A frosty relationship festering between Owen Sound council and the Chamber of Commerce.
Chamber President David Moyer made a deputation to City Council Monday night and it was not well received.
The deputation was preceded by a letter to Council that was harshly critical of a couple of recent developments including a decision by council to award a transit contract without at least granting an interview to the lowest bidder.
The letter, submitted by the Chamber’s advocacy committee, said the Request for Proposals process seems “to have been flawed” and the City appears to have “not acted fairly or appropriately in the selection process.”
It went on to say councillors “have limited knowledge to make informed decisions” and the whole situation is “very disappointing.”
Councillors bristled at the letter with City/County Councillor Arlene Wright telling Moyer she had “never been so insulted” in her life.
Councillor Peter Lemon called the attack both “unfair” and “unfounded.”
Councillor David Adair said the letter was “inflammatory.”
Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners said she was “very disappointed” with the letter’s “accusatory tone,” calling it “galling.”
And things got even more heated when Councillor John Christie took exception to what he perceived to be Moyer’s condescending nature during his deputation.
He told Moyer he did not like his demeanour or his tone and that he should get his facts straight before he delivers “another blast, another slam” from the Chamber of Commerce.
Christie said council and the chamber should be working together, but Moyer was responsible for creating an “adversarial” relationship.
Councillor Tom Pink — who was part of the committee that made the decisions about the transit issue — says he’s also disappointed that the chamber chose this method to express its concerns.
He says council stands by the decisions to interview only two of the bidders and to award the contract to Miller Transit, saying the city will get the best value for its money.
Moyer says he doesn’t doubt that Miller can do the job, but the question of why the lowest bidder was not interviewed has still not been answered.
If the chamber feels it’s important to keep pushing the issue, Moyer says, it will do so.
Moyer says he believes councillors are smart enough that they won’t simply dismiss the chamber’s concerns just because they don’t necessarily like the approach.