[URBAN NOTE] "Full audit of Ford’s campaign expenses ordered"

[rfmcdonald]

John Lorinc's Globe and Mail article makes for depressing reading. Must this scandal have occurred so early in Ford's administration?

City council’s compliance audit committee unanimously voted Friday to order a full audit of Rob Ford’s campaign expenses, marking the first time a sitting City of Toronto mayor has had to undergo this kind of scrutiny.

The decision came in response to allegations that provincial elections laws were breached, made earlier this month by Toronto residents Max Reed and Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler in a 17-page filing. None of the allegations have been proven. In their requests for a compliance audit, they alleged that Mr. Ford may have exceeded his statutory spending limits and relied on unorthodox financing arrangements – the Ford family’s holding company paid over $77,000 in early campaign expenses.

Three requests for an audit were filed in response to a Globe and Mail investigation into the mayor’s campaign filings. One was withdrawn and the committee deemed the other to be moot.

Mr. Chaleff-Freudenthaler, who ran unsuccessfully in last year’s election as a school trustee, said there could be “very serious consequences” if the audit concludes the mayor ignored the rules. “I think the entire gamut of consequences should be considered,” he told reporters after the morning-long session.

Adrienne Batra, Mr. Ford’s spokeswoman, said the mayor has said previously that his campaign acted in accordance with the rules and welcomes the scrutiny.

Other members of council preferred to duck questions about their response to the news. “I have no other reaction than ‘wow,’” said Josh Matlow (St. Paul’s).

Mr. Ford’s lawyers now have 15 days to apply for a judicial review of the committee’s decision. “It is an option that has been exercised in a number of these cases,” Thomas Barlow said. Ms. Batra said the mayor hadn’t yet been briefed on the committee’s decision and couldn’t say whether he’d fight the audit in the courts.

Go, read and despair. Or not. I'd love to be proven wrong.