Woodstock city councillor resigns from committee

Bernia Martin. (Contributed photo)

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

“First of all, I will give notice of my resignation from the community grants committee.”

That was the response from Coun. Bernia Martin, after Woodstock City Council approved additional funding for two non-profit groups, overriding decisions by the city’s Community Grants Advisory Committee.

“I feel the time I have given to that committee, if decisions and the policies are not going to be adhered to, then perhaps there are other members of council who would like to give their time on that committee,” she added.

At its April 3 meeting, Woodstock City Council allocated $47,100 to 13 organizations for the spring intake of the 2025 Community Grants Program. Tait’s motion was to provide an additional $10,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County, and $10,000 to Woodstock Kitten Nursery and Rescue. The former was previously given $10,000.

“I have to give credit to the grants committee. They do an incredible job and have so many (applications) to go through,” said Tait, who explained Big Brothers Big Sisters needed the additional money to run one of its programs. “The program will be run only in Woodstock, not in Oxford County,” she added.

Tait said the committee may not have had the necessary background on the Kitten Nursery to make an informed decision, saying the service was formerly provided by Hillside Kennels at a much higher cost.

“A lot of cats were put down and we funded the entire program. This organization came forward, I can’t remember how many years ago it was, so instead of putting them all down, they work at having them neutered so we don’t have a huge influx of stray cats all over Woodstock.”

Coun. Kate Leatherbarrow said she wouldn’t support the motion.

“I think this council appoints community members to various committees and volunteerism is declining, unfortunately. I do think that to carve out a certain amount of time to volunteer, certainly in the three and a bit years that I sat around here we have all mentioned how much time we put into this specific process of allotting money to different organizations.”

She added it is important to respect the committee’s decisions. Tait replied by reminding council members the money going towards community grants come from taxpayers.

“We get a lot of volunteers for our committees so I am not concerned about that and I appreciate the work. But we don’t see any applications that come in. The only people to see them is the committee. I know it’s grant money, but it’s taxpayer money…I think it’s a responsibility for all of council because this is what we do for the community.”

Coun. Martin, who was council’s representative on the committee, said the policy states all applications are evaluated using an established set of criteria and each is considered on its own merit. She added the committee has some strong feelings about the process should Tait’s motion pass.

“It’s not about the two organizations or the quality of their applications or their impact in the community that concerns the committee and myself at this point.”

She added members have concerns that if an applicant doesn’t like the recommendation and voices concerns, they can simply be approved and circumvent the process by complaining. Martin read a statement from the committee.

“Bringing forward for requests for additional finding outside of the established process risks setting a precedent that could undermine the integrity of our work. However, if council feels strongly that the committee’s decisions are not being made in the best interest of the community, we would encourage them to consider establishing a formal appeal process or…attend a committee meeting to get a clearer understanding of how the decisions are made.”

There is just under $110,000 remaining in the committee’s coffers, something Martin said was intentional considering the economic pressures of the day.

“That was one of the reasons for not granting full funding to many of the applications, not just these two.”

Tait added going forward she would like to see more council involvement in the grant process.

“Going forward in another term (of council) where there’s new people, it should be all of council. We have unelected people deciding where we are spending all this money and it’s a lot of money.”

Mayor Jerry Acchione said his decision was a tough one and he understands how difficult the committee’s role is but he decided to support Tait’s motion.

“I do agree that council does have final say. This is in no disrespect whatsoever to the committee for what they do…I will be voting in favour of this after much consideration of the need. Youth is a priority of mine, I have never kept that a secret and speaking with people at the Kitten Nursery it has become very clear there is a very desperate need.”

The Woodstock Kitten Nursery and Rescue made its gratitude known through a social media post.

“Thank you, Woodstock Council, for recognizing the needs of animals in our communities. Helping animals helps people too! All money will go to helping us spay and neuter stray the abandoned cats and kittens.”

Coun. Liz Van Wismer did not vote on the motion as she is an employee at Big Brothers and Big Sisters. The next intake of grant applications comes in the fall.