

Hi Joe: Any chance I can get a copy of those e-mail between you and Rowswell. Everyone in the media has them but me and I don't want to copy in case they edit or misprint. Please?? Sandra Paul, 949-6121.

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