Town’s former employee facing criminal charges

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The Town of Huntsville’s former Economic Development Officer, John Finley, appeared in Bracebridge court on September 8. An agent for his counsel asked that the case be adjourned to be spoken to on October 6, 2015, to allow counsel a resolution conference. The request was granted.

Finley is facing obstruction of a peace officer and perjury charges arising from incidents related to his handling of the BlackBird Boats issue during his employment.

The background story:

The Town rented space to BlackBird Boats in the former MTO building, which at the time was owned by the municipality. BlackBird reportedly fell into arrears by more than $10,000, comprised of rent and utilities, and was evicted in July 2007.

At that time the tenant left a CNC router on the premises, which it reportedly intended to remove at a later date, but instead the Town sold it for $6,500 in July 2008. The proceeds from the sale were transferred to the mayor’s golf tournament, according to court records.

Using their corporate name, Hunter-Rutland Inc., the former owner of BlackBird Boats filed a civil lawsuit against the Town in August 2010. It stated the router was worth more than it was sold for and that it should’ve been notified of its sale.

The matter was heard by Justice Wood in Bracebridge court on Sept. 29, 2014. Justice Wood ruled in favour of Hunter-Rutland on two counts. He said the company should have been notified that the Town was selling the router and the municipality should have attempted to sell the equipment at a properly assessed value.

The Town appealed Justice Wood’s decision and lost. It also countersued for the rental and utility arrears. On the appeal the Town was ordered to pay Hunter-Rutland’s legal fees, reported at $13,500. Further, the Town must pay the difference in the router’s assessed value less the amount of utilities, rent arrears and interest that the company owes the Town. The municipality and the company are still negotiating a settlement for the total sum, said Dick Perdue of Hunter-Rutland.

Claude Doughty, who was mayor at the time, was contacted to shed some light on the issue.

“It’s a messy situation for sure, it never should’ve happened,” he said. “The truth of the matter is they abandoned the equipment. They were asked numerous times to come and get it… and frankly it was a piece of junk. It was all rusty and a piece of junk and wouldn’t work,” said the former Huntsville mayor.

Perdue disagrees. He said he had the router specially made at a cost of $98,000 US, and it would’ve been two or three years old when the Town sold it. “They did not act like a landlord, that’s what I think is so startling,” he said. “A landlord, if he’s selling a tenant’s goods, has a duty to advertise it, he has a duty to notify the tenant and he has a duty to get an appraisal to make sure that he sells it at a decent price. They didn’t do any of those things. They just sold it for $6,500,” said Perdue, adding taxpayers should be concerned.

The police were called.

According to Perdue, when he initially went looking for the router the town denied it had been sold, so police were involved as it was assumed it was stolen.

“This is where Finley got himself into trouble. Finley made a sworn statement in a document that he believed that I took the machine. Now the machine is 10 feet long, it’s six feet wide, it’s four feet high. You need a forklift to lift it and you need a truck to put it on,” he said.

“If this was a fly-by-night landlord I could believe it. But this isn’t. This is a municipality for God’s sake what was it doing?”

Dick Perdue – former owner of Blackbird Boats

Perdue also questioned Finley’s motives. “Tell me now, when he was lying to us, when he was lying to police and when he was lying to the courts… was he on his own? Who was his boss? What was his boss doing?”

Doughty says he can’t speak on Finley charges.

When asked about the criminal charges Finley is facing, Doughty was cautious. “That’s a separate matter,” he said. “It’s related to it (The BlackBird civil suit) but that’s a separate issue,” he said, adding, “Unfortunately, I can’t talk to you at all about Finley and the Town of Huntsville and it’s for legal reasons. It’s not my preference but after things are resolved, I’d be happy to talk,” he said.

He said the issue has taken up a lot of his time. “This one has driven me absolutely crazy and taken up way too much of my time over the last decade,” said Doughty. He said the company was already in arrears when he first took office in 2006. “When I first got there, BlackBird Boats was severely in arrears in paying their rent and it was driving John Finley to distraction.” He said when he became mayor, “One of the first things John Finley asked me: ‘can I now go after them for the rent?’”

Doughty reiterated that he could not speak to the criminal charges.

Finley’s legal fees are currently being covered by the municipality. An accurate figure as to how much the ordeal has cost the Town was not available at press time.

Finley is being represented by Toronto lawyer Jonathan. A. Shime of Cooper, Sandler, Shime and Bergman LLP.