Hamilton council approves money for social housing, accuse dissenter of politicking

One councillor wanted to wait, saying a new report shows troubling problems with Hamilton's largest social housing provider. Others called that "unconscionable."

And by the time the dust settled Wednesday, Hamilton city council had voted to spend millions more on social housing in Hamilton.

I am blown away. I am spinning inside right now.- Jason Farr, Ward 2 councillor

Council voted to spend $50 million over 10 years on poverty reduction, mostly in the form of fixing and building rental units.  Much of that will go to CityHousing Hamilton (CHH), a city-owned provider.

Most councillors called it a victory — a long-awaited decision to give shelter to some of the 6,200 people on Hamilton's social housing waiting list.

But Donna Skelly of Ward 7 wanted to wait two weeks. A new report released Wednesday shows flaws in the way CHH hires and oversees contractors. Skelly wants to make sure that's being fixed before millions more flow to the agency.

We're looking at ways of trying to get headlines as opposed to governing and the nonsense needs to stop.- Sam Merulla, Ward 4 councillor

That angered other councillors, who accused Skelly of election politicking. Skelly is vying for the Flamborough-Glanbrook provincial PC nomination.

CHH, they said, is already fixing its "sins of the past." Sam Merulla, Ward 4 councillor, even accused Skelly of "tinfoil hat" governing.

"Right now, what's happening is we're looking at ways of trying to get headlines as opposed to governing and the nonsense needs to stop," Merulla said.

"It's uncalled for. It's unconscionable. It's unprofessional, and it's far too partisan."

Jason Farr, Ward 2 councillor, agreed.

"If Square Off were still around, it would have been 15 minutes on that show," said Farr, referring to the segment Skelly used to cohost on CHCH-TV.

"I was really hoping we'd be talking and celebrating this $50 million tonight. Unbelievable. I am blown away. I am spinning inside right now."

Chad Collins, Ward 5 councillor, called it "silly season" where those running for election will make "outrageous comments."

"We continue to make significant changes," said Collins, CHH president, and the board discussed it this week. "I am not aware of anything on the horizon that would suggest we not go forward with this today."

The audit report, which many hadn't read yet, highlights a number of issues with how CHH does procurement.

Often, CHH didn't follow its own rules, says the report from Charles Brown, director of audit services. He made 24 recommendations.

Issues included the following:

• Lacking documentation to support that how bids and quotes were invited, received and awarded, and around change orders and emergency situations. In some cases, for example, awarded quotes were signed by someone who didn't have authority to sign them, or weren't signed at all.
• Not enough control over cash handling. For example, companies have to pay to get bid documents. There was no accounting into how that money was used.
• In some cases, one person did all the elements of procurement, from solicitation to payment.

CHH will fix all of the issues by 2019, the report says.

Matthew Green, Ward 3 councillor and CHH vice chair, said Skelly was trying for a "gotcha" moment.

"We have people living in tents in this city," he said. "To try to come into it at this type of angle, for me, is a non-starter."

City council's audit, finance and administration committee will discuss the audit report on Oct. 5.