Is the mayor blocking Rory Ring's access to city information?

Rory Ring wants to know how much taxpayers have had to cough up over the past four years for severance packages to people like former fire chief Mike Figliola and former police chief Robert Keetch.

Ring, uncontested pit bull of the current mayoral race, hasn't been able to get that number from City Hall and he's blaming Mayor Christian Provenzano.

"The mayor is refusing to release this information and would rather hide this total from taxpayers," Ring said in a news release issued this past Wednesday.

"So I have to ask why, Mr. Mayor? Tell us how much you paid these employees to leave. Is this partly the reason our taxes went up 11 per cent?" the full-throated challenger demanded.

One of four mayoral candidates in the Oct. 22 municipal election, Ring applied unsuccessfully under Ontario's Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the combined total of termination costs paid out to city employees over the past four years.

How much say did the mayor have in the city's decision to refuse access?

Did the mayor do anything, directly or indirectly, to block Ring's freedom-of-information (FOI) request?

The short answer is that the decision was actually made by acting city solicitor Melanie Borowicz-Sibenik, who insists Provenzano made absolutely no attempt to influence her and wasn't even advised by city staff of Ring's FOI application.

For many years, decisions on FOI requests were made by Sault Ste. Marie City Council.

On Jan. 23 of last year, that changed.

Bylaw 2017-22, signed by Mayor Provenzano, effectively removed the handling of FOI requests from political hands, delegating them instead to the city solicitor.

"Absolutely not," Borowicz-Sibenik said when asked by SooToday whether the mayor made any attempt, direct or indirect, to communicate with her regarding Ring's application.

"We didn't tell him the request was made. I can assure you.... he had no idea whatsoever."

Provenzano goes even further, insisting he has never tried to intervene on an FOI file, especially in the politically sensitive weeks before a municipal election.  

"Not only have I not had anything to do with the FOI request from Mr. Ring’s campaign, I am not aware of its disposition. City staff has not involved me in any discussions about Mr. Ring’s FOI request," the mayor says.

"I learned about his FOI request through his press release whereby he announced to the community he made an FOI request. Staff demonstrated very good judgment and professionalism in ensuring that no one apprised me of it or discussed it with me."

"Sadly, we are simply seeing more of the same here from Mr. Ring: baseless and reckless accusations about other people’s conduct," the mayor concludes.

Ring points out that he's not asking for personal information, only the overall impact of the combined severance packages on the city budget.

Here's the exact wording of his request:

The requester requires the total amount paid or agreed to be paid, or paid or required to be paid pursuant to any lawful order, to former employees of the Corporation of the City of Sault Ste. Marie, as a consequence of the termination of their employment, or the cessation of their employment, whether or not the termination of employment or cessation of employment was voluntary or involuntary.

The amount requested is a total sum paid for all such employees and not an amount related to any specific individual or party. The amount requested is to include, termination pay, severance pay, salary continuation pay, payment of benefits, pension contributions, any amounts paid directly or indirectly as a consequence of the termination of employment and damages of any kind and for any reason.

The period covered by this request is from October 31, 2014 to September 17, 2018. For increased clarity, this request includes former employees of the Corporation of the City of Sault Ste. Marie, including former employees of the Fire Services and Police Services and it includes both former employees whether or not they were management or non-management employees.

So Ring was asking the city for a single number.

While that seems a simple matter, it turned out to be a big part of why his request was denied.

Ontario's Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act allows citizens to apply for access to records, including paper and digital documents, emails, voice mail, etc., in a municipal institution's custody or control.

Ring didn't ask for copies of specific severance packages with names and other private information removed.

He essentially requested a fact, a numerical calculation.

If someone in the city bureaucracy had at any time done that calculation and prepared a report about it, Ring might have gotten something for his request.

But there's nothing in municipal FOI law obligating a municipality to run a calculation or prepare a special report in response to an FOI application.

"The legislation does not explicitly require an institution to create a record," states the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Manual, the provincial guide used by bureaucrats to process FOI requests.

However, the manual also acknowledges there may be nothing stopping a municipality from creating a record.

"In instances where institutions receive a request for information that may reside in an institution, but not as a record, the [institution] must determine the feasibility of producing the record. For example, if the information resides in a database," the manual says, adding that there's "a growing expectation that government use of information technology should facilitate, not limit, public access to information."

So what about Ring's request?

Borowicz-Sibenik concluded the city had no record matching what the mayoral candidate was requesting.

That was the first reason she gave for refusing his FOI application.

She also cited other sections of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act covering personal and employment privacy and solicitor-client privilege.

Earlier this year, Ontario's information and privacy commissioner used similar arguments to uphold a City of Sault Ste. Marie decision denying access to records about the termination of a named city staff member.

But Ring wasn't seeking information about any individual, just a sum total.

And really, how difficult could that calculation be?

Just a few quick operations on an Excel spreadsheet, right?

This past week, SooToday decided to try to get the same information that Ring was after, using a different approach.

We asked Malcolm White, the city clerk, to run the numbers and release the number sought informally, over the counter, outside the FOI legislation.

White chuckled when we mentioned Excel.

It turns out the multi-year calculation requested by Ring wasn't nearly that simple on the city's antiquated IT hardware and software, some of which is 30 years old.

The city's human resources staff has been asking for new equipment for several years and will do so again in the upcoming budget deliberations.

White referred us to Borowicz-Sibenik, who similarly denied our informal request, citing our Flintstonian IT infrastructure and this year's FOI appeal decision.

"It's quite a complicated ask," she said.

Ring believes the city should release the number to satisfy public interest.

“Despite the mayor committing to control municipal spending during the last election, it's clear that is not happening and residents deserve to know how their money is being spent,” he says. "I don't want the name of anybody. I just want to know what the impact is,"

Also running for mayor are Ted Johnston and Kemal Joseph Martinovic, who has not been attending mayoral debates.

The Sault's mayoral candidates will face off again on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Grand Theatre, 641 Queen St. E.

A Ward 2 candidates' debate will follow.

Organized by Golden Child Kitchen and Strive Young Professionals Group, the political information night starts at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are free but space is limited. For more information or to reserve tickets, go to the Strive: Young Professionals Group Facebook page.