The Town of Huntsville will be footing the legal bills associated with the charges against former Economic Development Officer John Finley.
John Finley
Finley was sentenced in Bracebridge court on February 9, 2016 after pleading guilty to the swearing of a false affidavit. In exchange, the original charges of perjury and obstructing a peace officer were dropped. He was sentenced to three months of conditional house arrest and another three months in which he’ll have to maintain a curfew of 12 to 6 a.m. and serve 30 hours of community service.
The charges are related to incidents associated with a property the municipality rented to former tenant Blackbird Boats. Finley was charged for swearing a false affidavit in which he denied knowledge of the sale of a router the tenant left behind after it was evicted for rental and utility arrears.
The ordeal has already cost the municipality an estimated $250,000 including the arrears the tenant owed, which the Town has written off.
The Town has a bylaw in place which makes it responsible for any legal fees incurred by its employees while conducting municipal business unless the employee is found guilty of misconduct.
In a written statement to Doppler, Huntsville CAO Denise Corry states, “The Town of Huntsville will not be pursuing reimbursement of legal fees spent to date related to the charge of perjury against Mr. Finley. All factors were considered by Council when this decision was made and it was believed to be in the Town’s best interest not to proceed in this regard.”
Corry said Council directed staff not to seek reimbursement for Finley’s legal fees in a closed session of Council on January 25, 2016. She said that while the total tally for Finley’s legal fees have not yet been submitted, they are not expected to exceed $40,000.
For more background information, see Doppler’s related stories at these links:
Finley pleads guilty to the swearing of a false affidavit
Legal battle at Town Hall spans four terms of Council, has the makings of a made-for-TV saga
Town’s legal saga with former tenant finally comes to an end. Town pays tenant $116,500
Town’s former employee facing criminal charges
Why are we footing his legal fees ? Isn’t swearing a false affidavit misconduct? Another example of politicians wasting the taxpayers money. With decisions like this, politicians have no room to question why and how they are perceived in the public eye. Politicians depend on the public’s historically short memory when it comes election time. Hopefully, one of these days, our memories will improve.
I find paying for Mr. Finley’s legal fees ridiculous, he knew what he was doing, and paying for his court costs is crazy, and insensitive to the taxpayers of Huntsville. The town should definitely reconsider this blatant waste of our money!
Thank you Paul and John for also coming onboard on the correct, moral side of this issue. All that I will say further is that the dictum of “follow the money” is particularly applicable in this instance. It goes without saying that the foregoing is entirely without prejudice.
Isn’t paying Mr. Finley’s legal fees, in simplest terms, paying him to lie? Who benefits from this and how is it beneficial to the taxpayers? I certainly agree with the previous two comments
From the comment section:
Rob Millman on February 12, 2016 6:19 pm
It was spelled out quite clearly in a former edition of “The Doppler” that the Town would only cover Mr. Finley’s legal costs if he was to be found innocent. Let us hope that this principle, at least, is followed.
So why are we paying ?
There appears to me that there is more to this story than the public is being told. Town disposed of CNC router and proceeds go to Mayor’s golf fund. Should the funds not have gone to pay down the debt?
It shows that there are questions that should be asked about the accountability of the finance department.
So the total cost of the Town’s decisions has just increased for Mr. Finley’s court cost. Most employers public or private do not pay for court cost when employees lie. Not really surprised that truthfulness is a foreign idea.
And it is this kind of insensitivity that gives politicians a bad name. Obviously the politicians are too close to the staff at the expense of the general public. I can see funding legal costs when the staff are operating with in the limitations of their job. But clearly perjury is not only illegal but unacceptable behaviour for a civil servant.
And then to drag this thing out and then plead guilty (thereby incurring excessive legal costs) is simply disrespectful of the taxpayer.
Does council not understand that this is not their money? (Maybe if they like Finley so much they SHOULD cough up their own money).
Lastly…..what does “it’s not in the best interests” of the town even mean. But that is the only rationale given.
Huntsville deserves sooooooo much better