Urban Report Public inquiry important to nearly 60 per cent of residents, poll finds

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Josh O'Kane
Telegraph-Journal

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SAINT JOHN - Opening up the books to the city's pension plan is on the priority list for residents of Greater Saint John.

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Peter Walsh/Telegraph-Journal

Coun. Bill Farren makes no bones about it: An inquiry into the city’s troubled pension fund is a must, so the taxpayers can see where their money is going.

In a recent Corporate Research Associates poll commissioned by the Telegraph-Journal, 57 per cent of those polled considered the launch of a public inquiry into the Saint John municipal pension plan an important action for common council. Of those, 30 per cent considered it a highly important initiative.

An additional 33 per cent of the 405 respondents considered the issue unimportant.

Coun. Bill Farren, an outspoken critic of the plan, wants the books wide open so taxpayers can see where their money is going.

"It's unfortunate that only 30 per cent of the people think it's a top item, because in the last three years, the city, the taxpayers, has put $19.3 million extra, over and above what we normally pay, into the plan," Farren said.

That is money that could be invested in infrastructure initiatives such as new roads and water treatment - both of which residents considered important initiatives for the city, the CRA poll found.

"We could get at these items that much sooner if we had that almost $20 million still in our pocket."

Farren said council has been warned by city manager Terry Totten that on top of the extra $19.3 million in payments already being made toward the plan, an additional $6 million a year will need to be paid by the city starting at the end of this year.

"If that doesn't scare "¦ people, then I don't know what will. That's money taken out of the things that we need in this city."

The Ward 1 councillor said it is extremely important to have an inquiry find out what is going on within the plan, and where to go from here.

"We've got to be prepared to do it because this city cannot afford it. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back."

Farren points to the city's municipal operations department, headed by Paul Groody, as a potential benefactor of the money the city has lost - and will continue to lose - to the plan.

"You could give Mr. Groody another $6 million a year and see what he can do with that for streets. You could give it to Mr. Groody and see how much quicker he could put together his water treatment plant. How much sooner will $3 million for each of those projects get him where he has to be? Where the city has to be?"

Mayor Ivan Court, chairman of the city's pension board, contends there are no mysterious evils surrounding the plan.

"An inquiry is not important at all. What's important is getting the facts and the truth from the people who handle the funds," he said. "They're all reputable firms."

On Jan. 31, the pension board will be bringing in the experts on the fund to an open council session to answer any questions citizens may have.

"If anybody's got any questions, they can come in on that Saturday, as long as they get their questions in by Jan. 5, and any of their questions will be answered in an open session of council," Court said. "The bottom line is that there is nothing to hide."

The mayor encourages anyone with questions at all to "get them out of their system.

"If they're not happy with their answers, we can't do anything about it. But if they want the facts, they're going to get the facts."

The pension board's ongoing defamation lawsuit against former city councillor John Ferguson is a separate entity from the structure of plan, the mayor said.

"Somebody said something that they probably shouldn't have said, they've been asked to give an apology and they haven't. As a result, the courts have decided that there's a reason to proceed," Court said. "That will be handled in the courts separately altogether."