The election campaign expenses of Woolwich Township Mayor Sandy Shantz won’t undergo a compliance audit.
Members of Waterloo Region’s Municipal Elections Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC) voted unanimously Monday not to review Shantz’s expense filings.
“All of the questions had been answered clearly,” committee chair and former Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr said following the decision.
“We felt that there were no reasonable grounds for taking this any further.”
Previous issues with Shantz’s election expenses caused her to be removed from office for a period of time in July, until a justice of the peace ruled that punishment too harsh for the offence in question.
That complaint originated with Elmira resident Alan Marshall – as did similar actions against Coun. Mark Bauman and Coun. Scott Hahn, and the latest complaint against the mayor.
Shantz has admitted to errors in the financial statements she filed initially.
Monday, Marshall asked MECAC to have her latest filings reviewed.
Committee members decided that an audit would not turn up any significant new information, and declined the request.
Following that vote, Marshall described his reaction as “disgusted” with MECAC.
“As far as MECAC are concerned, everything is forgivable,” he said.
“The mayor made multiple, numerous major violations and contraventions of the Elections Act. She’s desperately searching for any and all excuses.”
For her part, Shantz said she was “very happy” with the outcome – and panned Marshall’s actions as “vexatious and frivolous, and without merit.”
“While it’s important to allow citizens to question, it needs to be done with some kind of … validity to it,” she said in an interview.
MECAC’s decision can only be appealed through the court system.
Marshall said he would not decide whether to launch an appeal until after Wednesday, when Shantz appears in court for a separate proceeding related to her election expenses.
