Thursday September 18, 2014 – 10am
Posted Sep 19, 2014 01:45:24 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
10:00- Free Transit for those living below the poverty line
Jeff Casello, Associate Professor in the School of Planning at University of Waterloo
A candidate running for Regional Chair wants to see free transit for people under poverty line. However, Casello, said free transit for the poor “has to be done carefully. “In other cities, the poor have received special fare cards that, in essence, identifies the holder as being low income. This obviously has negative social impacts,” he said. “A more effective way is to offer reimbursement for low income travellers – through tax exemptions for example.” Casello said he doesn’t agree with the ultimate goal of making transit free for everyone. “The out of pocket expense for transit – the fare – is often less of a deterrent to transit ridership than the frequency of service, the reliability of service, or even the awareness of transit service,” Casello wrote. “In other words, the system is much more likely to gain more riders by improving the quality of service than eliminating the charge for service. ”
10:30- More expense accusations against Woolwich Township Mayor
Mark Bauman, Ward 2 Councillor in the Township of Woolwich
Additional double reimbursements in expense claims filed by Woolwich Township Mayor Todd Cowan have been discovered. The Chair of The Grand River Conservation Authority asked Woolwich staff to conduct a review of claims by the Mayor with respect to his role on the GRCA. In that role he is entitled to mileage reimbursement. CAO with the Township David Brenneman tells 570 News the review found additional cases of double payments in regards to those claims. “When we did a comparison of mileage claims at the GRCA and we compared those with the claims and expense claims for mileage at the Township of Woolwich, we found double reimbursement.” The amount in question is just over $465. The results of the review have been turned over to Regional Police. Police are conducting an investigation regarding other possible double reimbursement claims filed by Cowan between the township and the region, totalling close to $2,700. Cowan has since repaid that amount saying it was an honest mistake. Meantime the tab to investigate the expense claims has reportedly reached $25,000. That’s according to township council with at least one councillor saying Cowan should repay the community for those costs. Numerous attempts to contact the Mayor were unsuccessful.
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