The Citizen, 2011-10-27, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011.History book continues to cause controversy
Pie o’ mine
Marie Stewart, left, and Bessie Johnston were kept busy at the Bluevale
United Church bazaar on Saturday morning first baking pies and then selling
them to raise money for the church. (Jim Brown photo)
THE EDITOR,
After reading the Morris-
Turnberry Council report on
page 16 of the Oct. 12 issue of
The Wingham Advance Times
I felt that it was necessary for
a response. In it Deputy
Mayor Jason Breckenridge
said that a number of the
statements in my letter were
untrue but “not worth
responding to”.
I challenge him to write to
The Citizen and other local
newspapers and inform the
taxpayers of Morris-
Turnberry as to the actual
facts and if he cannot prove
me wrong, I demand that he
write a letter to both
newspapers with an apology
and also record the same
apology into the minutes of
the next council meeting.
During last fall’s election
campaign he encouraged
debate so he should not avoid
a debate now.
I think your readers need a
brief background on the issue.
I joined the Morris-Turnberry
History Book committee in
August of 2008 and resigned
in May of 2011 when it
became evident that the book
committee had been hijacked
by a small group that
ultimately led to the dismissal
of one of the editors. During
that time I put in on average
over 40 hours per week doing
research, proofreading and
anything else asked of me.
The committee had full use of
all my personal reference
material that I have
accumulated over nearly 40
years. Jodi Jerome and I did a
genealogy workshop at the
Wingham Public Library. I
personally spent in excess of
$150 in photocopies of
microfilm and I taught our
editors how to do genealogy
research. My decision to
resign was not taken lightly.
Deputy Mayor Breckenridge
only joined the committee in
January 2011 after his
election as a representative of
the current council.
I would like to briefly
revisit the statements made in
my letter to the editor. First,
Mr. Breckenridge should
know the one editor was
dismissed as he was one of
the members that met with
her for an interview before
sending her a dismissal letter
the same week. I don’t know
if her dismissal was approved
by council as a whole as she
was an employee of the
municipality. Perhaps a
member of Council would
enlighten us on this issue. I
see nothing untruthful in this
statement.
My statements about the
current editor’s inability to
work with the publisher and
that the Turnberry portion of
the book was being rewritten
as reported in the minutes of
the History Book Committee
of Aug. 29, 2011 must be
correct. The Wingham
Advance Times printed a
report of this meeting in their
Sept. 21, 2011 issue on page
20. Since Mr. Breckenridge
did not complain that the
Advance Times made
untruthful statements, it
cannot be these facts that
upset him. If it was, I can only
state we were misinformed by
the official minutes of the
committee as recorded by
Nancy Michie, the clerk-
treasurer of the municipality
for over 25 years. Also the
people who submitted
Turnberry material were
denied the opportunity to see
the rewritten material so that
statement is true.
Concerning the indexing of
the book, I stand by my
statements. A visit to your
local library to look at the
history books produced in the
last 10 - 15 years show that
inclusive indexes are the
norm. If you want to see what
an excellent history book
looks like check out the West
Wawanosh Township book. In
my many years looking at
history books from across
Canada, I consider it one of
the best. All of the Perth
County books recently
produced, including the Elma
Township book edited by our
remaining editor, indexed all
of the property owners so it
can be done if the will is
there.
Finally, I address the
elephant in the room. That is
my statement that the delay in
the publishing of the book
could result in cost overruns
that could result in the
municipality being
responsible for more than
their promised $100,000
contribution. Is this statement
untrue? Apparently not if you
read the article on page 10 of
the Oct. 20, 2011 issue of The
Citizen. Apparently at the end
of the Oct. 4 meeting, council
went into closed session and
discussed, among other
things, history book expenses.
The projected municipal
contribution has jumped from
$100,000 to $174,133. This
year’s salary and expenses has
exceeded the budget by
$10,000 and the year is not
yet over. Students received
$4,957 and $4,600 was spent
extra for editor’s mileage and
salary. The other interesting
point is that material will now
be collected until Feb. 14,
2012 so it is very unlikely
that the book will be available
by seeding time as stated
in the Aug. 29, 2011
meeting.
I would like to also provide
some numbers to the
taxpayers of Morris-
Turnberry so that they may be
better informed. As a member
of the committee I have
financial statements up to
May 4, 2011. Expenditures in
2008 were $38,994.16; 2009,
$58,848.87; 2010, $59,316.95
and in 2011 up to Sept. 30
(according to council
minutes) $38,496.95. This
does not include the projected
cost of the printing of the
1,000 sets at a total cost of
$75,000. Excluding the
printing, total expenditures to
Sept. 30, 2011 are
$195,656.93. According to
council minutes up to Sept.
30, 2011 the contribution of
the council was $79,997 of
their proposed $100,000
contribution. This was
achieved by spending all
other income including the
sales of books to the
accumulating deficit. Book
sales should have been set
aside to offset the printing
costs. This lulled the council
into a false sense of security
until reality set in on Oct. 4.
Is it completely their fault?
Not really, as it was the
responsibility of their
representatives on the
committee, Mayor Gowing
and Deputy Mayor
Breckenridge, to keep them
informed of the financial
status.
I am also concerned that
they have over-estimated the
revenue to be generated by
book sales. The proposed
revenue of $110,210 I believe
is too high. They have not
accounted for the
complimentary books given
to sponsors of $250 or more.
The Aug. 29 meeting notes 48
sponsors donating
$19,050. Since
some did not reach
the minimum
donation, it still
could result in
about 46 “free”
books which
produce no revenue
in sales as it has
been noted under
sponsorship. Free
access to research
at the Huron
County Museum
resulted in two free
books to the
County and law
requires at least
one free copy to be
given to the
National Library in
Ottawa. Also it is
the intent of the
Trillium grant that
some free copies
be given to local
libraries, museums,
etc. All of these
free copies mean
less money in book
sales. Also, I am
not sure that extra printing
costs will not be incurred as
stated in the Aug. 29 meeting.
I have a copy of the submitted
quote of the publisher dated
March 1, 2010. In it he states
that the quoted price is
usually only valid for 60 days
but that he would honour it to
the end of 2010. After that he
reserved the right to
recalculate the prince in case
of price of paper increased.
By the spring of 2012 with the
current economy there is a
good chance paper prices will
have increased resulting in
increased printing costs. The
publisher is not responsible
for the delay.
I await an apology in both
newspapers and the council
minutes by Deputy Mayor
Breckenridge.
Thank you.
Donna Nicholson,
RR 4, Brussels.
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